112 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

realm above. The method of escape and the rites that occur
during his absence do not differ from those previously de-
scribed for other Cannibals, and the means taken to capture
him on his return are likewise similar. But soon after dusk a
rite occurs which has not been previously recorded. The
kukusiut assemble on the sidewalk outside X’s house, each
carrying a torch made of resinous wood, liberally smeared with
gum and rendered more inflammable with frayed cedar-bark.
X himself, well guarded, is escorted to the middle of the group,
while a herald calls out that he is going to make what he has
consumed fly upward. In his arms he carries what appears
to the uninitiated, watching from a distance, to be a dead dog;
in reality, it is a dog skin, stuffed with eagle down. Four times
he turns around, uttering his cry of xwa-, xwa-, xwa-, while
his men call out i---- and the women drone. Then, in
some way, the down-filled dog-skin is thrown upwards and
disappears. One informant had seen this done in his youth,
but was unaware of the method employed. The group then
disperses and X is taken back to his own house.

About midnight a herald goes to every house, summoning
the kukusiut, and especially the singers, to X’s. They practise
a new song for the Cannibal, and towards dawn it is sung as
the “running song”’ previously described, accompanied by the
weird xwa-, xwa-, xwa-. At day-break, a kusiut, chosen for
the purpose because he is a fleet runner, pounds at the door of
every house, and calls out:

“Come to eat dried salmon,” and dashes on to the next.

Thus invited, the kukusiut duly assemble in X’s house for
a meal.

For four days X remains concealed on his platform, except
when, aroused to fury, he makes a tour of the village; and
except when making his nightly circuit, during which the
frightened uninitiated cover their heads with blankets, fearing
that he will smell their breath and devour them. On the fourth
day X is carried to the river and washed, in spite of his strug-
gles. While this is taking place a number of kukusiut visit