I have left the Black Cat on an island;
I shall be the chief of the Fishers now.
The best I can make out of the phonographic record given me by Peter
Selmore of the words which she sang is,--
> > > >
Er tin le ber nits nah o o o o.
Wait for me.
Nick ne ar ber yer hay ey.
The second line sounds like the English "Wait for me," but is not
distinct. The end of the first line is violently explosive. The third
line ends in a word expressive of strong feeling, possibly revenge.
In a version of this story by Leland, Pookjinsquess leaves Black Cat
on the island, and paddles away, singing songs. In his story, Black
Cat was carried off from the island by the Fox, who swam out to get
him.
Black Cat called to the gulls to defile Pookjinsquess with their dung.
They flew over her, and as she looked up they covered her face with
bird-lime.[14] They then burst out in a laugh, which they still have,
when they saw how changed her face was.
[Footnote 14: According to the narrator, the bird that did this was a
very large one. Possibly it was Cooloo, the offended husband of
Pookjinsquess.]
Black Cat wandered about the island, until at last he found a wigwam
of the grandfather, the "Morning Star," who told him he was on a very
dangerous island. He told him it was the habit of the Great Beaver to
destroy every one who came to the island.[15]
[Footnote 15: Quahbet, or the Giant Beaver, was not on the best of
terms with Black Cat, for Glooscap had slain many of the beavers,
whose bones still exist, and are of giant size. This hatred probably
arose, says Leland, from the time when Quahbeetsis, the son of the
Beaver, inspired Malsumsis to kill Glooscap.]
He told the Black Cat to climb a tree, and when he needed help to call
out for him. Night coming on, water began to rise about the base of
the tree, and the Giant Beaver came and began to gnaw at its base. The
friendly ants[16] tried to keep the tree upright, but the water
continued to rise and the Beaver kept on gnawing. Then the Black Cat
in his sore dilemma called out, "Grandpa, come!" The grandfather
responded, "I am coming; wait till I get my moccasins." The water rose
higher. Again Black Cat called out, "Come, grandpa, come!" "I am
coming," his grandfather said; "wait till I get my cap." Again Black
Cat called, "Hurry, grandpa!" "Wait until I get my pipe," said the
grandparent. But the waters had reached him. The tree swayed to and
fro. "Come, grandpa, come!" said Black Cat for the last time. Then he
said, "I am coming; wait till I open my door;" and then he opened the
door of his wigwam and the Morning Star came forth, the water began to
recede, and the Beaver swam away.[17] Then Black Cat's grandfather
told him to come down, and he would send him over the water to the
other shore on the back of the Wewillemuck. Black Cat thought that
Wewillemuck was too small to carry him over, but his grandfather told
him to seat himself between his horns, and when he wished
Wewillemuck[18] to go faster he should tap him on the horns. The
grandfather then gave his grandson a small bow and arrows, and put him
on the snail's back between his horns.
[Footnote 16: The ants assisted Black Cat in many ways. They were also
friendly to Leux, and on one occasion are said to have gathered the
bones and fragments of the "Merry God" together and restored his life.
Whether in the present instance they tried to keep the tree upright by
piling the earth about its trunk or not, the narrator does not say.]
[Footnote 17: Possibly the gnawing of the Beaver is the ripple of the
waves around the base of the tree.]
[Footnote 18: Mrs. Brown has identified Wewillemuck as the snail. Some
of the Indians say that it is a large lizard like an alligator. The
bark picture of this creature, made by Noel Josephs, is that of a
nondescript difficult to identify.]
As they were crossing the channel, Wewillemuck said to the Black Cat,
"When we get near shore tell me." But Black Cat gave Wewillemuck a
sharp rap on the horns, and the snail jumped forward and went so far
that both went a far distance inland. Wewillemuck said, "Why did you
not tell me we were near the land? Now I cannot get back to the water
again." But Black Cat took his small bow and arrows, and with them
carried Wewillemuck back to the water. So pleased was he that he said,
"Scrape from my horns some fine dust, and, whatever you wish, put this
powder upon it and it is yours." So Black Cat scraped off some powder
from the horns of Wewillemuck.
The Raven was told to build a wigwam for Cooloo, who was chief. Pogump
(Black Cat) went to see the chief, and killed him with the powder.
Black Cat went to see Pookjinsquess; he scattered a ring of powder
around her wigwam, and then set it on fire. It blazed up and ignited
the wigwam, burning up the old woman Pookjinsquess; whose ashes, blown
about by the winds, made the mosquitoes.[19]
[Footnote 19: In this manner he obtains his revenge. Dr. Boas tells me
he has heard a similar story of the origin of the mosquitoes on the
West Coast.]
Leland, in his version of this story, represents the Black Cat as
identical with Glooscap,[20] and the Sable as a boy who had a flute by
which he could entice to himself all the animals. The story of the
sticks is similar, but the cutting up of the serpent is not mentioned.
He says that Black Cat, who is preparing his arrows, and will return
and destroy all, is Glooscap, who in another story kills the Snake,
cuts him in fragments, and invites all the animals to eat him. The
Turtle, the grandfather (adopted), arrives last, and only gets the
blood for his share.
[Footnote 20: Mrs. Brown writes me that the Black Cat referred to is
not identical with Glooscap. "There were very many of these
mythological personages," she says, "who were able to do things as
wonderful as Glooscap, but they were not of his nature. He worked for
good, they for selfish purposes."
Mr. Leland's work exhibits throughout want of exactness in recording
just what the Indians told him. It is in deductions and explanations
that error is liable to arise. A story made up from the recital of
several Indians is likely to exhibit their attempts to explain
doubtful parts of the story.]