252 THE BIG CANOE

Among the Chilcats, as among the Haidas, the be-
trothal of two young people of royal blood is at-
tended by rigid laws of etiquette that have been ob-
served since ancient times, so that the two lovers were
obliged to wait for many days, until all the ceremonies
were completed between the two tribes and the day
of the marriage was appointed.

On that day Kali was arrayed in her finest gar-
ments; her face was carefully painted; her hair was
combed until it shone, and she was bedecked with
her most valuable adornments and borne across the
waters to the encampment of the Haidas. With her
went all her people, bearing gifts in their canoes, as
was the custom.

Beautiful was the day of the wedding; auspicious
for many years of good fortune and _ happiness.
Brightly shone the sun upon Fort Simpson and the
forest-covered hills behind it. Underneath a sky as
blue as abalone shell, the waters shimmered in the
sunlight. On all the beaches spirals of blue smoke
wound slowly upward, and sounds of distant revelry
were borne to Kali’s ears on the breath of the south
wind. Above, hundreds of gulls and ravens circled
endlessly, their harsh cries mingling with songs of
Chilcat and Haida and Tsimshian, with shrill shouts
of children playing games upon the beaches.

As in a dream Kali saw all these things upon her
wedding day, nor was she ever to forget one detail
of that journey to the Haida encampment. Never was