NELSON] MYTHIC ANIMALS 443 



teeth somewhat like those of a dog, and four legs; its tail is long, 

 rounded, and scaly, and a stroke from it will kill a man. The people 

 of the islands in Bering strait told me that sometimes they see these 

 walrus dogs, and that their walrus hunters are very much afraid of 

 them ; they also informed me that on one occasion a walrus dog attacked 

 an umiak full of people and killed them all. 



The bones of the mammoth which are found on the coast country of 

 Bering sea and in the adjacent interior are said to belong to an animal 

 known as the lii-luy -u-wnli (ko-gukh -puk of the Yukon). The creature 

 is claimed to live under ground, where it burrows from place to place, 

 and when by accident one of them comes to the surface, so that even 

 the tip of its nose appears above ground and breathes the air, it dies 

 at once. This explains the fact that the bones of these animals are 

 nearly always found partly buried in the earth. The Eskimo say that 

 these animals belong to the under world and for that reason the air of 

 the outer world is fatal to them. 



Ko -f/at are the tnnghat of lonely lakes; they are semihuman in form 

 and kill or steal the shade of any person found near their haunts. 

 They have a loud, wailing cry and are much feared. 



The yu-a are the shades of inanimate things and the elements and, 

 according to the beliefs of these people, usually have curiously dis 

 torted, grotesque faces. 



The nun -u um yn-a is the essence or mystery which is believed to be 

 present in or near a lake and when it goes away the lake dries up. 

 These yu-it are believed to have the forms of men or women, and when 

 visiting remote lakes people make food offerings to them so that they 

 may be propitiated. 



Ti -sikh-piik, the great worm. This animal, which figures in numerous 

 tales, was shaped like an enormous worm or caterpillar. It lived in the 

 days when animals were supposed to have the power of changing their 

 form at will to that of human beings, and in the tales it is indifferently 

 a worm or a man. Among the carvings in ivory representing this crea 

 ture were several having the body shaped like a worm with a human 

 face on the head. 



I-mnlch -p/t-ml -klan -kun, the sea weasel. The Xorton sound people 

 described this as a long, weasel-shape animal found in the sea. They 

 say it has black fur like the shrew-mouse with a white patch between 

 its forelegs. This animal is also known among people living on the 

 islands of Bering strait. There is no question that this myth has its 

 origin in the sea otter, although the latter has been unknown in this 

 region for a long period. Owing to its absence it has been invested 

 with various supernatural traits, among which it is said to bring harm 

 to lonely hunters when it finds them at sea. To this same animal may 

 be ascribed also the i-mum 1 tsni -kak or i-mum irik]i-tH~kli -clri, a rare 

 animal said to be like a land otter, but which lives in the sea and is 

 taken by only the best hunters. 



