nd eloquence. He is an adroit
magician, able to assume almost any form at will, and impervious to any
amount of ridicule and insult. Here we have, it appears, the elements of
the story in Genesis; the primal Eden, the tempter in animal form, and
the bringing of sorrow and death upon earth through the elemental sins
of envy and jealousy.

The warning conveyed in the story of Unk-to-mee was ever used with
success by Indian parents, and especially grandparents, in the
instruction of their children. Ish-na-e-cha-ge, on the other hand, was
a demigod and mysterious teacher, whose function it was to initiate the
first man into his tasks and pleasures here on earth.

After the battle with the animals, there followed a battle with the
elements, which in some measure parallels the Old Testament story of
the flood. In this case, the purpose seems to have been to destroy the
wicked animal people, who were too many and too strong for the lone man.

The legend tells us that when fall came, the First-Born advised his
younger brother to make for himself a warm tent of buffalo skins, and
to store up much food. No sooner had he done this than it began to snow,
and the snow fell steadily during many moons. The Little Boy Man made
for himself snow-shoes, and was thus enabled to hunt easily, while the
animals fled from him with difficulty. Finally wolves, foxes, and ravens
came to his door to beg for food, and he helped them, but many of the
fiercer wild animals died of cold and starvation.

One day, when the hungry ones appeared, the snow was higher than the
tops of the teepee poles, but the Little Boy Man's fire kept a hole open
and clear. Down this hole they peered, and lo! the man had rubbed ashes
on his face by the advice of his Elder Brother, and they both lay silent
and motionless on either side of the fire.

Then the fox barked and the raven cawed his signal to the wandering
tribes, and they all rejoiced and said: "Now they are both dying or
dead, and we shall have no more trouble!" But the sun appeared, and a
warm wind melted the snow-banks, so that the land was full of water. The
young man and his Teacher made a birch-bark canoe, which floated upon
the surface of the flood, while of the animals there were saved only a
few, who had found a foothold upon the highest peaks.

The youth had now passed triumphantly through the various ordeals of his
manhood. One day his Elder Brother spoke to him and said: "You have now
conquered