548 EEPORT— 1900. 



into little birds (tciica'c) known locally as ' snow-birds.' Those who could 

 not open their eyes for the pitch now cried out to Tukte'tsEn to help them. 

 At first he could do nothing for them, but on looking round the Ka'k'laitl's 

 dwelling he discovers some oil and grease. He rubs their eyelids with 

 some of this, and thus dissolves the pitch, so that they can again open 

 them and see. After this he takes them all home to their parents, who 

 had given them up for lost. 



Te Sk'lcm, the Beaver. 



Once upon a time, long ago, Sk'lau had a large family of boys. Not 

 far off from Sk'lau's dwelling there lived all alone a woman named 

 Quvie' luioit (Frog). It was winter time and the weather was very cold, 

 snow covering all the land and thick ice all the water. Sk'lau called his 

 sons to him and bade them go and gamble (g-a'-g-Eltq) with the Ice. 

 ' Play hard,' said he, 'and don't give up till you have won.' So the boys 

 gamble with the Ice and play continuously without break for two days 

 and nights. On the second night Sk'lau goes to the dwelling of QumE'- 

 lOwit and tells her he wants her for his wife. QumE'lowit gets angry and 

 reviles him bitterly. She strikes him and sends him away. Sk'lau is 

 very sad and cries, saying ' c'a'h ! c'a'h ! ' As he goes home he hears his 

 boys singing over their gambling. ' Haril ila kaitl-kaitl mdiyu I Hani 

 ua kaitl-kaitl mdiyu I ' — ' Ice crack open ! Ice crack open ! ' — repeat they. 

 Presently the ice began to groan and crack, and by morning the water 

 is open and the ice gone. When Sk'lau perceives the open water he 

 plunges in, frisking and leaping like a Salmon. Presently the rain begins 

 to fall, increasing in violence as Sk'lau leaps and sings. In a short time 

 the water rises and overwhelms the house of QumE'lowit, who becomes 

 greatly alarmed for her_ safety, and calls out to the Beaver in her fright. 

 ' Anutltchi, Sk'lau I Ano tltcin, Sk'lau ! Anotl, and - - - tl ' — ' I con- 

 sent, Beaver ! I consent, Beaver ! Consent, consen - - - nt ' — screamed 

 she. The only notice Sk'lau takes of her now is to call back : ' Co ! co ! 

 I am not such a bad fellow, after all, eh 1 Like to marry me now, would 

 you ? ' QumE'lo wit's house is now full of water, and she struggles with 

 difficulty on to the roof of it. Sk'lau continues his plunging and leaping, 

 and when the water is about to wash her off the roof-top she seizes a log 

 that is floating by and jumps on to it and is carried away. After she 

 had floated about for some time the log is stranded in a strange country. 

 Not far off she sees a large house. She goes forward and peeps in. 

 Within, reclining on his bed, she perceives a man with a very round head 

 and big face. It was the Moon-man. She enters the building and seats 

 herself on the side of the fire farthest from the Moon. Said he now to 

 her, 'Come and sit at the foot of my bed.' ' Do you think I came here,' 

 responded she, ' to sit at the foot of your bed ? ' ' Come and sit on my 

 lap, then,' returned he. ' Did I come here for that purpose, do you think ? ' 

 was her reply. ' Come and sit on my breast, then,' said he again ; ' perhaps 

 that will please you.' ' I did not come here for that purpose either,' 

 was her response to this invitation. ' Well, come and sit on my forehead 

 then ?' To this she consents, and thereupon jnmps up on his face, where 

 she has remained ever since. '^ 



' This story in part strongly recalls that of ' Sniiya and the Frog,' which I 

 collected from the N'tlakapamuQ, and which was published in the last Report of the 

 Committee. Whether we are to regard this as the original and the other as a 

 variant form is not perfectly clear. I am myself inclined to rfgard the N'tlakapamuQ 



