The Religion of the Andaman Islanders. 259
Language.
Name.
Meaning.
Chari
BiLIKU
Spider
Kora
>>
>i
Bo
>>
>>
Jeru
,,
,,
Kede
Bilika
(?)
juwoi
BiLIK
(None)
Kol
,,
■>■>
Puchikwar
«)
))
Bale
PULUGA
»>
Bea
>)
,,
Little Andaman
Oluga
Monitor lizard
Sex. Female
(Male?)
Male
Female
It is clear that these different names are all forms of the same word, the phonetic changes from B to P and K to G, being of common occurrence in Andamanese.
In the Little Andaman the word Oluga, besides being the name of the mythical being in question, is also the name of the Monitor lizard ( Varamis salvator). In the four northern languages the word Biliku is the name both of the mythical being and of the spider. In all the others (except perhaps Kede, of which I am uncertain), the word given applies only to the mythical being.
As regards sex, Biliku in the five northern languages and Oluga in the Little Andaman are female. In Bea and Bale Puluga is male. In Juwoi, Kol, and Puchikwar there is some uncertainty. I was sometimes told by individuals of these three groups that Bilik was male, and sometimes that there were two Biliks, one male and one female. But, where two were believed in, it seemed that the female was regarded as subordinate. I have therefore entered (Male.) in the column opposite these groups. One Kol man believed that Bilik was female.
Biliku does not stand alone among the persons of Andamanese mythology, but has a counterpart. This counterpart is named, in the north, Tarai. The names of these two beings are used in speaking of the two prevailing winds of the Andamans.
