GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OP MYTHS. 345 



the account of Lewis and Clarke^s expedition. " Their belief 

 in a future state is connected with this tradition of their origin : 

 the whole nation resided in one large village underground near 

 a subterraneous lake : a grape-vine extended its roots down to 

 their habitation and gave them a view of the light : some of 

 the most adventurous climbed up the vine and were delighted 

 with the sight of the earth_, which they found covered with 

 bufialo and rich with every kind of fruits : returning with the 

 grapes they had gathered, their countrymen were so pleased 

 with the taste of them that the whole nation resolved to leave 

 their dull residence for the charms of the upper region ; men, 

 women, and children ascended by means of the vine ; but when 

 about half the nation had reached the surface of the earth, a 

 corpulent woman who was clambering up the vine broke it with 

 her weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the nation 

 the light of the sun. Those who were left on earth made a 

 village below where we saw the nine villages ; and when the 

 Mandans die they expect to return to the original seats of their 

 forefathers ; the good reaching the ancient village by means of 

 the lake, which the burden of the sins of the wicked will not 

 enable them to cross."^ 



The set of Malayo-Polynesian stories which tell of the climb- 

 ing from earth to heaven by a tree or vine-like plant is, besides, 

 a good illustration of the unity of the Island Mythology from 

 Borneo to New Zealand. The Dayak tale of the nia,nwho went 

 up to heaven and brought down rice has been already cited. It 

 is thus told by Mr. St. John : — " Once upon a time, when man- 

 kind had nothing to eat but a species of edible fungus that 

 grows upon rotting trees, and there were no cereals to gladden 

 and strengthen man's heart, a party of Dayaks, among whom 

 was a man named Si Jura, whose descendants live to this day 

 in the Dayak village of Simpok, went forth to sea. They sailed 

 on for some time, until they came to a place at which they 

 heard the distant roar of a large whirlpool, and, to their amaze- 

 ment, saw before them a huge fruit-tree rooted in the sky, and 

 thence hanging down with its branches touching the waves. At 

 the request of his companions. Si Jura climbed among its boughs 



1 Lewis & Clarke, p. 139. Catlin, vol. i. p. 178. See Loskiel, p. 31. 



