ROTH] THE SPIRITS OF THE WATER 243 



rived his from the Indians of the npper Parou, in the far eastern 

 Guianas. The former tells us that the Toonahyaiinas, or Water 

 People, are said to live more to the south, near the headwaters of the 

 Trombetas River (in Brazil). These have ponds encm-led by 

 stockades, to which they retke for the night, sleeping with their 

 bodies submerged. The latter authority states that "on a march of 

 four days to the westwai'd, we would meet some very bad Indians 

 whom it would be impossible to take bj- surprise because the}- plunged 

 in a stream called by the same name (Parou) as that which we were 

 now on. . . . Let us not(^ in passing that ?oono, signifies 'water' not 

 oidy amongst the Taruma, but also in the language of the Trios, 

 Roucouyennes, Apalai, Caiijonas: the Caribs of the Antilles call 

 water tone." Perhaps these Water People were undergoing a gradual 

 transformation before reaching the final change with advanchig 

 European civilization, after the style of the Partamonas at Waipah 

 village on the Ireng, who stated that it was cuiTcntly reported among 

 the surrounding inhabitants that now that a white man had come 

 among tiunn, tiieir country would sink under water (Bro, 283). 



179. When zoomorphic the Water Spirit may take on the form of 

 a porpoise, manati (Sect. ISS), macaw, snake, or fish. Thus, tlie 

 Pomeroon iVrawaks believe in the kassi-kuAaiha, a white or a black 

 variety of porpoise: the latter will hunt and injure a person who 

 happens to full into the water, whereas the white species will save one 

 from dro\vning and carry him to shore. All that one has to do is 

 to jump on the Spirit's back — it will do the rest and will always help 

 anyone who is not afraid of it. Caroquia, on the Demerara River, 

 is a place avoided by the Indians: Water-mdmmas In this place 

 take the form of huge scarlet macaws, which rise out of the river 

 and drag them beneath the water, woodsklns and all (Ki, 179). On 

 the Moruca River an old Warrau plal friend of mine told me that 

 it is the macaw who tells the Ho-ar&nni to com(> and upset the canoe, 

 as well as to destroy the occupants: the bird itself may also assist 

 directly m the work of destruction. 



180. The Caribs talk of their Oko\-Timo being like a camudi snake, 

 but much bigger; it lives in undergi-ound water: in habitat, it 

 con-esponds closely to the variety of Water Spu-lt which the Warraus 

 call Ahiiba. In cases of snake-bite among certain tribes, in addition 

 to any other treatment the bitten person must neither drink water, 

 bathe, nor come into the neighborhood of water, during the period 

 Immediately following the accident [cf. Sect. 317]: the same prohibi- 

 tion, for a similar period, is incumbent on his children, his parents, and 

 his brothers and sisters so long as they reside In the same settlement. 

 His wife alone is free from the taboo (ScR, ii, 130). The freedom of 

 the woman from such an inconvenience Is Interesting when regarded In 

 conjunction with the behef In human milk as an efficacious antidote 

 for snake-poison. 



