^WANTON] HAIDA TEXTS AND MYTHS 299 



red ]);iint. 'I'licy entered. Sometliiiiii' !i))()ut her sounded like a i-attle. 

 Hiii-lail kept his ey(»s upon her all the {'wuo. 



I)ul W'onian-slttino-and-smellingf '■' walked in before ii<M\ After 

 ha\ iiiii' sat there for a while she raised herself up. She ])eg-an to 

 talk to I)jila'(ions, She asked hei" why she had painted her e^'ebrows 

 I'ed. and Djila'qons answered: "I had it done on youi' aecoiuit.*" Then 

 she turned toward the wall and wiped it otf. And she tui'ued toward 

 the tirc^ and sat down. 



Some time after they say that Pestilence"' cauK' in. His canoe was 

 like a white man's vessel. Sparks flew out of it. They went through 

 the house. For that reason the supernatural beings were afraid. The 

 things that came out of it are what cause sickness. The supernatural 

 beings feared they would strike thiMn. He refused to enter. He went 

 back. 



ThcMi the nephew of Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens- 

 sit-on-the-sea went out and said: "You are not the onl}" one who has 

 supernatural power. I have supernatural power. My nncle also has 

 supernatural power. So you Itetter not come in." Then he (the 

 nephew) entered, and, when h(» untied a little something against the 

 roof of the house, which was like a hollow tu])e closed with knots at 

 both ends, Pestilence's canoe was quickly turned about. Then he 

 said he would enter. "I will go in.'' Presenth" he entered. Nothing 

 happened. [They say it was Tidal-wave^' who owned that.] All that 

 time a space was left vacant in the rear of the house. No one sat 

 there. By and by the one who came in tirst sang. And, after he had 

 finished singing, he acted with a mask on from behind the screen they 

 had stretched across. After he had acted with the mask on for a 

 while, it split crosswise"* on his face, and snow came out of it in a 

 1)road sheet. Then it fell first b}' the vacant seat. After that it fell 

 in front of the chief's house. And after that his face also split verti- 

 cally."* Out of the split the same substance fell. That was property, 

 they say. 



Big-tail was guessing. "1 guess it is he on whom we live [for whom 

 the vacant space is left]. It is for The-one-below." ^^ 



The next one who came in also started to sing. Afterward he also 

 came out from behind the screen wearing a mask. After they had sung 

 a '"Powei'-song*' for him a while and put words into it, his face also 

 split open. Something white and broad fell down around the house 

 in front of the chiefs. Again it fell tirst by the vacant seat. When 

 they put words into it again it split vertically. Then it again fell first 

 ))V the vacant seat. After that it fell in front of the chiefs. 



All the supernatural l)eings did the same thing. Sometimes one 

 stood up with his fins on. In that way the sleight-of-hand perform- 

 ances went on. 



