STEVENSON] FOUR NIGHTS' CEREMONIAL. 99 



of prayer to Ko'pislitaiix. The vicar then returned tu his .scat, aud the 

 member.^, with eagle plumes and sstraw.s-iii their left hauds and rattles 

 in their right, began the ritual; they were nine minutes singing the 

 flr.st stanza, which was sung slowly and in very low tones, and at its 

 close each one drew a breath from the eagle plumes and straws. The 

 second stanza was sung louder and faster. The monotony of the song 

 was broken by an occasional animal-like call, which was a request to 

 the cougar of the north to give them power over the angry ants. The 

 child was afflicted with a severe sore throat, caused by ants having 

 entered his body when he was in the act of micturition upon their 

 house, and ascending they located in his throat. After the second 

 stanza the ho'naaite blew first on the right side of the child, then 

 on his back, his left side, and his breastj the other members con- 

 tinuing the song to the accompaniment of the rattle. When he took 

 his seat, the ti'timoni and tlie man who sat next to him each drew a 

 breath from their eagle plumes and straws, and dipping them into the 

 medicine water, each one extended his plumes to the child, who drew a 

 breath from them. The two men then resumed their seats. The ho'- 

 naaite, again dipping his plumes in the medicine water, passed the ends 

 through the ti'amoni's mouth, and afterwards through the mouth of 

 each member, the plumes being dip]ied each time into the bowl of med- 

 icine water. The men were occujiied a few moments in drawing some- 

 thing from several of the bear-leg skins. All except the ho'naaite 

 gathered around the altar, dancing and gesticulating in excessive ex- 

 citement and blowing upon the whistles suspended from their neck- 

 laces. They constantly dipped their eagle plumes into the medicine 

 water, throwing their arms vehemently about, sjjrinkling the altar and 

 touching the animal fetiches with their plumes, and then placing the 

 plumes to the mouths, absorbing from them the sacred breath of the 

 animal. The ho'naaite with bowed head continued his invocations to 

 the cougar of the north, seemingly unconscious of all that was going 

 on about him. After maneuvering before the altar, the four men i^er- 

 formed similar extravagances about the child, one of the men standing 

 him in the center of the blanket, careful to place the boy's feet in di- 

 agonal angles formed by the meal lines. Then the four left the room, 

 carrying with them the material taken from the bear-leg skins. The 

 ho'naaite did not cease shaking the rattle and singing during the ab- 

 sence of the four, who visited the house of the sick boy to purify it. 

 Upon I'eturning to the ceremonial room they threw their arms aloft, 

 waving their plumes above them and then about the child, singing and 

 growling, after which they resumed their seats in line with the ho'na- 

 aite, and joined him in the song to the accompaniment of rattles. After 

 a few moments these four men and the ho'naaite surrounded the 

 boy; the ho'naaite standing at the northeast corner of the blanket, 

 and the ti'iimoni at the southeast corner, while the others formed a 

 semicircle behind the boy. They all waved jilumes and straws in their 



