{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_9459/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_9459","id":"gutenberg_9459","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9459","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Indians of North America -- British Columbia -- Vancouver Island -- Folklore","Legends -- British Columbia -- Vancouver Island","Native America"],"text":"Produced by Andrew Sly and the online Distributed Proofing team.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE LONE INDIAN]\n\n\nINDIAN LEGENDS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND\n\nTEXT BY ALFRED CARMICHAEL\n\nILLUSTRATED BY J. SEMEYN\n\n\n\nBY WAY OF INTRODUCTION\n\n\nThe unsophisticated aboriginal of British Columbia is almost a memory\nof the past. He leaves no permanent monument, no ruins of former\ngreatness. His original habitation has long given place to the frame\nhouse of sawn timber, and with the exception of the carvings in black\nslate made by the Hydah Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands, and\nthe stone hammers, spear and arrow points, fashioned in the days\nbefore the coming of the white man, the mementos of his sojourn in\nBritish Columbia are only relics in wood, bark or reeds.\n\nIn the Alberni District of Vancouver Island there are two tribes\nof Indians, the Seshaht and the Opitchesaht. During the winter\nseason the Seshahts live in a village which occupies a beautiful\nand commanding site on the west bank of the Somass River.\n\nSome thirty years ago when I first knew the Seshahts, they still\ncelebrated the great Lokwana dance or wolf ritual on the occasion\nof an important potlatch, and I remember well the din made by the\nblowing of horns, the shaking of rattles, and the beating of sticks\non the roof boards of Big Tom's great potlatch house, when the\nIndians sighted the suppositional wolves on the river bank opposite\nthe Village.\n\nIn those days we were permitted to attend the potlatches and witness\nthe animal and other dances, among which were the \"Panther,\" \"Red\nHeaded Woodpecker,\" \"Wild Swan\" and the \"Sawbill Duck.\" Generally\nwe were welcome at the festivals, provided we did not laugh or\nshow sign of any feeling save that of grave interest. Among my\nIndian acquaintances of those days was Ka-coop-et, better known in\nthe district as Mr. Bill. Bill is a fine type of Seshaht, quite\nintelligent and with a fund of humour. Having made friends, he told\nme in a mixture of broken English and Chinook some of the old folk\nlore of his tribe. Of these stories I have selected for publication\n\"How Shewish Became a Great Whale Hunter\" and \"The Finding of the\nTsomass.\" This latter story as I present it, is a composite of three\nversions of the same tale, as received, by Gilbert Malcolm Sproat\nabout the year 1862; by myself from \"Bill\" in 1896, and by Charles A.\nCox, Indian Agent, resident at Alberni, from an old Indian called\nKa-kay-un, in September 1921. Ka-kay-un credits his great great\ngrandfather with being the father of the two young Indians who with\nthe slave See-na-ulth discovered the valley now known as Alberni,\nwhile \"Bill\" gave the credit to the sons of \"Wick-in-in-ish.\"\n\nThe framework for \"The Legend of Eut-le-ten,\" was related to me by\nRev. M. Swartout in the year 1897. Mr. Swartout was a missionary to\nthe West Coast Indian tribes. He spoke the language of the natives\nfluently, and took great pains to get the story with as much accuracy\nas possible. A few years later, Mr. Swartout was drowned during a\nheavy storm while crossing in an open boat from the islands in\nBarkley Sound to Ucluelet.\n\nIn the making of the stories into English, I have worked in what\nknowledge I have of the customs and habits of the West Coast Indians\nof Vancouver Island. In a few instances, due to a lack of refinement\nof thought in the original stories, I have taken some license in\ntheir transcription. The legends indicate the poetry that lies hidden\nin the folk lore of the British Columbia Coast Indian tribes. For\nplace names and other valuable information I am indebted to the\nkindness of Mr. Cox. The illustrations are original and are the work\nof Mr. J. Semeyn of Victoria.\n\n      ALFRED CARMICHAEL,\n  Victoria, B.C.\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n  By Way of Introduction\n  A Pen Picture of Barkley Sound\n  The Summer Home of the Seshahts\n  The Legend of the Thunder Birds\n  How Shewish Became a Great Whale Hunter\n  The Finding of the Tsomass\n  The Legend of Eut-le-ten--in the following parts:--\n    The Witch E-ish-so-oolth\n    The Birth of Eut-le-ten\n    The Quest\n    The Death of E-ish-so-oolth\n    The Ogre\n    The Destruction of the Ogre\n    The Release of the Children\n  Further Adventures of Eut-le-ten including:--\n    The Arrow Chain to Heaven\n    The Two Blind Squaws\n    The Four Terrors Guarding the House of Nas-nas-shup\n    The Trial by Fire\n    Astronomy According to Eut-el-ten\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n  The Lone Indian\n  On Jutting Rocks the Black Klap-Poose, the Shag in Silence Sits\n  A West Coast Indian Wearing the Kut-sack\n  A Pictographic Painting--The Coat of Arms of Shewish, Seshaht Chief\n  The Bark Gives Way and Comes in Strips from off the Trees\n  We Dance Round our Fires and Sing Again\n  Next Day E're Mid-day Came They Had Set Sail\n  Brushing the Hemlock Boughs, he Walked Stealthily\n  Ka-koop-et\n  Stone Hammer Used by the Indians of Barkley Sound\n  He Shot an Arrow Straight Above his Head\n  Then Eut-le-ten Stood Within the Fire\n\n\n\nA PEN PICTURE OF BARKLEY SOUND\n\nTHE ANCIENT HOME OF THE SESHAHTS\n\n\nTo the lone Indian, who slowly paddles his canoe upon the waters of\nthis western sound, each tree of different kind by shade of green and\nshape of crown is known; the Toh-a-mupt or Sitca spruce with scaley\nbark and prickly spine; the feathery foliage of the Quilth-kla-mupt,\nthe western hemlock, relieved in spring by the light green of tender\nshoots. The frond-like branches and aromatic scent betray to him the\nmuch-prized Hohm-ess, the giant cedar tree, from which he carves his\nstaunch canoe. These form the woods which sweep from rocky shore to\ntopmost hill.\n\nSmall bays with sandy beaches white with broken clam shells mark the\nshore, and if across the beach a stream of crystal water rippled\nto the sea, one Indian lodge or more was sure to be erected on the\nrising land behind; for Indians always choose to build their homes\non sheltered sandy bays where pure fresh water runs, and so in years\nwhich are among those past and gone one could not fail to see the\nblue wood smoke of Indian fires hanging like gauze above the little\nbays; but most are now deserted and corner posts of old time houses\nalone are seen, and beds of stinging nettle cover ancient kitchen\nmiddens, and spirea and elderberry strive for space where once red\nstrips of salmon hung in the smoke of punk-wood fires, and stillness\nreigns where once the Indians' mournful song was heard.\n\nBetween the bays are rugged rocky points, where, by the constant\nwash of winter waves the rocks are carved in shapes uncouth and\nweird--giants in stone, whose heads are crowned with scrubby\nconifers, upon whose feet the wild seas break, or in the summer time\nthe gentle wavelets lap. On jutting rocks the black Klap-poose, the\nshag, in silence sits, while circling overhead the keen eyed gulls\nwatch for the shoals of fry on which they feed.\n\n[Illustration: ON JUTTING ROCKS THE BLACK KLAP-POOSE, THE SHAG IN\nSILENCE SITS]\n\nCome now with me and I will guide you to some beauty spots, unknown,\nunguessed except to those who have explored the sea creeks and\nsheltered passage ways abounding on that western coast. Perhaps\nbetween two rugged rocks we may find an opening where it cuts its way\ndeep into the land. In many parts, the lichen-covered canyon walls\napproach so close together that our canoe can scarcely pass, and more\nthan likely we shall find the passage bridged by some old fallen\ntree, its ancient trunk enveloped in soft moss and seedling forest\ntrees. Reflected in the water's surface are flowering berry shrubs,\nwhich adorn the banks on either side. We see the glossy-leaved\nshalal, the fruit of which the Indians gather to dry for winter use,\nand clumps of maiden hair and other ferns rooted in old tree trunks\nand rocky crevices. Such is the picture of many a salt sea creek\nfound in the regions round fair Barkley Sound.\n\nPerhaps our fancy leads among the islands of the sound. It may be\nthat a storm has lately spent itself, and long deep swells are\nrolling in from the wide ocean lying to the west. Our staunch canoe\nis lost in the deep green waters of the heaving main. It climbs only\nto descend and climb once more, and thus we slowly cross the Middle\nChannel and reach calm water.\n\nSoon what at first appeared to be unbroken shore breaks up into many\npassage ways. By one of these we enter, to find ourselves among a\nhundred isles. Each one is wooded to the water's edge, which often\nthe trees overspread with outstretched boughs. Entranced, we paddle\non until we leave behind all trace of ocean swell, and if the tide\nbe low so that old sea-soaked snags are seen upon the shore, and\nboulders thick with barnacles and varied coloured sea-weeds in shades\nof brown and red, and here and there great clusters of blue mussel\nshells, these all, if the water be calm and undisturbed by wind, are\nmirrored on the surface of the stream, forming pictures most rare\nand beautiful. Thus for hours with ever fresh delight we thread the\ncalm passage-ways between those isles. Beachlets of white sand and\npowdered shells are found where ocean swells at times may reach. On\nthese we stroll and gather abalone shells and empty sea eggs and\nother relics up-thrown by winter storms. At evening we may reach\na sheltered nook where years ago Indians built a little shelter\nin which to sit and watch the sun descend into the western sea.\nPerhaps we may conjure up the Indian's thought, who built that\nlittle shelter, and night on night in glorious summer time, squatted\nand watched the sun go down.\n\nSuch is the setting for the following tales. Amid such scenes as\nthese, the Indians lived and died.\n\n[Illustration: A WEST COAST INDIAN WEARING THE KUT-SACK]\n\n\n\nTHE SUMMER HOME OF THE SESHAHTS\n\n\nThere is an island larger than the rest, called Ho-moh-ah, where once\nthe tribe of Seshahts made their summer home. It lies well out to\nsea, and on the sheltered side the Seshahts lived. The chief of the\ntribe was Shewish. His house was large, so large that when he called\nhis people to a great potlatch, they all could find within its walls\nan ample space to feast and dance. His house like all the old time\ndwellings was built on simple lines, the three great roof-logs each\nof single trees, upheld by posts of ample girth. The sides and roof\nof wide-split cedar boards were adzed to lie close, and fastened\ninto place by twisted cedar rope. Within, on either side was raised\na wooden platform two feet high. This platform and a portion of\nthe floor adjoining it in sections was partitioned off by screens\nof cedar mats. Each section was the home of such as claimed close\nkinship with the chief. The centre of the lodge for its whole length\nwas common to all who lived therein. The people cooked their food\nupon the common fire, the smoke of which curled up and found an exit\nthrough the smoke hole in the roof. The section tenanted by the\nfamily of Shewish lay furthest from the door. No feature except one\nmarked it as different from the homes of lesser men. A pictographic\npainting--the Coat of Arms of the great family of Shewish hung upon\nthe wall. The picture told in graphic form how came the name of\nShewish to be famed among the hunters of the whale. It also told\nthe legend of the THUNDER BIRDS.\n\n[Illustration: HAND ADZE MADE AND USED BY INDIANS OF BARKLEY SOUND]\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE THUNDER BIRDS\n\n\nNAMES OCCURRING IN \"THE LEGEND OF THE THUNDER BIRDS\"\n\nKulakula is the [1]Chinook word for Bird.\n\nTee-tse-kin or Tootooch is the name given by the Barkley Sound\nIndians to the Thunder Bird, a mighty supernatural bird in\nIndian mythology.\n\nHowchulis, the land of the Howchucklesahts, is better known by the\nname Uchucklesit, a safe harbour on the west side of the Alberni\nCanal at its junction with Barkley Sound. Uchucklesit is now the\ncentre of an important fishing industry.\n\nQuawteaht, is a great personage in Indian mythology, a beneficent\nbeing, and considered by many to be the progenitor of their race.\n\n[1] CHINOOK, is a jargon or trade language still used on the coast\nof British Columbia both by the white men in conversing with the\nIndians, also by the latter when talking to members of a tribe\nspeaking a different dialect. Chinook is a combination of English,\nFrench and Indian words.\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE THUNDER BIRDS\n\n\nThe figure at the base of the pictographic painting represents the\nmammoth whale upon whose back the whole creation rests. Above the\nwhale are seen the head and wings of the giant Kulakula the\nTee-tse-kin the Thunder Bird which dwells aloft. When he flaps\nhis wings or even moves a quill the thunder peals. When he blinks his\neyes the lightning strikes. Upon his back a lake of large dimensions\nlies, from which the water pours in thunder storms. He is the lone\nsurvivor of four great Thunder Birds which dwelt upon the mountains\nof Uchucklesit. These mighty birds sustained themselves on whales,\nwhich they would carry to the mountain peaks, where Indians say, the\nbones of many whales have been found.\n\nOne time the \"Great One,\" Quawteaht desiring to destroy the mighty\nThunder Birds, entered the body of a whale, and swimming slowly\napproached Howchulis shore. The Thunder Birds espied it from their\nhigh retreat, and sweeping down made ready for the fray. First one\nattacked and drove his talons deep into the whale's back, then\nspreading his broad wings he tried to rise. Then Quawteaht gave\nstrength to the great whale, which sounded, dragging the Tee-tse-kin\nbeneath the waves. Up came the whale; a second Thunder Bird with all\nhis force drove his strong claws deep into the quivering flesh. Then\nQuawteaht a second time gave strength and down the mammal plunged\ndragging with him the second Thunder Bird. A third was drowned in\nmanner similar. Thereat the fourth and last Tootooch took wing and\nfled to distant heights, where he has ever since remained.\n\nThis is the story of the Thunder Birds.\n\n[Illustration: WOODEN SCOOP FOR BALING THE WATER OUT OF A CANOE]\n\n\n\nHOW SHEWISH BECAME A GREAT WHALE HUNTER\n\n\nNAMES OCCURRING IN THE LEGEND OF SHEWISH\n\nThe Killer Whale or Ka-Kow-in has a large dorsal fin shown in a\nconventional manner in the pictograph between the Thunder Bird and\nthe face of the Indian girl, sister to Shewish. The Killer Whale\nwas often used as a family emblem or crest and as a source from\nwhich personal names were derived.\n\nKlootsmah or Kloots-a-mah plural Klootsmuk the Indian word for\n\"married woman\" but used in the legends for girls as well as women.\nAccording to Gilbert Malcolm Sproat who lived in Alberni in the\nearly \"sixties\" the term used for a young girl or daughter was\n\"Ha-quitl-is\" and for an unmarried woman \"Ha-quatl.\"\n\nToquaht--the home of the Toquaht tribe of Indians, an old\nsettlement on the north shore of Barkley Sound between Ucluelet and\nPipestem Inlet.\n\nThe Kutsack, or Kats-hek is a loose cloak or mantle woven from the\nsoft inner bark of the yellow cedar tree. Indian mats were made from\nthe inner bark of the red cedar.\n\n[Illustration: PICTOGRAPHIC PAINTING, THE COAT OF ARMS OF SHEWISH,\nSESHAHT CHIEF (Drawn by J. Semeyn from original sketch by the author)]\n\n\nHOW SHEWISH BECAME A GREAT WHALE HUNTER\n\n\nThe centre figure in the pictographic painting is a wolf grotesquely\ndrawn. Within her body four young wolves are seen. Above the wolf is\na killer whale surmounted by a second picture of the Thunder Bird,\nand in the left top corner of the pictograph is seen the face of\na young klootsmah or Indian girl. How strangely are her features\npictured. With upturned hands she gazes in a blank unvarying\nstare. She holds the key to this old tale which the great scroll\nperpetuates. One time this Indian maiden, daughter of a chief of\ngreat renown, with her two sisters left their home on Village Island.\nThey went in search of yellow cedar bark which grew in quantity upon\nthe mountain top above the village, of Toquaht. The cedar bark is\nhighly prized, and when the sap ascends in May to feed the new born\ngreen, the bark is loose and easily removed, and when the klootsmah\ncuts the bark through to the sap half round the tree and pulls with\nall her strength, it comes in strips from off the tree till the first\nbranch is reached, and then it breaks and falls obedient at her dark\nfeet. The klootsmah rolls it up and puts it in the basket on her\nback, and when she reaches home she splits the bark, and pounds it\nbetween stones, with water softening it, and after long and tedious\nwork the fibres being separated, she cleanses them and weaves them\ninto cloaks, and then with true artistic taste, trims them with\npretty fur.\n\n[Illustration: THE BARK GIVES WAY AND COMES IN STRIPS FROM\nOFF THE TREES]\n\nThe daughters of the Village Island chief took with them food to last\nfor three whole suns. They started early, for many miles of paddling\nlay between them and the Toquaht shore. At length they reached the\nbeach, and hiding their canoe beneath a giant spruce, they followed\nwhere a little trail beckoned them on and up the mountain side. For\nhours they climbed, wending their way through lonely, silent woods,\nthe twittering wren the only life they saw or heard. At times they\nlost the trail, as it was overgrown with fern and berry bush. But\nonce the leading klootsmah stopped and signed to her companions to\nkeep still. Halting, they waited while she pointed to the root fangs\nof a cedar tree, where well within the hollow butt a western timber\nwolf had made her lair. Gone was the mother, perhaps in quest of deer\nwith which to feed her four young pups who calmly slept within that\nsheltered cave, awaiting her return.\n\nThe Indians are a superstitious race, and one of the old fetishes was\nthis: that if by chance they could secure the young of a wolf from\nwhich to take some precious inner part, to rub upon the outer side of\ntheir canoes, it gave great luck in whaling, and thus it came to pass\nthat when the klootsmuk found the she wolf's lair, they formed the\nplan of taking to their brother the four wolf pups, in order that he\nmight become the chief of all whale hunters. Cautiously they placed\nthem in the baskets on their backs and then retraced their steps. In\ntime they reached the beach, and entered their canoe, when just as\nthey pushed off, with giant springs and angry howl leapt the great\nmother wolf from the woods, but the klootsmuk were safe with their\nstrange prizes, and soon their canoe cut gleefully through the waves,\nwhile their songs were wafted landward by the western breeze.\n\nUpon an isle not far from home they hid the young wolf pups. This\ndone, they squatted on the shore, and thought how best they might\ninform their brother of their lucky find. They were puzzled as to how\nthis might be managed without awakening jealousies among the other\nmembers of the tribe, and they were fearful to face their father's\nwrath who surely would expect their craft well laden with the cedar\nbark. They reasoned long and then decided on a stratagem. One of the\nthree would cut her foot with a mussel shell, and mark her tunic with\nthe blood, and tell the story, that when they landed on the Toquaht\nshore an open mussel shell had cut her foot, therefore they could not\ngo for cedar bark. They carried out this plan, and paddled slowly to\nHo-moh-ah. The people saw them come, and wondered much what evil had\nbefallen them, but when they saw the blood upon the kutsack of the\nyoungest girl and saw her bound up foot, they guessed the trouble.\nBefore the sun had set, the brother had been told of the wolf pups,\nand secretly that night he had taken from them the precious parts,\nand when he went hunting, he rubbed the medicine on his canoe, and\nhad such wondrous luck he soon became the chief of all whale hunters.\nSuch is the story told by that weird painting, which could be seen\nsome years ago adorning the dark walls of the great potlatch house\nof Shewish, Seshaht chief on Ho-moh-ah but better known as Village\nIsland, Barkley Sound.\n\n[Illustration: HALIBUT HOOK AND CLUB FOR STUNNING FISH]\n\n\n\nTHE FINDING OF THE TSOMASS\n\n\nNAMES AND WORDS OCCURRING IN THE LEGEND \"THE FINDING OF THE TSOMASS\"\n\nAlberni, the valley at the head of the Alberni Canal, a wonderful\ncleft or fjord which almost splits Vancouver Island in two. This\nfjord has its outlet in Barkley Sound on the west side of the\nisland. The Alberni Canal was named by the Spaniards after Don Pedro\nAlberni, captain of infantry in charge of soldiers stationed at\nNootka Sound, Vancouver Island, during the Spanish occupation.\n\nTsomass River--spelt and pronounced by the \"Whites\" Somass, a\nfine river formed by the confluence of the Stamps and Sproat or\nKlee-coot rivers, draining Great Central lake and Sproat or Klee-coot\nlake respectively. The Tsomass river flows through the Alberni Valley\ninto the Alberni Canal.\n\nThe E-coulth-aht, is one of the many divisions of what Gilbert\nMalcolm Sproat called \"the Aht tribes\" inhabiting the west\ncoast of Vancouver Island.\n\nPo-po-moh-ah, is now known by the Spanish name \"San Mateo Bay\"\nsituated on the east side of Barkley Sound, not far from the entrance\nto the Alberni Canal.\n\nU-chuck-le-sit, is a small but safe harbour on the north side\nand near to the entrance to the Alberni Canal. The cannery, cold\nstorage plant and village of Kildonan are built on the harbour.\n\nKlu-quilth-soh, is the Indian name for a rather forbidding passage\nin the Alberni Canal, and known for strong winds and choppy seas. It\nis named by the white people \"Hell's Gate.\"\n\nChehahs were Supernatural spirits or influences; there were good\nand bad chehahs.\n\nShe-she-took-a-muck was a ferocious whale supposed to have lived\nat Hell's Gate, and to have swallowed Indians and their canoes. The\nwhale was killed by the aid of Quawteaht.\n\nKah-oots was supposed to be one of the deities of Seshaht mythology.\n\nTsa-a-toos,--(Copper Island) is a large island situated in\nBarkley Sound and near to the entrance to the Alberni Canal.\n\nToosh-ko, Hy-wach-es, Wak-ah-nit, (Copper Mountain) Tin-nim-ah, and\nKlu-quilth-koose (now known as Coos Creek) are place names on the\nAlberni Canal.\n\nU-ah-tee--the north wind, Yuk-stees--the south wind.\n\nO-lil-lie and Il-la-hie, are Chinook for berries and land\nor country respectively.\n\nAh-tooch is the Indian name for deer.\n\nLup-se-kup-se or Nooh-see-cupis, is a small piece of cleared land\non the left bank of the Tsomass river and about half way between the\ntowns of Port Alberni and Alberni.\n\nKleet-sa, is a high mountain rising from the waters of Taylor Arm,\nSproat Lake, so named because of its white or chalky appearance.\n\nKuth-kah-chulth, is the Indian name for Mount Arrowsmith, a\nsplendid peak rising directly east of the town of Port Alberni. Mount\nArrowsmith is one of the highest mountains of Vancouver Island; it is\n5976 feet in elevation.\n\nToh-a-muk-is, is the land fronting on the little bay just north\nof the foot of Argyle Street, Port Alberni.\n\nKok-a-mah-kook, is a place close to the stream known as Dry Creek,\nand near to the railway round house, Port Alberni.\n\nKwa-nis, Kam-mass or Gam-mas as it is variously known, is a species\nof lily which comes into flower about the middle of April and remains\nin flower till June. It is gathered, roasted and preserved whole in\nbags for winter use.\n\n\nTHE FINDING OF THE TSOMASS\n\n\nNear thirty miles from where Alberni pours her crystal stream out to\nthe mighty fjord that cleaves Vancouver's Island nigh in twain, a\ntribe of Indians lived. Their village nestled at the foot of wooded\nhills, which everywhere on this indented coastline, rise straight up\nfrom out the North Pacific. They were a powerful tribe, E-coulth-aht\nby name; seven hundred strong, with many fighting men, and many\nchildren who played upon that shore. I think even now I hear the echo\nof their voices round the bay, and how marvelously clear an echo may\nbe, among the inlets of that rockbound coast! I have heard my call\nflung back from side to side alternately, till it was lost among the\nrocky heights and ceased to be.\n\nAcross the bay from where the Indians lived, ran a stream, called\nPo-po-moh-ah. Here every autumn, when the salmon came, they stayed\nand caught the fish for winter use. Yet strange to say these\nancient E-coulth-ahts seemed unaware that at their very doors, a\nnature hewn canal had its entrance. One fine September morning\nHa-houlth-thuk-amik and Han-ah-kut-ish, the sons of Wick-in-in-ish\nor, as some say Ka-kay-un, accompanied by their father's slave\nSee-na-ulth were paddling slowly to Po-po-moh-ah, when half across\nand near to Tsa-a-toos they saw dead salmon floating on the tide.\n\nThe salmon had spawned, and is it not strange to think that this, the\nking of fish should struggle up the rapid tumbling streams for many\nmiles, against strong currents, over falls where the water breaks\nthe least, perchance to fall within the wicker purse of Indian traps\nplaced there so cunningly to catch them if they should fall back; and\neven if they escape the Indian traps and find the gravel bar where\nthey four years before, began their life, and having spent themselves\nin giving life, sicken and die, their bodies even in death give\nsustenance to gulls and eagles circling round those haunts.\n\n\"These fish have come from where fresh water flows, so let us follow\nup from whence they come. Let Quawteaht direct our course, and we\nshall find new streams where salmon are in plenty and win great glory\nin our tribe.\" Thus spake the sons of Wick-in-in-ish, and they turned\nthe prow of their canoe upstream, and followed where the trail of\nsalmon led, to the broad entrance of that splendid fjord.\n\nSoon they paddled by the harbour U-chuck-le-sit, long famed for its\nsafe anchorage and quiet retreat, when winter storms lash the waters\nof the sound. Leaving this quiet harbour on the left, they followed\nwhere the wider channel led to Klu-quilth-soh, that dark and stormy\ngate, where Indians say the dreaded Chehahs dwell among the rocky\nheights--\"The Gates of Hell,\" and when men seek to pass those gates\nthe Chehahs blow upon them winds of evil fates from north and south\nand east and west. The water boils in that great witches pot, while\nIndians seek a sheltered beach in vain--no beach is there, no shelter\nfrom the storm. The mighty cliffs frown down relentlessly; the whale\nShe-she-took-a-muck opens his great jaws and swallows voyagers, at\nwhich the chehahs laugh, and their wild laughter, Klu-quilth-soh's\nheights re-echo far away.\n\nOn this eventful day the evil chehahs were absent from their home and\nthe Yuk-stees wind blew not too strong to cause the waves to dash\nalong in wild commotion, and after paddling uneventfully through\nKlu-quilth-soh, the three E-coulth-ahts stopped beside Toosh-ko.\nLooking back they could not see Nob Point which hid their home from\nview,--it was as if the mountains which formed those stormy gates,\nhad closed and barred them in.\n\n\"What chehah\" they cried, \"has lured us within this inland sea and\nshut those gates? A-ha A-ha!\" they called with anxious cry, and\nprayed Kah-oots to save them from all dangers. To the Saghalie Tyee,\nthe chief above, they also prayed to potlach kloshe to them, and\nguard them from the evil chehahs hovering round. After the relief\nof prayer, their spirits rose, and once again the splashing of their\npaddles marked their onward progress.\n\nSoon they glided by Hy-wach-es Creek and rounding Wak-ah-nit they\ncame in view of the great valley where the Tsomass flows. At once\nthey ceased from paddling to gaze with pleasure on that favoured\nland, and as they looked they heard the sound of song from up the\nriver valley.\n\nThe evening fell, the pleasant Yuk-stees wind blew more faintly, and\nas it passed away, over those calm inland waters swelled again the\nsound of many voices chanting Indian songs.\n\n\"There are people dwelling there,\" they said. \"It would be well if\nwe delayed until morning.\" Agreeing to this plan they crossed the\nchannel and camped at Klu-quilth-coose.\n\nNext morning while the grass was damp with dew, and long before the\nU-ah-tee wind had ceased, the sons of Wick-in-in-ish, hearing again\nthe quaint alluring song, took their canoe and paddled on, to where\nbetween two grassy slopes, the Tsomass ends. When they approached\nthe river mouth, they saw extending from the bank a salmon trap, and\neven to-day, the Indians will show at Lup-se-kup-se some old rotten\nsticks, which they affirm formed part of that same trap. The land was\ngreen, the wild duck's quack was heard among the reeds which edged\nthe river bank, while flocks of geese were feeding on the grass\nwhich grows thickly upon the tidal flats, the flats the Indians call\nKwi-chuc-a-nit.\n\nUpon the eastern bank the young men saw a wondrous house, which far\nsurpassed their father's lodge at home beyond the hills in Rainy Bay,\nin size of beams and boards. The sons of Wick-in-in-ish were afraid\nand would have turned the bow of their canoe home-bound, but that\nfrom the house they heard a woman call. \"Oh come and stay with us, go\nnot away. Our land is full of all the riches nature gives; our woods\nare bright with o-lil-lie most luscious to the taste; on yonder hill\nthe nimble ah-tooch feed; in every stream the silver salmon swim so\ncome within our lodge with us and stay awhile.\" Ha-houlth-thuk-amik\nwas mesmerized by the sweet welcoming and entered in, whereat the\nklootsmah said to him, \"We welcome thee strange one unto our lodge,\nfor we have never seen a man before. Come and join us in our song and\ndance, for when above great Kuth-kah-chulth the morning sun in glory\nrises, we chant this song.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE INDIAN MAIDEN'S SONG]\n\nand when he sets over Kleetsa's snow white crown, we dance around our\nfires, and sing again, and our hearts are happy in this our land.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"WE DANCE ROUND OUR FIRES AND SING AGAIN\"]\n\nNow Han-ah-kut-ish was alarmed and much afraid that if his brother\nlistened to the klootsmah and was attentive to her blandishments, he\nwould forget the mission in which they were engaged, therefore he\ncalled to him to come, and after much persuasion the elder brother\nleft the lodge and joined the younger and the slave See-na-ulth,\nand together they paddled up the stream to Ok-sock-tis opposite the\npresent village of O-pit-ches-aht. Across the river there were houses\nin which more klootsmuk lived, but at this time they were employed in\ngathering Kwanis in the land behind, and when the young men sought\nthem out they were afraid and all but one took flight escaping to the\nwoods. This one had no fear but coming near to Ha-houlth-thuk-amik\nbesought him with favour to look on her, but Han-ah-kut-ish again\nreminded him that they had not as yet attained the object of their\nquest.\n\nStill further up the stream they went, until they came to where\nthey found the Ty-ee salmon spawning on the gravel bars. Believing\nthey had found the object of their search they camped the night at\nSah-ah-hie. All through the darkness they listened to the rushing\nof the fish, when the gaunt and savage males with flattened heads\nand upper jaws curved like a hook about the lower, and armed with\ndog-like teeth, fought for the females of their choice. With great\nsatisfaction they heard the wallowing of the fish, as, with their\nheads and tails, they formed the elongated cavities in the gravel\nin which to lay their eggs. Then Ha-houlth-thuk-amik declared that\nthis the Tsomass River was the source from which the dead fish came\nwhich they had seen when paddling to Po-po-moh-ah.\n\nTo Lup-se-kup-se they returned next day, and there they saw,\namong the women in the lodge, the girl who spoke to them, when\nthey had landed on the river bank opposite Ok-sock-tis. Then\nHa-houlth-thuk-amik, desiring to convey her home with him, took her\naside and said, \"If thou wilt come with me, say not a word, but\nunbeknown make haste and leave the house, and run across the point\nwhich forms the eastern bank where this the Tsomass river joins\nthe inland sea, then hide thyself until we take thee in, as we are\npaddling home.\"\n\nThe klootsmah did as she was told and as the young men passed she\njumped within the canoe, and was away with them. That night they\nstayed at Chis-toh-nit not far from Coleman creek, so named because\nin later days a white man of that name took up some land and dwelt\nthere some little while.\n\nNext morning the klootsmah said to Ha-houlth-thuk-amik, \"I am\nKla-kla-as-suks and I am now thy rightful wife and therefore I\ndesire to make of thee a famous hunter of the whale, so come with\nme and climb the mountain called Kuk-a-ma-com-ulth where high above\nthe timber line the green grass grows, and I will get for thee an\nOw-yie medicine.\"\n\nThey climbed the mountain and she secured for him the medicine so\ndesired by all who hunt the whale, and early next morning, blown by\na strong U-ah-tee wind they started for Po-mo-moh-ah and when they\ncame to Klu-quilth-soh they found the gates wide open and passed\nsafely through between the frowning cliffs, arriving home before\nthe break of day.\n\nThen Ha-houlth-thuk-amik aroused his father who was still asleep,\nand bade him light a fire, and when the fire was lit he told him how\nthey ventured up the unknown way, between high cliffs, where they had\nlost all sight and sound of Rainy Bay. He told of the Tsomass land,\nand the salmon stream which far eclipsed their own Po-po-moh-ah, and\nthen described the great and wondrous house, where the klootsmuk\ndwelt, and how they sang to him \"Yah-hin-in-ay.\" He told him also\nof Kla-kla-as-suks, the klootsmah who had left her home to be his\nrightful wife.\n\n[Illustration: NEXT DAY E'RE MIDDAY CAME THEY HAD SET SAIL]\n\nThen Wick-in-in-ish sent for all the tribe, and when they were\nassembled in his lodge, he told to them the story of the Tsomass\nland. Among the braves was much talking; and after speeches from\nthe lesser chiefs, it was decided that next day before the sun had\ncast his shadow north and south, with Yuk-stees wind, they would\nset sail for Tsomass land.\n\nThat day in every house, in varied occupation, each family was\nbusied. The cedar boards, which form the sides and roof of all their\nhomes, were piled upon canoes. Atop of these were set their household\ngoods, the mats of cedar bark, the wooden tubs in which they boiled\ntheir fish, the spears of flint, their hooks of bone, their fishing\nlines of kelp, and mattresses of water reeds. Large quantities of\nclams and mussels, also salmon cured by smoke they took with them,\nfor Wick-in-in-ish planned to give a great potlatch to the strange\ntribe of Indian girls, from which his eldest son had chosen one to\nbe his wife.\n\nNext morning long before the sun had reached the zenith they had set\nsail for Tsomass land. It truly must have been a sight to see that\nfleet of dark canoes, piled high with all the wealth of that great\ntribe, as with the sails of cedar bark filled with the Yuk-stees\nwind, they glided by the green or rocky shores which led them inland\nto the pleasant Tsomass land. Before the shadows of the night had\nspread among the gloomy conifers, the dark canoes had rounded\nWak-a-nit, when, taking down their sails of cedar bark, they paddled\nsilently close to the shore.\n\nWhen near Tin-nim-ah, where the Indians say they find good stone for\nsharpening arrow points, they rested on their paddles, and first\nheard the women singing in their cedar lodge. Then Wick-in-in-ish\naddressed his tribe. \"My children we have sailed for many miles,\nand our little ones are hungry and weary. Let us sojourn near this\nold spruce.\"\n\nThus they encamped near the conifer, and called the place\nToha-a-muk-is after the spruce they were afraid to touch. Water they\ncarried from near Kak-a-mak-kook, named from the alders growing round\nthe stream. All through the night they heard the salmon splash to\nfree themselves, so many Indians say, from sea lice clinging to their\nsilver sides, and their hearts were happy with that refrain, which\nspoke to them of great supplies of food.\n\nEarly next day, before the forest trees were gilded by the glorious\nrising sun, the people heard the call of many birds, and looking\nnorthward where the Tsomass flows, forth from the mist, which in the\nearly morning hangs like a veil of gauze among the trees, they saw a\nflock of Sand Hill cranes appear. They flew far above their heads and\ngradually ascending to the sky, vanished from their sight. These were\nthe maidens, so the Indians say, who left behind them all this lovely\nland for regions unexplored, taking with them both clams and mussels.\nThis is the reason Indians give for the lack of these shell-fish now,\nupon the shores of the great inland sea. The maidens also took the\nKwa-nis bulbs, but as they flew they dropt a few upon the ground,\nhence the Kwa-nis bulb is still found in Tsomass land.\n\nWick-in-in-ish, with his sons, now made haste to paddle to the\nriver mouth, but lo, the house was gone, no sign of it was left,\nand with it all the klootsmah tribe had fled. Then he turned to\nHa-houlth-thuk-amik and said, \"This is thy land, and this thy future\nhome shall be; thou and thy chosen one Kla-kla-as-suks shall dwell\ntherein, and may thy children be many.\"\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF EUT-LE-TEN\n\n\nEXPLANATION OF \"THE LEGEND OF EUT-LE-TEN\"\n\nAs stated in the introduction, the details for this story were\ngiven by the late Indian missionary, Mr. M. Swartout, who received\nthem direct from the Indians of Dodger's Cove, Barkley sound, in\nthe year 1897.\n\nThe reader will recognize in this legend the Indian equivalent for\nHansel and Gretel, Jack the Giant Killer, Jack and the Bean stalk,\nand other stories of childhood days.\n\nIt is not likely that the exploits of Eut-le-ten were considered\nby the older Indians to be the product of imagination, and most\nprobably they believed that some time in the distant past, a\nsupernatural being called Eut-le-ten was born and lived and\nperformed extraordinary feats and taught them wonderful things.\n\nThis is an Ohyaht Indian story. The chief village of the Ohyahts\nwas at a bay called Keeh-him between Bamfield and Cape Beale,\nBarkley Sound.\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF EUT-LE-TEN\n\n\nTHE WITCH E-ISH-SO-OOLTH\n\nLong, long ago, in the gloom of deep and silent woods there lived a\nwitch or evil chehah. The Indians called her E-ish-so-oolth. So tall\nwas she that, stalking through the forest, her head would brush the\nlower branches of the giant fir.\n\nShe dwelt in a huge lodge, the walls of which were built of cedar\nlogs as thick as men are high. This evil chehah was the dread of\nyoung and old alike, for all believed that boys and girls and even\nmen and women, who left their homes, not to return again, were\ntaken to her lodge, there to be devoured at leisure. Therefore\nmothers often said, when children misbehaved, \"Be good or I will\ncall E-ish-so-oolth.\"\n\nOne day some Keeh-hin village children paddled from their home and\nlanded on a nearby shore. Then something happened causing one to\ncry, and all the others scolding, threatened to call E-ish-so-oolth.\nThe threat had no effect and the child cried on, till one in teasing\nspirit called loudly, \"E-ish-so-oolth! E-ish-so-oolth! Oh come\nE-ish-so-oolth!\"\n\nThen forth from the woods a figure stalked, a tall gaunt form of\nterrible aspect. She leaned upon a gnarled and knotty stick and\nscanning the beach with cruel eyes she cried, \"Who called me by\nmy name E-ish-so-oolth?\"\n\nThe children screamed and tried to run away; the chehah laughed one\nawful fiendish laugh, then caught them one by one with her lean\nhands. With the sticky gum of Douglas fir, she sealed their little\njet black eyes so that they could not see which way led left or\nright, and threw them in the basket on her back, starting for home\nalong the lonely forest trail.\n\nAs I have said, E-ish-so-oolth was tall, and many times bent her head\nto pass beneath low and spreading branches, and so it happened when\nstooping under a tree which brushed the basket top, four little hands\ngripped tightly hold of a kindly branch and held on fast.\n\nWhen E-ish-so-oolth had gone on further not missing the two children,\nthey clambered down, and partly freed their eyes from the vile pitch,\nrunning for home as fast as they could go. To their mothers they\ntold the story, and how their playmates of that very morning, were\nnow perchance within the witch's lodge, and no help to save them\nfrom a bloody fate. Then all the mothers of the kidnapped girls\nchanted the weird and doleful death lament. Four days and nights the\ndismal song was heard, beyond the blue wood smoke of Indian fires.\nWeeks of mourning passed, and all but one were comforted, but she\nsat all alone, and every morning she squatted on the sea grass at\nthe shore, chanting that drear and mournful song.\n\n\nTHE BIRTH OF EUT-LE-TEN\n\nEarly one morning as she sat and cried, her tears flowed down and\nformed a little pool, a very little pool among the grass, the lank\nsea grass stems on which she crouched. Surprised, she saw a movement\nin the sand, the pool of tears was being changed into a child, a very\nlittle child, so small that when the mother picked up a mussel shell,\nshe could cradle the small form within its pearly curve. Gently she\ncarried it to her dark lodge, and set it in a safe and quiet place.\nNext day within the shell, there lay a wonder-child, in face and form\nmost beautiful.\n\nThe little creature grew so fast that every day his mother went out\nto find new shells and larger shells in which to cradle him. She\ncalled him by the name of Eut-le-ten, and in all the village there\nwas none so fair; in wisdom and in beauty none excelled. The child\nwas observing beyond his years, and felt deepest sorrow at his\nmother's constant weeping. One day he inquired in tender tones,\nfull of love and sympathy. \"My Mother, tell me why you cry so much;\nwhy unconsoled you chant the death lament?\"\n\nThen the mother drawing him to her side told him of the tragedy which\nhad befallen his sister. \"The chehah came and carried off my girl,\ncarried away your little sister to the woods, the dark and gloomy\nwoods, and since that day her shadow has not crossed my mournful\npath,\" she said.\n\nThen up spake Eut-le-ten and bravely said, \"My Mother, I will seek\nyour daughter, my little sister. I will save her from that awful fate\nyou fear. Direct me now upon the lonesome road the dread witch took\nand I will seek her out.\"\n\nAnd the mother knowing him to be a spirit-child, rejoiced and blessed\nhis errand. They next sought out the little ones who saved themselves\nby clinging to the low branched tree, and from them they learned the\ntrail the old witch took. Then sallied forth brave Eut-le-ten alone,\noff to give battle to E-ish-so-oolth.\n\n\nTHE QUEST\n\n[Illustration: BRUSHING THE HEMLOCK BOUGHS, HE WALKED STEALTHILY]\n\nEut-le-ten started with no arms but his courage, to face the dread\nwitch who had spirited away the children. The trail lay long, unknown\nand untrodden, save by the timber wolf, panther and black bear. It\nwas feared by the Indians for dangers most dreadful--the greatest\nof all the chehah E-ish-so-oolth. He broke through dense shalal,\nfringing the green woods, making the shore line all but impenetrable.\nInto the thick woods, under the silvery spruce, brushing the hemlock\nboughs he walked stealthily. Salmon berry thickets impeded his\nprogress, scratched his round limbs with the thorns on their canes.\nHe passed white helebore, so tall and so handsome. He saw how the\nblack bear had fed on swamp lily, tramping the glossy leaves into the\nblack mud. He spurned the devil's club with berries so red and with\npoisonous thorns on stem and on leaf. Such was the trail as it led\nhim far inland, inland away from his home by the sea. At last by a\ncool stream, the path lay before him. Hard by the stream a lodge was\nerected, a house of such size the boy stood dumbfounded, and he knew\nthat this must be the dwelling of the children's dread captor.\n\nNight time had come, the shadows had fallen and Eut-le-ten was tired\nwith the long weary trail. Should he proceed or wait until morning?\nHe climbed a tree which grew by the water, and hid in the branches\nto keep vigil, there to crave strength from the Saghalie spirit, the\nHyas Tyee who dwells in the heavens, to grant him the strength, the\nwisdom, the courage to kill the dread witch. The night was long and\nthe vigil lone, soundless except for the night hawk on wing, or the\nhowl of the wolf in the quest of the red deer, or the splash of the\nsalmon in the stream underneath.\n\nEarly next morning, before he descended, he plainly saw the form of\nthe witch, coming to wash in the stream just below him. The water was\nclear reflecting her visage, fearsome in its hideous detail. Up in\nthe tree brave Eut-le-ten saw her, he thought himself safe from her\nfierce prying eyes; he forgot that he too was mirrored below in the\nstill water which lay at her feet. When she had finished her morning\nablutions, she filled her vessel with water and turned to depart,\nwhen she saw just below her, the features of Eut-le-ten in the still\nwater. Upturning her eyes to the branches above her, she saw there\nthe boy half concealed in the foliage, and she smiled with a smile\ntriumphant and cruel, thinking once more her fortune had found her,\nand brought to her lodge the boy she was wanting.\n\nShe greeted him, \"Come, why tarriest up there? Come to my lodge,\nperchance thou art hungry; the fire has been kindled, the water is\nboiling, a welcome awaits thee, why tarriest longer? Descend from\nthe tree and let me behold thee\".\n\nDown climbed Eut-le-ten nothing affrighted, but filled with the\nknowledge no harm could befall him.\n\n\"Why hast thou come, and whence dost thou go? Why didst thou leave\nthy home by the sea?\" Such were the questions E-ish-so-oolth asked\nhim. Then struck by his fairness and beauty of limb, she questioned\nhim thus, \"Why is thy skin so fair, and why are thy limbs so\nbeautiful?\"\n\nThen Eut-le-ten answered her, \"When I was a boy my Mother laid me\nupon the bare ground with my head on a stone, my Father placed a\nlarge rock on my forehead. Thus I was given the gift of the fair.\"\n\nE-ish-so-oolth was envious of Eut-le-ten and much desired to look\nas young as he, so that with face so comely and so fair, she could\nentice the children to her lodge, wherefore she asked with evil\nill concealed, \"Can I by any means obtain this gift?\"\n\nThen Eut-le-ten divining her base thought and much desiring to make\nan end of her, declared that if she would lie down, and on the stone\nwhich lay beside the creek recline her head, he would place upon her\nforehead the stone which would both mould her features like to his,\nand make her skin as fair. The witch determined to try the charm at\nonce, stretching her great length upon the ground, placed her head\nupon the stone.\n\nThen Eut-le-ten lifted a great rock and hurled it down upon the\nwitches head. \"Die dread E-ish-so-oolth,\" he cried. \"No more with\nevil charms wilt thou entice the children to thy lonely forest home.\"\n\nSo died the witch, and nevermore do mothers say when children\nmisbehave. \"Be good or I will call E-ish-so-oolth.\"\n\n\nTHE OGRE\n\nE-ish-so-oolth's husband was a mighty man, greater than any Indian\non the coast. His limbs were rugged as the wind-swept fir which\ngrows upon the stormy outer shores. His thick and matted hair fell\nin tangles over his great shoulders, and his sullen eyes looked from\nout his forehead with angry stare. Cruel as the gaunt and hungry\ntimber wolf, such was the mate of dread E-ish-so-oolth. Beside him,\nEut-le-ten had no length of arm or strength of limb with which to\nfend himself, still less attack this giant of the gloomy forest\ntrack, but he possessed weapons more potent than the brutal strength\nof this vile chehah man. A spirit child he was, a heaven sent boy,\nwhom no evil ever could destroy.\n\n\nTHE DESTRUCTION OF THE OGRE\n\nThe Ogre was at work cleaving a fallen tree, using wedges formed from\nthe hardest, toughest wood the Indians know. It was the Kla-to-mupt,\nthe western yew. With mighty blows of his stone hammer, he sunk a\nwedge deep in the log, rending it open, split to the centre of its\ngiant heart.\n\nThe thunderous blows were heard by Eut-le-ten, who with fine courage\nfollowed up the sound, until he came in view of where the huge man\nworked with all his might.\n\nBlow upon blow fell upon the wedge, deeper it sank into the log.\nThe split grew wider. The sides of the great rent pressed hard upon\nthe wedge, so hard that if the wedge were hit a glancing blow, it\nwould fly out.\n\nThus it was, when the Ogre saw the wonder boy approach, and his great\nframe was filled with rage, because the boy betrayed no fear of him,\nthat his dark face lit up as with a flame.\n\n[Illustration: THIS IS NOT THE OGRE, BUT A PORTRAIT OF KA-KOOP-ET\n(MR. BILL) Drawn by J Semeyn from photograph by Joseph Clegg of\nPort Alberni]\n\nTaking his sledge of stone he struck a blow, as if upon the wedge,\nbut let it drop; deep in the crack it fell far out of reach.\n\n\"Come here my boy,\" he called, \"I crave your help, I have lost my\nhammer within this mighty tree, I cannot reach it, so, jump in and\nget it, for I want it back.\"\n\nEut-le-ten climbed upon the log, and dropt within the split as he was\nbid; the Ogre gave the wedge a sudden jog and out it sprang, and the\nsides came together like the jaws of some great trap.\n\n\"Ha! Ha!\" the Ogre cried, \"Oh! what a joke! with but a single stroke\nI have ground him small. E-ish-so-oolth that gentle little fey, will\ndine on mince-meat.\"\n\nThe ugly Ogre made his clumsy jest, little knowing of the fate his\nspouse had met, when suddenly he saw upon the ground before him, an\nawesome thing, a little pool of water from which there came a quite\nunearthly sound. Then from the pool, with fear and awe, the Ogre saw\nbrave Eut-le-ten uprise. Nothing could lay low this boy of wondrous\nparts, who could resolve himself to mother earth, and from the primal\npool of tears arise to save the helpless and destroy their foes.\n\n\"Most wondrous boy, I feared that when the wedge slipt out you died;\ninstead, my heart is filled with joy to see you live when I had\nthought you killed. Tell me from whence you draw your mystic power,\nand I will seek the place this very day. When I have found it out,\nI will repay you in ways more certain than I can now command.\"\n\nThus spake the ogre, and Eut-le-ten replied, \"'Tis easy done. This\ngift is yours as well as mine. Test it but once, and you will see\nthat you have powers as great as I.\"\n\nThe giant's bulky frame was filled with pride. \"You're right,\" he\nswore, \"the thing that you can do, by all the Tyee salmon, so can I.\"\n\nOnce more the wedge was driven to the heart, until again the sides\nwere spread a-gape. In climbed the giant,--he did not think the fit\nwould be so tight.\n\n\"Are you all ready?\" Eut-le-ten called out.\n\n\"Yes!\" roared the giant, with a thunderous shout.\n\n\"Die then!\" cried Eut-le-ten, as he took the hammer up, and struck\nupon the side the great yew wedge. Out sprung the wedge, the sides\nsnapped together, crushing within the ogre's ponderous frame.\n\nIgnoring his wild shouts they crunched to powder all his giant bones.\n\nThe ogre and his mate were thus destroyed, and never more have\nchildren been led astray by E-ish-so-oolth's dread and magic craft,\nto suffer death in ways too sad to tell.\n\n[Illustration: STONE HAMMER USED BY THE INDIANS OF BARKLEY SOUND]\n\n\nTHE RELEASE OF THE CHILDREN\n\nThen to the lodge sped brave Eut-le-ten to that great lodge of giant\ncedar logs, the home of the dead witch E-ish-so-oolth. The house was\ndark, for only through the door and the great smoke hole in the roof,\ndid the pale light find its dim way. It was gloomy, and for the full\ntime it takes a man to wake from a deep sleep, Eut-le-ten saw nothing\nbut just the darkness of a moonless night, then slowly as if the day\nwas dawning, objects were seen within the hall. In the centre was a\nsmouldering fire, and in the hot ashes, some heated stones with which\nto boil the water in the wooden box in which the food was cooked.\nThere beside the wooden box he saw two little forms, prepared by that\nold witch to satisfy her cruel appetite, and that of her bad chehah\nman. Then Eut-le-ten was very sad indeed, to think that he had come\ntoo late to save the little girls from such an awful fate, and as he\nlooked and moaned within himself believing that his sister lay there\ndead, he heard a sound which seemed to come from the further end of\nthe dark lodge, and turning round he saw some children imprisoned\nin a wicker cage. Then he spoke and told them to be brave, that he\nhad come to save them from the witch; but they were frightened at\nthe very sound of his strange voice, and cried aloud with fear.\nEut-le-ten whispered softly, and with grease from the great whale\nhe rubbed their eyes free from the pitch with which E-ish-so-oolth\nhad closed them. Afterward he told them that his name was Eut-le-ten,\nwho had killed E-ish-so-oolth, and how he had crushed the ogre within\nthe log.\n\nThe frightened children were much comforted and followed Eut-le-ten\nfrom out of the lodge away from the dark house of E-ish-so-oolth\ninto the sunlit woods, along the trail which led for many miles to\nthe small bay. Then there was much rejoicing in the homes of all\nthe children saved by Eut-le-ten, and joy unspeakable in his own\nlodge, when he gently led to his sorrowing mother the little sister,\nsafe from the clutches of E-ish-so-oolth.\n\nThen all the tribe did honor to Eut-le-ten. He was found in the\ncouncils of the chiefs, and tribes with homes on distant shores heard\nthe great news--the news of how this wonder boy had killed the ogre\nand his dreaded wife, E-ish-so-oolth.\n\n\n\nFURTHER ADVENTURES OF EUT-LE-TEN\n\n\nTHE ARROW CHAIN TO HEAVEN\n\nSome time passed by, and Eut-le-ten conceived a plan to reach the\nland above the sky, which he believed, like all the Indian race, to\nbe the roof of this our world, and hiding from our view the Illahie\nwhere the great chief--the Sagh-al-lie Tyee, Nas-nas-shup, the chief\nof all the chiefs abode. Nas-nas-shup had a daughter, far famed for\nher exceeding beauty, and the tales of her attractions were often\nrelated among the younger braves, and Eut-le-ten became enamoured of\nthe thought of winning her, although the stories also told of dangers\nand death most terrible to him who strove to undergo the tests the\nold chief set for all who would desire his daughter's love.\n\nNow Eut-le-ten was skillful with the bow, for many times he had\nbrought down the deer as they were bounding through the forest\nglade, and with his arrow he had often pierced the silver salmon\nwhen they jumped from out the rushing waters of his native stream,\nand he had shot down from off the tallest tree, golden eagles or the\ngreat fish hawk.\n\nEut-le-ten called the men together, for he was highly favoured in\nhis tribe, and counted as a chief because he killed the evil chehah,\ndread E-ish-so-oolth, and he directed them to make a multitude of\narrows, straight and strong, and have them ready by a day he named to\nthem. Forthwith they followed his instructions, and fashioned many\narrows, long and straight and strong, and each one tipped with bone\nor flint, so sharp that it would pierce the thickest hide of the\ngreat elk which roamed in bands among the hills and in the open\nlands.\n\n[Illustration: \"HE SHOT THE ARROW STRAIGHT ABOVE HIS HEAD\"]\n\nThe arrows were completed in four suns, when Eut-le-ten went out upon\nthe beach taking with him his strongest bow of yew, and shot an arrow\nstraight above his head, high into the vault of heaven, far out of\nsight. Again he shot, and again, until at last an arrow line was\nformed from the earth beneath to heaven above, for his first shaft\nhad fixed itself into the roof of this old world of ours, and the\nsecond arrow aimed with such great skill, had caught the end of it.\nThe third, the fourth, and each succeeding one had attached itself,\nuntil a rope of shafts was made, for Eut-le-ten to climb into the\nworld above--the Illahie, where Nas-nas-shup, the Sagh-al-lie Tyee,\nthe chief of chiefs, and his fair daughter dwelt.\n\nThen Eut-le-ten took leave of all the tribe and climbed the rope\nof arrows to the sky, beyond the peoples' sight, until at last he\nreached the portals of the land above.\n\n\nTHE TWO BLIND SQUAWS\n\nFirst, Eut-le-ten saw two blind and ancient squaws preparing simple\nfood for their repast, and when it was all ready they began to help\neach other to the food, not hearing Eut-le-ten who quietly watched\nuntil impelled by thoughts of mischief or of jest, took the food\naway from them.\n\nSoon each old squaw accused the other of taking all the food and\ngiving none, and angrily they talked and quarrelled much, each\nupbraiding the other for a misdeed of which neither was guilty,\nwhile Eut-le-ten stood by enjoying their discomfiture. Presently\nhe spoke however, and at the sound of his young voice they stopped\ntheir noise, and ceased to wrangle more about the food. Instead they\nasked him to tell from whence he came, and who he was, and what had\nbrought him there.\n\n\"I am a being from the lower world, and I have come to ask from\nNas-nas-shup, the love of one, of whose great charms long tales\nare told among the young men of the world below.\" Thus Eut-le-ten\nanswered the questions put by the old squaws, and when they heard\nhis words, they were alarmed, and warned him to desist from his bold\nquest which was full of peril, as many men had found before, for none\nhad yet returned who dared essay to win the daughter of Nas-nas-shup.\nEut-le-ten would not be turned away from his resolve by any craven\nfear of perils or of dire calamity. Had he not killed the witch\nE-ish-so-oolth, and also her much dreaded chehah man? But before he\nleft to go upon his quest, he asked the aged squaws what he could\ndo to make amends for playing tricks at their expense.\n\n\"Oh stranger, give us sight, that we may see,\" they said, \"for we\nhave long been blind.\"\n\nEut-le-ten then bored a little hole into each eye of both the ancient\nsquaws, and when they saw the pure white light of day after their\nlong darkness, they were overjoyed, and thanking Eut-le-ten, they\ntold to him the secrets of the house of Nas-nas-shup. They gave him\ncharms to overcome the fire, in which he would be made to stand\nalone, and last, a stone of wondrous power to break the spikes which\nwere set round the resting place of her he sought to win.\n\n\nTHE FOUR TERRORS GUARDING THE HOUSE OF NAS-NAS-SHUP\n\nBefore the house of Nas-nas-shup there was a lake in which there\nlived great demon frogs, which croaked loud warnings when any dared\napproach. Inside the outer door a codfish lay, of size enormous,\nready to devour the bold intruder who might gain entrance there, and\nif the stranger safely passed the cod, his body would be entered by\ntwo snakes which waiting, sought to kill the fearless one. All these\nwere safely passed by Eut-le-ten, who changed himself, when danger\npressed too close, to that small primal pool of tears from which\nhe sprang.\n\nWithin the house he saw chief Nas-nas-shup clothed in his robe of\nprime sea otter skins. He also saw the spikes which surrounded\nthe sacred place where lay the daughter of the chief.\n\nThe spikes were hidden in the ground, just where a stranger would be\nasked to rest awhile, but Eut-le-ten remembered what the old squaws\nsaid to him, and taking the stone charm he broke them down. The chief\nwas astonished to see the power of Eut-le-ten, and forthwith asked of\nhim from whence he came and what his errand was.\n\nThen Eut-le-ten declared himself and said, \"I come from that great\nworld beneath the sky where many people live who do not know the land\nwhere dwells the Tyee Nas-nas-shup. I come to see the wonders of his\nlodge, and learn the many secrets hid from man, so that returning to\nmy home below, I may be able so to teach the tribes, that many things\nof which they do not dream, may be revealed, and made as plain as\nday. But there is one of whom great tales are told among the young\nmen of the world below, it is of her that I would speak to thee. Thy\ndaughter, chief, I come to ask of thee, to be the mother of my little\nones.\"\n\n\nTHE TRIAL BY FIRE\n\n[Illustration: THEN EUT-LE-TEN STOOD WITHIN THE FIRE]\n\nThen Nas-nas-shup gathered many sticks of wood and built a fire so\nblazing hot that none could bear the heat, and turned to Eut-le-ten,\n\"Stand in the fire that I may see if you are brave and strong enough\nto be worthy of her, my daughter.\"\n\nSo Eut-le-ten stood within the fire, and with the charms provided him\nby the old squaws, reduced the heat, and came thereout alive and none\nthe worse.\n\nNow Nas-nas-shup proposed that they should seek some firewood upon\nthe steep hill-side close by. Eut-le-ten consented, and next morning\nthey went to gather firewood. While thus engaged Nas-nas-shup rolled\na giant log down the steep hill toward Eut-le-ten, who never moved or\nsought to escape. The log rolled over him, but once again he turned\ninto the pool of tears and sprang to life when danger passed away.\nThereat the chief became convinced that he was more than mortal man,\nand gave his leave.\n\nThus Eut-le-ten was wed, and lived sometime within the higher realms,\nuntil one day he thought to visit those he left below. Then down the\nrope of arrow shafts he climbed, until he found himself upon the\nearth among his people, and to them he told wonderful things of the\nworld above.\n\n\nASTRONOMY ACCORDING TO EUT-LE-TEN\n\nThe sun and moon emerge from out the house of Nas-nas-shup. The giant\ncodfish guarding the entrance to the house, attempts to catch them\npassing. He often fails, but there are times when he succeeds, then\nthere is darkness--an eclipse of the sun or moon the white men say,\nbut that is false, it is the cod. The many stars which sparkle in the\nskies are Indians, who dwell above the earth. Such things and many\nmore were told by him, and Eut-le-ten was counted as a chief more\nlearned than any that had ever been.","title":"Indian Legends of Vancouver Island","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":10907}