MO..NKY) AaAN-UNl'TSl AND THK I'KTKNA 2W 



nu'cl the L'ktciiii. They wuniod liiiii of :ill tliis. I>ut lie only answered 

 that his medieiho was strong and he was not afraid. So they gave him 

 his life on that condition and he began the search. 



The Ulvtena used to lie in wait in loneh' places to surprise its viv- 

 tims. and espeoiall}^ haunted the dark passes of the Great Smoky 

 mountains. Knowing tlii.s, tiie magician went tirst to a gap in the 

 range on the far northern border of the C'lierokee country. He 

 searched and foinid there a monster blacksnake, larger than had ever 

 lieen known befor(>. l)nt it was not wiiat he was looking foi-. and he 

 laughed at it as something too small for notice. Coming southward 

 to the next gap he found there a great moccasin snake, tiie largest 

 ever seen, but wIhmi the people wondered lie said it was nothing. In 

 the next gap he fovuid a greensnake and called the people to see "the 

 pretty .salikwa'yi," bul when they foimd an immense greensnaki' 

 coiled up in the path they ran away in feai'. ("oniing on to U'tawa- 

 gun'ta, the Bald mountain, he found there a great diya'hfdi (lizard) 

 basking, but, although it was large and terrible to look at, it was not 

 what lie wanted and he paid no attention to it. Going still south to 

 AValasi'yI. the Frog place, he found a great frog squatting in the gap, 

 but wiien the people who came to see it were frightened like the 

 others and ran away from the monster he mocked at them for being 

 afraid of a frog and went on to the next gap. He went on to Duni- 

 skwa'lguii'yi, the Gap of the Forked Antler, and to the enchanted lake 

 of Ataga'hi. and at each he found monstrous re])tiles, but lie said they 

 were nothing. He thought the Uktena miglit be hiding in the deep 

 water atTlanusi'yi, the Leech place, on Hiwassee, where other strange 

 tilings had ))een seen before, and going there he dived far down under 

 the surface. He saw turtles and water snakes, and two immense sun- 

 perches rushed at him and retreated again, but that was all. Other 

 places he tried, going always southward, and at last on Gahu'ti 

 mountain he found the Uktena asleep. 



Turning without noise, he ran swiftly down the mountain side as 

 far as he could go with one long l)reath, nearly to the bottom of the 

 slope. There he stopped and piled up a great circle of pine cones, 

 and inside of it he dug a deep trench. Then he set fire to the cones 

 and came back again up the mountain. 



The Ukt!ena was still asleep, and, putting an arrow to his bow. 

 Agan-uni'tsi shot and sent the arrow through its heart, which was 

 under the seventh spot from the sei-pent's head. The great snake 

 raised his head, with tlu; diamond in front flashing fire, and came 

 straight at his enemy, but the magi(;ian. turning quickly, ran at full 

 speed down the mountain, cleared the circle of lire and the trench at 

 one bound, and lay down on the ground inside. 



The Uktena tried to follow, but the arrow was tliroiigli liis heart, 

 and in another UKinient he rolled over in his death struggle, spitting 



