252 ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OF GUIANA INDIANS I i;th. anx. 30 



been in ihe meanwhile, he told her that he had been for a " walk-about." This made 

 the old woman say: "Well, you must not go away again, because I am aged now and 

 starving. I cannot depend on your liMle brother to support me. and you know I have 

 no other children." But the man had a Ijad mind, and went back that very afternoon 

 to his Water Spirit wife, and on this occasion remained with her even longer than he 

 had done before. When at last he returned after his second al)sence. he found his 

 mother and little l>rother drinking paiwarri. The latter cjuestioned him point blank 

 as to whether he was living with the Okoyumo People. This naturally made him 

 extremely angry and, with a "How dare you ask me stich a question?" he hurried 

 back to the water, where he remained a still longer period than that of his second 

 absence. In the meantime Amanna had borne him three children, and lea^^ng the 

 latter behind, he told his wife Jo accompany him on a XTsit to his mother. The couple 

 on arrival found the old mother and her younger son again at a drinking party, but 

 this time the son was absolutely drunk, and nothing would do Ijut he must ask his 

 elder brother as before whether he was lining with the Okoyumo People. "Yes, 

 I am! "replied the exasperated man, "and this is my wife. Amanna, one of that nation." 

 Directly the woman heard this, she made all haste to the waterside, and jumped into 

 the water, her husband in close ptirsuit. As soon as he got below her friends and rela- 

 tives set on him and killed him for ha^dng mentioned her name and telling people 

 who she was. 



193. Besides their dislike to hearing mention of their names and 

 antecedents, as well as their passion for menstruatmg women, it is 

 interesting to note the strong objection of the Water Spirits to a 

 pot-spoon being washed outside of the traveling boat in either river 

 or sea (Sects. 214, ^19). 



194. The surest way of offending the Water Spirits, liowever, and 

 thereby getting caught in a storm, and bemg capsized, wTecked, or 

 drowned by way of punishment, is to utter certain words strictly 

 forl)idden under the circumstances. Thus, among the Arawaks of the 

 Pomeroon and iloruca Rivers, there are certain terms M'liich must 

 never be employed when on a boat : they have to be paraphrased. 

 The majority of these tabooed words are evidently of foreign (mostly 

 Spanish) origm: a few are certainly indigenous. Thus, the occupants 

 of a corial will never be heard to use the term arrahuza (gun), but 

 they will speak of a gun as Icataroro (foot, referrmg to the stock); 

 they talk of Icariro (the one with the teeth) instead of perro (Span., 

 dog); of kanakara-sMro (load on the head, the cock's comb) instead 

 of gai-4na (Span., gallino., fowl); of akwadoa-l-otiro (round foot) 

 instead of Jcawai-yo (Span., cahallo, horse); of I'ahicaro (horn) 

 instead of hal-ha (Span., xmca, cow); of tataro (sometliuig hard) 

 instead of screri (grindstone, or saw, probably from Span, sierra) ; of 

 majerilxi (the untrimmed one, referring to the hair) instead of li6-a 

 (monkey): of elitdoa (frothing, brimming over, in reference to its 

 snarling or growling) instead of aroa (tiger) ; of Icatau-chi (the one 

 with wisdom) instead of semi-chicM (medicine-man), etc. The War- 

 raus, it seems, had also various words strictly taboo when traveling 

 by boat. The same holds good for Cayenne, where the superstitious 

 Indians take care not to speak of several things by their right names : 



