boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 593 



23. He meets the Geese K 9.457; 10.95; 11.233. See also H ap 883. 



At A'snak' !a he meets people digging roots. He lands at l la'qwaxstelis, 

 where Geese and Ducks are steaming roots. They are blind, and scent him. 

 He inquires what they are steaming; and they tell that they have no 

 roots, but something that Raven eats, in their wooden kettles. He spits on 

 their eyes and restores their eyesight 9.457. In the versions 10.95, 11.233, he 

 takes away the food of the old women who scent him, and then restores their 

 eyesight. They are'Geese, who then give him advice. The same story is 

 told as an incident independent of the Transformer marriage by the Bella- 

 bella, H ap. 



24. He meets the Ducks 5.202; 9.203; K 10.95; 11.215; 11.234; 



Dawson 20. See also Ts 1.175; Ts 4.275; M 498; Sk 338; 

 Hai6.73; BC 5.263; K 5.135; Nuap907; Nu 5.118; Co 5.65; 

 Se 44; Na5.55; Sts5.3S; Sts Hill-Tout 5.354; Ntl5.18; Sh711; 

 Chil 46. 



The same incident is repeated at 0"balis 5.135; at Gu'myade 10.95, 11.234, 

 In this case the blind women are Mallard Ducks. This incident occurs also 

 separately in 5.202 as part of the Q la'neqe^lak 11 tradition, but not incidental 

 to his journey up Knight Inlet. In the same way it occurs in Dawson 20. 

 where a number of women are said to cook eel-grass. 



After this follows the story of the Transformer's encounter with 

 Dza'wadalalis's daughters and his contest with his father-in-law. 



In 9.204 and 11.215 it occurs independently, the women cooking the roots 

 being Mallard Ducks. 



The incident of the blind women who are identified as birds 

 occurs in many different combinations on the North Pacific 

 coast. A group of tales of this type will be found discussed 

 on p. 842. These versions belong to the Haida of Skidegate 

 and Masset, to the Tsimshian, and to the Nanaimo. In 

 another connection the story occurs in the delta of Fraser River 

 and among the Thompson Indians. 



A youth meets two blind sisters roasting roots. When the one passes a 

 dishful to the other, the youth takes it away from her. The sisters say, 

 "The son of the brother and sister who burnt themselves must be here." 

 The boy is on his way to marry the daughter of the Sun, and they give him 

 advice Sts 5.38. The same is told of the youth who went in search of a new 

 head, Sts Hill-Tout 354. 



Among the Comox the incident occurs in the story of the young man who 

 made a chain of arrows and went up to marry the daughter of the Sun. Two 

 brothers who have gone up to the sky meet a number of blind women sitting 

 around a fire, boiling some kind of plant. The elder brother steps on the 

 blanket of the woman who is distributing the food, and the younger one takes 

 away the filled dishes. 'When they find out that there is somebody there, 

 they request that their eyesight be restored. The brothers chew roots and 

 spit on their eyes. The women regain their eyesight and fly away in the 

 form of ducks. The elder brother retains the one whose blanket he is hold- 

 ing, and obtains advice from her. In this case, as in the stories treated on 

 p. 843, the next person met with is the Crane, who also assists them Co 5.65. 

 50633°— 31 eth— 16 38 



