3 68 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



determined to stay awake all night and go forth earliest in the morn- 

 ing to get the longest bow. He took extraordinary pains to keep 

 awake, but overreached himself in an excess of ingenuity, and fell asleep 

 just before dawn. When he opened his eyes only the very shortest 

 bow was left for him. But Kareya, pitying his weakness and dis- 

 appointment, gave him cunning ten times greater than before, so 

 that he was sharp-witted above all the animals in the wood. In re- 

 turn, the grateful coyote befriended The Man and his children ever 

 afterward, doing many helpful things for them. Similarly among 

 the Nishinam, where his history began as the evil principle, assisting at 

 the creation, the coyote afterward turned friendly, killing two canni- 

 bal giants, procuring fire for the tribe, and doing other feats common 

 to solar heroes the world over. He obtained fire on the plan of the 

 monkey and the cat in the matter of roasted chestnuts — by sending 

 after it the lizai - d, who, with the bat and sand-hill crane that helped 

 him, saw some exciting adventures. 



When Kareya made the fishes he did not let the salmon come up 

 the Klamath, in consequence of which the Karok, who live on its up- 

 per part, were sorely pressed for food. But Kareya had made a great 

 fish-dam at the mouth of the river, and given the key to two old hags 

 to keep, who never ceased the watching even to sleep. Seeing that 

 the Indians were nearly starved, the coyote befriended them. He 

 made a visit to the hags on an ingenious pretext, but only succeeded 

 so far as to find that the key was kept too high for him to reach it. 

 He stayed all night in the cabin with the hags, pretending to sleep, 

 but watching their movements out of a corner of his eye. In the 

 morning one of the hags took down the key and started to get some 

 salmon for her breakfast. Then the coyote happened to think of a 

 way to get the key. Jumping up he darted under the hag, throwing 

 her down and causing her to fling the key a long way off. Before 

 she could scramble up, the coyote had seized the key and opened the 

 dam. Thus the salmon could ascend the Klamath, and the Karok had 

 plenty of food. But they had no fire to cook it with, because Kareya 

 had hidden it in a casket which he gave to two sleepless hags far to- 

 ward the rising sun. So the coyote promised to try to get this second 

 boon for them. 



He stationed a line of animals all along the road from the home of 

 the Karok to the far-distant land where the fire was, the strongest near 

 the fire, and last of all concealed an Indian under a hill. This done, 

 the coyote insinuated himself politely into the good graces of the old 

 guardians, and lay by their hearth all night feeling very comfortable 

 and pretending to sleep. But he was soon convinced that without help 

 there was no way to elude their vigilance ; so in the morning he stole 

 out and had a talk with the Indian under the hill, after which he 

 went back and lay down by the hearth as before. Presently, as had 

 been concerted, the Indian was heard hammering at the door, as if to 



