RELIGION 59

the Bella Coola. Noone knows the name of the fire devourer,
and it may be that he lacks form. Though ignorant of the
law of conservation of matter, the Bella Coola realize that the
wood must have gone somewhere, and postulate a land far
across the western sea where burnt wood lies in shadowy
heaps, each billet retaining its original form though it lacks
material substance. This region is presided over by an evil
being with a desire for human flesh (II, p. 468).

The above list by no means exhausts the anthropomorphic
beings resident either in Nusmdt-a or in this world. Those
described are the most important, and suffice to make clear
the religious attitude of the Bella Coola to beings of this type.
Others appear in connection with kusiut dances only, and a
consideration of them can be deferred until vol. II, chap. 1,
whereas some belong essentially to shamanism and allied
subjects treated in vol. I, chap. 1x.

ZOOMORPHIC BEINGS

The attitude of mingled hope and fear with which the Bella
Coola regard their supernatural anthropomorphic beings is
typical of their thoughts and actions concerning zoomorphic
creatures as well. In the supernatural world the dividing line
between human and animal beings is not clearly defined; fabu-
lous monsters have the mentality of supermen, and can be
appeased, besought, or cajoled precisely as are anthropo-
morphic beings. Like those of human form, supernatural
animals can bestow good or evil on human beings with whom
they come in contact. The division shown in this chapter
must, therefore, be regarded as merely for convenience; it
does not correspond to a distinction in the minds of the Bella
Coola.

One of the most dreaded animals known to the Bella Coola
is the smumug, a monster about the size of a large grizzly bear,
with long, silky, beautiful hair, blue-grey in colour. It walks
almost upright on short hind legs, so that its long fore-legs
touch the ground at intervals; these are provided with sharp