Chapter III: Religious and Magical Beliefs (3)

The Hibiscus tiliaceus is a small tree from which the natives obtain the fibre which they make into rope, used now for harpoon lines and in former times for turtle-nets. The leaves of this tree are believed to have the power of keeping away the spirits of the sea. They have no efficacy, however, against the spirits of the forest. Leaves of the Hibiscus tiliaceus are used in the turtle-eating ceremony described in the last chapter. For cooking turtle the only wood that may be used is the Hibiscus. If any other wood were used the meat would not be good. In this connection it is necessary to point out an error in the statements of Mr Man. He says that the wood of the alaba must never be used for cooking turtle, though it may be used for cooking pig, and that Puluga is angry if this commandment is not observed and sends either the sun or moon to punish the offender [94]. There is evidently an error here. The alaba is the Hibiscus tiliaceus. Mr Man identifies it with the Melochia velutina, but this is an error. Now the custom in connection with the Hibiscus (alaba) is not that it may not be used for cooking turtle, but that no other kind of wood must be used. It is difficult to see how Mr Man fell into the error, unless he mistook a statement regarding the yo̱lba (Anadendron paniculatum) for a statement relating to alaba (Hibiscus tiliaceus). We have just seen that if the Anadendron comes in contact with turtle meat the meat will be bad, and that if it is burnt there will be a storm.

Another plant that provides fibre for thread is the Gnetum edule. There is a belief that the green creeper of this plant will drive away turtle, if a piece of it be taken in a canoe.

Magical properties are attributed to the Ficus laccifera tree. These trees are believed to be the home of the yet unborn souls of children. I was told in the North Andaman that if a tree of the species were cut there would be a storm. The bark of the aerial roots of the tree affords a fibre used in the Little Andaman for bow-strings, but only used in the Great Andaman for making personal ornaments. It is possible that some magical properties are attributed to the ornaments made from this fibre.

The Pterocarpus dalbergioides is one of the most striking trees of the Andamans. It has a very hard red wood, from which the natives make their sounding-boards. There is an obscure belief in the A-Pučikwar tribe (and possibly also in other tribes) that it is dangerous to look at the tree when it is in flower. I was twice told a story of how some people were affected by looking at the flowers, and either went mad or died. On one occasion my interpreter translated the words of my informant by saying “They saw the flowers, and went giddy, and they all went to hell (J̌ereg-l’ar-mugu).” Men must be careful when the tree is in flower, not to look at it too long. In the North Andaman I was told that string games (ǰipre) must not be played when the Pterocarpus tree is in flower. They may be indulged in with safety at any other time of the year. (String games, according to one statement, were invented by the Lau, while another account attributes the invention to the crab.)

The Tetranthera lancæfolia is a small tree from which the natives obtain the wood for the shafts of their pig arrows. The leaves of this tree are believed to have the power to keep away the spirits of the forest. They are used in the pig-eating ceremony described in the last chapter. The wood is shredded and made into plumes, and these plumes are believed to have magical properties. They are worn by a man who has killed another, and are believed to protect him from the vengeance of the spirit of the dead man.

A common remedy for sickness of different kinds is a small tree called gugma in Aka-Bea, which Mr Man identifies as being Trigonostemon longifolius. The leaves of this tree are made into a bed for the patient to lie upon. They are also crushed and rubbed over the patient’s body, or he is made to inhale the odour of the crushed leaves. The natives say that it is the “smell” of the plant that possesses medical properties. The “smell” will drive away turtle, and leaves should therefore not be taken in a canoe. A man who has been handling the leaves would not go turtle-hunting.

Another remedy is a species of Alpinia. The leaves and stems of this plant are chewed and the juice swallowed for certain ailments. The plant is also used when taking honey. A man takes some of the leaves in his mouth and chews them well. Before taking the honeycomb he sprays the saliva from his mouth over and around it. He may also rub the chewed leaves over his body. The natives say that in this way they are able to prevent the bees from stinging them.

Magical properties are attributed to a number of plants that have not been botanically identified. Thus the leaves of a small tree called tare in Aka-J̌eru are crushed and moistened with water and rubbed over the body as a remedy for illness. A strip of bark from the same tree is tied round the chest of a man with a pain in his chest. The bark of two trees called (in Aka-J̌eru) tip and laro is crushed and moistened and rubbed over a sick man’s body. The leaves of a plant called pare are crushed with water and the infusion is drunk by persons suffering from diarrhœa and abdominal pains. A creeper called korotli is crushed and tied round a limb in cases of snake-bite. The seeds of the Entada scandens are heated in the fire and applied (while hot) to such wounds as that from the tusk of a boar.

There are a certain number of trees and plants about which the natives say that any person cutting them will become blind. The names of four of these in Aka-J̌eru are ǰin, burut, deŋ, and mit.

We may turn now to animals and animal substances. Magical properties are attributed to bees’-wax, particularly to black bees’-wax. In a case of pleurisy black bees’-wax was heated until it was soft, and then smeared over the man’s chest. Bees’-wax is believed to keep away the spirits of the forest.

If a man be bitten by a snake and the snake be killed it is skinned and the inner surface of the skin is applied to the wound.

A hiccough is supposed to be the result of inadvertently swallowing a tree lizard, whose call rather resembles the sound of a person hiccoughing.

The condition popularly called “pins and needles” or described as an arm or leg “going to sleep” is believed by the Andamanese to be due to the bite of a rat. If a man wakes up in the night with one of his limbs benumbed in this way, he believes that a rat has bitten him while he slept.

The Andamanese say that the bite of a civet-cat (Paradoxurus) will produce cramp. I was once told that if a man eats the flesh of the civet-cat and then goes into the water he will become “lame.” This means, I think, that he will have cramp, and so will be unable to swim.

The flesh and particularly the fat of the flying fox (Pteropus) is believed to be a remedy for rheumatism. An old man who was suffering from this ailment once asked me to shoot for him some of these bats, which he cooked and ate.

If turtle-fat be permitted to burn in the fire there will be a storm.

Mention has already been made of the magical value attributed to human bones. They are esteemed as a means of driving away spirits, and therefore of curing or preventing sickness. A human jaw-bone was hanging in my hut in such a position that it could swing in the wind. The natives attributed to this the illness from which I and several of them were suffering at the time, and asked me to put the bone away in a basket, where it could not move.

Bones of animals are made into ornaments in the same way as human bones, and magical properties of a similar kind seem to be attributed to them.

Of other objects possessing magical properties the most important is fire. Fire is believed to have the power of keeping away spirits of the sea and of the forest. A fire is always kept alight beside a sick man or woman. For dysentery stones are heated in a fire and the patient is required to defecate on to these.

In conclusion, mention must be made of one favourite remedy of the Andamanese, namely scarification. The part of the body that is the seat of pain is scarified, as the forehead for headaches, the cheek for toothache. A number of very small incisions are made in the skin close together, with a sharp flake of quartz or glass. The incisions are just deep enough to cut through the skin and cause a little blood to ooze out, but not so deep as to produce a flow of blood. The operation is the work of women. It is probably more frequently used than any other remedy except red paint and human bones.