Note 15 — Chapter III · RELIGIOUS AND MAGICAL BELIEFS

In this connection it may be mentioned that there is a belief throughout the Andamans that it is dangerous to roast pork. In the North Andaman the natives commonly say that the spirits of the jungle are angry if pork be roasted, and may be attracted to the spot and cause the natives to be ill. An Akar-Bale belief, connecting the danger with the spirits of the sky has just been mentioned. Mr Man’s version of the matter is as follows:— “… there is a company of evil spirits who are called čol, and who are much dreaded. They are believed to be descendants of Maia Čol who lived in antediluvian times. They generally punish those who offend them by baking or roasting pig’s flesh, the smell of which is particularly obnoxious to them, as it is also to Puluga, who therefore, often assists them in discovering the delinquent; the same risk does not attend boiling pork, which the olfactory nerves of the fastidious čol are not keen enough to detect. While the Andamanese say that they are liable to be struck by E̱rem-čauga-la or J̌uruwin at any time or in any place, the čol strike those only who offend them, and that during the day while they are stationary, this being necessitated by the distance from the earth of their abode, whence they hurl their darts; an invisible spear is the weapon they always use, and this is thrown with unerring aim at the head of their victims, and is invariably fatal. As these demons are considered especially dangerous on the hottest days, they are apparently held accountable for the deaths from sunstroke which happen from time to time15.”