boas] TSIMSHIAN MYTHS 93 



halibut and clubbed them. Chief Cormorant had not been there 

 long when his boat was full of large halibut, and all the halibut had 

 their heads toward Chief Cormorant; but TxiimsEm caught no 

 halibut at all, while the chief was idling his canoe with fish. 



The chief said to TxiimsEm, "Let us go home, for we have enough 

 halibut! - ' Then they hauled up their lines and paddled home with 

 their canoe full of halibut. Now TxiimsEm was silent. Then Chief 

 Cormorant said to las friend, "I will give you some of my halibut;" 

 and TxiimsEm said to Cormorant, "Let us go ashore and refresh 

 ourselves!" So they went ashore to refresh themselves. When they 

 reached the beach, they stepped out of their canoe, and the sun 

 shone on the sandy beach. 



Now, TxiimsEm said to Cormorant, "Just stand still! I see a large 

 louse on the back of your head." So the Cormorant stood there, 

 while TxiimsEm went toward him. He said, "Ha! I caught your 

 big louse. Now put out your tongue, that I may put your louse on 

 it!" The Cormorant put his tongue way out; and while he was doing 

 so, TxiimsEm took hold of the tongue and tore it out. Then Cor- 

 morant tried to speak; but he could not, for he had no tongue. 

 TxiimsEm went down to the canoe, and the poor Cormorant came 

 down and went aboard the canoe, unable to talk. Many times he 

 tried to speak, but TxiimsEm did not understand him. TxiimsEm 

 paddled back home. When they arrived at the beach of Cor- 

 morant's town, the people came down and saw that the canoe was 

 full of halibut; but Chief Cormorant was lying in the bow of the 

 canoe, covered with a mat. They questioned him, and asked, "What 

 is the matter with you, chief?" Then TxiimsEm lied, saying that 

 Chief Cormorant had not caught any halibut ; that therefore he had 

 put his own hook into his mouth, and had torn out his own tongue. 

 The people took off the mats that covered Chief Cormorant, and saw 

 that his tongue was lost. The people questioned him. He tried to 

 speak, but they did not understand him. Then Chief Cormorant 

 made signs with his fingers, and thus told his people that TxiimsEm 

 had torn out his tongue on their way back from the fishing-ground, 

 because TxiimsEm had caught nothing. 



Chief Cormorant's mouth was full of blood ; therefore all his people 

 assembled and flew around TxiimsEm, and struck at his cheeks with 

 their wings, and some of them scratched his head with their claws, 

 ami pecked at his eyes with their bills. TxiimsEm tried to escape; 

 but the Cormorants were so many, that he was unable to do so. At 

 last he put on his raven garment and flew away through the smoke 

 hole, crying, "Caw, caw, caw!" He went away, starving and hun- 

 gry. For this reason the Cormorant can not speak distinctly nowa- 

 days. As TxiimsEm had cursed them, therefore all the cormorants 

 have black feathers now. He himself was badly bruised all over his 

 body. 



