116 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

him as guide. Both heard the beating, and soon saw a pack of super-
natural wolves eating dog-flesh. The men were able to steal away with-
out being observed and Hai-alakila told Qéismus to say nothing about
what they had seen. A little later he gave a dance in which he wore a
wolf’s mask and pretended to eat dog-flesh. His neighbours, ignorant of
the vision by which this dance had been inspired, were tremendously
impressed.

Another exploit of Hai-alakila and Qdismus may here be recorded,
although it is unconnected with the Cannibal dance.

One night when they were spearing fish, a forest suddenly arose before
them. Qéismus, startled and terrified, began to cry, but Ha#-alakila
quieted him.

“I am master here,”’ he said. “We are in this adventure together and
your task is to keep quiet.”

Then a house appeared before them from the depths of the ocean.
It was really a skdmtsk, with its ferocious mouth as doorway, and though
Hai-alakila naturally feared to enter, he climbed to the roof, so that he
could gaze within through what corresponded to a smoke-vent. The house
was filled with valuables of all kinds, guarded only by gulls. Hai-alakila
reached inside with his pole, hooked forth one object after another and
swung each across to his slave on the mainland to hide in a tree. Unfor-
tunately, a canoe happened to draw near, whereupon the house slowly
sank back into the depths.

Mention might here be made of a Stuix repository, said to
be unique in Bella Coola, that contains five Cannibal names.
It is in the form of a human being with a tail, kneeling and
bent forward so that hands and head touch the ground. A
repository is at each point of contact. The names are:

Qitlia, the head of the creature; 4nuximan-a, the left hand;
Sinuximatt, the righthand; 4iximdn.a, the left foot; Xiwximdan-a,
the right foot; d#guntam, the tail.

In this repository there lives a métsqus with a copper lining
to its mouth.

It will be seen that these myths help but little to explain
the kusiut society, or even the origin of the Cannibal dances;
they appear to be only rationalizations attempting to account
for established customs. For this reason they have been in-
serted after a description of the Cannibal dance.