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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Ga-nus-quah, the Depredator 



He was vulnerable only on the bottom of his foot. No one could 

 hope to destroy him without wounding the spot on his foot, 1 and 

 this was not in the power of a mortal to do; and thus secure, the 

 whole earth was his path. 



No human being had ever seen him, to look upon his face would 

 be instant death. His trail could be traced in the forests by the 

 fallen trees he had uprooted when they obstructed his way. His foot- 

 prints were seen impressed on the rocks where in his travels he had 

 leaped. If a river opposed his going, he would swoop it up with 

 his huge hands and turn it from its course, and so cross on the 

 dry land. Should a mountain impede his way, with his strong fists 

 he would push a gorge through it, the more quickly to reach 

 the other side. In the tumult of storms, his voice could be heard 

 warning the Thunderers away from his cave, this Ga-nus-quah, 

 the last of the Stone Giants ! 



It was once the fate of a young hunter to meet this fear-inspiring 

 creature. During a terrific storm, the young hunter, a chief, 

 blinded and bruised by the hail which fell, like sharp flints, and 

 having lost the trail, sought shelter within the hollow of a great 

 rock. 



Night with its darkness deepened the shadows, and the young 

 hunter prepared for a night's sleep, when suddenly the rock began 

 to move, and from a far recess a strange sound approached him. 

 At one moment, the tone was brisk as the gurgling stream, at the 

 next, gentle as the lullaby of a singing brook, again to burst forth 

 like the moan of a tumbling cataract or the wail of a mad torrent, 

 then dying away as tenderly as the soft summer breeze. 



During a pause in the weird harmony, the marveling young hunter 

 heard a voice addressing him in a stentorian strain, saying: " Young 

 warrior, beware! You are in the cave of the Stone Giant, Ga-nus- 

 quah! Close your eyes. No human being has ever looked upon 

 me. I kill with one glance. Many have wandered into this cave; 

 no one lives to leave it. You did not come to hunt me ; you came 

 here for shelter; I will not turn you away. I will spare your life, 

 which now is mine, but henceforth you must obey my commands. 

 I will be unseen, but you will hear my voice. I will be unknown, 

 yet will I aid you. From here you will go forth, free to live with 

 the animals, the birds and fish. All these were your ancestors be- 



1 All magic beings who possessed otgont, or wizzardly power seem to have been vulnerable 

 only on this portion of their anatomy. The Niahgwahe, another myth monster, is anot her 

 example of an otgont creature who could not be killed otherwise. 



