ROTH] MISCELLANEOUS BELIEFS 369 



342. The Rio Negro Indians declare that the great anteaters 

 {MyrmecopJtaga jubata) are all females and believe that the male is 

 the Curupira, or demon of the forest (Sect. 117): the peculiar organi- 

 zation of the animal has probably led to this error (ARW, 314). 



343. With regard to the sloth, there would seem to be but few 

 references to the animal in Guiana folk-lore. I have already men- 

 tioned him iji the light of a girl's sweetheart (Sect. 13^), and the 

 smaller species in connection with a death omen (Sect. 222) . Arawaks 

 say Kdto awaduli fudi: liau akonaka (lit. when wind blows, sloth 

 walks), that is, people are going to exert themselves only when they 

 are obliged to. 



344. Among the Island Caribs the tortoise bore a reputation for 

 being ''smart. " One of the most offensive thuigs they could say 

 when chafhng one anotlier was, "You are as wide-awake (adroit) as a 

 tortoise" (RoP, 453), though the same authors elsewhere refer to its 

 clumsiness (lourdise) and stupidity (RoP, 46.5). 



345. To account for the rough stones invariably found in the belly 

 of the alligator, the Otomac Indians were of opinion that, as the 

 creature increases in size it finds a corresponding difRculty in sink- 

 ing to the bottom of the river on the sands on which it sleeps, 

 covered with all the weight of the waters; and that, guided by 

 instinct, it proceeds to the banks, where it swallows as many stones 

 as may be necessary to weigh it down; whence, it may be inferred 

 that the bigger it grows, the more stones are required for its ballast 

 and counterpoise (G, ii, 215). But in those rivers where there are 

 no stones, to effect its purpose of sinking to the bottom the alligator 

 retains the bones of the animals which it has devoured (G, n, 218). 

 According to Indian accounts tlie seat of life (der Sitz des Lebens) is 

 situated in the animal's tail. That the tail is the most sensitive 

 part is shown by the fact that with every blow thereon the creature 

 rears up, though it will hardly res])ond to a cudgeling on the head 

 and back (ScR, ii, 177). 



346. Indians and colored people consider the gecko, the "wood- 

 slave " of the colonists {Tlemulactylus Mahouia Cuv., and Platydactylus 

 TJteconyx Dnm.), as poisonous as their snakes. They believe that if 

 a gecko fall from the roof or beams on the bare skin of a person, the 

 latter will be seized with convulsions, which will soon be followed by 

 death (ScR, ii, 116). 



347. Throughout many races of mankind the snake has played a 

 very important role in connection with sexual matters. Several 

 references on this score are to be met with in the animism of the 

 Guiana Indian, but a few wiU suffice for present purposes. The 

 snake appears as the husband or lover (Sects. 23, 1^1 , 56, 363), is 

 especially fond of the women at their menstrual periods (Sects. 55, 

 188, 274), *^ii<^l i^ot infrequently may be found actually inside the 



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