186 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 39 



leaves. She took these dowii to the beach and threw them out on 

 the sea in difTerent directions. Afterward she went l^ack to the house 

 with the four men stih following her. 



By and b}" the bird ])egan making noises again, and the shaman, 

 who alone coidd understand her, said that she wanted to leave 

 the place. She hated to go back to her own place among the other 

 birds because she knew that they would be ashamed of her, so she 

 asked them to take her to a town called Close -along -the -beach 

 (Yenq !ase'sitciyi-an). When they took down a canoe to carry her oft' 

 she flew right into it. Then the shaman said, "When you get her to 

 the place whither she wants to go, go ashore and put her tliere, and turn 

 right back." Then they started on with her, and after a time she 

 made so much noise that t!iey said, " Let us put her ashore here. This 

 must be the place." They did so, and, as soon as they got close in, 

 the l)ird flew out upon the beach and started up it very fast. One 

 man followed her to see where she would go and saw her pass under 

 a tree with protruding roots. This was the town she had been talk- 

 ing about. 



As soon as the witch put the skull and other things into the water 

 the chief and his daugliter recovered. Before the events narrated 

 in this story people did not know anything about witchcraft, and 

 tlie ancients used to sa}^ that it was from tliis bird that they learned 

 it years ago. 



43. THE SELF-BURNING FIRE 



One winter the people at a certain place on Copper river were left 

 with nothing to eat and began dying off. About the middle of that 

 winter all of tlie ciiildren and some of the adidts were dead, and only 

 about half of the former population remained. When only eight 

 men we're left they said to one another, "Let us leave. Let us 

 walk down this side of the river." So they started off down tlie 

 bank, and, after a long time, one of them died of cold. They buried" 

 him and went on. By and by another froze to death and was also 

 buried. This kept on until there were only four. One day three of 

 the remainder succund)ed in succession, the last at evening, leaving 

 but one man from all that village. This man was very sickly looking, 

 but he felt strong, and when his last companion fell, he left him lying 

 there and went on rapidly. He thought he would drop with grief, 

 however, at the loss of his last comrade. 



As he was going on quite late in the evening he suddenly heard 

 some one shout right ahead of him. He followed the voice, which 

 kept on calling contimuilly. Finally he came to a great fire and stood 

 near it to warm himself. It was that that had been calling him. 



u The words of the nurrator, but corpses were iisualiy Imrned. 



