boas] DESCRIPTION OF THE TSIMSHIAN 453 



cedar-bark neck-ring of a Salmon Man, the latter does not see him, 

 but believes that he is suffocating (204). The arrows of a hunter are 

 invisible to sea lions, who believe them to be diseases (1.131). The 

 chief of the Spring Salmon is sick, because he is kept folded up and 

 dried in a box for more than one season. When the salmon is taken 

 out and unfolded, the chief gets better (194). The slave of the 

 Killer Whale is unable to repair his wedges, but a human being who 

 visits him puts new points on them (1.179). Bears are led to believe 

 that the copper bracelets which a girl throws on the ground are her 

 excrements (1.151). It may be mentioned here also that the son 

 of the Sun is unable to fly up to the sky when a woman whom he 

 carries opens her eyes and looks about (1.211), and that a supernatural 

 woman when looked at cannot swallow (1.163). 



Actions are repeated four times. Raven asks four times for fish 

 (62) ; a prince loses his hat four times (260) ; four times Beaver dines 

 with Porcupine (N 76) ; and the Sun tests his son-in-law four times 

 (1.89 etseq.). 



By shouting four times supernatural beings may be caused to 

 appear. Thus a supernatural being comes up from a lake when a man 

 shouts four times (156). A frog is induced to appear in the same 

 manner (129, N 146). Shouting four times brings down the birds 

 from heaven (341). Shouting four times produces rain (167). In 

 one case geese that fly over a hut are killed by shouting (336). 



Mythical Concepts 



The World. — The world is supported by a man named Am'ala', 

 who lies on his back and who carries a pole on which the world 

 turns. 1 It is told how the person who in olden times supported the 

 world became tired, and how he called Am'ala', who had obtained 

 supernatural power from a supernatural being, and later on by over- 

 coming a mountain. The supernatural being took from his chest 

 the pole on which the world turns, and moved it over to Am'ala"s 

 chest. Am'ala' is accompanied by his slave, who, in order to 

 strengthen him, rubs his back once a year with the oil of wild ducks. 

 It is said that the oil has nearly been used up, and that as soon as 

 Am'ala' dies, the world will come to an end (121). The same story 

 is referred to, although obscurely, in N 116. 



The sky is a beautiful open country (1.87). It is reached through 

 the hole in the sky (60, N 88), which opens and closes. In order to 

 pass through, one has to count four times; and when it opens the 

 fourth time, it is possible to fly through the hole rapidly. The sky 

 may also be reached by means of a ladder which extends from the 

 mountains up to the sky (1.85). Another person reached the sky by 



' It may be that the sky is meant. 



