ROTH J OMENS, CHARMS, TALISMANS 279 



rubs the back of the kunaua toad over the wounds; the virus of the 

 reptile burns hke fire" (Da, 253). In the Pomoroon District, in 

 addition to abstention from salt and peppers, cuts are made on the 

 arms, and the spawn of the akura frog (Sect. 229) is rubbed not only 

 into the incisions, but also into the mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, 

 where it is said to cause acute irritation. It is thflicult to understand 

 the relationship, if any, between tiie frog or toad, and success in the 

 chase (Sect. 144)j except on a basis of some original belief in the 

 divinity (Sect. 46) of these batrachians, as we know to have existed 

 in other parts of the Guianas (Sect. 349). The following is an Arawak 

 story : 



329. The Wife Teaches her Husband to Hunt (A) 



There was a man wlio tlioiigh he went off regularly t<i the forest, never managed to 

 bring home anything, while his brothers-in-law. who seldom went out, alw-ay 8 returned 

 with plenty of game; but they gave none of it, either to him or to their sister. She, 

 however, determined on asking other people how she could teach her husband to be 

 a.' lucky as her brothers, and after a long long time .«he found out what to do. She 

 then took him one day into the bush to hunt for the akura frog, and when they had 

 found the nest she introduced some of the sjjawn into his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. 

 This burned him terribly, and made him vomit, so much so that he wius obliged to 

 roll about in the sand to ea.se the pain. After this, she made him bathe, and then 

 brought him home. She next a.>;ked her brothers to make a small bow and some 

 arrows for her, and with these she sent her husband out to shoot small birds only, 

 and not to shoot more than four. While he was away she made pepper-pot, using 

 very few peppers -and no salt whatsoever. He returned with the four little birds, 

 which she cooked, giving him two, and retaining two for herself. The same procedure 

 was repeated daily for a week. The wife then destroyed the small bow and arrows, 

 and asked her brothers to make liigger ones, and in.structed her husband to shoot 

 bigger Ijirds with them; this also continued for a week. She next sent him out with 

 this big bow and arrows to hunt game of all and any description, but with a certain 

 proviso: as each animal or bird would approach him in answer to the "call" 

 which he would imitate, he wa.s not to shoot, but merely to point his arrow at 

 it; only when it was time to return home in the afternoon was he to kill one animal, 

 and fetch it to her. At the beginning of the fourth week, she sent him out himting 

 again with fresh instructions: he was now to shoot and kill everything that ho could, 

 lie killed and brought home plenty. From that time he and his wife were never in 

 want of food, and they took care to treat her brothers as they had treated them. 

 What they could not eat, they would barbecue, and then hide. The .selfish brothers 

 accordingly wondered how their sister's husband now always managed to kill more 

 game than they did. They asked their sister, but she refused to tell them. 



230. In the Pomeroon District a hairy caterpillar may be rubbed 

 into incisions made on the wrists and thighs. This creature, obtained 

 on the Rupununi and brought down here in barter, is said to be 

 soaked in water the whole of the night previous to the solution being 

 applied, by means of cotton-wool, to the cuts. I have also seen a 

 Pomeroon Arawak wear one on his neck. Im Tliurn (2.30) speaks 

 of caterpillars "the hau-s of which break off very readily, and have a 

 great power of irritating flesh. These caterpillars he rubs on his 



