

860 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. am. 31 



The third one has a cedar-bark line tied around his waist, and is let down to the 

 bottom. lie passes stinging insects, which have frightened his friends. Down below 

 a door opens with a clap of thunder, and he is led into a house by a hairy young man. 

 Inside a shaman is seen. Another shaman comes in, and he sees whistles, batons, 

 boards for beating time that move like serpents, a live rattle, etc. Many shamans 

 come in and put their powers into the mouth of the visitor. He finds himself in dark- 

 ness at the bottom of the pit, and is pulled up. When going home, all the men find 

 that they have <acquired supernatural power. The man who had been given the 

 greatest power does not show it at once, but finally becomes a great shaman. The 

 other shamans are jealous of him and call him to a youth who pretends to be sick. He 

 tells the man that on account of his evil intentions he shall never recover. The people 

 bring him poisonous water, and he makes them drink it. When going horne, he takes 

 along a spring of water. Another attempt to kill him fails. A cannibal invites him, 

 and they expect that the human flesh will take away his shamanistic power. How- 

 ever, he swallows it whole and takes it out of the side of his body. Finally he is called 

 to the supernatural being Bagus. He is taken along in a supernatural canoe, and 

 when about to lose consciousness he blows poisonous fluid into the air, which 

 strengthens him. He sees an arrow in the chest of Bagus's son, pulls it out, and 

 thus cures him. Other shamans who had in vain tried to cure the prince had been 

 thrown into a lake of blood. When he returns and the sun rises, he sees that the canoe 

 is a log of driftwood. 



The incident of the invisible arrow has been discussed on p. 820. 

 The whole story of the visit to the supernatural being Bagus is 

 obviously a version of the widely spread Land Otter stories of the 

 Pacific coast. The Land Otters take away human beings in their 

 canoes, and keep them until they are finally transformed into land 

 otters. 



56. Story of the Ghost (p. 336) 



A prince named Brown Eagle dies and is buried. One day the children dig fern 

 roots near the burial-place, and in jest offer some salmon to the buried prince. A 

 middle-aged woman warns them and hides with her two grandchildren. Suddenly 

 a terrible noise is heard. The skeleton of the prince appears and asks for the salmon. 

 It takes away the breath of the people, and they all die. Some run into a fire that 

 they have started, and are consumed. The shamans decide that the people must have 

 a war with the Ghosts. The people put on their armor and go to the burial-ground. 

 Led by the shaman, they go to the Ghost house al the burial-place, attack it, and 

 rescue the souls of the young people. 



57. The Man Who Bound Up His Wrinkles (p. 339) 



An old shaman who lives on an island sells arrows winged with beautiful feathers. 

 He abducts princesses and kills them, but his actions are not known to the people. 

 One day a good-looking young man appears to the last survhing princess. He wooes 

 her, and asks her to follow him. He takes her to a small house filled with beautiful 

 furs and other valuables. On the following morning she finds that what she believed 

 was a yi mth was the old shaman who had tied up his wrinkles, so thathis skin appeared 

 smooth. After a few days he takes her to a rock where he intends to gather feathers. 

 When they reach there, he tells her to jump ashore, and immediately pushes off, and 

 says that he will leave her to die. The old man shouts, and flocks of birds come down 

 to the rock. She hides in a cave; and when the birds leave again, she picks up 



