378 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. ann. 32 



One day the eldest said, " I am going to look for my father, and 

 see where he is." The mother rejoined, "You will get lost on the 

 way." " Oh, no ! I will not get lost," he replied. At this the mother 

 continued, "Then you may go." So he set out, traveling northward. 

 While going across a rocky place he found a trail. "This looks just 

 like my father's trail," said he, following it. Soon he came to a 

 cross-trail, and after examining it, he said : " I wonder where this 

 path comes from and where it goes. Well, wlien I return. I shall 

 find out." Not far from the cross-trail he came to a lodge, and as 

 the trail led up to it, he entered. Looking around, he saw an old 

 man in the southeast corner of the I'oom; another in the southwest; 

 a third, in the northwest; and a fourth, in the northeast. All sat 

 smoking. The youth looked for his father, saying, " He must be 

 here somewhere." The first old man, raising his head, looked at 

 him and asked : " Well, my grandson, what are you doing here '( 

 Come this way, if you want to see your father. I will show him to 

 you ; he is right here." On the youth approaching, the old man took 

 him by the hair, and bending his head forward over a bark bowl, 

 cut it off, saying : " I am glad that a young game animal has come. 

 It must be good eating, as it is just the right age." So saying, he 

 began to quarter the body. 



After the people at Hetgen Tgastende had waited for some time 

 without tidings of the eldest brother, Hononhwaes, the second son of 

 the Hongak wonum, said, " I want to follow my elder brother." " Oh, 

 my son ! " said the mother, " do not go away ; something evil has 

 befallen your brother." "I must go," said the boy; "I can not 

 resist the desire. I must see my brother and father." So he began 

 to prepare for the journey, putting on a hunting shirt, leggings, and 

 moccasins of buckskin, and taking his bow and arrows. His mother 

 cried all the time, but she could not stop him from going. He went 

 northward, as his brother had done, going over the same trail, until 

 he arrived at the cross-trail and the lodge, where he saw the four 

 old men smoking in the four corners of the room. He of the north- 

 west corner spoke, saying, " My grandson, do you want to see your 

 father? Come here and you shall see him." He went forward and, 

 looking into a large bark bowl half full of water, he saw the faces 

 of his father and brother. As he was gazing on them, the old man 

 cut off his head also, rejoicing as before. 



Nine of the Hongak brothers went, one after another, in search 

 of their father and brothers, and all were killed by the four old men 

 in the same lodge. At last the tenth and youngest, Othegwenhda, 

 who was still small and young, said to his mother, " I should like to 

 follow my brothei-s." " Oh, my son ! " said the mother, " you must 

 not go. There are four brothers, old men, living on the road, who 

 are called Hadiiades (Blacksnakes). They have great magic 



