22 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [YOL. V. 



of the name of both in one Algonquin dialect, if Dr. Brinton's interpreta- 

 tion be the correct one, it must be paramount to stating that the myth 

 itself has an Algonquin origin, since the same play with the words is 

 impossible in connection with their Dene names {^ydn and tse-ker). Is 

 there any real proof of this priority of origin ? 



II. — THE BURNING DOWN OF A COUNTRY. 



Told by Abel N^th^tcas, Chief of Thatce, on Lake Stuart. 



A young man was living with a young woman. All the other women 

 were bringing to their husbands basketsfuP of 'kdrmiJi^ or sap ; and yet 

 his wife used to come home with a single shaving of it which she brought 

 him ir^the hand. He wished to ascertain the reason of this ; therefore 

 he followed her one day at a distance. As soon as her fellow-women had 

 reached a place in the woods planted with scrub pines, he saw her pro- 

 ceed on her way, while the others were busying themselves with the 

 scraping of the sap. 



When she had reached the trunk of a tree, dried up but still standing,, 

 she commenced striking it with a stick, repeating each time: kdle] I 

 kdlejl^. Soon a beautiful young man, white as daylight, came out of the 

 top of the tree and played with her. 



Thus the young man knew why his wife used to bring him so little 

 sap ; so he returned home and arrived there before she got back. Then 

 his wife scraped off as usual a single ribbon of 'karmih, and took it home 

 to her husband, carrying it in the hand. 



One day that she was to return with the other women to collect sap 

 the young man said to her : " Really you do bring me too little 'karmih. 

 See how the other women are always loaded when they come home. 

 Therefore, lend me your blanket* and your scraper : I will go for it 

 myself." 



So he said, and then he clothed himself with his wife's garments and 

 went with the other women, packing an empty tcajyaf. But he stopped 

 not with them among the scrub pines ; he went on as far as the dried up 



* Tcajyai tizp3n. The tcajyai cannot quite properly be called a basket, but it is its equiva- 

 lent among our Indians. For figure and description of the utensil, see Notes on the Western 

 Dhih, Trans. Can. Inst., Vol. IV., p. 120. 



*The 'kprmik is the sap or cambium layer of the scrub ])iiie (P. contorta), scraped off it* 

 thin shavings by means of a bone scraper. Op. cit., p. 76. 



' Words now devoid of meaning, at least among our Indians. 

 *That is her outer garment. 



* See note ^ above. 



