BOAS] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 591 



open the belly of Ts !a'qarne £ and to take out his intestines, but he revives. 

 He is thrown into the fire, and they can not kill him. They tie a stone on 

 his neck and throw him overboard into the sea. He comes up again and 

 walks back to his house. Ts!a'qame £ tells Q !a'neqe £ lak u that he will not 

 be able to kill him. Then Q !a'neqe £ lak u takes part of the neck-ring of red- 

 cedar bark that T8!a'qame £ is wearing, and takes it to the house of the Sal- 

 mon. This has the effect that frogs come to be in Ts!a'qame £ 's stomach. 

 He takes them out and puts them on a rock. 



8. Q !a/neqe £ lak u meets Ma'tag'ila 5.197. 



He meets a large bird, which takes off its dress and becomes Ma'tag'ila. 

 They become friends, and he creates salmon for Ma'tag'ila in the river 

 TslE'lxut in Hardy Bay. 



9. Q!a'neqe £ lak u meets No'mas 5.197. 



He meets No'mas, the ancestor of the La'witslis, who was the first one to 

 use fish-lines made of kelp, which are employed in halibut fishing. 

 Q !a'neqe £ lak u makes friends with him, and creates salmon in his river. 



10. Q !a/neqe £ lak u meets NomasE'nxelis 5.196; 9.207; 11.195; 11.221. 



He meets NomasE'nxelis, who sends his son to Xusba'lis. Q !a'neqe £ lak u 

 transforms him into a large stone on Hope Island. The grass on top of the 

 stone is his hair. NomasE'nxelis's son had a house, in front of which a totem- 

 pole was erected. Q !a'neqe £ lak u tears it out and throws it into the sea 5.196. 

 The same incident is briefly referred to in 9.207. In 11.195 it is merely 

 told that Q !a'neqe £ lak 11 sees the children of NomasE'nxelis throwing wood- 

 worms at each other and wearing large head-rings of cedar bark. For this 

 reason he is afraid and passes them. In 11.221 the same incident is repeated. 

 It is stated that Q !a'neqe £ lak 11 transforms NomasE'nxelis's tribe into stones; 

 that NomasE'nxelis himself became a small island in the Bay of Newettee; 

 that NomasE'nxelis's children were performing the winter dance, throwing 

 harpoons at each other, and that for this reason Q !a'neqe £ lak u was afraid of 

 them. 



11. Q!a'neqe £ lak u meets the ancestors of the Nimkish K 5.134; 



11.228. 



They give each other fat of the double-headed serpent to eat, but are unable 

 to poison each other. Then Q!a'neqe £ lak u tries to transform them succes- 

 sively into ducks, mountains, kingfisher; but every time they regain their 

 human form. They are also unable to transform Q !a'iieqe £ lak u . One of these 

 ancestors takes the name Gwa' £ nalalis. He thinks that on Q!a'neqe £ lak u 's 

 return he may be transformed into a stone or a tree; but since stones are liable 

 to break, and trees liable to decay, he wishes to become the Nimkish River. 

 Then Q!a'neqe £ lak u transforms him into a river, in which salmon go up. 

 He throws away shellfish. For this reason there are no shellfish near the 

 mouth of the river 5.134. Gwa' £ nalalis lies down on his back, and, according 

 to his wish, is transformed into a river 11.228. 



12. Q!a'neqe £ lak u meets Ma'leleqala, who is blind 5.199; 11.225. 



By letting him dive four times he restores his eyesight. Then he names 

 him 11.225. In 5.199 it is said that Ma'leleqala was sick, and that Q la'neqe- 

 £ lak u cured him by passing his hand over his body. Finally he gave him 

 salmon. 



