Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/389

 Record of A merican Folk-L ore. 5 7

fire, originator of the comets and of meteors ; Meulen, a personifi- cation of the whirlwind ; Anchimallen, wife of the sun, an amiable and protecting deity, — a deification of the moon. The sun himself seems not to be worshipped by these Indians. Anchimallen, it is believed, still appears to travellers in the form of an evasive llama. Besides, there is quite a modern deity, Ngune mapun, " lord of the earth," a sort of Fortunatus for invisibility, and probably a making over of missionary ideas about God. Other creatures of a mytho- logical nature are Huitranalhue, a. protective deity of flocks and herds ; Perimontum, a sort of surrogate deity, who appears in the vil- lages to announce great events ; Alhue, a goblin-phantasm ; Am, the ghosts of the dead ; Colcolo, a subterranean lizard, whose germ is found in bad or very small hen's eggs, or " cock's eggs " as they are called ; Nguruvilu, a cat-like monster of the deep waters ; Trelque- huecuve, a cuttlefish, whose arms have claws — the word means " skin of the Huecuvu ; " Huciillepen, a water-monster with the head of a calf and the body of a sheep ; ChonchoU, a human-head monster, that uses its ears to fly by night. Indeed, these Indians' imagina- tion is very fertile in goblins, sprites, and monsters of all sorts, and their beast-mythology is very extensive. The oldest caste of priests among the Araucanians seem to have been the huecuvuyes, evi- dently connected with the belief in huecuvu. It was these whose opinion decided war, peace, etc. They seem also to have led a soli- tary or hermit life.

Brazil. Under the title " Nei dentorni della sorgente dello Schingu : Paesaggi e popoli del Brasile centrale," Dr. Herrmann Meyer publishes in the " Arch, per 1' Antrop. e la Etnol." (vol. xxix. pp. 41-53) a brief account of the region about the source of the Xingu in Central Brazil and the people inhabiting it. The author notes the great diversity of peoples and languages in the region in question, and the way in which they have adapted themselves to local environment ; also the generally pacific relations which seem to exist between the tribes. It is interesting to learn that with the Indians on the Xingu " hunting is considered neither more nor less than a sport, for, by reason of their very defective weapons, these savages cannot count upon a constant and certain booty, sufficient to keep them in food." Not so, however, with fishing, for they all were supplied with instruments. Nevertheless, the mandioca root forms the staple of their subsistence. In one of the villages of the Kamayura Dr. Meyer met an Akuku-Yamarikuma man, who had travelled five days away from his home after urucu, the well-known body-dye. Noteworthy, also, are the friendly flute-concerts given in honor of strangers and other visitors, and the inter-tribal festivals, songs, dances, etc. The art of these people bears unmistakable evi-

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