212 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

announcing that the dead have come with a call for X. Mean-
while a number of kukusiut assemble in the dancer’s house
where he strips off his clothing and covers himself with dirt
and ashes. In all other Ausiut dances the performer endea-
vours to beautify himself, or at least to blacken or paint his
face according to some definite pattern, but X’s aim is to
imitate the appearance of the dead who are notoriously untidy.

After some delay, X rushes forth in the midst of his escort
and enters the lowest house of the village. The frightened
uninitiated are hiding in their bedrooms, but they peer through
cracks and watch X as he bends to the floor, picks up handfuls
of dirt and throws them wildly in all directions, heedless of
what damage he may do. It is obvious that he is frenzied an
mad, like Cannibals who have received their calls. His kukusiut
associates pretend to restrain him, but he always outwits their
efforts and continues to hurl dirt. At last he withdraws, moves
to the next house and there repeats the performance. This is
done in every dwelling in the village. Most of the uninitiated
in X’s own house leave it as soon as the kukusiut began to
assemble, and by this time all others have fled, so that when
the party returns there are only members of the society present.
The frightened non-members hear the frenzied beating of sticks
as efforts are made to cure X of his madness, but without avail.
Soon a sound of wailing is heard, and the heralds come around
announcing that X has vanished—the dead have taken him.
The kukusiut spend the rest of the night in his house, silently
listening to speeches from the marshals, and disperse about
dawn.

X’s sojourn in the land of the dead is of varying length.
Occasionally he returns on the night of his disappearance,
having been absent only a few hours, or he may remain in.
hiding for several weeks. The usual time for his reappearance
is the night after his departure, and with him always come 4
number of ghosts. The ritual on his return is always the same,
irrespective of the duration of his absence.

At dusk the heralds call the kukusiut to X’s house where