BOis] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 819 



wave, and begins to tear sea lions in two. When he attacks a large sea lion, the latter 

 throws him into the air and kills him. Then Black Skin shows his strength, walks 

 to the bow of the canoe, stepping on the seats, which break under his weight. He 

 jumps ashore, and kills the sea lions bv stepping on them and hitting them on the 

 head. He takes hold of the large sea lion that has killed his uncle. He seizes it and 

 tears it in two. "While he is carving it the people desert him Tl 147. A man named 

 NatsiUne' quarrels with his wife. His brothers-in-law take him to a rock out at sea 

 and desert him there Tl 230. A young Haida is married to a woman who is not true 

 to him. He kills his wife's lover and escapes with a slave. They go out seaward and 

 land on a large rock which is full of seals. The man clubs the seals. Meanwhile hie 

 slave deserts him Tl 203. 



The following tale differs somewhat from the preceding ones: 



Two men who are fond of hunting purify themselves. They go to a sea-lion rock. 

 One of them spears a sea lion, but the point of his lance breaks off. The animal which 

 he attacked was the son of the Sea Lion chief. This man is drowned, but his com- 

 panion reaches the rock in safety. There he lies down Tl 50. 



The next incident is Asdi-waTs visit to the house of the Sea Lions. 



While he is lying down sleeping, a person pokes him, and says, "My grandfather 

 invites you in." He makes a hole through his blanket and discovers a Mouse, which 

 speaks to him. He pulls out the bunch of grass under which it disappears and sees a 

 ladder stretching down. When he goes down, the people say, "Now he has entered." 

 He is made welcome, and the Mouse tells him in the usual manner that he is in the 

 house of the Sea Lions. He sees that arrows are in their sides, causing disease. These 

 are invisible to the Sea Lions; but he pulls them out, and thus cures them Ts 1.129-131. 

 The version Ts 5.288 is identical with the preceding. It is merely added that while 

 pulling out the arrows, he swings his rattle like a shaman. In the Nass version the 

 Mouse says, "Grandmother invites you in." When he pulls out the bunch of grass, 

 he sees a house underneath. The Mouse lias taken the form of a woman, and asks him 

 to come in. She tells him that the shamans are unable to cure the chief of the Sea 

 Lions. Asi-hwi'l sees a bone harpoon in his side, pushes it in slightly, and then pulls 

 it out N 229. HanLlekunas covers himself with his blanket. He hears a voice saying, 

 "My chief invites you in." The fourth time he sees a small man, who leads him into 

 a cave which is the house of Ama'giLasila, the chief of the Sea Lions, who promises 

 to send him home Ri 5.230. The man goes to sleep, and hears a voice saying. "The 

 chief asks you to come in." He looks through the eyeholes in his blanket and sees a 

 grebe coming to the center of the pond. He takes a whetstone and jumps in. He 

 finds himself in front of a large house, is asked to come in, and is questioned why he 

 killed the chief's servants. He replies that he did so to feed his children. In a corner 

 of the house is a pool of water in which two small killer whales, the chief's children, 

 are swimming. They boil halibut in the mouth of a sea lion and give it to their guest 

 to eat. They try to fit a killer-whale skin to the back of a man. He puts the whet- 

 stone on his back, and they are unable to do so Sk 282. In M 385 this incident is 

 omitted. Black Skin dries the sea-lion intestines. While he is asleep, he hears 

 beating of sticks and some one saying, "I have come after you." He sees a black 

 duck, which tells him to close his eyes and get on its back. When he opens his eyes, 

 he is in the house of the Sea Lions. A boy in the house is crying with pain. Black 

 Skin sees the barbed spear-point in his side and pulls it out Tl 149. In Tl 230 this 

 incident is omitted. The story Tl 203 proceeds in a different manner. The youth 

 who is deserted on the rock covers himself with the skin of one of the seals. He ties 

 it up and drifts on the water. He drifts to a beach (and here follows the story of the 

 Eagle wives, which has been referred to on p. 796). 



