240 ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OF GUIANA INDIANS [eih. ANN. 30 



to deposits of u'on and manganese. Whenever I questioned the 

 Indians about these rocks, I was at once silenced b\^ the assertion 

 that any allusion to then- appearance would vex these rocks and 

 cause them to send misfortune" (IT, 354). The most curious, how- 

 ever, of all the procedures indicative of a Spirit's presence somewhere 

 in the immediate neighborhood is that which concerns the sense of 

 sight; several examples of this temporary occlusion of vision are 

 recorded elsewhere (Sect. £5:2). 



