406 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



fourth day be came to a precipice and lay down at its base to rest. 

 Early in tlie morning- lie saw the rock open and out came Baxba- 

 kurdanuXsi'wae. He hid, and the spirit tlew away over liis head. His 

 body was all covered with red cedar bark. Four days the boy stayed 

 there. On the fifth morning' when J>axbakualanuXsT'war' came out 

 again, he followed him, and saw how he took oft his cedar bark orna- 

 ments on the bank of a pond and weut to swim in it. Wheuhe dived, 

 the youth Jumped forward and put on the cedar bark ornaments. Now 

 the spirit emerged. When he saw the boy decked with his cedar bark 

 ornaments, he said : "You have done well to take my ornaments. Now 

 I can do you no harm.'' He took him along to his home inside the 

 rock. There he asked him: "What do you want to have? Do you 

 want this harpoon f Do you want the water of life? Bo you want the 

 death-bringer? Do you want my ha'matsa?" He gave him all of 

 these. The youth stayed with him for four days. Then he was able 

 to fly. Then BaxbakuahmuXsi'wae instructed him to fly to a place 

 where his father was accustomed to fetch Avater for cooking. Soon his 

 younger brother came, and w^heu he saw him, he discovered that he 

 had been away a long time. What had seemed to him four days were 

 actually four years. He asked the young boy: "How is father? I am 

 your elder brother. Go and ask father to clean his house." The boy 

 went back and told his father, who beat him for speaking of his dead 

 son. Then the boy ran back and complained to his brother that his 

 father had beaten him for carrying the message. The elder brother 

 sent him back to the house, asking him to repeat his re(iuest. The boy 

 obeyed and when his father had heard the message again, he went out 

 to see by himself. As soon as his eldest son saw him he grew excited. 

 He flew across the river to the graveyard, tore corpses out of their 

 coffins and devoured them. Then he flew into his father's house and 

 bit everyone whom he saw. 



There are a number of tales referring to the acquisition of the 

 hd'Xhok". The Naqo'mg-ilisala have the following legend on this 

 subject:^ 



A number of women went to the island Yu'lc to dig fern roots. They 

 put some dried whale meat over the Are and a red-breasted owl came 

 and picked up some of it. It is said that there are many red-breasted 

 owls there. Then all of a sudden came the ho'Xhok" and alighted on 

 top of a tree. He came downward, pecking the tree. He came down 

 to the bottom of the tree, but it was hard on his beak. Now he walked 

 up to the women. He covered his nose and was transformed into a 

 man. He reached a woman who put some dry whale on the fire. She 

 laid a mat before him and put the whale meat on it. The ho'Xhok" 

 said : "I do not eat whale meat, I eat only man's brain." So saying, he 

 pecked the woman's head, broke her skull, and ate the brain. One of 

 the women had hidden wiien he came down. She went home and told 

 the tale. Then the Naqo'mg-ilisala resolved to make war upon the 

 ho'Xhok". Qo'mg-ustals and Waxalalaa took the blood of a woman 



' Appendix pacje 680. 



