374 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

for Qotxweliot?’s death, that he was sure the wealthy man was really a
sorcerer, and had used some evil means to cause the fisherman’s drowning,
Qamdaixem was distantly related to the dead man and, thus incited, deter-
mined to kill Navd#in revenge. That evening, as he was lying playing
with his grandchild, the Carrier chief entered his house and thrust a
musket against the unsuspecting man’s chest. Ndndt? quickly knocked
down the muzzle so that the bullet, instead of killing him, merely passed
through the fleshy part of his hips. Qdamd?xem made no attempt to run
away. Insuchcasesit rests with the relatives of the injured man whether
or not to take revenge, and they usually avoid beginning a vendetta
unless virtually driven toit. News of the assault spread down the valley,
and two of Nénd#’s nephews, Tsd-kmai and Og¢mikumx, went up to in-
vestigate. They were both men of considerable influence in the com-
munity, both validated warriors who had taken prominent parts in the
unsuccessful attack on Kitkatla a few years before. Realizing that their
uncle was not seriously wounded, the two brothers carried him to their
canoe, intending to take him home and to disregard the assault.

During this time, the evil Nusgal/st man had been working on Qémai?-
xem’s fears by telling him that Nazd# was certain to kill him by magical
means, until he decided that he could escape only by murdering the
wounded man. His followers learnt of this and tried to dissuade him,
fearing the presence of the two famous warriors. As their canoe was
going downstream, it was caught in an eddy and tipped so that one
musket and both cartridge boards were lost. This seemed to Qamdtxem
the chance for which he had been waiting: he fired from the bank and
Néndt? fell dead, much to the consternation of his own followers as well
as the Nusgalst people.

If Tsé-kmai and Ogmikumx had been ordinary men they would prob-
ably have fled downstream but, being duly validated men of valour, this
course never occurred to them.!! Ogmikumx, who had one charge left in
his musket, consulted his brother as to their course of action. °

“Nandi? is dead,” his brother replied. “‘It is probably time for us to
die as well. You had better shoot.”

Meanwhile Qéméd?xem had remained on the bank, laughing at the two
warriors. Ogmikumx told him to be silent, then fired, instantly killing
his uncle’s murderer. The Carriers began to run to and fro on the shore,
whence they could hear the two brothers talking to each other:

“Let us not think of escaping,” said one. ‘‘We have displayed our
characters today. If weare to die, let us die.”

“The man from whom this account was obtained mentioned as a matter of
course that confirmed warriors could never run away; when questioned further,
he emphasized that the public validation of bravery made it utterly impossible for
them to flee from danger.