boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 841 



Tic; Wa'walis asks his wife to wash seal intestines BO .5; the woman washes dishes 

 and a sealskin Na 5; the hunter's wife washes the sea-otter skin Se ; she urinates on the 

 beach and the skins drift away Ri MS]. Two Killer Whales take her out to sea, she 

 sits at the base of the dorsal fin Ts 1 [G'ileksetsVntk carries her away, she holds on 

 to his dorsal fin Ts 5; Killer Whale carries her away on his back Ts 4, RiMS, Na5; for 

 Scannah-cah-wink-a-dass, Hai 6; between his fins Ska; between two dorsal fins of 

 Killer Whale Sk6; one Killer Whale on each side Ma; Killer Whale takes white skin 

 along Ma; skin transformed into Killer Whale Se; Killer Whales take her into canoe 

 Tic; many other whales appear Ska, Se]. She shouts whenever the Killer Whale rises 

 Ts 1 [the husband pursues the Killer Whales in vain; they dive and he returns Ma, 

 Ska, Sk6; Wa'walis is told that his wife is being taken away Ri MS]. 



Quite unrelated is the introduction to a parallel Tlingit tale. 



A man and his wife go to the head of a bay where Killer Whales always go ; they see 

 a camp-fire on shore; when near by, the man jumps into the water and urinates; the 

 Killer Whales are encamped there; their chief feels the people looking at them, and 

 they swim away; the man and his wife go ashore, find provisions in the camp, and 

 begin to cook; then the woman sees a black canoe coming, and wants to invite the 

 travelers; when the canoe approaches, it seems to her too black; it is a Killer Whale 

 carried by other Killer Whales; they seize the woman, who is hiding behind her 

 husband, and carry her away because the man had taken their provisions; when they 

 rise, there are many Killer Whales; the man pursues them, paddling alongshore Tla. 



From here on* this story continues like the others. 



The young man pursues the Killer WTiales with four friends Ts 1 [with friends Na 5]. 

 He takes poison along Ts 1 [he prepares his canoe and pursues the Whale with many 

 slaves Ts 5; he prepares slowly, washes with devil's-club, puts eagle down on his 

 head, paints his face, takes along tobacco and poison Ts 4; returned to Metlakahtla, 

 he puts various kinds of poison into his box; he takes along cedar-twig rope, drill, 

 and whetstone Sk6; collects various kinds of poison, hair-combings, whetstone Ma; 

 paints Iris face black, white, and red, puts eagle down on his head Se; takes red and 

 black paint Tic]. [He goes to see a shaman, who tells him that Killer Whales have 

 taken her Hai 6; old man says Supernatural Being Always In The Cradle took the 

 woman; the shaman gives him canoe, cedar-limb rope, tobacco, and tallow Ska; he 

 goes with Marten and Swallow — Marten to scent the trail, Swallow to watch from 

 above; shaman instructs them to look for a canoe Hai 6; they burn canoe bottom 

 before starting; shaman tells them that when the sun shines the day is unfavorable, 

 while on a cloudy day he says the sun will shine later, and they start Ska; the husband 

 pursues them alongshore Tla.] The Killer Whales dive at the foot of Kwe°xt Ts 1 

 [in Nass River Ts 4, Ts 5; suddenly under a high cliff Tla; in front of pursuer Ska; 

 in Nass River, in front of Killer WTiale Always Blowing Sko; at Qaya'nan Ma; dive 

 Se]. At this place he throws out the anchor and climbs down the anchor-line Ts 1, 

 Ts 5 [slave lets him down by means of a rope Ts 4; takes eagle down off his head and 

 dives Se; ties deer-skin rope around his waist, and is let down Na 5; lets down rope 

 of mountain-goat, hair Ma; fastens bough to top of cliff, fills shirt with rocks, and 

 jumps into sea Tla; he takes the cedar-twig rope in his teeth and goes down BO 5]. 



In the Haida versions he climbs down a two-headed kelp, the usual 

 means of access to the bottom of the sea. 



They make fast the canoe at a kelp with two heads, which is the trail leading down 

 Ska, Sk6. He steps into the water and goes down Ma. 



In two versions the bottom of the ocean is reached from the coast. 

 This idea is also found on the west coast of Vancouver Island. 



