66 MYTHS OF THE IROQUOIS. 



This they did, and brought him to his friends, who from his story 

 learned that the returned warriors were false, and they were accord- 

 ingly punished. 



From a strong desire to see the "lick," a large party searched for it 

 and found it surrounded with bones of various large animals killed by 

 the pigmies. 



THE PIGMIES AND THE GREEDY HUNTERS. 



The following story is told as having actually occurred: 



Mr. Johnson and others of the Seneca Reservation went out on a hunt- 

 ing expedition to a region quite remote from their homes. Upon their 

 arrival at the hunting grounds they found game so plentiful that they 

 were obliged to throw away large quantities of meat to enable them to 

 preserve and carry the skins of the many animals they had slain. 



Several months after their arrival they moved farther into the wil- 

 derness, and found, to their sorrow, that game was growing scarcer each 

 day until they could find none. As a consequence of their prodigality 

 they wei'e soon in want of that very meat which they had so wantonly 

 thrown away, and were finally pushed to the verge of starvation. 



At length a pigmy appeared to the hapless hunters, and said that 

 their present condition was a just punishment to them for their waste- 

 fulness and greed for gain. In despair the hunters inquired of the pigmy 

 what they must do to obtain food. The pigmy said that they must 

 either starve or give up all the skins and furs which they had collected 

 and ijrepared for use. The hunters asked how long they would be 

 permitted to consider the proposition. The pigmy replied that when 

 they had decided they could call one of his race by simply tapping on 

 a rock, and then they could tell their decision. 



Not agreeing upon any answer after a long consultation, thej' called 

 one of the pigmies to ask for better terms. The hunters said they would 

 rather die than submit, if the amount of food were small, since, with a 

 small sujjply and being in a strange, unknown country, they could not 

 possibly lind their way home. They further asked him to show them 

 their homeward journey. The pigmy said that he could not grant their 

 request without the full concurrence of his race, but that he would give 

 them food enough to satisfy them in their present distress. He then 

 showed them into a capacious and furnished cavern, in which they were 

 to await the answer of the pigmies. 



On the following day the pigmy returned and said they had been 

 forgiven for their wastefulness, and that they would be furnished with 

 provisions without parting with their furs. He said that the hunters 

 must remain in the cavern, and that some time in the night they would 

 be called for. 



