Hence, if their bodies
were illused, the animals of that species would not allow themselves
to be taken, neither in this world nor in the world to come. Among
the Chiquites of Paraguay a sick man would be asked by the
medicine-man whether he had not thrown away some of the flesh of the
deer or turtle, and if he answered yes, the medicine-man would say,
"That is what is killing you. The soul of the deer or turtle has
entered into your body to avenge the wrong you did it." The Canadian
Indians would not eat the embryos of the elk, unless at the close of
the hunting season; otherwise the mother-elks would be shy and
refuse to be caught.
In the Timor-laut islands of the Indian Archipelago the skulls of
all the turtles which a fisherman has caught are hung up under his
house. Before he goes out to catch another, he addresses himself to
the skull of the last turtle that he killed, and having inserted
betel between its jaws, he prays the spirit of the dead animal to
entice its kinsfolk in the sea to come and be caught. In the Poso
district of Central Celebes hunters keep the jawbones of deer and
wild pigs which they have killed and hang them up in their houses
near the fire.
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