FATHER MORICE

sence of the trader, but he will not fail to
leave there the equivalent of what he has
taken. This was among the Sekanais; the
Carriers were not so honest, neither were the
Babines, as will appear later on.

As to superstition, its manifestations
among each of these tribes were formerly
numberless. Most of these were connected
with girls and married women who, at cer-
tain periods of their life, had to practise
many tedious and painful observances. But
hunters and others were also beset by quite
a few customs based on superstitious beliefs.
The head of a bear, for instance, had to be
placed out of reach of the dogs, for fear
contact between this unclean, yet very
serviceable, animal and bones of the king
of the Western forests would anger the latter
and cause his kin thenceforth to shun the
snares of the guilty canine’s'master. The
same fate was believed to attend beaver
traps touched by a dog. No woman would
eat of the flesh of a lynx, because of a legend
telling of the supposed misdeeds of such a
wild beast in prehistoric times. On nearing
a mountain for the first time, you had to

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