552 REPORT—1899. 
should not be subject to the disadvantages under which the other had 
laboured. As he was thinking out of what material he should make him 
this time, his eyes fell upon a jade boulder lying on the bank. ‘Oh!’ said 
he, ‘that is a fine material. I will make a jade son.’ So he took the jade 
boulder and fashioned it into the form of a boy, going through the same 
ceremony of stepping over it three times as before. When the stone son 
was come to life he admonished him never on any account to go near the 
water or try to swim in the river, or he would surely suffer for it. The 
jade-lad observed his commands for some time, but being very hot one 
day, and the water looking cool and tempting, he forgot his father’s in- 
junctions and plunged into the river to bathe. Immediately he sank to 
the bottom and was drowned. When Snikia’p learnt that his stone son 
had disobeyed his injunctions and was drowned, he made yet another son 
for himself. On this occasion he fashioned him from the fibrous matter 
of certain vegetables and shrubs. He observed the same ceremonies as 
before. This time the boy could do anything or go anywhere without 
harm. When the boy had grown into a big lad, Snikia’p proposed that 
they should go and pay a visit to a great tribe some way off. ‘The people 
of this place were celebrated for their skill and power in hunting and 
fishing, and in wood splitting. Said Snikia’p to his son, ‘My medicine 
informs me that they will try to kill us by means of a great conflagration 
they will bring about. You must therefore practise jumping until you 
are a great jumper. They will try to kill you first in another way. They 
will give you a fine-looking woman for wife, and also a spear, and send you 
to spear salmon. When you go to the river you will see salmon with hair 
on them, and painted salmon, and animal salmon with legs. Be careful 
not to spear any of these. Spear a good eating salmon and hold this rush 
in your hand all the time,’ and Snikia’p gave the lad a magic rush. ‘ When 
you have speared your salmon,’ he continued, ‘hold on tight to your spear, 
and you will be pulled into the water. Don’t be alarmed at this ; you 
will not drown. As soon as you are in the water open the rush I have 
given you with your fingers and get inside of it. You will find that you 
can do this, and you will then float down the river. In a little while you 
will drift to the bank. Get out then, and you will see the salmon again. 
Use your spear again when a good salmon passes you and spear two. 
Take these home with you. When you arrive you will find them making 
preparations to kill me. When they see you they will desist.’ 
When Snikia’p and his son arrived at the village of this tribe, every- 
thing happened as Snikia’p had foretold. The boy followed his father’s 
instructions, doing exactly what he had told him. On getting back with 
the fish he finds the people about to kill his father, not expecting his 
return, thinking he would fall into the snare they had set for him and be 
drowned. When they see him approaching, they desist from their attempt 
to kill his father and propose that they should all go hunting. This they 
do’; and when they are out they fire the bush in several places, so that 
Snikia’p and his son are surrounded by a great ring of fire. They are 
both much burnt and scorched, and only manage to escape with their lives 
by taking immense leaps over the burning grass and timber. The fire has 
spread everywhere and no spot is safe. ‘We must find a trail,’ said 
Snikia’p, ‘or we shall be lost.’ After jumping about a good deal they at 
last come out upon a broad trail. They lie down on this with their faces 
to the ground, and the fire passes by them, having nothing to feed upon 
in the beaten path. But they were much scorched by the heat, and the 
os 
