606 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ann. :;i 



salmon each time, wliich he has to carry in his cape. The Transformers shovj 

 them how to cut, dry, and cure the salmon, and forbid him to cure any until after 

 the first four days of the run Sts. [One of the Transformers changes him- 

 self into a salmon and goes into the net. The others show the man and his 

 wife how to cut and boil it and eat it mixed with cedar bark. The bones are 

 thrown into the water; and the Transformer, who had become a salmon, 

 resumes his human shape Lil.] [At Yale a man who has a wife and two 

 children tries to catch salmon with a sharpened pole. He scrapes off the 

 slime with his fingers. The Transformers show him how to make a net and 

 boil the salmon Ntl, Lytton.] [At Tsaxali's, above Yale, people catch salmon 

 holding boys by their feet over the water, their heads hanging down. The 

 boys then catch the salmon with their hands. The Transformer scratches a 

 rock with his finger-nails, and each scratch brings a new thought into the 

 heads of the people. They learn how to make twine and nets and how to cut 

 and cure salmon. He shows them the fishing-places, wliich are used to this 

 day. The scratches in the rock may still be seen. The Transformers 

 meet a man who appears to be fishing with a double-pronged fish-spear. He 

 merely rubs Ms spear against the fish, bringing up a little slime, which he 

 wipes with moss into a basket. They show him how to spear salmon. The 

 man resents their interference, and they punish him by breaking his spear 

 in two, putting the halves into his legs, and pushing the spear-point up his 

 nose. They pull his neck, clap their hands, and he becomes a crane Squ. 



Evidently the last of these versions, if told correctly, is a combination of 

 the present story with a transformation story of the type discussed before 

 (see pp. 599 etseq.). 



66. The Transformer teaches man how to roast flounders Cow 5.47; 

 Sts Hill-Tout 5.371. 



The Cowichan tell that the Ts'a'mes (Songish) at Victoria would expose 

 flounders on spits to the sun in order to roast them. The Transformer teaches 

 them the use of the fire-drill and the use of fire for preparing food, Cow 5.47. 

 This story seems related to the preceding group; it recalls, however, also a 

 StSEe'lis tale. S'kwam, who has been fishing flounders, is met by his son, who 

 dances down to the beach, and then puts the flounders on spits in order to 

 roast them. One of the Transformers shakes the bones out of the boy's body 

 and acts his part. S'kwam recognizes him, and causes him to be choked by 

 a fishbone. The boy and the Transformer are then restored to life Sts. This 

 tale is closely related to the "skin-shifter'' tales, that are not known to me as 

 incidents of this Transformer cycle, and occur rather as part of the Coyote 

 myth (see p. 870). They are known, however, in the northern parts of the 

 coast too (see Sk 136, 160; Sts Hill-Tout 5.349; U 239, 242, 266; Ntl Teit 

 3.309; Sh 676, 694; Wish 111; Till 137; Coos 151 [169]; Takelma 161). 



07. The stolen harpoon Tl 22; Sk 267; BC 5.247; Ne 5.201; Co 5.64, 

 65; Stsa 5.23; Sts& 5.24; Ntk 5.16; Ntlfc Teit 2.42; Ntlc 

 Nicola, Teit 3.315; Ntld Hill-Tout 1.210; U 221; Chil 10; Sh 

 5.13; Loucheux 7.33. See also Squ Hill-Tout 3.519, and Chil 

 14; Sh 5.3; Teit 4.467; Sh Dawson 31. 



The distribution of the tale of the stolen harpoon is some- 

 what wider than that of those previously discussed. Fifteen 



