Wichita eagle., 1888-07-10
A CURIOUS BELIEF.
SUPERSTrTONS or THE TOTONAc
INDIANS OF VERA CRUZ

spected with the view to discovering the
tracks Of any animal which may have crossed
it during the night Whatever it may be
that has left its imprint IN the circle, that
animal Is the manual Of the new born IN
tanc. Is Is ner quite easy 70 explain the
meaning of the word nahgal Other self,
guardian spirit, wrath. token, all these have
somewhat Of its force, yet none is exactly tie
definition. II the MANUAL be deer, for in
stance the babe, become a man, has under
exceptional conditions the power Of exchang-
ing MS corporal being at win from that OF q
man TO that OF q deer. Thus il goes without
saying that the child. as he arrives at the
per1od of intelligence, is carefully taught
what animal is his nahual, and It IS held
sacred accordingly.
An indian mother must guard her child
against evil influences; so she piucks tufs
of the hair-li scarlet feathers that grow at
the root OF the canoe beak" the toucan,,
and fastens then on the crown Of the infants
head with cera de campeche, very tenacious
wax gathered by inseses Il she meet q
white one" that Is to say, a Caucasian, she
hastily covers the face and head Of her baby
to avert the ills which may befan it, for if
the stranger gaze upon the child the look
l1cdHs nc OyO VILE 0'A CJCI.
With increasing years the tie between the
man and the individual animal into which
be transforms himself becomes stronger and
stronger, until as last the death Of the one
snaps the cord Of Hfe of the other. Take, for
instance, the story Of death which occurred
on the night Of the birth Of a woman of the
Totonac race, who In her advanced years was
prodigy of knowledge and a very notable
person. It may be said, en- PEASANT, that the
telling Of this story In detail develops many
features Of interest IN the daily life OF the
Indians 1t was the night OF birth Of the
daughter, and some hours after that event,
indeed about daylight, when Francisco s.
and his wife awoke to the fact that the
stranger was crying Justify from some physi-
cal discomfort. The husband arose to stir
the fire into a blaze, for fifty years ago
matches and candles were not In NE IN Nj
santa and the freight served Tor al pur-
poses Of Illumination Bot the Irdtan serv-
ing " man had creps away to the straw
mat that was her only bed and tho fire
had died down past reldndling. 50 that
the man had to seek Tor torch at the but
IF ueighbor, who was already asar and
eating his simple breakfast OF tortiNas,
thin, unleavened coracake. dipped In a sop
OF red Chile peppers, ground up with water
in preparation for beginning bis work at
daylight Returning home with the brand,
Francisco was relating to his wife that his
envy and .dmiration had been moved by
the grsto and hearty appetite OF the neigh
Dor, when that neighbours wife came run
ing to the door crying and calling "Chicoi
Chico, Come quick to help me! Mariana is
dying" And, truly enough, when Francisco
reached the spot the man be had SO lately
left eating with 1ess and vigor was past tho
last agony, whether from apoplexy, heart
disease or what not these simple feeling
people had no means OF verifying But the
explanation was for them simple enough
when, a few days later, werd came IN from
Yecuatla that at the very hour Of the sud
den death party OF hunters at that place
had killed lion emountain ion,, which ami
NAL was the manual OF the dead man
The bad Indians are rather inclined to
make capital with tbs superstitious Of their
occult powers, but it sometimes results, in
this matter, as in others, that the would be
bitter Is bitten. as witness the following cpl
sodes: There was an idle fellow, Jose, who
hung about Misantla, living on the earnings
OF his wife, who ground corn and made tor
uuas for her neighbour Tia wife died and
Jose turned his wits to stealing chickens and
making himself q nuisance generally In the
community. One day he went TO changarro
kept by poor widow. A changarro IS q
stand for the sole Of agusrd1ente and tepache,
q sort of beer or cider made from fsrmented
corn and pineappleS Jose demanded liquor,
and the keeper declined to give it 10 him
gratis. Then says Master joss, indicating a
miserable bag-o bones Of horse belonging
to the widow, which ives tied to an grange
tree in the courtyard: You had better give
me the liquor or viii throw mol de oio the
evil eye, on your horse and XII him" The
vender OF liquors persisted in her refusal,
and, by curious coincidence, little Lister
the wretched animal fell down and died It
bad probably been On its last Legs, but the
Indians did not view the matter from 80
philosophical q standpoint They .ioed
Master Jose the sorcerer, and administered
TO eIrn on the spot 50 sound . beating that be
shortly died from the effects OF il
And there WIS another, notorious drunk
ard, who lived m the mouts, the chapersal,
tia Jungle; ms family deferred ham from
going to the town, for be always returned Ia
q beassay state OF in.oKication when he went
down to Misantsa 30 heard one day thst q
DStSCpSx, = 011H WIZ A4SVA DWo tE GO
leagues away at the edge Of The mountains,
bad seockof aguardieaoe, and be bent his
steps to the Aoza-A hat Of cane and palm
to bug q share Of It. The oehar man srn-
uoualy denied the possession Of liquor, and
the topper grew furiousty angry At what he
considered falsehood and selfish unneigh-
boriy refusal Every WE'LL be said: you
refuse to give or sell me agrardientA You
viii rue il The frst day yo0 go cut hunt
mg"-for the ether lived by the spois of the
cnas-"I viii become q tiger and XII al
your dogs In spite Of t6is formidable
menace. the hunter. who really had no liquor,
could but persist II his assertsocA 10 and
beaoldl The first time thereafter that be
went bunting 8 big tiger set upon h;s dcss
and killed the whole pack, ono after another.
The poor fellow. herets Of bis means Of sub
sssence In the lon Of his dogA went DOWN -
Nisanela and soek out . denA1Aa-a writ of
eoupIains-Agatnss his nsiShbor CA . charge
Of witcncraft and dog seeakng. And the
Judges Of that day-th1 took place only some
ten years since-ecsually took the charge
formally, seriously, acd the offender vas
committed TO Jail On the grounds Aforesaid,
with what result present deponene knoweth
not-Y. g AalHs in San Francisco Chrou-
tcA
USEFUL. THOUGH ABUSED.