boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 757 



A year after the woman has been taken away, two small Devilfish come up on the 

 beach and go to visit the chief. This happens three times. Then the children of the 

 town kill one of them. The lost woman appears wailing, and tells her father to tie 

 up and close all the openings of his house. The Devilfishes make war upon the town, 

 which is covered by a flood and by the slime of the Devilfish, so that everybody is 

 drowned except the chief Kai 260. 



The shaman tells that the lost woman's child is going to come. A small Devilfish 

 appears, goes to the chief's house, and crawls on his body. Then the shaman tells 

 that the lost woman herself will come. She is accompanied by her husband. They 

 bring a great deal of food. His crew have their hair done up in bunches. Finally 

 the son-in-law disappears, and the gifts which he has brought are turned into sea 

 anemones and similar animals. The visit is repeated, and the woman returns with 

 her husband M 560. 



The Tlingit version of the Devilfish story Tl 130 also ends with 

 the return of the abducted woman. 



After some time two small Devilfishes come to a chief's house. They are thrown 

 away, but come back again. Finally they are allowed to enter, and the chief recog- 

 nizes them as his grandchildren. They are given food, and disappear under a large 

 rock in front of the town. The dishes which have been given to the young Devilfish 

 are returned clean. He sends people to invite his daughter to a feast, and she appears 

 with her husband and her children. She wears a rotten marten-skin robe. Sea- 

 weeds are in her hair. Finally the people kill the Devilfish husband and the young 

 ones, and keep the girl. The Devilfish attack them and kill some of the people. 



Quite similar to this is the Nass story of the girl who married the 

 Grouse. 



The Grouse enters the house of a girl who refuses all suitors. He wears a blanket 

 made of fox skins, and induces the girl to elope with him. After some time her children 

 come to the chief's house. The people throw stones at them, but finally allow them 

 to come in. The chief sends messengers to invite the parents of the children, and 

 innumerable Grouses come. They are feasted, and on the following day bring a large 

 amount of fat, which covers a long pole. Finally the chief's daughter and her children 

 go back to the Grouses N 229. 



(h) Comparison of Stories Relating to Marriages hetween Women and 

 Animals or Supernatural Beings 



Summing up the various forms of these tales, we may distinguish 

 a number of types: 



1. The offended animals 



Ts 161 = Tl 175 



Ts 285 L|tioko1=M500 

 Ts5.294j l 1A <">4 



Tl 38 



Tl 53 



T1236 =M554 



Tl 237 



T1239 



T1247 = M625 

 M508 



