124 THE WAILAKKI, ETC. 
white deer, a white mouse, a frog, a black bear, a black eagle, into which 
the devil never does enter); but the Saiaz hold that these evil spirits also 
take possession of the vegetable world for the plaguing of mankind. 
For instance, acorns, leaves, or twigs falling from trees on the roofs of 
their wigwams are all instinct with the devil, replete with demoniac, poison- 
ous influence; and they think that the bad spirits assume these forms to 
compass their destruction. When the winter wind goes over them with a 
lonesome, ghostly shriek, and brings the acorns and leaves rattling down 
on their roofs, they shudder, and the timid squaws scream with terror. One 
would think that an imagination so lively would involve common sense 
enough to suggest the building of the lodges in the open ground. And, 
in fact, most of their villages, as is the case throughout California, are 
built on open ground, though this is done rather with a view of preventing 
hostile tribes from ambushing them. 
One way the Saiaz and other Eel River Indians sometimes adopt in 
crossing swift and deep rivers in winter is to hold stones on their heads to 
weight them down so that they can wade over on the bottom. They will 
stay under nearly’ two minutes, and by selecting smooth, gravelly places 
they can cross streams of some rods in width this way. 
My observations have been that the Indians of Kel and Mad Rivers are 
of a rather short and pudgy stature, especially the Wailakki, and a decidedly 
inferior physique in general; but the pioneers say that present appear- 
ances are deceptive. These tribes have suffered much from wars with the 
whites, and the remnants of them are the poorest specimens of their race, 
who took little part in fighting. In an early day they averaged an inch or 
two taller than the Indians of Sacramento Valley and the Weaverville Basin, 
and were much finer men. The Wailakki are called by the Yuki “Kak’- 
wits”; 7. ¢. ‘North People”. 
The Wailakki call the Saiaz Noan’-kakhl, and the Mattoal and Lolon- 
kik, Tul’-bush. All these tribes here mentioned originally spoke Wailakki. 
