V. - HERO TALES.
33. The Man who lived with the Eagles.1
(Nkamtci'nEmux.)A long time ago, there lived among the Nkamtci'nemux: two men who had always been fast friends. One of them married a young woman who was also loved by his friend. The rejected lover was very jealous, although he seemed to act toward his friend in the same manner a he had always done. Some, months after the marriage, he said to him one morning, 'I know where there is an eagle's nest. Let us go and take the young eagles. I have got a good rope to assist us.' They took their weapons and departed. The people did not know whether they intended to go; but they held no suspicions, as the two young men had always been accustomed to go together on hunts and other expeditions. The unmarried man led his friend to the top of the cliff Spitkwa'uz,2 and pointed out to him below an eagle's nest with young ones. He said, "I will lower you down with the rope, and help you up again. I do not care to go down myself, as I might get dizzy.' His friend assented and climbed down the cliff, being held by the rope the upper end of which was wound around a small tree. When he reached the ledge on which the nest was situated, the other man pulled up the rope, and left him to his fate. After destroying his friend's weapons, he went home at dark, and pretended to wonder that his companion had not arrived. He told the people that they had hunted in- a certain part of the country, (pointing in a direction opposite to that of the cliff), and at noon had separated to return home.
When several days had elapsed, and the young hunter had not returned, the people searched for him. Since they could not find any trace of him, they thought he must be dead, perhaps eaten by bears, and gave up looking for him.
Now the man paid much attention to his friend's wife, and, before the usual time for her period of widowhood had expired, he married her. He thought his friend must have died, but in this he was mistaken. When the old eagles arrived at the nest, they attacked the man ; but he made friends with them, and gradually they became accustomed to his company. He lived on part of the food they brought each day to feed the eaglets. There was room enough on the ledge for him to lie down, and he sucked the water that oozed over the surface of the cliff. He also got some water which collected in holes in the shelf of rock. Thus he lived until the eaglets were ready to fly. Then, one morning, he cut up his buckskin clothes and made strings with which he tied the two young eagles to his ankles and the old eagles one to each arm. After asking their assistance, he flung himself oil the cliff. The eagles all flew straight across the narrow valley in a descending line, and lighted on the opposite hillside called Tcexpaa'nk.3 Now he cut loose the strings, pulled out four feathers from each of the eagle's tails, and bade them good-by, thanking them for keeping and preserving him. He put the eagles' feathers on his head, went into the bush and made a bow and arrows. When he returned home, he found his false friend living with his wife, and killed him. He became a noted shaman and great warrior. The golden eagle was his guardian.1 Compare Cheyenne, 1. c.. xxviii.
2 This is the name of a high perpendicular cliff of limestone situated on the south side of the canyon of the Three Sister Valley, about eight miles northwest of the Tompson River, and about eighteen miles from Spences Bridge by trailI
3 The name of a long sloping hillside covered with grass and scattering trees, on the opposite side of the
Three Sister Valley, facing Spitkwa'uz.
