[155] As a confirmation of this view it may be pointed out that beating or scourging is inflicted on inanimate objects expressly for the purpose indicated in the text. Thus the Indians of Costa Rica hold that there are two kinds of ceremonial uncleanness, _nya_ and _bu-ku-rú_. Anything that has been connected with a death is _nya_. But _bu-ku-rú_ is much more virulent. It can not only make one sick but kill. "_Bu-ku-rú_ emanates in a variety of ways; arms, utensils, even houses become affected by it after long disuse, and before they can be used again must be purified. In the case of portable objects left undisturbed for a long time, the custom is to beat them with a stick before touching them. I have seen a woman take a long walking-stick and beat a basket hanging from the roof of a house by a cord. On asking what that was for, I was told that the basket contained her treasures, that she would probably want to take something out the next day, and that she was driving off the _bu-ku-rú_. A house long unused must be swept, and then the person who is purifying it must take a stick and beat not only the movable objects, but the beds, posts, and in short every accessible part of the interior. The next day it is fit for occupation. A place not visited for a long time or reached for the first time is _bu-ku-rú_. On our return from the ascent of Pico Blanco, nearly all the party suffered from little calenturas, the result of extraordinary exposure to wet and cold and of want of food. The Indians said that the peak was especially _bu-ku-rú_ since nobody had ever been on it before." One day Mr. Gabb took down some dusty blow-guns amid cries of _bu-ku-rú_ from the Indians. Some weeks afterwards a boy died, and the Indians firmly believed that the _bu-ku-rú_ of the blow-guns had killed him. "From all the foregoing, it would seem that _bu-ku-rú_ is a sort of evil spirit that takes possession of the object, and resents being disturbed; but I have never been able to learn from the Indians that they consider it so. They seem to think of it as a property the object acquires. But the worst _bu-ku-rú_ of all, is that of a young woman in her first pregnancy. She infects the whole neighbourhood. Persons going from the house where she lives, carry the infection with them to a distance, and all the deaths or other serious misfortunes in the vicinity are laid to her charge. In the old times, when the savage laws and customs were in full force, it was not an uncommon thing for the husband of such a woman to pay damages for casualties thus caused by his unfortunate wife." See Wm. M. Gabb, "On the Indian Tribes and Languages of Costa Rica," _Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia_, xiv. (Philadelphia, 1876) pp. 504 _sq._ [156] J. Chaffanjon, _L'Orénoque et le Caura_ (Paris, 1889), pp. 213-215.