boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 779 



three versions that have been recorded the boy covers himself with 

 feathers and flies up to the Sun. 



The youth catches eagles by means of a pole with attached noose. He collects the 

 down, lies down on a mat, and covers himself. He asks his younger brother to beat 

 time with a staff, and flies up in the shape of a large feather BC 78. 



A boy kills birds by means of arrows which are attached to strings made of hair. He 

 covers himself with the bird skins, lets his younger brother beat time, and flies up in 

 the shape of a feather BC 5.262. 



The boy's sister tells him that all his brothers have gone up to the Sun to get wives 

 and have died there. He kills ducks, plucks their feathers, lies down on them, and 

 when his sister blows he rises up into the sky Chil 24. 



(NootJca Version) 

 The same theme is treated hi the Nootka story, "How Yii'loV 

 Married the Salmon Princess" (Nu ap 919-932). 



Chief Ya'loV is the lover of a woman whose husband gouges out one of his eyes while 

 he is asleep. A wise man advises Ya'lo^a' to travel round the world and marry a 

 princess who has supernatural power. He is given a swan's skin, which he puts on. 

 He takes along ten small baskets tilled with eagle down. He visits a number of vil- 

 lages, but does not find any woman that suits him. Finally he sees one who almost 

 pleases him, but he determines to go on. He reaches the village of a small fish, but 

 does not stop there. He comes to the village of the Herrings; where he hears children 

 playing. He reaches the village of the Silver Salmon, where he sees women with light- 

 colored hair, but he goes on. He reaches the village of the Spring Salmon, whom he 

 finds very ugly. He reaches a double village. On one side of the bay is that of the Dog 

 Salmon; on the other side, that of the Humpback Salmon. Since the Humpback 

 Salmon went out to kill the swan before the others, these salmon are first to arrive 

 every season. He does not swim away, and the chief catches him. He gives it to his 

 daughter as a pet. The chief resumes human form and marries the girl. The chief 

 carves an eye of alder wood and gives it to Ya'16-a'. In return he receives the eagle 

 down. The people send a boy to swim in the sea, which becomes a salmon and is 

 eaten. Skin and bones are put back into the sea, and the boy revives. His wife has 

 a son. The young man is homesick. Then the Salmon chief sends messengers, who 

 report that Ya/16 £ a' 's parents are mourning his death . The chief tells Ya'16%' that they 

 wish to get presents of eagle down, mussel-shells, and (?), and that bones and skins of 

 salmon must be thrown into the sea. Ya/16 £ a' receives a magical blanket, which trans- 

 forms him into a salmon. Ya'16 £ a' goes back accompanied by the Salmon people. He 

 goes ashore in the form of a salmon, assumes human form, and goes to his parents, who 

 after a while recognize him. The son tells his father that he will find him the following 

 day. The father is ordered to make a salmon trap; and when it is finished, it rains a lit- 

 tle. Salmon are found in it, and the old man clubs the largest one until it groans. This 

 is done according to instructions received from the boy. As soon as the bones of the 

 salmon are thrown into the water. Ya'lo £ a' , his wife, and his children appear Nu ap 919. 



A Shuswap variant is very brief, and tells only of the boy drifting down the river, 

 and of his being sent back and recovered Sh 690. 



28. The Town op Chief Peace 



(2 versions: Ts 207; Tl 244) 



The son of a chief is a gambler. He loses his property, and being downcast refuses 



the food that his wife offers to him. She scolds him, telling him to eat the salmon of 



the daughter of Chief Peace. After sulking for several days, he goes away, taking 



along tallow, tobacco, and coppers. On the beach he is met by two people who come 



