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SS ee

178 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

air, throwing his arms around as if demented, and at times
hurling his rod to the floor where the nail prevents it from
falling, much to the amazement of the uninitiated. He stoops
to pick it up, reverses it, again throws it to the ground, and
again lifts it up, all the time gyrating on himself. Finally, with
a rush and a leap, he disappears behind the screen whence he
came. One of the senior kukusiut, selected for the purpose on
account of his knowledge and intelligence, is stationed near
the enclosure, and as soon as the supernatural being disappears
he explains to non-members who was the visitor. The ever-
talkative Ano°likwotsaix confirms and supplements his remarks.

The next to appear is a mdtsqus, a wooden figure about two
and a half feet in length with proportions equal to those of a
toad. It emerges from the matting at one side of the house,
and by means of concealed ropes is made to hop across the floor
and return. Behind it there appears a masked male figure
carrying a huge wooden hammer; the kukusiut shriek, “Kill!
Kill!’ and the man strikes at the toad-like creature. It has
been made in two sections which can be pulled apart by a
skilful manipulation of the ropes; this is done as the hammer
descends so that it strikes a bladder filled with red dye in the
interior. The colouring spatters in all directions like blood,
but after a short interval the animal is pulled together and hops
off to the enclosure. The Ausiut announcer tells the uninitiated:

“That is a toad from the land above, a mdtsqus, which came
to visit X. It will soon return to its own home.”’

After a short pause to let the effect of the last apparition
sink in upon non-members, the kukusiut raise the cry:

“Look up there.”

A porcupine emerges from a small hole in the matting and
crawls down a plank, then turns and goes back, pulled by ropes
invisible in the semi-gloom. The figure consists of a real skin
carefully stripped off and stretched over a wooden framework.
The announcer declares:

“Tt is a porcupine from above, come to visit X.”

Two clowns now appear together. Each wears a mask,