MooNEV] THE HUNTKK IX THE DAKWA' 821 



which the tish had swallowed, and takint;' one of the.se for a knife ho 

 began to (Mit his way out, until soon the fish grew uneasy at the 

 scraping inside his stomach and came up to the top of the water for 

 air. lie kept on cutting until the fish was in such pain that it swam 

 this way and that across the stream and thrashed the water into foam 

 with its tail. Fiirally the hole was so large that he could look out and 

 saw that the Dakwa' was now resting in shallow water near the shore. 

 Reaching up he climbed out from the side of the fish, moving very 

 carefully so that the Dakwa' would not know it, and then waded to 

 shore and got back to the settlement, but the juices in the stomach of 

 the great fish had scalded all the hair from his head and he was bald 

 ever after. 



WAIINEXAIHI VERSION 



.■V boy was sent on an eriand by his father, and not wishing to go nc 

 ran away to the river. After playing in the sand for a short time 

 some l)ovs of his acquaintance came by in a canoe and invited him to 

 join them. Glad of the opportunity to get away he went with them, 

 Vjut had no sooner got in than the canoe began to tip and rock most 

 unaccounta})ly. The boys liecame very nuu'h frightened, and in the 

 confusion the bad boy fell into the water and was immediately swal- 

 lowed l)v a large fish. After lying in its stomach for some time he 

 became very hungry, and on looking around he saw the fish's liver 

 hanging over his head. Thinking it dried meat, he tried to cut ofia 

 piece with a mussel shell he had been playing with and still held in 

 his hand. The operation sickened the fish and it vomited the boy. 



69. ataga'hI, the enchanted lake 



Westward from the headwaters of Oconaluf tee river, in the wildest 

 depths of the (ireat Smoky mountains, which form the line between 

 North Carolina and Temiessee. is the enchanted lake of Ataga'hi. "(Tall 

 place." Although all the Che^'okee know that it is there, no one lias 

 ever seen it. for the way is so difficult that only the animals know iiow 

 to reach it. Should a stray hunter come near the place he would know 

 of it by the whirring sound of the thousands of wild ducks fiying about 

 the lake, but on reac-hing the spot he would find oidy a dry fiat, with- 

 out bird or animal or blade of grass, unless he iiad first sharpeiunl his 

 siiii-itua! \ ision by prayer and fasting and an all-night vigil. 



IJecause it is not seen, some jieople think the lake has dritnl uji long 

 ago, but this is not true. To one who iiad kept watch and fast 

 through the night it would appear at daybreak as a wide-extending 

 but shaUow .slieet of pui'])le water, fed by springs spouting fi'om the 

 high clifi's around. In the water are all kinds of fish and reptiles, 

 and swimming upon the surface or flying o\-erht>ad are gi'eat fiocks 

 of ducks and pigeons, while all about the shores are bear tracks cross- 



li) ETH— 01 21 



