64 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ANN. 31 



was too far out to sea. Therefore he made up his mind to invite in 

 all the people from the land and from the sea ; and when all the guests 

 were in his house, TxamsEm spoke: "Friends, I have invited you in 

 because I want to borrow your sinews." All the people promised to 

 help him, and first he took the sinew of the large whale. TxamsEm 

 threw it out to sea, trying to reach the large sea egg that he saw on 

 the long mass of seaweed which was floating on the sea. The whale 

 smew, however, broke. He tried the sinews of all the different 

 animals, one at a time, but none of them were satisfactory. Finally 

 he said, ' ' Whose smews have I not tried yet ? ' ' Then the little Tomtit 

 stood up and said, "Sir, you may take my sinews;" and he took out 

 the smews from his little belly and held them out to him. They 

 were as thin as spider web. When all his smews were out, he said, 

 "Now, master, take hold of one end of my sinews and throw them 

 out where the long mass of seaweed is; then wo shall get your sea 

 egg." TxamsEm could hardly hold the small sinew of the Tomtit. 

 Nevertheless he tried. Finally Tomtit took hold of one end of (the 

 rope made of) his own sinews, went down to the beach, and threw 

 (the rope made of) his own sinews seaward to the place where the 

 long mass of seaweed was, and caught it. Then all the people pulled 

 at it, and the sinews of the little Tomtit were stronger than the sinews 

 of all the other animals. Soon TxamsEm had a large sea egg. He 

 ate it and kept the shell. He was well pleased to have eaten the 

 large sea egg. Then he gave power to Tomtit to be a chief overall 

 the annuals. Then TxamsEm went on. 



(6) ORIGIN OF TIDES 1 



Again TxamsEm took his raven blanket and flew over the ocean with 

 the firebrand in his hands. He arrived at the mainland and came to 

 another house, which belonged to a very old woman, who held the 

 tide-line in her hand. At that tune the tide was always high, and 

 did not turn for several days, until the new moon came, and all the 

 people were anxious for clams and other sea food. Giant entered 

 and found the old woman holding the tide-line hi her hand. He sat 

 down and said, "Oh, I have had enough, I have had all the clams I 

 need!" The old woman said at once, "How is that possible? How 

 can that be? What are you talking about, Giant?" — "Yes, I have had 

 clams enough." The old woman said, "No, it is not true." There- 

 fore Giant pushed her, so that she fell back, and he threw dust into 

 her eyes and her mouth. Then she let the tide-line go, so that the 

 tide ran out very low, and all the clams and shellfish were on the 

 beach. So Giant carried up as much as he could. The tide was still 

 low when he re-entered. The old woman said, "Giant, come and heal 

 my eyes! I am blind from the dust." Giant said, "Will you 



