578 REPORT—18995 
speedily prepared the fish. Snikia’p ate very heartily, but some of the 
fish were left over. These he coveted for himself. Said he presently, 
‘Tf you will lend me the mat, I think I will take a bit of this fish home for 
my supper with me; it will save me cooking to-night.’ Tzala’s made no 
objection, and Snikia’p bundled the whole up in the mat, and then bade 
his friend good-bye. ‘ You must come and see me shortly,’ said he as he 
left ; ‘I like my friends to pay me a visit sometimes.’ Tzala’s promised 
to make an early call. 
Next day Tzala’s determined to redeem his promise and pay Snikia’p 
a visit and bring home his mat. When he arrived at Snikia’p’s house 
Snikia’p was a little surprised to see him appear so soon, and was not too 
well pleased ; but he made pretence to be overjoyed at his visit, and did his 
best to entertain his visitor till dinner-time came. Seeing that Tzala’s 
was intending to stay to dinner, he thought he must do something to 
prepare it. So he presently observed, ‘You will stay and have some 
dinner with me. I was just going dewn to the river to look at my traps 
when you came. T’ll just run down now and sce what is in them.’ So 
saying he ran down to the river’s edge. Tzala’s watched him go, and 
looked on with some curiosity. When Snikia’p got to the river he stood 
a moment on the bank as he had seen Tzala’s the Diver do, then took a 
deep breath and plunged headforemost into the nearest vent-hole. But 
he had miscalculated once more, the hole was not big enough to let his 
body through. ‘The force of his plunge had carried his head and shoulders 
through, but then he had stuck fast and could now neither get up nor 
down. He was thus in serious danger of drowning, and wriggled and 
twisted his body frantically to free himself. Had not Tzala’s been looking 
on and seen the dilemma into which he had got himself, and hastened 
down and released him, he would assuredly have been drowned. When 
the good-natured Diver had got him out of the hole and had bound up 
the cuts he had received in his struggles, he expostulated with him for 
attempting to copy him in his methods of fishing. ‘It’s all very well for 
me to dive down through the ice—it’s my trade; but you should not 
attempt any such thing. You will surely get into trouble some day if 
you interfere with other people’s business.’ So saying he plunged into 
the river and presently returned with a string of fine fish, These he then 
cooked, and together they made a hearty meal. After dinner he took his 
mat and returned to his own house. The fish that were left over lasted 
Snikia’p for some little time, after which he was again without food for 
days, and was very hungry. This time he bethought him he would pay 
Spate the Bear a visit. Reaching Spatc’s house he accosted him as he 
had the others, and was invited in by the Bear, who presently, when 
dinner-time came, brought out some berries in a dish and put them down 
before the fire. He then washed his fore-paws, sat down close to the fire, 
and held them over the dish close to the flame. In a little while the 
Bear’s claws began to drip with liquid fat, which he caught in the dish 
containing the berries. When he had thus secured what he thought a 
sufficient quantity of fat, he set the dish between himself and Snikia’p, and 
together they made a hearty meal. They did not eat it all, however, and 
Snikia’p said he would take what was left home with him if Spate would 
lend him the dish. To this the Bear agreed, and also promised to pay 
Snikia’p a visit at his house very shortly. Now, while Spate had been 
drawing the fat from his paws, Snikia’p looked on for a moment and then 
observed that he was in the habit of getting his grease in the same way. 
