One day a man caught one with slender claws. And, when he went for all at evening, one of his eagles was lost. The Tsimshian bought the feathers. That was why they gathered them. Then they reported to one another that one had a hawk.[6] And he who missed one of his own heard it was his and went to ask for it. Then they would not give it to him, and some quarrels took place.
Then they put on their weapons. They put on ta′oga-i,[7] gorgets, helmets, war coats, and two thick hides, one over another. [They had] war spears. The young men had bows. And they came together. After they had fought there with each other for a while, they stopped and moved apart.[8]
After a long, quiet interval, a person went to Peoples’ town[9] to gamble and [saw] another come out from Peoples’ town wearing marten-skin blankets with the fur turned out. His gambling-stick bag hung from a wooden float. He reported it to them, and they ran thither. Then he kept crying: “G̣ᴀngūdā′ñ. My seed. My seed.”[10]
From the town one went to sell a copper worth ten slaves called “Upsetter-of-the-town.” And, when they were on their way back, there was a great smoke at the town, and they ventured guesses about it. One said that the town was being burned. Another said that some kind of clam was being put into the fire.
When they got close in front of the town of Łgīła-a′la,[11] they were pushing one [prisoner] down to the beach. His name was Letting-go-of-each-other. The Inlet people[12] had burned the town. The war chief was called Burnt-forest.[13]
And, when they saw them coming, they chased them seaward. And they paddled toward Cape Ball to escape. Then they got near it and fastened the copper to the paddle. And, when they held it up high, they tried to catch them all the harder. Then they upset themselves and swam downward. Chief Points-meeting-in-the-water and chief Going-after-property were drowned at the bottom. Afterward Burnt-forest dove after the copper and recovered it neatly.
Then they (the people who were drowned) went and sat in front of Chief’s[14] house. They begged him for a flood. He asked them to come in. They refused. The warriors started home and camped beyond Raven creek.[15] The weather was calm. Toward evening two tidal waves rolled in out of the ocean. The first one came in and broke. The canoes with their skids even drifted away. The last one even washed away the trees by their roots. Half of the warriors were lost. And he (Burnt-forest) escaped along with his copper into the woods and carried it off on his back. [[320]]
Then, by washing away the front of Tow hill,[16] the waves washed dentalium shells to the surface. The Inlet [people] dug them. They paddled north[17] with them to sell them for slaves. They bought slaves.
After that, when they quarreled with one of Those-born-at-House-point, he would say in answer: “Well! Inlet people ceased moving their own bucket handles because my uncles drowned themselves.” The Inlet people had plenty of slaves.
And a man of Those-born-at-House-point made figures of the supernatural beings on his house. The ends of the roof poles had images of human beings on them face up. This house was washed away five times. Then he named himself Chief-who-renews-his-property.