460 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [eth.ann. 18 



best liunters being able to capture it. They passed many kinds of iisli 

 and tben the shore rose before them, and overhead could be seen the 

 ripples on the surface of the water. "Close your eyes, and hold fast 

 to me," said Raven. As soon as he had done this, Man found himself 

 standing on the shore near his home, and was very much astonished to 

 see a large village where he had left only a few huts; his wife had 

 become very old and his son was an old man. The people saw him and 

 welcomed him back, making him their headman; he was given the 

 place of honor in the kashim, and there told the people what he had 

 seen and taught the young men many things. The villagers would 

 have given Raven a seat by the old man in the place of honor, but he 

 refused it and chose a seat with the humble people near the entrance. 



After a time the old man began to wish to see the fine sky land 

 again, but his peoi)le tried to induce him to stay with them. He told 

 his children that they must not feel badly at his absence, and then, in 

 company with Eaven, he returned to the sky land. The dwarf i^eople 

 welcomed them, and they lived there for a long time, until the villagers 

 on the earth had become very numerous and killed a great many ani- 

 mals. This angered Man and liaven so much that one night they took 

 a long line and a grass basket with which they descended to the earth. 

 Raven caught ten reindeer, which he put into the basket with the old 

 man; then one end of the cord was! fastened to the basket and Raven 

 returned to the sky, drawing it up after him. The next evening they 

 took the reindeer and went down close to Man's village; the deer were 

 then told to break down the first house they came to and destroy the 

 people, for men were becoming too numerous. Tlie reindeer did as 

 they were told and ate up the people with their sharp, wolf-like teeth, 

 after which they returned to the sky; the next night they came back 

 and destroyed another house with its people in the same manner. The 

 villagers had now become much frightened and covered the third house 

 with a mixture of deer fat and berries. When the reindeer tried to 

 destroy this house they filled their mouths with the fat and sour 

 berries, which caused them to run off, shaking their heads so violently 

 that all their long, sharp teeth fell out. Afterward small teeth, such as 

 reindeer now have, grew in their places, and these animals became 

 harmless. 



Man and Raven returned to the sky after the reindeer ran away, Man 

 saying, " If something is not done to stop people from taking so many 

 animals they will continue until they have killed everything you have 

 made. It is better to take away the sun from them so that they will 

 be in the dark and will die." 



To this Raven agreed, saying, "You remain here and I will go and 

 take away the sun." So he went away and, taking the sun, put it into 

 his skin bag and carried it far away to a part of the sky land where 

 his parents lived, and it became very dark on earth. In his father's 

 village Raven took to himself a wife from the maidens of the place and 

 lived there, keeping the sun hidden carefully in the bag. 



