294 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY I irrii. a ,v . :;i 



The chief and his wife did not sleep that night; and before day- 

 break the young chief heard something like a song on the other side 

 of the river. He arose, called his nephew and his wife, and said, 

 "Let us be off!" So they crossed the river; and when they arrived 

 on the other side, at the foot of a rock-slide, they heard a shouting 

 above. Behold! a man was coming down wearing four crests, a 

 grizzly-bear hat , red leggings, and a bow in his hand. Another young 

 man was coming down wearing a mountain-goat hat, and a woman 

 with two large dishes — one carved with live frogs, and the other one 

 with a mountain spring. Then they sang a mourning-song. The 

 words of their song are these : 



"Ai-yu' wa hoo hi, yea, ha-ha — ha — a! " 



They repeated this many times. After the two had sung their 

 mourning-song, the one took off the grizzly-bear hat and gave it to 

 the chief, and he took off his red leggings and gave them to the chief, 

 also his smew bow. The young man who wore the mountain-goat 

 hat took it off and gave it to the chief's nephew, and the woman gave 

 her two dishes to the chief's wife. Then they went up the rock-slide 

 again and were transformed into three grizzly bears. 



Later on the three elder brothers heard a noise on the other side. 

 They went across quickly in then- canoes, but they were too late. 

 They met their youngest brother on his way back, but the three 

 elder brothers paddled across in vain. They came back empty- 

 handed. 



Now the young chief became the richest among all his people. 

 With his sinew bow he shot all kinds of animals; and while the winter 

 famine lasted, he had plenty of meat of all kinds, fat of all kinds, and 

 skins of all kinds. He fed all his people, also his three brothers, and 

 all his people brought him all kinds of property as presents. 



Before the whiter famine ended, he invited all the people of the 

 river, and gave away property to them, and he put on his mountain- 

 goat hat and sang one mourning-song while he piled up his property 

 before it was given away. And this crest went on through all gener- 

 ations throughout the ages. 



He made another feast and invited all the different tribes, and he 

 wore his grizzly-bear hat and his red leggings, and he carried his 

 sinew bow and sang the two mourning-songs which he had received 

 from the grizzly bears who rewarded him for his kindness 10 the 

 Chief Bear. 



Then his wife showed the guests her two carved dishes, which she 

 also had received from the grizzly bears in return for her kindness; 

 and the guests were delighted to see the new crests and to hear the 

 two songs. Then the chief proclaimed that no one should use these 

 crests and his mourning-songs, only his clan after him through all 



