ad 
ON THE ETHNOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 597 
up his pack, but finds it and the big stone sword rather much to carry at 
once. He decides to leave his sword there where he descended and get it 
some other time. He thrusts it into the trunk of a tree that grew near 
the spot to hide it, where, as the old Indians believe, it may be seen to 
this day in the form of a peculiar knot that traverses the whole width of 
the trunk. On looking about him he now sees tracks of many people, as 
if a large party had passed that way. These he follows, and presently 
perceives at some distance before him two old women who are swinging 
fir branches from side to side of them as they proceed along. He wonders 
why they are doing this, and on overtaking them questions them about it. 
They tell him they do it to mark their sympathy for a very sad and dis- 
consolate young widow who is a little way ahead of them. ‘ Why is she 
so disconsolate ?’ asks he. They answer: ‘She mourns continually for 
her young husband who has been evilly treated by his father, who sent 
him into Cloudland, from which he cannot return.’ ‘Oh yes, he can, and 
has!’ said he. ‘I am the young woman’s husband, and I have just 
descended by the help of my grandfather, Ska’kit. Look at me and you 
will see for yourselves.’ ‘We can’t see you,’ said the old women. 
“Why ?’ said he. ‘Are you blind?’ ‘No,’ answered they, ‘ but we can’t 
see you.’ ‘Look on your right and tell me what you see there.’ ‘We 
can see Cia/kut’ (Thompson River), said they. ‘Tell me now, what do 
you see on your left?’ then demanded he. Said they, ‘ We see N’tokti’auk’ 
(Fraser River). ‘Yes, you can see,’ said he. ‘Now look at me again.’ 
And with that he waved his hand before their eyes and became imme- 
diately visible to them, and they knew him. -Then said he to them, ‘You 
did wrong to walk as you did ; I must punish you. But as you did it 
out of sympathy for my wife your punishment shall not be severe.’ He 
thereupon transformed them into maggots, and then proceeded to overtake 
his first wife. As he approaches, his little son, who is sitting on his 
mother’s shoulder, looks back and sees him coming. He cries out, 
‘Papa! papa!’ This makes his mother’s heart ache afresh, and she 
chides him and bids him be quiet. But the child still cries out in a joyful 
tone, ‘Papa!’ The mother gets angry and strikes the child with a stick 
she is carrying in her hand. Still the child calls again, ‘Papa !’ By this 
time the father is at the mother’s side, and takes her by the arm. She 
does not look round to see who it is, but cries out in a sad, weary way, 
‘Oh, let me alone! let me alone! Why are you always worrying me ?’ 
‘Look up,’ said the husband ; ‘I am your husband come back to you!’ 
Recognising his voice she looks up and embraces him warmly, and they 
both cry for joy at meeting again. They sit down together, and the 
father takes his son in his arms and plays with him. They have cried 
and rubbed their faces so much that they are quite smeared and dirty. 
To remove these stains he causes by his power a spring to bubble up 
where they sat. At this they wash themselves. This spring is said to be 
the one close by the trail that leads from Lytton to Britta’ni, a summer 
resort of the Lytton tribe, about four or five miles north of the old camp 
site, lying in a very beautiful little valley between the Thompson and the 
Fraser. On this occasion it would appear the whole tribe had gone to 
the valley. While they thus sat talking and enjoying each other’s com- 
pany the larger of the two maggots, into which the two old women had 
been turned, passed by. They enjoin upon her strictly not to reveal his 
presence to any one in the camp. She is only to tell their slave, Little 
Crow (Clog’), to build their tent somewhat apart from the rest. The slave 
