RfiTH] THE SPIRITS OF THE BUSH 173 



" I do not really want to leave you. husband, but the Maihisikiri is too strong for me. 

 I ara now a Bush Spirit. And though you must not be sorry for me, I am indeed 

 sorry for you, for you will have to die before you can become one. " 



98. An unusual form of Arawak Bush Spirit is that of the scrub- 

 turkey {Tinnmus sp.) — a woman's leg: there are several references, 

 however, to a leg in the folk-lore (Sects. 88, 208, 362). The connec- 

 tion between tliis astral hmb and the bird under consideration is that 

 when the "log" is above tlie horizon just before daybreak, then will 

 the scrub-turkey's "call" be heard.' 



The Man Who Ai.way.s Hunted Scrutj-Turkey (A) 



There was a man celebrated for his skill in hunting "maam" {Tinamus sp.); he 

 would regularly bring hon\e four or five of these scrub-turkeys, and people warned him 

 that if he continued in this way he would get into trouble with the maam's " mother," 

 (i. €., Spirit), for killing .-io many of her brood (Sect. 242). But he did not care, and 

 went on destroying the birds in the same wasteful manner. On one occasion he 

 stayed out later than usual, waiting to see on which particular trees the maams were 

 going to roost. He could hear their peculiar call in all directions around; indeed, 

 the birds were so plentiful about, that he was somewhat at a loss to know which par- 

 ticular one to follow. However, he j)roceeded to track one, but the farther he went, 

 the farther off sounded the note, until at last he found himself deep in the forest. 

 .\s night was beginning to fall, he had to hurrj- home, not daring to remain out in the 

 dark for fear of the Yawahu (Spirit of the Bush) catching him. The same thing 

 happened next day; he heard many birds calling, and, following one, again found 

 himself deep in the forest, but this tune he succeeded finally in coming up with the 

 quarry. Locating the tree, he peered in among the branches to see where the bird 

 was "hollo "-ing, but could see only a woman's leg. Recognizing this to be the 

 Arch Spirit of the maams (Sect. 210). he took careful aim, and shot an arrow right into 

 the center of the foot. The leg fell down, and directly it touched ground, changed 

 into an extraordinarily big scrub-turkey, which he immediately killed and carried 

 home. There his friends knew it at once to be the maam's "mother" (Spirit), and 

 ad^'ised him to cook and eat the whole of it him.self, and not give away even the 

 smallest particle of it. He did what was advised, and in subsequently hunting for 

 maam he was invariably even more successful than before. And now that he had 

 destroyed the maam-Spirit, he was not afraid of killing as many birds as he liked. 



99. The Hebus are more or less hairy beings, recognizable in a 

 near view by the absence of buttocks, their place being taken by a 

 fire-hearth, with glowing embers, giving rise to the name Huta- 

 kurakura, "Red-back," which is often applied to these folk (Sects. 

 21, 27). Another peculiarity they possess is the extraordinary promi- 

 nence of the eye-brows (supra-orbital region), which prevents them 

 having a look at the skies except when standing on their heads (Sect. 

 22). Perhaps this conception is a survival of the custom of artificial 

 head-compression which certainly used to be practised in the Guianas. 

 As is the case with the Yurokons, Hebus may sometimes appear in the 

 form of skulls or skeletons (Sect. 26). Like all other Forest Spirits 

 they have strong jiatriarchal tendencies. They seem to be specially 

 distinguished by the size of their purses [scrotums]. 



1 Compare a similar comiection between the powis and the Southern Cross (Sect. ?G6). 



