boasJ COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 803 



Analogous to this and perhaps to the Kathlamet (114) tale of 

 Mink, who is thrown into the water in a wedge basket, is the following 

 Coos incident: 



The chief and his son-in-law load a canoe with wood. The chief throws his hammer 

 into the water, and the youth dives for it. While he is under water, the chief 

 causes ice to form, which the youth breaks, Coos 27. 



The old chief keeps fish in front of his house, who kill every one who goes bathing. 

 ■\Yhen splitting wood, he lets his hammer fly into the water, and sends Authti'ne to 

 dive for it. The fish can not harm him Nu 5.118. 



(5) Precipice 



(10 versions: Ts 1.89; Ts 5.287; Kodiak91; Tl 201; Sk 277; BC 80; BC 5.260; Ne 10.369; 

 Chil 26; Lil 346) 



The uncle takes the youth to get ducks and eggs. They ascend a steep bluff. The 

 boy takes eagle down in each hand between thumb and first finger. 'When the uncle 

 pushes him down the precipice, he is carried down by the down and alights safely. 

 He gathers in ducks and eggs, is carried up by the bird's down by blowing under it, 

 and goes back to his uncle's house, Kodiak 91. The youth is given by his father a 

 bracelet of eagle down. By turning it he is able to avoid danger. The jealous uncle 

 puts sharp-pointed sticks around a high tree, takes his nephew up to the top, and 

 throws him down. He lands safely Tl 201. The uncle asks his nephew to go with 

 him to a cormorant rock. The boy takes a weasel skin and feather. There is a net 

 on top of the high cliff in which a cormorant is caught. When the boy goes up, the 

 uncle pushes him down. He puts himself into the feather and lands safely. Then 

 he climbs up in the form of a weasel, sets the net, and catches many cormorants Sk 277. 

 The jealous man asks his younger brother to accompany him to the cormorant rock. 

 He lets his younger brother down by a rope and then cuts it. The youth transforms 

 himself into an ermine and escapes K 10.369. (These four versions belong to the story 

 of the man who married among the Eagles.) 



In the following group the precipice test is connected with moun- 

 tain-goat hunting. 



Asdi-wa'l is told to hunt mountain goats. When on top of the mountain, he puts up 

 his cane and dresses it with his hat and raincoat. His father-in-law produces a fog; 

 and when it clears away, the figure is seen on top of the mountain, and the people 

 believe that he can not move. Meanwhile the youth has gone across the mountain. 

 He finds the house of the mountain goats, where the goats are dancing. He kills a 

 great many and returns Ts 1.91. The same is told in Ts 5.287. Asi'wa is sent by his 

 father-in-law to hunt mountain goats. The bones of people are at the foot of the 

 mountain. The old chief produces fog by throwing water over red-hot stones. The 

 youth puts up his dressed cane and waits until the fog disappears. Then he kills 

 many mountain goats and returns. 



A'stas goes with the Mountain Spirit to hunt mountain goats. The spirit sends a 

 serpent in pursuit of the hunter. It causes a rock-slide; but A'stas is saved by his 

 amulet, and assumes the form of a feather BC 5.260. The Sun transforms his daughters 

 into mountain goats, and orders his son-in-law to hunt them. The Sun advises him 

 to climb the right-hand side of the mountain, and gives him four arrows with weak 

 points. After he has spent his arrows, the goats throw him down the precipice. He 

 is transformed into a ball of bird's down and alights safely. Then he shoots the goats 

 with his own arrows BC 80. The Sun sends the youth to hunt mountain sheep and 

 pushes him over the edge of the precipice. Before reaching the ground he turns 

 into a flying squirrel and lands safely Chil 26. 



