444 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [eth.an.n.19 



warfare against tlie iiiDu.stt'r. A variety of means were eni]>li>yed for liisdestrnction, 

 bnt withont sueeess. In process of time it whs rleterniined that the wise men (or 

 nie<lieine-men) of the nation sliould try tlieir skill in the business. They met in 

 council and agreed that each one should station himself on the summit of a mountain, 

 and that, when the creature was discovered, the man who made the discovery should 

 utter a loud halloo, which shout should be taken uj) by his neigliljor on the next 

 mountain, and so continued to the end of the line, that all the men might have a shot 

 at the strange bird. This e.^periment was tried and resulted in finding out the 

 hiding jjlace of the monster, which was a deep cavern on the eastern side of the Blue 

 ridge and at the fountain-head of the river Too-ge-lah [Tugaloo ri\er, South Caro- 

 lina]. On arriving at this yilace, they found the entrance to the cavern entirely 

 inaccessible by mortal feet, and they therefore prayed to the Great Spirit that he 

 would bring out the bird from his den. and place him within reach of their arms. 

 Their petition was granted, for a terrible thunder-storm inunediately arose, ami a 

 stroke of lightning tore away one half of a large mountain, and the Indians were suc- 

 cessful in slaying their enemy. The Great Spirit was pleased with the courage 

 manifested Ijy the Cherokees during this dangerous fight, and, with a view of 

 rewarding the same, he willed it that all the highest mountains in their land should 

 thereafter be destitute of trees, so that they miglit always have an opportunity of 

 watching the movements of their enemies. 



As a sequel to this legend, it may lie aii])ropriately mentioned, that at the head of the 

 Too-ge-lah is to be found one of the most remarkable curiosities i>f this mountain-land. 

 It is a granite cliff with a smooth surface or front, half a mile long, and twelve hundred 

 feet high, and generally spoken of in this part of the country as the Wldle-aidt' iii'mn- 

 Inin, or the Devil's court-house. To think of it is almost enough to make one dizzy, l)Ut 

 to see it fills one with awe. Near the top of one part of this cliff is a small cave, wliich 

 can be reached only by passing over a strip of rock about two feet wide. One man 

 only has ever been known to enter it, and when he performed the deed he met at the 

 entrance of the cave a large bear, which animal, in making ita escape, slipped off 

 the rock, fell a distance of near a thousand feet, and was of course killed. When 

 the man saw this, hf became so excited that it was some hours before he could quiet 

 his nerves sutticiently to retrace his dangerous pathway." 



The Cherokee myth has a close parallel in the Iroqu(.)is story of the great mosquito, 

 as published by the Tuscarora traditionist, Cusick, in 1.S25, and quoted by School- 

 craft, Indian Tribes, v, page 638: 



"About this time a great musqueto invaded the fort Onondaga; the musqueto was 

 mischievous to the people, it flew about the fort with a long stinger, and sucked the 

 blood of a number of lives; the warriors made several oppositions to expel the mon- 

 ster, but failed; the country was invaded until the Holder of the Heavens was 

 ])leased to visit the people; while he was visiting the king at the fort Onondaga, the 

 musqueto made appearance as usual and flew about the fort, the Holder of the Heav- 

 ens attacked the monster, it flew so rapidly that he ciiuld hardly ke.ep in sight of it, 

 but after a few days chase the monster liegan to fail, he chased on the borders of the 

 great lakes towards the sun-setting, and round the great country, at last he overtook 

 the mcfuster anil killed it near the salt lake Onondaga, and the blood became small 

 musqueto.s." 



Vlarju' — This is not the name of any jjarticular species, but signifies a leader, prin- 

 cipal, or colloquially, "boss," and in this sense is applied to the large queen yellow- 

 jacket seen in spring, or to the leader of a working gany. The insect of the story is 

 desci'ibed as a monster yellow-jacket. 



14. The Delude (p. 261): This story is given by Schoolcraft in his Notes on the 

 Iroquois, page 358, as having been obtained in 1846 from the Cherokee chief, Stand 

 Watie. It was obtained by the author in nearly the same form in 1890 from James 

 Wafford, of Indian Territory, who had heard it from his grandiuother nearly eighty 



