554. REPORT—1899. 
smoke strikes on his nostrils. Presently he spies a little framehouse 
covered with mats. When he gets near he peeps in and sees there two 
old women who are both blind. He now perceives that the knocking 
proceeds from them. They are pounding up fir branches for food. One 
of them presently gathers up the pulp and passes a portion of it to the 
other. The youth intercepts the food and eats it himself. The old woman 
who should have got it now begins to grumble at her sister for not giving 
her a share of the food. ‘I did give you your share,’ retorted the other. 
‘T put it into your hand. I felt you take it.’ The other declared she 
hadn’t got it. ‘ Well, here’s some more. Hold out your hand and be care- 
ful to take it this time.’ The other held out her hand, but the young man 
intercepted the food again, and ate it himself. The old woman who was 
being thus robbed now began to get angry, and upbraided her sister for 
selfishly keeping all the food for herself. The other defended herself, and 
declared she had passed the food and felt her take it. ‘Now, give me 
your hand once more and let me put it in the palm of it,’ said she. Again 
did the youth seize the food, and the two old women now began to revile 
each other. Presently one of them began sniffing and smelling, as if she 
scented something strange. Said she, ‘I smell N’tlikcu’mtum.’' ‘How 
do you know it is N’tlikcu’mtum ?’ said the other ; ‘you have never seen 
him.’ ‘ Well,’ answered the first, ‘ there’s nobody but ourselves andthe 
spider and his wife in this country. They are not here, and you say you 
didn’t get the food I put into somebody’s hand, so it must be N’tlikeu’m- 
tum.’ The youth now reveals himself and speaks to the old women. ~ He 
chides them for quarrelling, but as they have done him no great harm, 
only called him N’tlikcu/mtum, he will not put an end to them outright, 
but will transform them into something useful. Taking one of them by 
the nose, he said, ‘ You will be good meat for the hunter when he is far 
from home and bigger game is scarce,’ and therewith threw her to one 
side of him and she became a willow-grouse. He then took hold of the 
other in the same way and threw her intoa ‘ sugar-tree,’® and she straight- 
way became a black-grouse, or tcuk-tcukt,? commonly known as the 
‘booby-grouse.’ ‘You will be of service now too,’ said he, ‘and hunters 
will easily snare you and pull you off the branches by noosing you. You 
will both of you now be much happier because you can both see to gather 
and eat your food when you are hungry.’ Thus were the willow- and 
black-grouse brought into being. He now proceeds on his way, and 
seeing some pretty flowers growing by the side he plucked one. It 
came up by the root in his hand, leaving a small hole in the ground. 
Now, as the crust of this cloudland earth was very thin, this hole went 
right through to the other side and let the wind up. It rushed through 
with some force, and he put his foot over the hole to stop it up. From 
this point he travelled on, still in his naked state, till he came to some 
forest land, the sight of which much cheered him. Presently he sees 
some smoke rising in the air. He hastens in its direction, hoping to find 
somebody who will help him. On getting nearer he perceives a keekwilee- 
house before him. He approaches it quietly and peers down the smoke- 
hole, and sees an old man sitting within as naked as himself, engaged in 
1 This term has reference to the dirty trick played upon him by his father. It 
is the name by which he is known from this time forward. I was unable to obtain 
its exact signification, but it is connected with the eagle-nest incident. 
2 See note above on this tree. 
3 Tcuk-tcukt means tame, and refers to the tameness of these birds. 
