another in the most good-natured rivalry, is of constant occurrence in
the Eskimo legends. It is not infrequent among our own backwoods or
frontier-men.

The stone-canoe occurs in Eskimo legends (_vide_ Rink), as it does
in those of all American Indians.]

The most striking feature, however, of this legend is its Norse-like
breadth or grandeur and its genial humor, which are very remarkable
characteristics for the fictions of savages. Its resemblance to the
Scandinavian tales is, if accidental, very remarkable. The two heroes
are, like Thor and Odin, giant heroes who make war on Jotuns and
Trolls; that is, giant-like sorcerers. It is their profession; they
live in it. No one can read Beowulf or the Eddas without being struck
by the great resemblance between Grendel, the hideous, semi-human night
prowler, and the Kewahqu', a precisely similar monster, who rises from
the depths of waters to wantonly murder man. I do not recall any two
beings in any other two disconnected mythologies so strangely similar.
The fishing for the whale recalls that which is told in the Older Edda
(Hymiskrida, 21), where Hymir succeeds in hooking two of these fish:--

"Then he and Hymir rowed out to sea. Thor rowed oft with two oars, and
so powerfully that the giant was obliged to acknowledge they were
speeding very fast. _He himself rowed at the prow_."

If the reader will compare this account of the Edda with the Micmac
story, he cannot fail to be struck with the great resemblance between
them. It is even specified in both that the hero, though a guest,
paddles. And in both instances the host catches a whale. Now compare
with this the legend of Manobozho-Hiawatha, who merely catches the