boas] TSIMSHIAST MYTHS 271 



any harm. Late in the night they went into the house; and as 

 soon as the young man was sound asleep, the man who pretended to 

 be the woman took his knife and cut his brother-in-law's throat. 

 Then he threw the body out of the house. 



Now the two villages began to fight, and had a great battle. Some- 

 times the Eagles were victorious, sometimes the Ganha'da. At last 

 the Ganha'da vanquished the Eagle Clan, and therefore the latter 

 fled. This happened on Copper River in Alaska. The people of 

 the Eagle Clan took to their canoes, and escaped southward. They 

 took with them their costly coppers and many elk skins, marten 

 garments, and other kinds of property, and they left in more than 

 ten canoes. After traveling three days, they came to a nice bay. 

 They tied their costly coppers together to make an anchor. On the 

 following day, when they pulled up the anchor, their line broke, and 

 they lost ten coppers. They went on southward for many days. 

 When they came to the mouth of the river, they took one of their 

 expensive crests, a stone carved like an eagle, put cedar bark around 

 it, and cast it out to serve as an anchor, and all the canoes gathered 

 there. On the following morning they pulled up their carved eagle; 

 but before they could take it into their canoe, the line broke. Then 

 they would mourn over their loss. Again they started, and went 

 on southward until they arrived at an inlet, up which they went. 

 There they camped. They were glad to have escaped from their 

 enemies, but their hearts were heavy because they had lost their 

 carved eagle and their coppers. In the great battle they had lost 

 their princes, and they had to leave a part of their property in the 

 houses. They were going to make tins inlet their new home. On the 

 following day three of their young people went out in a canoe across 

 the inlet; and when they reached the foot of a steep cliff, behold! 

 a large halibut came up, opened its mouth, and swallowed the canoe 

 with the three persons — two princesses and one prince. The people 

 on the other side saw it. Therefore two of their brave men went to 

 kill the monster who had devoured their prince and their princesses. 

 They crossed the inlet in their canoe, having their large knives tied 

 to the right wrist. As soon as they reached the foot of the steep 

 rock, a halibut came up, opened its mouth, and swallowed the canoe 

 with the two brave men; but as soon as the halibut had swallowed 

 them, they cut it inside with their knives. They cut up its intestines 

 until it died. Then the supernatural halibut felt the pains in its 

 stomach, jumped out of the water, and struck the water with its 

 tail. It swam around the inlet, and finally ran ashore and died 

 there. Then those who had remained alive went down to the beach, 

 and saw that the great supernatural halibut was dead. They cut it 

 open, and saw the two canoes and five persons. Then they sang 

 their mourning-song. 



