Se^x'tt] legends 653 



Having made the necessary preparations the old man started, and 

 after overcoming many difficulties he finally reached the summit of 

 the mountain. There he saw a young, fine-looking woman, who stood 

 not far from the brink of the cliff. She had been standing in that 

 position wdiile he was painfully wending his way up the mountain 

 side and urged him to have patience and courage to persist in his 

 attempt to climb the mountain. Seeing that he had reached the top 

 of the mountain, the young woman beckoned him to her side, at 

 the same time saying: "Do thou come to me, Oh, my friend! I 

 desire to share my mat with thee." Drawing near to the young 

 woman, the aged man said kindly to her : " I am unfortunately past 

 the age when it might have been in my power to comply with your 

 request." But the young woman replied : " Fear not, but draw near 

 me. I will endow thee with the power which will enable thee to 

 comply with my desire. So come close to me. Now, mark my 

 words and carefully cherish them. Out of the ground at the spot 

 whereon I have lain a plant shall sprout and grow. Care tenderly 

 for this, for it shall be a boon to your people, a chief source of food 

 to them ; and it shall be called Kanenhageiiiit ; that is to say. White 

 Corn. In five days from now you must return to care for what you 

 will find growing out of the ground, as I have already told you. As 

 for me, I shall die." The aged man drew near the woman and 

 embraced her. Time passed and he swooned. When he finally 

 recovered his senses he discovered that the young woman had dis- 

 appeared — vanished into thin air — and he believed that he had 

 embraced a vision. Arising from the ground, he returned to his 

 people at the foot of the mountain. 



Kemembering the words of the young woman to the effect that he 

 must return to the mountain top to obtain a mysterious plant, at the 

 end of fi^•e days the old man returned to the summit. There he found 

 on the spot whereon tiie young woman had lain a growing corn plant. 

 He carefully pruned away from it all weeds and placed rich, fine 

 earth around its rootlets, and also watered it from a neighboring 

 spring. 



Taking great delight in caring for this corn plant, the aged man 

 came frequently to the mountain top to attend to it. In course of 

 time it had grown to maturity, bearing three riijened ears of white 

 corn. These he carefully husked and carried back to his lodge. In 

 the spring he assembled all the i^eople of the community and divided 

 the corn among them equally, a few grains to each family; and he 

 instructed them in the method of planting and caring for the corn, 

 telling them that in time it would become one of their staple food 

 plants. Such is, it is said, the manner in which the white corn 

 originated among the Tuscarora, who have generously shared the 

 seed with neighboring tribes and kindred. 



