boas] TSIMSHIAN MYTHS 141 



not come down with us?" but she could not speak a word. She 

 just dived hi front of them. Her leather apron had become a beaver's 

 tail, and her body was covered with dark-brown fur. She was afraid 

 that her brothers had seen her children swimming about with her. 



Then the brothers went home again full of sorrow. The six 

 brothera could not forget her. The following spring they went again 

 to visit her, and they found the large lake full of beavers. There 

 they stood on the shore weeping; and as they stood there weeping, 

 behold! a large Beaver came toward them with a green cottonwood 

 tree in her mouth. Her face was not yet covered with hah. Then 

 the eldest brother said to her, "My only sister, will you not come 

 down with us to our house?" but she could not speak. She just 

 dived in front of them, seeming to say that she could not do it. Then 

 the brothers wept bitterly and went home once more. 



Now, the brothers considered what they could do with then- sister, 

 and finally decided to break the dam. Therefore the following spring 

 they set out, went to the lake that their sister had built, and they 

 worked, trying to break down the dam. Before they started their 

 work they had seen that the large lake was full of beavers, but their 

 sister was not among them. Then they worked on until the dam 

 began to break down and the water burst out; and before the lake 

 was emptied many beavers came out of the empty lake. All the 

 beavers escaped and fled away from them, and scattered all over the 

 land, but the mother-beaver was not with them. Therefore when 

 the big lake was empty, the brothers went into the lake-bed to see 

 if their sister were stdl there. They went into the beaver houses, 

 and at last they found her right in the bottom of the lake. Her 

 body was all covered with fur, but her face was still the same. She 

 could not speak. Her finger-nails were like animal claws, and her 

 leather apron had become a beaver tail. She was glad to see her 

 brothers. She died right there, because she was on dry ground. 



Therefore the people say that all the beavers are females, not 

 males, because the woman was their ancestor; and also because the 

 woman's hah was brown, therefore all the beavers have brown fur, 

 no black. This is the end. 



15. The Winter Hunters and the Mosquito 1 



In olden times the people used to hunt in the winter and travel 

 way up the mountains. Once upon a time there were ten brothers 

 who went hunting. Their wives accompanied them. They went 

 on and on far away from then home. They passed many mountains, 

 valleys, and rivers, and after many days they finally came to the top 

 of a mountain. They looked down into the valley, and, behold! 

 there was smoke at the foot of the mountain. Therefore they said 



