d contemptuously,
"White man too much lie."

On the other hand, red men as well as white men are sometimes
given to romancing, and I have known of cases where "legends"
would be manufactured on the spur of the moment by some young
Indian to satisfy an importunate and credulous questioner, to the
keen but suppressed amusement of other Indians present.

It will therefore be seen that this subject is surrounded with
some difficulty, and it must not be understood that the legends
here given are vouched for as of wholly Indian origin. Some of
them, notably those of the Tul-tok'-a-na and the second legend
of Tis-sa'-ack, have been accepted by eminent ethnologists, and
are believed to be purely aboriginal, while others have doubtless
been somewhat idealized in translation and in the course of
numerous repetitions.

The legend of To-tau-kon-nu'-la and Tis-sa'-ack is made up of
fragments of mythological lore obtained from a number of old
Indians at various times during the past fifty years. It varies
somewhat from other legends which have been published regarding
these same characters, but it is well known that the Indians
living in Yosemite in recent years are of mixed tribal origin and
do not all agree as to the traditional history of the region, nor
the names of the prominent scenic features, nor even of the
Valley itself. And this largely accounts for the fact that some
of the legends do not harmonize with each other in details or in
sentiment. All of them, however, are picturesque, and they
certainly give an added interest to the natural beauties and
wonders with which they are associated.

LEGEND OF TO-TAU-KON-NU'-LA AND TIS-SA'-ACK.

Innumerable moons and snows have passed since the Great Spirit
guided a little band of his favorite children into the beautiful
vale of Ah-wah'-nee [Yosemite Valley], and bid them stop and
rest from their long and weary wanderings, which had lasted ever
since they had been separated by the great waters from the happy
land of their forefathers in the far distant _El-o'-win_
(West).

Here they found food in abundance for all. The rivers gave them
plenty of _la-pe'-si_ (trout). They found in the meadows sweet
_ha'-ker_ (clover), and sour _yu-yu-yu-mah_ (oxalis) for spring
medicine, and sweet _toon'-gy_ and other edible roots in
abundance. The trees and bushes yielded acorns, pine nuts, fruits
and berries. In the forests were herds of _he'-ker_ (deer) and
other animals, which gave me