336 THE NOllTII-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



of men existed upon tlie eartli at tlie time wlien a 

 great flood came. It rained day and niglit week 

 after week. The waters rose rapidly, so that all 

 were drowned except one man. He made haste 

 to reach higher ground, and ascended a lofty 

 hill. Still it rained ceaselessly, the waters covered 

 the face of the land, and followed this last Indian 

 relentlessly as he retreated higher and higher up the 

 mountain side. At length he gained the very 

 summit, and as he sat and watched, the pursuing 

 floods continued to approach. In hopeless despair 

 he prayed to the Great Spirit, who responded to 

 his prayer by changing the lower half of his body 

 into stone, so that, when the advancing waters 

 surged up to him, he remained unmoved. They 

 rose to his waist, and then the rains ceased and the 

 floods began to subside. Although delighted with 

 his unexpected escape, the solitary Indian was 

 oppressed with dismay by the reflection that he 

 was the only survivor, and in his distress again 

 prayed to the Great Spirit to grant him a '^ Kloot- 

 cheman," or squaw. He then fell asleep, and after 

 a time awaking, found his lower limbs restored to 

 flesh and bone, and a beautiful '' Klootcheman" by 

 his side. From this pair sprang the Indian tribes 

 in British Columbia. This is a striking instance of 

 a fusion of the story of the creation with that of 

 the deluge ; originally derived, no doubt, from the 

 early Homish missionaries, but by lapse of time 

 having passed into a tradition of the tribes, and 

 suggests a source of error affecting philology. 



