496 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

consume the food. This proved to be the case; though they ate their fill,
the four berries were always miraculously replace Evening had come
by the time the meal was over, and Afguntim’s wife prepared a bed on
which the sisters slept comfortably for the night.

In the morning the two youngest sisters were crying bitterly. Azgun-
tdm asked the eldest what was the matter.

“They are afraid that they will never be able to return home,” she
replied.

To convince them that there was no such danger, he took down the
wall of Nusmdt-a, then rubbed their eyes, enabling them to see their own
country spread out beneath, as if it were indeed only a little distance
away, ashe saidit was. Their vision travelled on A/guntim’s eye-lashes,
the rays of the sun such as are visible when its light is breaking through
the clouds, or when there is much dust in the atmosphere. This is the
route by which the prayers of mortals ascend to the supreme being. The
girls were comforted by the thought that their home was so near. In
readiness for their departure, their host’s wife gave the eldest girl a whet-
stone, a comb, some eagle down, and a basket so closely woven that it
would hold water. .Azguntém indicated the place where she would arrive
on earth, from which two roads led to Kimsquit, and told her that on one
of these, which he also pointed out, there dwelt an evil monster, so the
other must be taken. Then he called the four sisters to him.

“T am going to put you all into this basket,” he said, “‘and lower you
to your home. As you descend keep your eyes closed, or great harm will
befall you. When you reach the earth you will know it by the bump of
the basket on the ground; then, and not until then, you may open your
eyes. Get out and shake the rope, so that I will know you are all right.
When you are on earth, should the monster chase you, use the presents
which my wife has given you: As he follows, set the whetstone upright
behind you to serve as a barrier. If he surmounts that, place the comb
behind you, and if both of these fail, shake out the eagle down to blind
the enemy.”

Atguntim packed the girls into the basket and tied them carefully.
He put the eldest on top, as if she were a brooding bird, entirely covering
her younger sisters, so that they could not peek out, even if they had been
tempted to disregard his instructions.

The supreme being lowered the basket carefully until the sisters felt
a gentle bump and knew they had reached earth. Then the eldest girl
opened her eyes, lifted out her younger sisters, shook the rope, and
watched the basket as it was hauled aloft. The four started off and soon
reached the point where there were two diverging trails to Kimsquit, one
of which led past the home of the monster whose name was Ostedtikeg”’,