60. The Rattlesnakes and Mesa'i.
(cont.)consisting of clay, mud, and small lakes. This land was the home Of Mesa’i, who had two daughters. One of them she1 sent to marry the son of Rattlesnake of-the-North, and the other to marry the son of Rattlesnake-of-the-South. Both girls were refused, the mother Rattlesnakes saying they would not have daughters-in-law who smelled so badly. When they returned, Mesa'i felt indignant, and went to the houses of both Rattlesnakes, asking why they had insulted her, and had refused her daughters. The Rattlesnakes answered, “We do not care to have our sons married to women who smell as badly yourself and your daughters.” Mesa'i replied, “Since you have insulted me, no Rattlesnake shall henceforth enter my country. If you swim across the river to it, soon after you touch the shore you will die.” This is the reason why no rattlesnakes are found in that tract of country at the present day. The place is called Smelta'us, and mesa'i-roots are very plentiful there. North and South of Smelta'us, rattlesnakes are abundant.
61. Wren and the Cannibal Eagle.2
(Nkamtci'nEmux.)In the cliff called Halaua'llst or Halaua'ist3 a monster Eagle had his house. He lived there many years, and attacked all who passed by. The ground around the base of the cliff was white with the skulls and bones of his many victims. He would pounce on people and tear them to pieces, or he would fly up with them and kill them by dashing them against the cliff, or by letting them drop to the ground from a great height. At last Wren (tsetso's), who lived at the mouth of Nicola River and who had developed great magical power, made up his mind to kill the Eagle. The other people were afraid, and advised Wren not to attempt it, but he persisted. He dressed himself in birch-bark armor, sharpened his small knife which he always carried, and repaired to the cliff. The people followed at a distance to learn his fate. He had put red paint in one side of his mouth, and white paint in the other. The Eagle pounced on him, and tried to tear him in pieces, but his armor protected him. Then he lifted him up and dashed him against the cliff. Now Wren let the paint run out of his mouth; and the people, seeing it, said, “See! He is dead, his blood and brains run down the rock.” The Eagle also thought he was dead; but, to make sure, he dropped him to the ground. Now more paint ran out of Wren's mouth; and the Eagle, thinking him quite dead, released him. Now the Eagle walked around him and backwards and forwards, wondering where he could break through his armor to eat him.
1. It is not clear whether Mesa'i was male or female.
2. Compare Shuswap story, in "Dawson,” Notes on the Shuswap People of British Columbia, p. 32.
3. This place is a little over half a mile east of Spences Bridge depot, on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
