BOTH] 



OMENS, CHAKMS, TALISMANS 



289 



De Goeje states also that when making a purchase, the buyer will 

 take a little turalla between his lips to prevent the seller overreaching 

 hun. According to Schombvu-gk (ScF, 215), the Maiongkongs used for 

 necklaces a bimch of the slender steins of a cryptogamous plant, a fern 

 called Zinap%po by them, to which they ascribed tahsmanic property. 



240. On the Pomeroon one can string the taU-riogs and claws of a 

 scorpion, and tie it round his little girl's wrist. By and by, when she 

 becomes a woman and makes paiwarri, the liquor will be "strong 

 and biting."' Tiger teeth, threaded and tied on the chUd, will also 

 insure its gaining strength [Arawaks]; bush-hog teeth will make a 

 good huntsman of him [.Vtorais and Wapisianas] (Cou, ii, 315); tiger 

 teeth or bush-hog teeth will 

 preserve him, when he grows 

 up, from being attacked by wild 

 beasts [Uaupes River] (Cou, ii, 

 171). Makusi women and chil- 

 dren wear round their necks 

 tigers' teeth, to which they as- 

 cribe talismanic power (ScT, 61 : 

 ScR, II, 83). On the Berbice 

 the sticks cut down by the saw- 

 yer beetle are given by the In- 

 dians to children cutting teeth, 

 to rub their gums with, under 

 the impression that as a result 

 the teeth v,-i\\ grow strong and 

 sharp (Da, 15). With the In- 

 dians of the upper Napo River 

 (Amazons) bracelets and arm- 

 lets of iguana skin are much 

 affected, as in some parts of 

 Central America, with the same 

 association of their imparting bravery and pugnacity to the wearer 

 (AS, 154). To obtain sharp vision, a Kobeua Indian vriW rub his eyes 

 with those of a certain falcon (KG, ii, 153). The Caribs and almost 

 all other Indians ascribe tahsmanic powers to the large teeth of an 

 ahigator (ScA, 336). West of the Orinoco alligator teeth are em- 

 ployed by the Indians as an ornament for the neck and arms; they 

 are also regarded as an antidote for certain poisons, and as an 

 alexipharmic in general (FD, 151). As an antidote for poison, 

 within the Orinoco area, Gumilla speaks of aUigator teeth mounted 

 in gold or silver and tied by a small chain on one of the arms or 



1 This comparison between scorpions and strong liquor is ver>- characteristic with the Pomeroon Caribs. 

 A typical decoration on their drinking vessels is the pot-hoolc (i. e. the scorpion, fig. 3). See also around 

 the central ring in fig. a. • 



15961° — 30 ETH — 15 19 



Fig. 3. Carib goblet, Pomeroon River, decorated 

 with pot-hook (scorpion) pattern. 



