864 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. asn. 31 



A woman who lives on Nass River points her fingers at a star and is pulled up. She 

 is placed on the roof, near the smoke hole. This story continues with the rescue of 

 the woman, and tells that after she came back she pointed at the Moon and at a reflec- 

 tion in the water. Eventually she is taken up by the Moon while she is carrying a 

 bush of salal-berries. She may still be seen in the Moon carrying the bush and a 

 pail M 450. 



The incident of the arrow-chain has a wide distribution, and occurs 

 in many other connections (42 versions : Tl 209 ; Sk78; Skl42; Sk354; 

 BC 69; BC 95; BC 5.246; H 5.234; Ri 5.215; K 5.157; Ne 5.173; 

 K 9.123; K 11.84.— Ts 5.278; Nu 5.117; Nu ap 907; Nitinath; 1 Co 

 5.68; Co 5.65; Co 5.64; Sts5.31; Squ Hill-Tout 3.522; Ntl 5.17; U246; 

 NtlTeit 3.334; Lil311; Sh749; Kutenai; 2 Okanagon 3 146; Okanagon 

 Gatschet; 4 Quin 108; Kathll; Wish 171; Wasco 303; Till 137; Coos 

 151; Coos 12.— Achomawi 5 166.— N 88; M450). 



The boy tries all the bow staves, but breaks the'm except one made of very hard 

 wood. He hits a star, which darkens. The arrows form a chain; and when it nearly 

 reaches the ground, he puts on the last one to complete it. The manner of the ascent 

 has been described before Tl 209. 



A man who is pursued by his sister, who tries to kill him, first tries to find protection 

 in the house of Many Ledges. Then he goes to an island, shoots up to the sky, and con- 

 tinues making a chain of arrows, which he finishes by putting on his bow at the lower 

 end. He climbs up, and the ladder draws itself up after him Sk 78. Raven makes 

 an arrow-chain, which he completes by placing his bow at the lower end Sk 142. 



The rejected lover (see p. 769) makes two boxes full of arrows, shoots at the sky, 

 and makes a chain of arrows. He puts his bow at the lower end and climbs up. After 

 he has been helped by the beings of the sky, he climbs down again Sk 354. 



Among the tribes of the central coast of British Columbia the 

 incident of the arrow-chain is generally found in connection with 

 the Mink tale (see p. 585, No. 1). 



Mink obtains a bow from his mother, and shoots arrows up to the sky until they 

 reach down to the ground. Then he ascends BC 95. The same story is told of the 

 Wasp BC 69. 



Mink shoots an arrow against the sky, makes a chain, which he shakes in order to 

 see whether it is strong enough, then he climbs up BC 5.246. 



Mink receives bow and arrows from his uncle. He makes a chain, which he shakes 

 in order to try its strength H 5.234. The incident of the shaking of the chain is omitted 

 in Ri 5.215 and K 5.157. The rest of the story is the same as in the Bellabella version. 



Mink, who has been deserted while diving, asks his wife, who is in the canoe, for 

 his bow and arrows. He makes a chain in the usual way, shakes it, and climbs up 

 Ne 5.173. 



Mink takes his bow and arrows, strings the bow, and shoots four arrows, which are 

 transformed into a chain which stretches down to the ground. He shakes them, and 

 they become a rope. Then he climbs up K 11.84. 



Mink obtains arrows from his uncle. He makes a chain of arrows, which reaches 

 down to the ground. He shakes them, and they become a rope K 9.123. 



' F. Boas, Die MytholoRie tier nordwest-amerikanischen Kiistenvblke (Globus, vol. Lin, p. 316, 1888). 



2 F. Boas, Einige Sagen der Kootenay ( Vtrhandlungen der Berliner Gescllschaft fur Anthropologic, Eth- 

 nologic und Urgrschichte, p. 165); Kutenai Tales (Bulletin 69, Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 72). 



3 C. Hill-Tout on the Ethnology of the Okana'ken of British Columbia (Journal of the Anthropological 

 Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. xli, 1911). 



> Der Tskan Vogel (Globus, vol. Ln, 1888, p. 1 37). 

 Roland B. Dixon, Achomawi and Atsugewi Tales (Journal of American Folk-Lore, xxi, 1908). 



