326 ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OF GUIANA INDIANS [eth. ANN. 30 



child is already in existence, its body being attached to, and bj' some 

 mysterious means passing into, the body of the mother. As to the 

 origin of such babies, all I can gather is that they arrive in the water or 

 in the bush, and hence may make their appearance in our mundane 

 world either as a gift from the Water Spirits (Sect. 186), or at the 

 instigation of the Spirits of the Forest (Sects. 117, 302), with or 

 without the agency of the piai. The following is a Warrau story 

 bearing on this subject: 



The Little Bush Child (W) 



A long time ago it was customary for a woman, when she yearned for a child, to 

 wander about in the forest until she found one. It so happened that a certain woman, 

 Yaburaw^ko, in going to her field found a little child on the road — a pretty boy he 

 was — and she brought him home. She minded him, and he had sense enough to call 

 her "Mdma. " By and by . however, the child got mischievous, and made her vexed. 

 She said, "You have really nothing to do with me; so why should you annoy me?" 

 The husband remonstrated with her, expressing himself to her somewhat as follows: 

 "You must not be angry with the child, but must mind him carefully. " She con- 

 tinued, however, to be cross with the boy, and finally ill-treated him. "I am not 

 going to be bothered with you any more," she exclaimed. "You have nothing to 

 do with me. You are not mine. You don't belong to me. " With this, the child 

 disappeared, whereupon the husband said: "Well, he's gone now, but he will come 

 back again, and this time enter yoiu- body, and you will have trouble enough to get 

 rid of him. " Sure enough, after a time the child did enter her womb, and, oh ! the 

 trouble and the pains she suffered before she was delivered of him. Women ever 

 since have borne children in this manner just because Yaburawako was so unkind 

 to the little bush child. 



284B. Arawaks beUevc that birth-marks and moles (namarakan) are 

 due to the failure of the mother, during pregnancy, to get what she 

 wanted. She may have said, "Oh! how I should like to have just a 

 bit of marudi! " thoughtlessly placuig her hand on her face, breast, 

 body, or thigh; her baby will be born with a corresponding mark on 

 the particular part touched. The "Mongohan spot" is regarded by 

 the women as due to the position of the afterbnth being near the sur- 

 face in the corresponding part of the mother's body. The Moruca 

 River Arawaks call this spot tu-tehe, but as it begins to fade it is known 

 as a-naJcwarro. 



