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ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OF GUIANA INDIANS [kth. ann. 30 



circumstances and locality. Such a Spirit for instance may "be 

 believed in simply as a mischievous imp, who is at the bottom of 

 all those mishaps of their daily life, the causes of which are not 

 very immediate or obvious to their dull understandings" (HWB, 

 381). When in the manufacture of their native drinks anything 

 goes wrong with the fermentation, the Indians ascribe it to Spirit 

 machinations. The foUowmg Warrau story is illustrative of this 

 belief. 



Why the Drink Turned Sour 



A man went one day to visit some neighbors, but, when he arrived there, found 

 they were all out: as it was already too late in the afternoon to allow of his getting 

 home again before nightfall, he made arrangements to sleep there and return the 

 following morning. He drew himself up on the manicole rafters and turned in. 

 But before I go any further I must tell you that in this house there was a big jar, in 

 which drink was being prepared in anticipation of next day's festivities when the 



house-master, his family, and relatives 

 would have returned. Our friend had 

 not been long on the manicole flooring 

 before he saw a lot of Hebus enter the 

 place, and have a look round. He heard 

 them say, "Hullo! here is some drink. 

 Let us bathe first, and then come and 

 taste it. It were a pity to let it spoil." 

 So they all went and washed their skins, 

 and then returned for a good carousal. 

 But when they started drinking, they 

 felt the want of some music, and so they 

 arranged with a labba to play for them. 

 All tlie tune it could play was its usual 

 grunt, but they were quite satisfied with 

 it, and really enjoyed their dauce. Our 

 friend watched them until daybreak, 

 when they took their departure, the 

 little labba sneaking away behind a 

 plantain tree. Later on, the household 

 returned, and said, just as the Spirits did: "Let us bathe first and then drink. It 

 were a pity to let it spoil." But the watcher warned them not to touch the liquor 

 because he had kept awake during the night, and had seen the Hebus sipping it. 

 They therefore threw all the drink away. Now. among the household was a widow, 

 who exclaimed: "Yes. I knew that the Hebus were going to spoil our drink." 

 And when asked how she knew, she told them that she had received a sign, or 

 token, because when she was weeping for her late husband, he suddenly appeared 

 before her and told her to cease to cry. 



If an Indian loses his way in the forest, the Spirit is the cause. 

 The Caribs, however, know how to circumvent the latter, by making 

 a string puzzle, which is left on the pathway: the object of this 

 puzzle consists in removing, without cutting or breaking, an endless 

 string from off two sticks upon which it has been placed (see fig. 1). 

 The Spirit coming along sees the puzzle, starts examining it, and 

 tries to get the strmg off: indeed, so engrossed with it does he become, 

 that he forgets all about the wanderer, who is now free to find the 



Fig. 1. 



-Carib string puzzle, designed to deceive the 

 Bush Spirits. 



