168 IQE'sQES KjA lo'l THEIR MYTH. [ethnology 



but they did not tell hiiu. Then lie asked an old wedge. It said : " Pay 

 me, and I shall carry you there." Then he paid it, and it carried him 

 to the ghosts. The wedge and Blue-Jay arrived near a large town. 

 There was no smoke [rising from the houses]. Only from the last 

 Louse, which was very large, they saw smoke rising. Blue- Jay entered 

 this house and found his elder sister. "Ah, my brother," said she, 

 *' where do you come from ? Have you died f " " Oh, no, I am not dead. 

 The wedge brought me hither on his back." Then he went and opened 

 all those houses. They were full of bones. A skull and bones lay near 

 his sister. "What are you doing with these bones and this skull?" 

 [asked Blue-Jay]. His sister replied: "That is your brother-in-law; 

 that is your brother-in-law." "Pshaw! lo'i is lying all the time. She 

 says a skull is my brother-in-law ! " When it grew dark the people 

 arose and the house was [quite] full. It was ten fathoms long. Then 

 he said to his sister: "Where did these people come fromT' She 

 replied: "Do you think they are people? They are ghosts." He 

 stayed with his sister a long time. She said to him: "Do as they 

 do and go fishing with your dipnet." "I think I will do so" [replied 

 lie]. When it grew dark he made himself ready. A boy [whom 

 lie was to accompany] made himself ready also. Those people 

 always spoke in whispers. He did not understand them. His elder 

 sister said to him; "You will go with that boy; he is one of your 

 brother-in-law's relations." She continued : "Do not speak to him, but 

 keep quiet." Now they started. They almost reached a number of 

 people who went down the river singing in their canoes. Then Blue- 

 Jay joined their song. They became quiet at once. Blue-Jay looked 

 back and saw that [in place of the boj-] there were only bones in the 

 stern of his canoe. They continued to go down the river and Blue- 

 Jay was quiet. Then he looked back towards the stern of the canoe. 

 The boy was sitting there again. He said to him in a low voice: 

 ^' Where is your weir?" He spoke slowly. The boy replied: "It is 

 down the river." They went on. Then he said to him in a loud voice: 

 ^' Where is your weirf And only a skeleton was in the stern of the 

 canoe. Blue-Jay was again silent. He looked back and the boy was 

 sitting again in the canoe. Then he said again in a low voice: "Where 

 is your weir?" "Here," replied the boy. Now they fished with their 

 dipnets. Blue-Jay felt something in his net. He lifted it and foui.d 

 only two branches in his net. He turned his net and threw them 

 into the water. After a short while he put his net again into the 

 water. It became full of leaves. He turned his net and threw them 

 into the water, but part of the leaves fell into the canoe. The boy 

 gathered them up. Then another branch came into [Blue- Jay's] net. 

 He turned the net and threw it into the water. Some leaves came 

 into it and he threw them into the water. Part of the leaves 

 fell into the canoe. The boy gathered them up. [Blue- Jay] was 

 2)leased with two of the branches [which had caught in his net]. He 



