92 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

(II, p. 196). In this way the belief is kept before the eyes of the
Bella Coola, but it is not a matter of prime importance in their
lives. Rather contradictory is the concept that though each
plant lack individual life, there is a supernatural mother of
each species, corresponding in general terms to the Mother of
Snakes described in the last section. As one informant ex-
pressed it:

“Tf there is no mother, how can a plant grow!”

These mothers are assumed to live beneath the ground.
Occasionally, one of them has been discovered. Not many
years ago, a number of women were collecting bracken roots
when one which had been gathered began to turn into a snake.
The women were alarmed and puzzled at this strange pheno-
menon. As they stood watching, the ground in front of them
fell away as if there had been an earthquake, and they realized
that the snake-root had been the mother of the plant. Without
further fear they cooked and ate it.

Stones, too, and mountains were made by Afguntém; con-
sequently they have supernatural abilities and can understand
the words and actions of mortals. When a wise man passes
close beneath a precipitous mountain he always says to it:

“Please make yourself firm.”

Most mountains, when requested politely, refrain from
sliding and killing those passing beneath.

In former days mountains in many cases rose to meet
hunters, and sometimes turned completely over. The Bella
Coola are not sure whether this was caused by the mountain
itself, or by a smug within. Wise hunters carry ropes with
them when they penetrate into deep valleys, and when they
feel the first tipping of a mountain they leap for a convenient
tree, grasp it with their legs, heads downwards, and tie them-
selves in that position. Slowly the mountain rises and turns
over, but, if the ropes do not break, the hunters suffer no ill
effects. After a varying interval the mountain returns to its
normal position. This reversal can be hastened if a man bites