k'mUkamtch attempts the destkuctiox of aIshish. 97 



tchik hii'nk n;{i'-uliga laki; kat hiik hu't tchui lali'ga Tuhu'shash. Hu'n 



then to it dripped on t'oro- which thing since stooK OD Und Ben. This one 



bead ; 



gdtak hu'nk shkalkgla. 



only was hart. 



NOTES. 



This is one of the most popular myths current- among the fi-ukisbikni, and we 

 shall find it partially repeated in another myth, recounted by Dave Hill. AIshish and 

 his father K'muki'imtchiksli represent powers of nature engaged in everlasting strife 

 for mutual extermination. In this myth K'mukamtch resorts to the following trick to 

 destroy his offspring. Seeing young larks in a nest on the top of a sorrel-stalk, he 

 informs him, that if he climbs up there, he can obtain a nest of eagles with all its 

 inmates. Gladdened with the prospect of this capture, Aishish climbs up, but the 

 insidious father causes the plant to grow miraculously fast under him, so that descent 

 bee mes impossible, and Aishish comes near perishing by hunger and exposure. 



In the recollection and wording of some portions of the myth my informant was 

 assisted by "Captain Jim." 



94, 1-7. The short fragment of a creation myth preceding the Aishish tale stands 

 in no causal connection with it, and could as well be inserted elsewhere. Myths enter- 

 ing upon the detaiii of the creation of the world by K'muk4mtchiksh do not, as far as 

 ascertained, exist among this people, but in their stead we have many myths for 

 special creations (of man, animals, islands, mountains etc.). A grammatic analysis of 

 the terms occuning in this fragment (from Liipi na'lsh to jiatki gi) was inserted by 

 me in the American Antiquarian, Yo\. I, No. 3, pages 161-1 GO, under the heading: 

 " Mythologic Text in the Klamath Language of Southern Oregon." 



94, 1. Lupi shutiiy^ga is not to be considered as a repetition, for it means: when 

 K'miikamtch began to create the woild he made us before he made the fish, other 

 animals, and the dam at Liiik^ille. This is, of course, only a small fragment of all the 

 creation myths of this people. 



94, 2. shashapkf lia : to tell or count stories, myths or fables in the interest or for 

 the pleasure of somebody ; the i is here doubled to obtain a rhetorical effect. 



94, 3. K'mu'kamtchish is a contraction of K'mu'kamtch tchish ; Aishish, K'muk- 

 amtch also. The longer form of the name of the deity occurs 95, 20. 



94, 3. k^-akt, metathetically for k^kat; k^t is pron. relat. which, what, the thing 

 which, nauuktua k^-akt giig comprehends all animate and inanimate creation. 



94, 4. wa, ud, to stay, exist, live in ; is always connected with an indirect object 

 indicating the place, spot, locality or medium where the subject lives or exists. 



94, 4-0. The construction of the sentence runs as follows: Tchiiyunk (K'mukdmtch) 

 ne-ul/a gi'tki giug paplishash lulalonan, p^ltki ti'wish gint ndiilshiimpkash mu' nkil- 

 lipkash, mii'ash shleuyuk; "when a south wind blows, it will stop the waters from 

 rushiug down rapidly over the cataract.-' The outlet of Upper Klamath Lake, called 

 Link River, runs from north to south, over the falls at Linkville; hence a powerful 

 south wind will stem the current of Link River above the falls, leave its bottom dry or 

 almost dry, and enable the Indians to catch the fish swimming in the shallow water 

 or wriggling in the mud. The rocky ledge under the cataract is supposed to be the 

 gift of K'mukamtch. 

 7 



