NELSON] MYTHIC ANIMALS 443 
teeth somewhat like those of a dog, and four legs; its tail is long, 
rounded, and scaly, and a stroke from it will kill aman. The people 
of the islands in Bering strait told me that sometimes they see these 
walrus dogs, and that their walrus hunters are very much afraid of 
them; they also informed me that on one occasion a walrus dog attacked 
an umiak full of people and killed them all. 
The bones of the mammoth which are found on the coast country of 
Bering sea and in the adjacent interior are said to belong to an animal 
known as the ki-lig’/-ti-wik (ko-gukh'-pik of the Yukon). The creature 
is claimed to live under ground, where it burrows from place to place, 
and when by accident one of them comes to the surface, so that even 
the tip of its nose appears above ground and breathes the air, it dies 
at once. This explains the fact that the bones of these animals are 
pearly always found partly buried in the earth. The Eskimo say that 
these animals belong to the under world and for that reason the air of 
the outer world is fatal to them. 
Ko'-gat are the tunghiit of lonely lakes; they are semihuman in form 
and kill or steal the shade of any person found near their haunts. 
They have a loud, wailing ery and are much feared. 
The yu-d are the shades of inanimate things and the elements and, 
according to the beliefs of these people, usually have curiously dis- 
torted, grotesque faces. 
The nin/-wiim yi-d is the essence or mystery which is believed to be 
present in or near a lake and when it goes away the lake dries up. 
These yu-it are believed to have the forms of men or women, and when 
visiting remote lakes people make food offerings to them so that they 
may be propitiated. 
Ti!-stkh-puk, the great worm. This animal, which figures in numerous 
tales, was shaped like an enormous worm or caterpillar. It lived in the 
days when animals were supposed to have the power of changing their 
form at will to that of human beings, and in the tales it is indifferently 
a worm or aman. Among the carvings in ivory representing this crea- 
ture were several having the body shaped like a worm with a human 
face on the head. 
T-mikh!-pi-mi @-kldan'-kun, the sea weasel. The Norton sound people 
described this as a long, weasel-shape animal found in the sea. They 
say it has black fur like the shrew-mouse with a white patch between 
its forelegs. This animal is also known among people living on the 
islands of Bering strait. There is no question that this myth has its 
origin in the sea otter, although the latter has been unknown in this 
region for a long period. Owing to its absence it has been invested 
with various supernatural traits, among which it is said to bring harm 
to lonely hunters when it finds them at sea. To this same animal may 
be ascribed also the t-mum’ tsni/-kak or t-mum’ pikh-takh'-chi, a rare 
animal said to be like a land otter, but which lives in the sea and is 
taken by only the best hunters. 
