ON THE ETHNOLOGICAL SUKVEY OF CANADA. 705 



Haida Beliefs, dc. 



Frog. — Among the Haidas the frog is regarded as the embodiment of 

 wisdom, whence the medicine-man obtains gifts from his favourite spirits. 



Marriage Customs. — When a man fancied a girl for his wife he went 

 to her uncle, the brother of her mother (who alone has any voice in the 

 matter), and make overtures to him by means of presents. The uncle 

 being willing, the man then makes known his wishes to the young 

 woman. She thereupon procures the assistance of her companions and 

 prepares for the ceremony. When she is ready the man goes to her 

 dwelling, a great feast is then made to which friends of both parties are 

 invited, and during the course of the feast he rises and claims her as his 

 wife in the presence of all assembled. On the following day she and her 

 friends go to his house, when a second feast is made, after which they are 

 regarded as man and wife. 



Weasel Belief. 



The weasel causes great alarm and fear among the Haidas. He is the 

 heart-eater and man- slayer. He is supposed to enter the dwellings 

 stealthily at night and pass into the man's interior through the fundament. 

 The weasel then feeds upon the man's heart and he shortly dies. This 

 happens to those who do not honour the Raven by doffing their caps when 

 a bird of this species flies over heads. 



The Myth of Tou; or, the Little Mountcdn and the Spider. 



On the shores of Masset Inlet a long time ago lived two little 

 mountains. One was a good mountain and the other was not. The good 

 mountain was satisfied with his lot, with his food of hair-seal and halibut, 

 was blessed with a good digestion, and an even temper. The bad brother 

 Tou wanted dog-fish, and grumbled and growled all the time because the 

 chief of the waters would not let him have his sister's rations as well as 

 his own. At last he determined to change his place of abode, and one 

 moonlight night he set out on his journey. He travelled fifty miles, 

 tearing up the ground and making a dreadful noise as he went, and finally- 

 pulled up on the Northern Coast near Rose-spit, where the dog-fish 

 abound. Here he stayed, and his walls of black basalt now tower 200 or 

 300 feet above the shore. He now gets all the dogfish he desires, but 

 still he is not satisfied. A large spider lives in the clouds over his head, 

 which makes itself very disagreeable to him by pulling his hair and 

 screaming and howling in his ears. 



This spider caused much disquietude among the Haidas themselves 

 also. No one would venture to go to sleep near its abode. But once a 

 Haida warrior determined to seek out the spider and fight with it. So he 

 took a barbed spear, a wooden drum, and a big whistle and went to seek 

 the enemy. He made such a din with his drum and whistle that the 

 spider came down to see what was the matter. When the spider perceived 

 the man he came at him open-mouthed, screaming and growling the while. 

 The warrior thrust his spear into the terrible creature's jaws, which 

 stopped its noise and prevented it from closing its mouth. To the spear 

 was attached a long cord, with which the man now tethered the spider to a 

 tree so that it could not get away. The spider finding itself fast grew 

 terribly angry, and began to break up the mountain, and hurled large 

 masses of it at the warrior, who had much ado to avoid them. At last 



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