262 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [DTH. AMN. 31 



along with you!" Then the men stopped, looked back, and saw a 

 good-looking woman coming down. The prince asked them to turn 

 back and to take her aboard. So they turned back and reached the 

 place where she had come down. The prince jumped out and went 

 to meet her, and the woman came down to the beach; and the prince 

 stepped up to her quickly and stretched out his hands to embrace 

 her, but she vanished, and just a frog leaped away from him. He 

 went down to his canoe, and they paddled away; and after they 

 had gone some distance, they heard some one crying behind them, 

 saying, "My dears, take me along with you!" Then the prince 

 answered, "No, you will vanish away from me." Thus said the 

 prince to her. And she asked once more to be taken along, but they 

 did not heed her request. They paddled away as hard as they could. 



Then the woman said to them, "My dears, listen to what I say to 

 you!" They stopped and listened. "As you go along, when you 

 arrive at that point yonder, your prince will fall back and die ; when 

 you reach the next point, one of those who sit in the middle of the 

 canoe will die; and before you arrive at the beach of your village, 

 the next man will die, too; and as soon as your steersman finishes 

 telling to your people the story of what has happened to you, he 

 will die." 



Thus spoke the woman to them. They paddled away from her, 

 laughing, and scorning her, "Ha, ha! you will soon die yourself!" 

 They paddled along, and soon reached the point about which the 

 woman had told. Then the prince fell back and died. His friends 

 paddled along, weeping and sad ; and while they were paddling along 

 weeping, one of those sitting in the middle of the canoe fell back and 

 died also. Now, only two were left who were paddling along. 

 Before they reached the shore of their Tillage, the next one fell back 

 and died, and only the steersman remained. 



When he arrived at the shore, crowds of people came down and 

 questioned him about what had happened to those who had died. 

 The steersman did not say a word, but went up to his father's house. 

 The people continued to question him as to what had happened to 

 them. As soon as he came into his father's house, the crowds fol- 

 lowed him, and the house was full of the people of the whole village. 

 Then the steersman began his story. 



"Yesterday, when we arrived at the fishing-ground, our prince, 

 Asdilda, speared many trout; and before he went to camp, he looked 

 down and saw a large trout coming along. Immediately he took up 

 his harpoon, ready to spear the large trout, but his hat fell over his 

 eyes, and the trout disappeared. His valuable hat fell several times 

 just when he was ready to throw his spear, and the trout was gone. 

 At last he became angry, took off his hat and tore it to pieces, and 



