Note 15 — Chapter IV · MYTHS AND LEGENDS

A story that tells how Tomo came to his end states that one day, while hunting, he fell into the creek called Yara-tig-ǰig and was drowned. He was at once transformed into a kara-duku (which Mr Man translates as “cachalot”). Čana Elewadi, ignorant of the accident that had befallen her husband, went in a canoe with some of her grandchildren to ascertain the cause of his continued absence; on seeing them, Kara-duku upset their skiff and drowned his wife and most of her companions. She became a small crab, of a description still named after her, elewadi, and the others were transformed into lizards (duku). Another version of this story is that, wearied with an unsuccessful day’s hunting, Tomo went to the shore, where he found a čidi (Pinna) shell-fish; while playing with it, it fastened on him, and he was unable to free himself until a baian (Paradoxurus) seized the čidi and liberated him at the expense of one of his members. Shortly after this he saw his wife and some of their children coming after him in a canoe; unwilling that they should become aware of the misfortune that had befallen him he upset the canoe, drowning its occupants and himself. He then became kara-duku, and the others duku, which are now plentiful in the jungles15.