170 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 39 



34. A STOEY OF THE GONAQADET 



The head chief of the people living at the head of Nass river once 

 came down to the ocean and on his way back tied his canoe to a 

 dead tree hanging from a cliff. At midnight he felt the canoe shak- 

 ing very hard. He jumped up and was terrified to see foam breaking 

 almost over his canoe. Then he thought of a sea monster, and 

 climbed up to the cliff by means of the dead tree. His nephews, 

 however, went down with the canoe, A GonaqAde't had swallowed 

 them. 



Along with this canoe had come down another, which stopped for 

 the night at a sandy beach right opposite. They had seen the chief's 

 canoe there the night before, and, observing next morning that it 

 was gone, supposed the chief had started on ahead and continued 

 their journey. They had also felt the motion of the sea, although it 

 was previously very calm. When they reached home the canoe chief 

 asked whether the head chief had returned, and they said, "No." 

 Then he told them how strangely the sea had acted and how he 

 missed the chief's canoe and thought that it had gone on ahead. 



After he had remained in the village for five days the canoe chief 

 began to think seriously about the chief's absence. Then he got into 

 a large canoe along with very many people and set out to look for 

 him. Four men stood up in the canoe continually, one at the bow, 

 one at the stern, and tw^o in the middle, looking always for the chief 

 from the tinu^ that they left their village. They camped very early 

 that night and arrived next morning at the dead tree where the 

 chief's canoe had been tied. As they passed this place they heard 

 somebody shout, and the man in the stern, looking up, saw the miss- 

 ing chief standing on the very top of the cliff. They saw also signs 

 of the GonaqAde't and knew what had happeneil. Then they took 

 him in, but he would say nothing until they had gotten back to the 

 village. There he spoke, saying, "I did not have time to awaken 

 my sisters' children. I could not have saved myself if I had done 

 so. That is why they are gone." He felt badly about them. 



Then all the people in the village began bathing for strength, sitting 

 in the water and whipping each other, so that they might kill the 

 monster. The chief, however, was very quiet, and, when they asked 

 him what they should do, he told them to do as they pleased. They 

 were surprised at this. When he saw that they really meant business 

 he was very silent, and they could see that he was thinking deeply. 

 Finally he said, "Boys, you better not punish yourselves so much. 

 You are injuring yourselves, and you are all that I have left now. 

 Let us treat this monster kindly. Instead of having destroyed my 

 sisters' children, he may have taken them to live with him, and, if 

 we were to kill him, we might kill my sisters' children as well. Instead 



