boas] TSIMSHIAN MYTHS 235 



to my country and to my people. Take all your brothers and your 

 two sisters with you!" 



The eldest son agreed to do what his mother said. Therefore he 

 asked his father to make for him a good-sized canoe. His father 

 did as his son had requested. He made a very good canoe for him; 

 and after the canoe was finished, they made ready to go. The father 

 of the children was very sorry to know that all his children were 

 going to leave him. Before they set out, their mother took them to 

 the sandbar at Rose Point. She pointed with her finger a little 

 south of sunrise, and said, "Keep the head of your canoe in this 

 direction; and when you reach the mouth of a great river, make a 

 pole with which to punt up the river ; and after you have passed a 

 great canyon up river, you will reach a great town. That is the 

 town of your relatives." 



Soon after she had given them this advice, the children started 

 across the sea. For two days they paddled across the strait. Then 

 they came to a passage between two large islands. They still kept 

 the head of the canoe a little south of sunrise, and then they arrived 

 at the mouth of a great river which had been unknown to them before. 

 They did as their mother had commanded them; and when they 

 camped in a certain place, they prepared a pole to use on the river. 

 On the following morning they started again, going up the river. 

 Then father had loaded their canoe with meat of seals, sea lions, 

 halibut, and all kinds of sea animals, also with shellfish. They went 

 up the river day after day. Now they arrived at a large canyon, as 

 their mother had told them, and after four days they had passed 

 through the canyon. Another day passed, and they saw a large 

 town before them. Toward evening they arrived below the large 

 town and camped there; and before they walked up on the trail that 

 led up to the town, they turned then good canoe upside down, and it 

 was transformed into a little hill, and all the animals were changed 

 into stones, which are there up to this day. 



In the evening they walked up to the village, at the time when all 

 the young people of the village were walking on the street. Then 

 this noble family walked up and down, and nobody knew who these 

 strangers were. They saw a large house in the center of the town, 

 and their mother had told them that this was then grandfather's 

 house. They met a young man, whom they asked, "To whom does 

 this large house belong?" The young man told them that it was a 

 great chief's house. The eldest son understood the language of his 

 mother, while the rest used the Haida language. Then the young 

 man ran into the chief's house and told him that some strangers were 

 standing outside — four young men and two young women. There- 

 fore the chief sent four of his young men to call them in. The mes- 

 senger went out on the street and told them that the chief invited 

 them to come in. Then the chief ordered his men to spread a good 



