BOTH] THE SPIEITS OF THE SKV. 269 



217. As will be seen from the follo\viii<^ list, weather forecasting 

 must be somewhat easy foi the Indians. Unfortimately I have, been 

 unable to discover at first hand, the connection, if any, between 

 the sign and the event, that is. whether it is a case of causo and effect, 

 at the instigation of some Spirit, human or animal. On the iloruca 

 River, rain \\'ill fall or an accident of some sort will happen to the 

 person hearing the karra-suri (small kingfisher) or the fika-wanna 

 (a little bird with red legs and its long tail) wliistle notes; so again, 

 certainly on the same river, if when the weather happens to be dry, the 

 kaiokochi (croc()(hl(>) "barks" late of an afternoon, rain is certain to 

 follow either that night or during the com-se of the following day. 

 When the river ibis, or kurri-kurri (Ibis infuscatus), utters its cries in 

 the evening, the natives of the Cujnini say it is a sure sign that rain 

 wUl fall during the night (Bro, 21). Gumilla makes the curious 

 statement (G, i, 289) that the manati is to be seen taking big jinnps 

 out of the water a day before rain falls. On the Pomeroon and 

 Moruca, among the Arawaks, when plenty of swallows are seen, or 

 the toucans cry loudh", or various frogs (as the akura, tontonh, 

 kiuT-kure, warra-raura) are hearii. or a little insect (the kudu-kudu) 

 chirps, or the yarau fish are found bearing plenty of eggs, wet weather 

 is believed to be approaching. In Cayenne, the araqua or paraqua 

 is the rain-bird of the Ouajana Tiidians. A long sjiell of dry weather 

 may be expected when any larg(> camudi is found high up on a tree, 

 and a correspondingly short one if the serpent is but a small one and 

 only a few feet from the ground (Arawaks and Warraus, Moruca 

 River). Again, if a PomerooTi Arawak hears the kukui (a hawk some- 

 what like a 'carrion crow') he knows the sound presages prolonged 

 dry weather; what is more curious still, he and his people when they 

 hear this sound rush to the pepper trees arountl the house and shake 

 them with a view to making them bear more peppei-s. There are 

 two birds that I sliall always be glad to hear singing, the warri-kuma 

 and the dara ('"bell-bird," Chasmarliijnchus), because the Arawaks 

 have taught me that they indicate the coming of plenty of sunshine. 

 Some Indians enjoy the same prospect when they hear the baboon 

 howling. 



218. The Cayenne Indians are not so much afraid of thunder as 

 of an eclipse: they beheve the former is caused by piai who, climbing 

 up into the skies, makes this frightful noise (PBa, 233). As soon as 

 they recognize the approaching storm which usually accompanies the 

 thunder^ the Island Caribs at once make for their houses, and stepping 

 into the kitchen, seat themselves on their little stools close to the 

 fire. Here, hiding their faces, and resting their heads upon their 

 hands and knees, they commence to cry, bewailing in their gibberish 

 that Maboya (Sect. 8^) is much angered with them. They do the 

 same thing when there is a hurricane on (RoP, 486). The Uaupes 



