498 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

into a mist which so utterly blinded and confused Lake-Swallower that
he was forced to abandon the pursuit. Without further difficulty the four
sisters reached home, where they were received with great rejoicing, espe-
cially when their friends heard of the dangers through which they had
passed.

THE SUN’S CAPTOR

Long, long ago, a woman was sitting on the ground with her back to
the sun, who noticed her. He came down and rubbed his hand over her
back, causing her to become pregnant, then went back to his station
above. The child grew so rapidly that the woman bore a son before the
usual period had elapsed. This little boy grew with phenomenal rapidity.
One day he asked his mother if he might go up to see his father, and when
she consented, he built a long ladder up which he climbed until he reached
the land above. When the sun drew near, his son spoke to him, saying
that his mother had allowed him to come up to see him, and suggesting
that he bring her on a later visit. The father agreed and the boy de-
scended to his mother on earth.

A few days later, when the lad and his mother climbed above, the sun
disregarded them entirely, and continued his course without seeming to
be aware of their presence. Angry at his father’s callousness, the lad
asked his mother to give him a pubic hair with which to make a noose to
catch the sun.

“Don’t be silly,”’ she answered. ‘The great heat will burn it.”

Her son persisted until she finally gave him a single hair from between
her legs. This he rolled into a rope with a noose at the end, and hung it
from a stick in the course of his father. When the sun came along he was
fairly caught in the noose. Thus restrained, he could no longer shine on
the earth; the people were filled with wonder, though they were rather
thankful, as heretofore there had been perpetual summer.

“Tt is your son who has caught you,” said the boy to his captive father.
“You thought yourself too strong. The people down below do not want
you to shine all the time; if I release you, you must hide yourself at
regular intervals.”

The sun agreed to do this. Then the lad untied the noose and the
captive went off in his wonted path. To regulate his father’s movements,
and to ensure his remaining at a safe distance during the winter, the lad
raised high mountains at Kimsquit, Ulkatcho, and Leguc, which still
limit the sun’s course.