ROTH] THE SPIRITS OF THE BUSH 217 



among them, and without giving them a chaupe oi" escape killed every one — all 

 except the little boy, who, like a watchman, could see everjlhing that took place. 

 He saw the Tiger eat a piece out of this body and a bit out of that, finally dragging 

 the bodies into the Ijush. As soon as the coast wps clear, the child slid down the tree, 

 Tan fast down to the landing, jumped into tie corial, and loosening it from its moorings 

 shoved off. He was only just in time, because Tiger was after him, but unable to, 

 catch up with him, on account of being gorged with human flesh. The boy reached 

 home all in a tremble, and could not speak, but next morning told the men about 

 everything that had taken ])lace, and how all their women had been killed. The 

 men then went off to kill the l^ger, but when they reached the spot they saw only 

 blood: they went farther, and one of them, Tobe-akuba. recognized the body of his 

 wife, whose breasts had been eaten away: still farther on they found another lx)dy, 

 also mutilated, and so on, one after the other. At la.st they came across the Tiger, but 

 what with the ghastly scenes that they had just witnessed, all except two of the search 

 party turned cowards, and climbed for safety up the neighboring trees. The two 

 exceptions were Tobe-akuba and Sika-waka [lit. jigger-plenty], the latter being half- 

 lame owing to the number of jiggers that infested his feet. These two men alone 

 fought that tiger and ultimately managed to destroy it. When he was stone dead, 

 Tobe-akuba called on the remainder of the search party to come down from under 

 cover of the trees which they had climbed during the progress of the fight. He then 

 taunted them, "You have no jiggers in your feet as this man has, and yet none of you 

 dared come help me as ho did. " After leaving all their dogs behind to eat Tiger's 

 carcass, they returned home, where Tobe-akuba picked out the jiggers from Sika- 

 waka'sfeet, and then gave him his daughter to wife. WTien ten days were finished, 

 they went to fetch their dogs, but the latter had not yet devoured all the flesh, and did 

 not want to return: so they went for them again after another ten days had passed, 

 by which time all Tiger's flesh had been consumed. You can easily learn from this 

 what a big brute he must have been. 



148. Why Black Tiger Killed the Indians (W) 



One day Tobe-horoanna caught a young man out in the bush and, dragging him 

 home, put him inside the pot, saying: "You must not be frightened. I do not intend 

 killing, cooking, and eating you. You arc going to live." When Black Tiger's 

 brother and sister came home they said: "We have heard that you caught a young 

 man. Wliereishe?" " In the pot." replied Tobe-horoanna. "Have you fed him?" 

 was their next inquiry, and upon receiving a negative reply, they said, "Well, give 

 him a bush-hog. and if he does not finish the whole of it. we shall have to finish him." 

 The man was indeed frightened to hear his captors talking like this, and when they 

 gave him the hog, did his best to eat it. but by the time he had stowed away the two 

 hind legshisbelly could hold no more. Tobe-horoanna then handed him a calabashful 

 of cas.siri, telling him to drink it all, but the poor fellow insisted that his belly was 

 full, and that he could not possibly do so. However, as they all three insisted on his 

 drinking, he swallowed the cassiri. but he was forced almost immediately to vomit it 

 all. "Eh? \\'hat are you floing?" said Black Tiger who, thinking there must be 

 something wrong in the man's mouth, got his brother to help hold him. and keep his 

 jaws open while he should pour more cassiri down. But their sister told them to 

 let the man alone, as she had taken a liking to him, and wanted to live with him. 

 Therefore they loosened him, but told him to go into the bush and hunt, so as to show 

 them that he could support a wife. Wlien he returned next time from the forest, 

 he brought back with him ten dried bush-hogs, which made Tobe-horoaimasay: "All 

 right! I am satisfied. You can have my sister. " Thus the man came to live a long 

 time there with his Tiger wife, who ultimately bore him twin sons. As the children 

 became older, and could manage to crawl and creep, the father was minding them 



