ROTH] THE MEDICIXE-MAN 329 



They also keep the (lead liones of these sorcerers with as much veneration as if they 

 were the Reliques of Saints. When they have put their bones together, they hang 

 them in the Air in tlie same cotton beds those Wizards use to live in when alive. 

 [Da, 98.] 



Bates gives a curious example of such veneration and sanctity, 

 met ■with at a spot on the Jaburu chamiel, Marajo Ishmd, at the 

 mouth of the Amazon, "which is the object of a strange superstitious 

 observance on the part of the canoe-men. It is said to be liaunted 

 by a Paje, or Indian ^\^zard, whom it is necessary to propitiate, by' 

 depositing some article on the spot, if the voyager \vishes to seciu-e a 

 safe return from the sertao, as the interior of the country is called. 

 The trees were all hmig with rags, shirts, straw hats, bunches of 

 fruits, and so forth. Although the superstition doubtless originated 

 with the aborigines, yet I observed, in botli my voyages, that it was 

 only the Portuguese and uneducated Brazilians who deposited any- 

 thing. The pure Indians gave notliing; but they were all ci\alized 

 Tapuyos" (HWB, 115). Koch-Griiiiberg gives a similar example 

 on the River Caiary-Uaupes (Upper llio Negro), where the practice 

 is undoubtedly observed by the Indians (KG, i, 2.37), while Coudreau 

 (ii, 404 ) has observed it on the Rio Branco. (Compare the protective 

 charm against the Cm-upira, etc., in Sect. 10.9.) 



287. It sometimes happened that the captain and the piai were 

 one and the same person, as in Cayemie (PBa, 208). But on the 

 other hand, however great his abilities, the medicine-man did not 

 obtain any distinctive position, as head of the family, through his 

 proficiency (Go, 14). Bancroft (310) sa\'s that in almost every 

 family, there is a pA^on consecrated to the craft. There was appar- 

 ently nothing characteristic about the piai in the way of ornament 

 or decoration. I can find no coniirmatiou of Bernau's statement 

 that the novitiate's "right ear is pierced, and he is required to wear 

 a ring all his lifetime" (Be, 31). 



288. The insignia and "stock-in-trade" of the medicine-man, in 

 his highest stage of development, comprise a particular kind of bench, 

 a rattle, a doll or manikin, certain crystals, and other kickshaws, 

 generally sometliiug out of the common, all except the first mentioned 

 being packed away when not in use, m a basket, or pegaU, which is 

 usually of a shape different from that employed by the lay fraternity. 

 The pecuharity of the basket among Arawaks and Warraus lies in 

 both top and bottom being concave. St. Clair (i, 330) reports that 

 on the Coreiityn, among Arawaks, he came across the "magical shell" 

 (rattle) sup2:)ortetl by three pieces of stick, the ends of which were 

 stuck into the ground, in the middle of the floor; it is not clear, 

 however, whether in this situation the implement was being used or 

 not. At any rate, all the insignia were taboo to the common folk 

 and were kept out of harm's way in a special shed, the piai's con- 



