boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 753 



A young woman finds herself in a strange country. She sees that the canoe in 

 which she has traveled is a drifting log. Her mother-in-law spreads a mat, and she 

 is given halibut to eat. She learns from the Mouse Woman that the Otter married 

 her because she refused to marry her cousin. She is told not to eat any of the food 

 given to her first. After a while she gives birth to a child. Her mother-in-law dis- 

 likes her and orders her to be turned out of the house. At the foot of a tree she 

 gives birth to a young otter. The Mouse Woman brings her fire, and the little Otter 

 fishes for his mother. He hunts larger and larger animals Ts 166. 



Mink takes the woman to his den. Every morning Mink goes fishing and catches 

 eels, which he strings up. The young woman does not eat, but merely chews fat. 

 The woman dries the eels. One day she hides a string of eels. Mink becomes angry, 

 and thinks he may have eaten them himself. Then the woman produces them 

 again Ts 177. 



The girl is informed by Mouse Woman that the son of the chief of the supernatural 

 beings wants to marry her. She has a son, who is made to grow by his grandfather 

 by pulling his body. The chief of the supernatural beings calls upon a river to send 

 an infant daughter to his daughter-in-law. She gives birth to a girl Ts 272. 



A girl becomes the wife of one of the sons of the Black Bear chief. In the morning 

 the male Bears go to fish salmon. The female Bears pick berries. In the evening 

 all come home. Some of the male Bears do not return with the rest, and people say 

 that their fishing-lines broke. This means that hunters had killed them. The same 

 would happen to the female Bears, and they would say that their carrying-straps tore- 

 In the fall the Black Bear chief invites the whole tribe, and asks them in what dens 

 they will lie during the winter. When the young woman's husband names his den, 

 the princess says that it will be easily found by her brothers' dogs. Therefore they 

 finally select a den which is very difficult of access. She tells her father-in-law that 

 her four brothers are hunters Ts 278. 



The Mouse Woman advises the girl who has been taken away by the Bears to pre- 

 tend that her excrements are copper. When these are found, the Bears say that this 

 is the reason why she scolded their dung. The Grizzly Bears go out fishing salmon. 

 The women gather wood. They make a large fire in the house for the men to dry 

 their blankets. The young woman's fire is extinguished by the water dripping from 

 her husband's blanket. The Mouse advises her to get wet wood. Then her fire 

 burns well Ts 1.151, Ts 5.294. 



The woman who marries a halibut is taken away by the fish. As soon as they get 

 around a point near the village, the Halibut heat pitch, pour it over a rock, and place 

 the woman on it. When she is found by her brothers, she is dead Tl 38. 



The woman who married the Frog goes with him to what seems like a house. In 

 reality the edge of the lake is raised, and they walk under it. The house is full of 

 people Tl 53. A woman who is taken away by a Frog lives with him and has two 

 children Tl 236. 



The whereabouts of the woman who had been taken away by the fire spirit are 

 discovered by a shaman Tl 239. 



The woman who has been taken to the Land Otters gathers dry wood while the 

 Otters are out hunting. When they come home, they shake their blankets and extin- 

 guish the fire. They become angry and scratch her. A woman rooted to the floor 

 tells her to get wet wood. Her success in making a good fire pleases the Land Otters, 

 who lick her Kai 254. 



In a few of the Tlingit stories the young man stays with the 

 woman's people in their house. 



The woman who married the Fish l!al! lives with him in her father's house. He 

 gets fuel for his father-in-law. He plays ball with the young men of the village. 

 Since he is strong and throws the ball far up the river, the young people get angry 

 50633°— 31 eth— 16 48 



