BOTH] THE SPIRITS or THE BUSH 177 



They are then described as Kawaiho-Kuyuha, evidently so called from 

 the corrupted Spanish form caballo, and with anthropophagous tastes 

 have unconquerable attraction toward infant at the breast and 

 women encientes (Da, 183). The Hebus, after dark, make sudden 

 sharp noises like the sounds caused by the breaking of branches: as 

 stated elsewhere (Sect. 19), "You can always distinguish a Spirit's 

 road from any other pathway in the forest, because the Hebus occu- 

 pying the trees tliat lie alongside it are always, especially at night, 

 striking the branches and trunks, and so producing sharp crackling 

 noises." Of course, in the case of Bush Spirits that are zoomorphic 

 the sounds they make tlej)end on the nature of the particular animal 

 whose form they have assumed. The Caribs in the Pomeroon plant 

 a certain species of caladium in the neighborhood of their settlement, 

 to give warning of tlu- apj)roach of a Yurokon at night: the plant 

 gives a double signal, a soft yet high-pitched whistling sound, and at 

 the same time somehow contrives to shake the hammock with force 

 sufficient to wake lh«' sleeper and warn him of the coining danger. 

 The following extract is from Bates, with reference to the lower 

 ^Vmazon: "At one time I had a ^fameluco youth in my service . . . 

 he always went with me in tlie forest: in fact I could not get him to 

 go alone, and whenever he heard any of the strange noises mentioned 

 above [due to the Curupira] he used to tremble with fear" (HWB, 36). 

 Dance (262) writes on this same subject of what the duties of a trav- 

 eler are, and how the influences of evil Bush Spirits may be avoided 

 (Sect. 128). 



105. Bush Spirits may also be recognized through the sense of 

 smell. " When the Island Caribs smell something offensive in a place, 

 they ^viU say 'The Evil Spirit (Maboya) is here: let us therefore go 

 away.' . . . They also give the name of Maboya to certain plants, 

 to toadstools, of a bad odor, and to everything that is capable of 

 imparting dread to them" (RoP, 464). The Pomeroon Arawaks 

 have the same idea. 



106. Bush Spirits are certainly very clever people; nothing comes 

 amiss to them, and they can even bring the dead to life. They may 

 reiui<ir themselves invisible (Sect. 119). 



The Mutilated IIusb.\xd is Made Whole (W) 



There being nothing to do in the field, a man told liis wife one day that he was going 

 to another village to do some work for the headman. She said she would accompany 

 him, but he explained that this was impossible as there were only men there. How- 

 ever, she was so importunate, that although it was quite contrary to his own wishes, 

 he yielded to her entreaties, and took her. But he insisted on her traveling in male 

 attire. She therefore cut her hair short, hid her breasts by means of numerous cotton 

 and hog-tooth neck-chains, and covered her nakedness with a strip of bark. When 

 they reached the settlement, they started work in company with all the other men, 

 and as soon as tlie day's work was done, they all went down to the riverside to bathe. 

 15961 "—30 ETn— 15 12 



