MYTHS OF THE WOOD CREES 207 



"Who is eating the logs of my raft?" he cried, and a big 

 beaver thrusting his head above the surface, answered in person. 



" What were you doing there?" 



But the beaver only laughed in reply, exposing his teeth. 

 Wisagatchak, angered, knocked some of his teeth out with a 

 sudden blow, hence the gap which exists between the incisors 

 and molars of the beaver. 



Suddenly the raft began to sink and the manito saw that the 

 misipisiwuk were dragging it down. 



"You can't sink the raft that way, just put your tails on the 

 side and overturn it," which the unsuspecting lynxes tried to 

 do; but no sooner did their tails appear on the side than the 

 manito cut them off, and the wildcat tribe is tailless to this day. 



Wisagatchak was not alone upon the raft, but was accom- 

 panied by his brother, the wolf, who had been restored in some 

 miraculous manner, and by all kinds of animals. He was now 

 anxious to recreate the earth; he therefore ordered the muskrat 

 to dive down and bring him a little mud from the submerged 

 land. The rat obeyed his master, but was unable to reach the 

 bottom, and drowned before he could rise to the surface again. 

 Wisagatchak thereupon restored him to life, and promising to 

 resuscitate him yet again, should he die, ordered him to try 

 once more. This time the rat was more successful, for he 

 caught a little mud in his mouth and one paw, but came back 

 lifeless. Restoring the rat to life a second time, this master of 

 all the living creatures laid the mud in the sun to dry, and then 

 blew upon it until it begun to grow larger and larger. At last 

 he sent his brother out to see if the world was big enough. The 

 wolf did not return for a long time but Wisagatchak was not 

 satisfied and again blew upon the earth increasing its size. The 

 wolf was again sent out but never returned, whereupon the 

 manito decided that the world was large enough and the occu- 

 pants of the raft were landed. 



Wisagatchak as a Doctor. 



One day, as Wisagatchak was going along, he discovered a 

 strange track. After following it a short distance he heard the 

 sound of a conjurer's rattle and soon saw an enormous frog 

 who informed him that he was a doctor. 



"Where are you going?" asked the manito. 



