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156
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
JULY, 1924 ]
4. Tomo was the first man and his wife was Mita (dove),. He made bows, arrows and canoes; she made nets and baskets and discovered red paint and white clay. How both originated is unknown. 5. Fomo was made by Bilik. His wife was Mita and the children Tomola. 6. Koi was the first man and son of Tomo. His wifo was Mita. 7. Ta Petie was the first man. His wife was Mita. 8. Ta Mita was the progenitor of the Andamanese.
SOUTHERN TRIBES. AKAR-BALE-1. Puluga made the first pair of human beings, Nyali and Trap. He gave them firo and taught them all the accomplishments. 2. The first man was Da Duku (monitor-lizard) and the first woman was In Bain (civct-cat). AKA-BEA.-1. Puluga made the first man, Tomo. His wife, Chana Elewadi (crab), was created by Puluga, who taught Tomo how to propagate his race. 2. Chana Elewadi swam in from the sea. 3. Chana Elewadi landed pregnant at Kydd Island and became the demi-goddess of cultivation. Later Tomo was drowned and changed into Karadaku and his children into Duku.
Here again we find much the same grouping as before : (1) In the Northern group no sign of any idea of creation; in one version Tarai is the first human being. (ii) In the Middle group the idea of creation only comes up occasionally and indistinctly. (iii) In the Southern group it is clearly expressed everywhere.
But wherever there is a mention of creation, it is traced back to Bilik-Puluga, never to anyone else. Only once in the third version of the A-Puchikwar story does Tomo transcend Bilik ; but this is quite an exceptional occurrence, and even here the creation of man is not traced back to Tomo. Altogethor the A-Puchikwar legend shows here also great unsteadiness.
Ta Petie appears, in the Middle as well as in the Southern group, as the name of the first human being ; so does the name Tomo. Also the name of the first woman, Civet-cat, appears in both groups; whilst Mita (dove) is confined to the Middle group. On the whole the Middle group is more intimately connected with the Southern than with the Northern group. We can conclude that in the Middle tribe the idea of creation is indecisive, but in the Southern group it is completely established.
Finally we can conclude also that the idea of creation is most clearly and strongly enun. ciated where, as among the true Southern tribes, not two Supreme Beings but one Supremo Being exists, i.e., Puluga, who stands above all natural phenomena, to whom the celestial phenomena are attributed. (3) Let us now consider whence Fire came to the particular tribes and in what relationship Bet humanity stood with Bilik-Puluga (II, p. 201 ff.).
NORTHERN TRIBES. AKA-CHARI-Biliku produced fire by the striking together of a red stone and a pearl shell. She lighted wood with it. Whilst she slept Mite (bronze-winged dove) stole the fire and gave it to the people.
