Additional studies of the arts, crafts, and customs of the Guiana Indians : with special reference to those of Southern British Guiana / by Walter E. Roth.

  • Roth, Walter E. (Walter Edmund), 1861-1933.
Date:
1929
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Additional studies of the arts, crafts, and customs of the Guiana Indians : with special reference to those of Southern British Guiana / by Walter E. Roth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/178 (page 1)
    ADDITIONAL STUDIES OF THE ARTS, CRAFTS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE GUIANA INDIANS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THOSE OF SOUTHERN BRITISH GUIANA By Walter E. Roth [Note.—This work is an appendix to and should be used in conjunction with the original work in the Thirty-eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. A few of the illustrations will be found in the original work. The section numbers refer to those in the original work. New sections are distinguished by an additional capital letter—A, B, etc.] 1. At end of section add: The tinder (foengoe) used by certain Surinam bush negroes is derived from the nest of a black ant, Cryptocercus atratus. (HER, n.) The Taulipang use what may be called a compound twirling appa¬ ratus for catching fire. (Fig. 1.) Two or three pieces of arrow reed as long as one’s hand are split in half along their length. The halves are placed on top of one another, pierced perpendicularly through by means of a little stick at both ends, and tied tightly together with string, after one has clinched cotton flock in between some of the pieces. On the flat of the upper surface of the topmost piece of reed a few little pits are cut. The man who wants to kindle the fire squats on the ground, holds one end of the reed bundle between the great and second toes, and twirls a longer arrow reed perpendicularly in one of the little pits, while * * * at the same time he presses down strongly with the flats of both hands. The twirier gradually penetrates the individual layers of the arrow bundle and rubs away the fine dust, which inflames, begins to glow, and sets on fire the cotton upon which it falls. (KGR, hi, 47.) I can find no confirmation of the statement that among the Central Caribs fire is made by rubbing two sticks together in the form of a chisel and groove. (FAC, 38.) 3. At end of section add: What we were particularly struck with in the (Oyana) village, says Herderschee, was a large dead tree trunk that had been set on fire and Figure 1.- -Fire twirling apparatus, Taulipang (after Koch-Qrunberg)