boas] DESCRIPTION OF THE TSIMSHIAN 471 



council he struck them with the quills of his tail when they insulted 

 him (108). The Dog is the enemy of the Porcupine, on account of the 

 events in the council held by the animals, in which the Dogs wanted 

 to have forty days in each month, while the Porcupine showed that 

 the Dogs were wrong (115, 116). Porcupine has oidy four toes, 

 because in the council in which the seasons were arranged, after he 

 had spoken, he bit off his thumb in his rage on account of the stupidity 

 of the large animals (107). The Dog's thumb is dislocated, because, 

 in his quarrel with the Porcupine during the council, the Porcupine 

 struck it with his tail. 



The Raven has no intestines, because when hunting one day he 

 was unsuccessful, and took out part of his own intestines in order to 

 bring them to his children (96). The Gulls have black-tipped wings 

 because Raven at one time threw them into the fire (67). The Cor- 

 morant is black on account of his adventure with Raven. 1 The Cor- 

 morant can not speak because Raven tore out his tongue when ho stole 

 his halibut (93). Branches of trees creak because a supernatural 

 being put his mother-in-law into a tree (1.211). Wolves are afraid of 

 human beings because a man that killed a Wolf prince was then 

 adopted by the Wolves, married Wolf women, then returned with his 

 children to his own tribe, and sent back his children, the Wolves, to the 

 mountains, ordering them not to hurt then relatives (322). The 

 Tomtit is the chief of the birds, because, when Raven tried to obtain 

 sea eggs by means of a sinew rope, the tomtit's sinews proved to be 

 strongest (63-64). 



Little Grindstone, one of the sons of the woman who was the sole 

 survivor of the people taken up to the sky, ate of the berries growing 

 on Skeena River, and was transformed into a mountain (N 234). 



Flint originated when the wife of a supernatural being who was in 

 great danger on top of a mountain did not understand his request to 

 sacrifice. She was then told to melt fat and to eat it. After she had 

 done so, she lay down across an old log, broke apart, and her body 

 was transformed into flint. The supernatural being and his dog 

 were transformed into stone, which may still be seen on the mountain 

 (246, 1.145). 



The passage to Nass River was opened by throwing sling-stones 

 against an obstructing mountain (300). 



The dangerous whirlpools and tide-rips on canoe passes were 

 removed at a festival, in which a chief requested the monsters living 

 at those places to change then domicile (276). According to another 

 tale, they were removed when Raven transformed all the sea monsters 

 into rock (100). 



i Probably this is an error; and It ought to be, the raven is black, because he flew away through the 

 smoke hole and was blackened by soot (93). 



