470 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ann. 31 



his sister, who then tied the skin of a white weasel in Ms hair. He 

 was transformed when his sister said to him, "Go on and fly out to 

 sea, so that all the people may see you" (224). Old snails that go 

 down to the beach when the tide is low stick to the rocks, and become 

 chitons (166). Chitons and various kinds of shellfish also originated 

 from the fat of the supernatural snails, that had taken away a princess 

 and were killed by the people. Since this happened on Beaver-Tail 

 Island, chitons are found there plentifully (165). 



A woman who had been scolded by her husband, and who for tins 

 reason staid in a lake in which she was swimming, became the Beaver. 

 Because the woman had brown hair, all the beavers have brown fur. 

 The woman's apron became a beaver tail. Since the woman was the 

 first beaver, all the beavers are females (141). 



The Bullhead used to be a well-shaped fish. Once upon a time 

 Raven called him, intending to catch him; but since the fish kept at 

 a distance from Raven, the latter stretched out his hand and closed 

 his fingers in the direction of the fish's tail, saying, "You shall have 

 a thin tail, only your head shall be large and thick." This is the 

 reason why the bullhead has its peculiar form (71). 



The Cockle was one of a war party that accompanied Raven when 

 he made war against the South Wind. Since he did not succeed, 

 Raven broke him. For this reason cockles are broken and eaten (80). 



Salmon originated when Bright-Cloud Woman, whom Raven had 

 married, put her toes into the water (76). 



Mosquitoes originated when the body of the chief of the people of 

 the Mosquito village was burned. His ashes were blown about and 

 became small mosquitoes (145). 



The Snag is a man who jumped out of a canoe into the sea, saying 

 that he intended to become a snag (302). 



Certain peculiarities of animals are also accounted for in tales. The 

 Devilfish is afraid of the Raven. This is accounted for in two different 

 ways. When a Raven gave a feast to the sea monsters, he trans- 

 formed them into rocks; but when he uttered the magical words, the 

 devilfish jumped into the sea and escaped. For this reason, when the 

 people cry "Caw!" like a raven, the devilfish dies at once (100). If 

 the people wait until the monster is at the surface, the imitation of 

 the voice of the raven is of no avail (138). The second explanation 

 is based on the story of a war between the Killer Whales and the 

 Giant Devilfish. When the Killer Whales of the Raven Clan attacked 

 the Giant Devilfish, they succeeded in killing him, and therefore the 

 devilfish of the present time is afraid of the raven (138). 



The animals sleep in dens during the winter, because at the council 

 when the seasons were instituted the Porcupine told them to do so 

 (108). All the animals are afraid of Porcupine, because at the same 



