Note 16 — Chapter VI · THE INTERPRETATION OF ANDAMANESE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS: MYTHS AND LEGENDS

The details of the legends may be briefly mentioned. One Aka-J̌eru version16 explains how one of the ancestors made a noise by breaking firewood while the cicada was singing and so raised a great storm, in which the fire was nearly lost, and in which many of the ancestors were turned into animals. This version is a fairly complete expression of the fundamental representations on which the whole group of legends is based. There is an elaboration of one point in that an account is given of how the cyclone was brought about. This is a separate motive which will be discussed and explained later in connection with the Biliku myth.