THE ANCIENT ONE 39

Five years have passed since I left this village.
During most of that time I have been wandering in
the Northland, searching everywhere, but always in
vain until last summer, for an animal unknown to
any Haida.

Many were the chiefs I met during those years of
constant journeying, many the villages I visited. Yet
among all those tribes, there was not one that did
not treat me as an honored guest; there was not one
that did not receive me in friendly fashion and give
me food and clothing when I left. It may have been
because I was the son of a famous chief; it may have
been because they were all so interested in the
strangeness of my search; or it may have been be-
cause I carved many fine and unique things for their
chiefs while I stayed in their villages. Be that as it
may, when I left each village I was filled with deep
gratitude for the kindly treatment I had received from
my hosts.

As I journeyed northward among the islands, the
moons passed, one by one; the cold season arrived,
the warm rains of spring fell once again; yet not once
in all that time did I see any animal that was unknown
to the Haidas. I was disheartened when the second
winter arrived and my search was not yet ended. As I
journeyed there in that cold land, I thought of the
warm fires in the houses of Quasset; I thought of
the chests of food piled high here on the ledges of

—— — Ie te ori pen ha Te
Ag i ih nN nnn eg in pe er stout’

issuer Seat