RELIGION 67

kill him. The youth, learning of this decision, concluded that he might
as well face the unknown peril of the lake as the certain death to be
meted out by his fellows, so he asked them to allow him to go swimming
in the lake to prove that something dangerous was there. They granted
that request, as well as a further one, that he be sewn up in a tight-
fitting suit of caribou-skin, and armed with a knife.

“Now come with me,” he said to his fellow-villagers when he was
ready.

They waited on the shore while he swam out into the lake singing.
Presently the crackling and sucking sound was heard, and soon the
spectators were forced to clutch tree-trunks to keep themselves from
being drawn into the lake, while their legs were blown out horizontally
as the youth’s had been on the previous occasion. When the wind
subsided the swimmer had vanished.

He had been sucked into the stomach of a skdmtsk without being
killed. Groping around, he found the corpse of the chief’s son from
which he cut the belt and put it on himself. Then he made his way to
the neck of the monster, cut a hole through it, and dived out. The
surface was so far up that he was at his last gasp when his head rose
above it. He swam ashore and the evidence of the belt confirmed his
story. The carcass of the skdmisk floated to the surface not long after-
wards.

In addition to the anthropomorphic beings already de-
scribed as resident beneath the surface of the ocean, super-
natural animal monsters also dwell there. One of the most
dreaded is the Aixta, which suck wooden objects down to the
bottom of the sea. It resembles pitch, and when once it comes
in contact with a canoe, it cannot be removed. The Bella
Coola attribute supernatural power to the octopus also, thus
increasing the dread with which the animal would be regarded
in any case. They believe that it is fond of gum and fre-
quently comes to land to obtain it. Itis said that the gum is
never voided, but remains in a suck within the creature’s
stomach. One informant stated that within his mother’s life-
time, aman walking near Té/-io heard a smacking sound, like
someone chewing noisily. He knew what must be the cause,
but idly decided to investigate. Itwasanoctopus. The beast
wasclambering down from the tree, using two of its arms to help
it. Not realizing his danger, the man allowed himself to be