|
Once upon a time there
lived near Cowichan a family of ten brothers, who were noted for deeds
of daring and skill in spearing sea lions. Not far off there lived a
rival family, consisting of five brothers. They were terribly jealous of
the ten brothers, as they could never secure any good sea lion hunting
as long as the ten brothers lived. The sea lions frequented a rocky
island not far from Cowichan, and at early dawn the ten brothers were
there, waiting to kill the sea lions. Now, these five brothers became
greatly enraged and took counsel together as to the best means of
killing these rivals. One of the brothers suggested a visit to
Soo-ol-li-che, a very wise man, gifted with magic powers and ability to
understand animal talk. So off they went to Soo-ol-li-che and told him
their troubles and how they wished to get rid of the hateful ten
brothers.
Well what would they give him as a reward? A canoe?
No.
Skin-blankets, etc.?
At last they said they would give him their young kinswoman, a very
pretty young woman.
Yes, that would do. So he took them away to a salt lake that lies on the
top of a mountain on Lopez Island, and there he made them cut down a
large cedar tree; also make a passage from the lake to the sea.
Soo-ol-li-che now carved the wood into a sea lion; he hollowed it out,
made the heart, lungs, liver, etc., of herbs, which he put into it, and
then rubbed herbs over the outside. The skin grew immediately. For the
whiskers he took long cedar twigs and stuck them round the mouth. The
real sea Hon has beautiful silver-looking whiskers, which are greatly
prized, and which are used to ornament the head-dresses of the chiefs.
How the wooden animal looked just like the real thing.
When everything was ready, See-ol-liche gave the sea lion his orders.
First he had to dive into the salt lake and find the passage to the sea,
as the brothers had failed to find it; then it was to go to the rocky
island and play about as the others did, and attract the attention of
the ten brothers. They would try to spear him, and when the spears were
fast in, then he was to start north and carry the young men with him.
Then the sea Hon plunged in the lake and came out in Cowichan harbor.
Then he swam to the rocky island and there played about. The brothers
were, as usual, waiting for sport, and they instantly manned their
canoes to go after the Hon.
“Stop! Stop!” said the elder brother, taking a good look at the animal.
“That is no real sea lion; that is not real. Our enemies must have been
at work, and that means mischief to us.”
The other brothers, however, begged him to try to spear the animal. He
was the strongest and most expert of the brothers, and to make sure of
the lion, they gave him their spears. The first spear was well planted,
and the cedar line given to one of the brothers; then all ten were
thrust in, and the sea lion, which had been pretending to be in a dying
state, now rushed off, towing the canoes and brothers with him, away out
to sea and up north. They made every effort to throw the lines away.
They had grown fast to their hands; they cut the lines, which grew
immediately, so they gave up the struggle in despair. After many days
the sea lion came to a large mountain that rose straight out of the sea,
and the face of it was full of holes. Into the largest the sea lion
scrambled and pulled the ten brothers after him. How terrified they
were, and sore and hungry. In this huge cave there were naked men and
women, and the chief of them came to the sea lion and asked him how it
was he had brought these strangers in. They could not feed them, so they
had better be drowned.
The people crowded around and examined the brothers’ clothes, and even
took them off and tried them on. These were the spirits of the sea
lions.
After a year’s slavery the chief allowed the brothers to go home. They
were put in their canoes and told to go as far out to sea as they could
before turning a certain point where lived a giant, who would eat them
if he saw them. Two young sea lions were ordered to show them the way,
and towed the canoes away out to sea.
How the eldest brother was keen to see the giant, and, not regarding the
advice of the sea lions or heeding his brothers’ entreaties, he paddled
as close a3 he dared to the point. “If the giant comes, I will shoot him
with my arrows and kill him.”
How, this giant, Hemokis, was watching for them and when they came close
enough he waded out to them and seized their canoes and dragged them in
to shore. Then he ordered them into his cave. There they were kept as
close prisoners. It was a gruesome place, and in the centre lay a huge
flat stone, and on it the fire burned, and near it was a basket.
“Now,” said Nemokis, “yonder is my wife.” They looked everywhere for a
woman, but he was pointing to a round basket half filled with blood.
“Take good care of that basket, or my wife will scream if you try to
escape. Keep her not too warm or too cold or she will scream, and M beat
you. Now mind, for I am going to hunt.”
Such trouble they had with Nemokis’ wife. The least attempt at an escape
she began to scream so loudly that the giant heard her, and rushed back.
“What is it?”
“Oh, nothing,” said one. I only put her too close to the fire.”
“Oh, well, be careful what you do.”
One of the brothers became a great favorite with the basket wife, who
allowed him to carry her about the cave. A year or more passed and they
were still slaves. They were dying to escape, but how could they manage
it without that wretched thing screaming? The only thing to do was to
kill the horrid thing. So they collected huge flat stones and arranged
how they should use them. The favourite brother was to put the basket on
the flat stone and sing to it, and then the rest would dash their flat
stones on it. So he carried the basket, as it had begun to whimper, and
hushed it; then placed it on the flat stone, still singing; then stepped
aside, when a flat stone was dropped right into the centre of the
basket, and the blood splashed everywhere. So in this way was the
giant’s wife killed. The stones were all thrown on the first one, and
such a scrambling for the opening of the cave! There they found only two
canoes, but they had to do the best they could. How swiftly they pulled
away to get out of reach of the giant. They had just passed into deep
water and beyond the fatal point, when they heard the giant calling to
them. He was striding after them. They then redoubled their efforts. One
of them, looking back, saw the giant sinking in the water up to his
chin, but he turned back and got where he could throw stones at them,
but they shook their paddles at him and shouted derisively at him to
come and catch them. He roared so loudly that he shook the earth, and
tore trees up by the roots and flung them at the canoes, so as to break
them and drown the fugitives. They at last escaped, and after five years
of wandering reached home, to find their village a ruin and their
friends gone. |
