e ivory dolls were men, hardy and brave;
those from the wood were women, soft and timid.

From these ten people came the inhabitants of the islands.

THE FLOOD

In the first days that people can remember there was a flood which
covered all the earth except one very high peak in the middle. The
water rose up from the sea and covered all the land except the top of
this mountain, and the only animals that were not drowned were a few
that went up this mountain. A few people escaped by going into their
boats and living on the fish they caught until the water subsided.

After the waters lowered, these people went to live upon the
mountains, and when the land was dry they came down to the coast. The
animals also came down and eventually the earth was refilled with
animals and people.

It was during the flood that the waves and currents of water cut the
land into hollows and ridges. Then the water ran back into the sea
leaving the mountains and valleys as they are today. All the Eskimo
along the northern part of North America have heard their old people
tell of the flood.

* * * * *

There are reindeer which came from the sky and which have teeth like
dogs. They were once common and anyone could see them, but now only
the priests can see them. They live on the plains, and have a large
hole through the body back of the shoulders. If the people, who can
see them, mistake them for common reindeer and shoot at them, the
arrow falls harmless, for no ordinary weapon can kill them.

The Aurora Borealis is a group of boys playing football. Sometimes
they use the skull of a walrus for the ball. The swaying movement of
the lights shows that the players are struggling with each other and
tugging back and forth. If the Aurora fades away and you utter a low
whistle, the boys will come back as if answering to applause.

The Milky Way is the snow that fell from the Raven's snowshoes when he
walked across the sky, during one of his journeys while he was
creating the inhabitants of earth.

* * * * *

From Puget Sound at the northern border of the United States all along
the coast to Bering Strait, both Indians and Eskimo believe that the
eagle, the raven, the goose, and perhaps any bird, can push up its
beak making it the visor of a cap and thus become a man, and that by
pulling it down he can become a bird again.

XIV

THE FIRST MAN

In the time before t