REMARKS OX AP.ORIGINAL ART. 119 



story connected with this is as follows : Toivats, an Indian, had 

 occasion to visit the lodge of the King of Bears, but found him 

 absent. 'i"he latter's wife, however, was at home, and Toivats 

 made love to her. Upon the return of the Bear, everything seemed 

 to be in confusion. He charged his wife with infidelity, which she 

 denied. The Bear pretended to be satisfied, but his suspicions 

 caused him to watch his wife very closely, and soon found that her 

 visits away from the lodge for wood and water occurred each day 

 at precisely the same hour. Then the Bear tied a magic thread to 

 her dress, and when his wife again left the lodge, he followed the 

 magic thread, and soon came upon his wife, finding her in the arms 

 of Toivats. The Bear was so enraged at this that he tore out the 

 heart of the destroyer of his happiness. This myth, with the corres- 

 ponding carvings in walrus-ivory, were found also among the 

 Thlinkit, who undoubtedly obtained the story from the Haidas, as 

 well as the design for carving, as is visible in the method of orna- 

 mentation peculiar to the Haidas. 



Another very common object found carved upon various house- 

 hold ves.sels, handles of wooden spoons, &c., is the head of a 

 human being in the act of eating a toad, or, as it frequently occurs, 

 the toad placed a short distance below the mouth. This refers to 

 an evil spirit, supposed to live in the wooded country, who has 

 great power of committing ev-il by means of poison, supposed to be 

 extracted from the toad. It is a difficult matter to get an Indian 

 to acknowledge the common belief in this mythic being, even when 

 aware that the inquirer is in possession of the main facts. 



During the time of my investigations in the vicinity of Victoria, 

 B. C, I was told by a former Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company 

 that when he first reached the country occupied by the Haida Indians, 

 he saw no tattooing upon the bodies of the older members of that 

 tribe. This gentleman, who is well known and occupies a promi- 

 nent position in the affairs of the Canadian Government, further- 

 more stated that the Haidas had learned the art from natives of 

 some of the South Pacific Islands. His reason was that they traveled 

 great distances in their canoes, and a number of them had been 

 employed in fur hunting for the company, having visited San Fran- 

 cisco Bay, Santa Barbara, and the neighboring islands for otter, 

 and other skins, and that frequently they were taken across to the 

 Hawaiian Islands by the company's vessels, to return again upon 

 the approach of the hunting season. It was suggested that during 



