Chapter III: Columbians (8)

[314] 'I have seen the sorcerers at work a hundred times, but they use so many charms, which appear to me ridiculous,--they sing, howl, and gesticulate in so extravagant a manner, and surround their office with such dread and mystery,--that I am quite unable to describe their performances,' pp. 169-70. 'An unlucky dream will stop a sale, a treaty, a fishing, hunting, or war expedition,' p. 175. _Sproat's Scenes_, pp. 165-75. A chief, offered a piece of tobacco for allowing his portrait to be made, said it was a small reward for risking his life. _Kane's Wand._, p. 240. Shrewd individuals impose on their neighbors by pretending to receive a revelation, telling them where fish or berries are most abundant. Description of initiatory ceremonies of the sorcerers. _Macfie's Vanc. Isl._, pp. 446, 433-7, 451. _Jewitt's Nar._, pp. 98-9. A brave prince goes to a distant lake, jumps from a high rock into the water, and rubs all the skin off his face with pieces of rough bark, amid the applause of his attendants. Description of king's prayers, and ceremonies to bring rain. _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_, pp. 145-6, 37. Candidates are thrown into a state of _mesmerism_ before their initiation. _'Medicus'_, in _Hutchings' Cal. Mag._, vol. v., pp. 227-8; _Barrett-Lennard's Trav._, pp. 51-3; _Californias, Noticias_, pp. 61-85.

[315] They brought for sale 'human skulls, and hands not yet quite stripped of the flesh, which they made our people plainly understand they had eaten; and, indeed, some of them had evident marks that they had been upon the fire.' _Cook's Voy. to Pac._, vol. ii., p. 271. Slaves are occasionally sacrificed and feasted upon. _Meares' Voy._, p. 255. 'No todos habian comido la carne humana, ni en todo tiempo, sino solamente los guerreros mas animosos quando se preparaban para salir á campaña.' 'Parece indudable que estos salvages han sido antropófagos.' _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_, p. 130. 'At Nootka Sound, and at the Sandwich Islands, Ledyard witnessed instances of cannibalism. In both places he saw human flesh prepared for food.' _Spark's Life of Ledyard_, p. 74; _Cornwallis' New El Dorado_, pp. 104-6. 'Cannibalism, all-though unknown among the Indians of the Columbia, is practised by the savages on the coast to the northward.' _Cox's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 310-11. The cannibal ceremonies quoted by Macfie and referred to Vancouver Island, probably were intended for the Haidahs farther north. _Vanc. Isl._, p. 434. A slave as late as 1850 was drawn up and down a pole by a hook through the skin and tendons of the back, and afterwards devoured. _Medicus_, in _Hutchings' Cal. Mag._, vol. v., p. 223. 'L'anthropophagie á été longtemps en usage ... et peut-être y existe-t-elle encore.... Le chef Maquina ... tuait un prisonnier à chaque lune nouvelle. Tous les chefs étaient invités à cette horrible fête.' _Mofras_, _Explor._, tom. ii., p. 345. 'It is not improbable that the suspicion that the Nootkans are cannibals may be traced to the practice of some custom analagous to the _Tzeet-tzaiak_ of the Haeel tzuk.' _Scouler_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., pp. 223-4. 'The horrid practice of sacrificing a victim is not annual, but only occurs either once in three years or else at uncertain intervals.' _Sproat's Scenes_, p. 156.

[316] 'Rheumatism and paralysis are rare maladies.' Syphilis is probably indigenous. Amputation, blood-letting, and metallic medicine not employed. Medicines to produce love are numerous. 'Young and old of both sexes are exposed when afflicted with lingering disease.' _Sproat's Scenes_, pp. 251-7, 282, 213-4. 'Headache is cured by striking the part affected with small branches of the spruce tree.' Doctors are generally chosen from men who have themselves suffered serious maladies. _Macfie's Vanc. Isl._, pp. 438-40. 'Their cure for rheumatism or similar pains ... is by cutting or scarifying the part affected.' _Jewitt's Nar._, p. 142. They are sea sick on European vessels. _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, p. 81. Description of ceremonies. _Swan_, in _Mayne's B. C._, pp. 261-3, 304. 'The patient is put to bed, and for the most part starved, lest the food should be consumed by his internal enemy.' 'The warm and steam bath is very frequently employed.' _Medicus_, in _Hutchings' Cal. Mag._, vol. v., pp. 226-8.

[317] The custom of burning or burying property is wholly confined to chiefs. 'Night is their time for interring the dead.' Buffoon tricks, with a feast and dance, formed part of the ceremony. _Jewitt's Nar._, pp. 105, 111-2, 136. At Valdes Island, 'we saw two sepulchres built with plank about five feet in height, seven in length, and four in breadth. These boards were curiously perforated at the ends and sides, and the tops covered with loose pieces of plank;' inclosed evidently the relics of many different bodies. _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., pp. 338-9. 'The coffin is usually an old canoe, lashed round and round, like an Egyptian mummy-case.' _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., p. 170. 'There is generally some grotesque figure painted on the outside of the box, or roughly sculptured out of wood and placed by the side of it. For some days after death the relatives burn salmon or venison before the tomb.' 'They will never mention the name of a dead man.' _Grant_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xxvii., pp. 301-3. 'As a rule, the Indians burn their dead, and then bury the ashes.' 'It was at one time not uncommon for Indians to desert forever a lodge in which one of their family had died.' _Mayne's B. C._, pp. 271-2, with cut of graves. For thirty days after the funeral, dirges are chanted at sunrise and sunset. _Macfie's Vanc. Isl._, pp. 447-8. Children frequently, but grown persons never, were found hanging in trees. _Meares' Voy._, p. 268; _Sproat's Scenes_, pp. 258-63. The bodies of chiefs are hung in trees on high mountains, while those of the commons are buried, that their souls may have a shorter journey to their residence in a future life. _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_, pp. 139-40. 'The Indians never inter their dead,' and rarely burn them. _Barrett-Lennard's Trav._, p. 51.

[318] 'As light-fingered as any of the Sandwich Islanders. Of a quiet, phlegmatic, and inactive disposition.' 'A docile, courteous, good-natured people ... but quick in resenting what they look upon as an injury; and, like most other passionate people, as soon forgetting it.' Not curious; indolent; generally fair in trade, and would steal only such articles as they wanted for some purpose. _Cook's Voy. to Pac._, vol. ii., pp. 272, 308-12, etc. 'Exceedingly hospitable in their own homes, ... lack neither courage nor intelligence.' _Pemberton's Vanc. Isl._, p. 131. The Kla-iz-zarts 'appear to be more civilized than any of the others.' The Cayuquets are thought to be deficient in courage; and the Kla-os-quates 'are a fierce, bold, and enterprizing people.' _Jewitt's Nar._, pp. 75-7. 'Civil and inoffensive' at Horse Sound. _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 307. 'Their moral deformities are as great as their physical ones.' _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p. 88. The Nittinahts given to aggressive war, and consequently 'bear a bad reputation.' _Whymper's Alaska_, p. 74. Not brave, and a slight repulse daunts them. 'Sincere in his friendship, kind to his wife and children, and devotedly loyal to his own tribe,' p. 51. 'In sickness and approaching death, the savage always becomes melancholy,' p. 162. _Sproat's Scenes_, pp. 30, 36, 52, 91, 119-24, 150-66, 187, 216. 'Comux and Yucletah fellows very savage and uncivilized dogs,' and the Nootkas not to be trusted. 'Cruel, bloodthirsty, treacherous and cowardly.' _Grant_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xxvii., pp. 294, 296, 298, 305, 307. _Mayne's B. C._, p. 246; _Macfie's Vanc. Isl._, pp. 190, 460-1, 472, 477, 484; _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, pp. 294-6. The Spaniards gave the Nootkas a much better character than voyagers of other nations. _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_, pp. 25, 31-2, 57-9, 63, 99, 107, 133, 149-51, 154-6; _Forbes' Vanc. Isl._, p. 25; _Rattray's Vanc. Isl._, pp. 172-3. The Ucultas 'are a band of lawless pirates and robbers, levying black-mail on all the surrounding tribes.' _Barrett-Lennard's Trav._, p. 43. 'Bold and ferocious, sly and reserved, not easily provoked, but revengeful.' _Spark's Life of Ledyard_, p. 72. The Teets have 'all the vices of the coast tribes' with 'none of the redeeming qualities of the interior nations.' _Anderson_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol. vii., p. 78.

[319] 'Those who came within our notice so nearly resembled the people of Nootka, that the best delineation I can offer is a reference to the description of those people' (by Cook), p. 252. At Cape Flattery they closely resembled those of Nootka and spoke the same language, p. 218. At Gray Harbor they seemed to vary in little or no respect 'from those on the sound, and understood the Nootka tongue', p. 83. 'The character and appearance of their several tribes here did not seem to differ in any material respect from each other,' p. 288. Evidence that the country was once much more thickly peopled, p. 254. _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., pp. 218, 252, 254, 288; vol. ii., p. 83. The Chehalis come down as far as Shoal-water Bay. A band of Klikatats (Sahaptins) is spoken of near the head of the Cowlitz. 'The Makahs resemble the northwestern Indians far more than their neighbors.' The Lummi are a branch of the Clallams. _Rept. Ind. Aff._, 1854, pp. 240-4. The Lummi 'traditions lead them to believe that they are descendants of a better race than common savages.' The Semianmas 'are intermarried with the north band of the Lummis, and Cowegans, and Quantlums.' The Neuk-wers and Siamanas are called Stick Indians, and in 1852 had never seen a white. 'The Neuk-sacks (Mountain Men) trace from the salt water Indians,' and 'are entirely different from the others.' 'The Loomis appear to be more of a wandering class than the others about Bellingham Bay.' _Id._, 1857, pp. 327-9. 'They can be divided into two classes--the salt-water and the Stick Indians.' _Id._, 1857, p. 224. Of the Nisquallies 'some live in the plains, and others on the banks of the Sound.' The Classets have been less affected than the Chinooks by fever and ague. _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 231-5. The Clallams speak a kindred language to that of the Ahts. _Sproat's Scenes_, p. 270. 'El gobierno de estos naturales de la entrada y canales de Fuca, la disposicion interior de las habitaciones las manufacturas y vestidos que usan son muy parecidos á los de los habitantes de Nutka.' _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_, p. 111. The Sound Indians live in great dread of the Northern tribes. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., p. 513. The Makahs deem themselves much superior to the tribes of the interior, because they go out on the ocean. _Scammon_, in _Overland Monthly_, vol. vii., pp. 277-8. The Nooksaks are entirely distinct from the Lummi, and some suppose them to have come from the Clallam country. _Coleman_, in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xxxix., p. 799. _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., p. 428.

[320] At Port Discovery they 'seemed capable of enduring great fatigue.' 'Their cheek-bones were high.' 'The oblique eye of the Chinese was not uncommon.' 'Their countenances wore an expression of wildness, and they had, in the opinion of some of us, a melancholy cast of features.' Some of women would with difficulty be distinguished in colour from those of European race. The Classet women 'were much better looking than those of other tribes.' Portrait of a Tatouche chief. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 317-8, 320, 517-8. 'All are bow-legged.' 'All of a sad-colored, Caravaggio brown.' 'All have coarse, black hair, and are beardless.' _Winthrop's Canoe and Saddle_, p. 32. 'Tall and stout.' _Maurelle's Jour._, p. 28. Sproat mentions a Clallam slave who 'could see in the dark like a racoon.' _Scenes_, p. 52. The Classet 'cast of countenance is very different from that of the Nootkians ... their complexion in also much fairer and their stature shorter.' _Jewitt's Nar._, p. 75. The Nisqually Indians 'are of very large stature; indeed, the largest I have met with on the continent. The women are particularly large and stout.' _Kane's Wand._, pp. 207, 228, 234. The Nisquallies are by no means a large race, being from five feet five inches to five feet nine inches in height, and weighing from one hundred and thirty to one hundred and eighty pounds. _Anderson_, in _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., p. 227. 'De rostro hermoso y da gallarda figura.' _Navarrete_, in _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_, p. xciv. The Queniults, 'the finest-looking Indians I had ever seen.' _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 78-9. Neuksacks stronger and more athletic than other tribes. Many of the Lummi 'very fair and have light hair.' _Rept. Ind. Aff._, 1857, p. 328; _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 23; _Morton's Crania_, p. 215, with plate of Cowlitz skull; _Cornwallis' New El Dorado_, p. 97; _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 252; _Murphy and Harned_, _Puget Sound Directory_, pp. 64-71; _Clark's Lights and Shadows_, pp. 214-15, 224-6.

[321] 'Less bedaubed with paint and less filthy' than the Nootkas. At Port Discovery 'they wore ornaments, though none were observed in their noses.' At Cape Flattery the nose ornament was straight, instead of crescent-shaped, as among the Nootkas. Vancouver supposed their garments to be composed of dog's hair mixed with the wool of some wild animal, which he did not see. _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., pp. 218, 230, 266. At Port Discovery some had small brass bells hung in the rim of the ears, p. 318. Some of the Skagits were tattooed with lines on the arms and face, and fond of brass rings, pp. 511-12. The Classets 'wore small pieces of an iridescent mussel-shell, attached to the cartilage of their nose, which was in some, of the size of a ten cents piece, and triangular in shape. It is generally kept in motion by their breathing,' p. 517. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 317-20, 334, 404, 444, 511-2, 517-8. The conical hats and stout bodies 'brought to mind representations of Siberian tribes.' _Pickering's Races_, in _Idem._, vol. ix., p. 23. The Clallams 'wear no clothing in summer.' Faces daubed with red and white mud. Illustration of head-flattening. _Kane's Wand._, pp. 180, 207, 210-11, 224. _Seemann's Voy. Herald_, vol. i., pp. 108-9; _Rossi_, _Souvenirs_, p. 299; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 232-3; _San Francisco Bulletin_, _May 24, 1859_; _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, p. 243; _Id._, 1857, p. 329; _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., p. 430. Above Gray Harbor they were dressed with red deer skins. _Navarrete_, in _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_, p. xciv: _Cornwallis' New El Dorado_, p. 97; _Winthrop's Canoe and Saddle_, p. 32-3; _Murphy and Harned_, in _Puget Sd. Direct._, pp. 64-71.

[322] The Skagit tribe being exposed to attacks from the north, combine dwellings and fort, and build themselves 'enclosures, four hundred feet long, and capable of containing many families, which are constructed of pickets made of thick planks, about thirty feet high. The pickets are firmly fixed into the ground, the spaces between them being only sufficient to point a musket through.... The interior of the enclosure is divided into lodges,' p. 511. At Port Discovery the lodges were 'no more than a few rudely-cut slabs, covered in part by coarse mats,' p. 319. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 319-20, 511, 517. The Clallams also have a fort of pickets one hundred and fifty feet square, roofed over and divided into compartments for families. 'There were about two hundred of the tribe in the fort at the time of my arrival.' 'The lodges are built of cedar like the Chinook lodges, but much larger, some of them being sixty or seventy feet long.' _Kane's Wand._, pp. 210, 219, 227-9. 'Their houses are of considerable size, often fifty to one hundred feet in length, and strongly built.' _Rept. Ind. Aff._, 1854, pp. 242-3. 'The planks forming the roof run the whole length of the building, being guttered to carry off the water, and sloping slightly to one end.' _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., pp. 429-30. Well built lodges of timber and plank on Whidbey Island. _Thornton's Ogn. and Cal._, vol. i., p. 300. At New Dungeness, 'composed of nothing more than a few mats thrown over cross sticks;' and on Puget Sound 'constructed something after the fashion of a soldier's tent, by two cross sticks about five feet high, connected at each end by a ridge-pole from one to the other, over some of which was thrown a coarse kind of mat; over others a few loose branches of trees, shrubs or grass.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., pp. 225, 262. The Queniults sometimes, but not always, whitewash the interior of their lodges with pipe-clay, and then paint figures of fishes and animals in red and black on the white surface. See description and cuts of exterior and interior of Indian lodge in _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 266-7, 330, 338; _Crane's Top. Mem._, p. 65; _Cornwallis' New El Dorado_, p. 98; _Clark's Lights and Shadows_, p. 225.

[323] The Nootsaks, 'like all inland tribes, they subsist principally by the chase.' _Coleman_, in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xxxix., pp. 795, 799, 815; _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1857, p. 328. Sturgeon abound weighing 400 to 600 pounds, and are taken by the Clallams by means of a spear with a handle seventy to eighty feet long, while lying on the bottom of the river in spawning time. Fish-hooks are made of cedar root with bone barbs. Their only vegetables are the camas, wappatoo, and fern roots. _Kane's Wand._, pp. 213-14, 230-4, 289. At Puget Sound, 'men, women and children were busily engaged like swine, rooting up this beautiful verdant meadow in quest of a species of wild onion, and two other roots, which in appearance and taste greatly resembled the saranne.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., pp. 225, 234, 262. In fishing for salmon at Port Discovery 'they have two nets, the drawing and casting net, made of a silky grass,' 'or of the fibres of the roots of trees, or of the inner bark of the white cedar.' _Nicolay's Ogn. Ter._, p. 147. 'The line is made either of kelp or the fibre of the cypress, and to it is attached an inflated bladder.' _Seemann's Voy. Herald_, vol. i., p. 109. At Port Townsend, 'leurs provisions, consistaient en poisson séché au soleil ou boucané; ... tout rempli de sable.' _Rossi_, _Souvenirs_, pp. 182-3, 299. The Clallams 'live by fishing and hunting around their homes, and never pursue the whale and seal as do the sea-coast tribes.' _Scammon_, in _Overland Monthly_, vol. vii., p. 278. The Uthlecan or candle-fish is used on Fuca Strait for food as well as candles. _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., p. 241. Lamprey eels are dried for food and light by the Nisquallies and Chehalis. 'Cammass root, ... stored in baskets. It is a kind of sweet squills, and about the size of a small onion. It is extremely abundant on the open prairies, and particularly on those which are overflowed by the small streams.' Cut of salmon fishery, p. 335. 'Hooks are made in an ingenious manner of the yew tree.' 'They are chiefly employed in trailing for fish.' Cut of hooks, pp. 444-5. The Classets make a cut in the nose when a whale is taken. Each seal-skin float has a different pattern painted on it, p. 517. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 318-19, 335, 444-5, 517-18. The Chehalis live chiefly on salmon. _Id._, vol. v., p. 140. According to Swan the Puget Sound Indians sometimes wander as far as Shoalwater Bay in Chinook territory, in the spring. The Queniult Indians are fond of large barnacles, not eaten by the Chinooks of Shoalwater Bay. Cut of a sea-otter hunt. The Indians never catch salmon with a _baited_ hook, but always use the hook as a _gaff_. _N. W. Coast_, pp. 59, 87, 92, 163, 264, 271; _Thornton's Ogn. and Cal._, vol. i., pp. 293-4, 301, 388-9; _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, p. 241; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 732-5; _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., p. 429. 'They all depend upon fish, berries, and roots for a subsistence, and get their living with great ease.' _Starling_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iv., pp. 600-2. The Makahs live 'by catching cod and halibut on the banks north and east of Cape Flattery.' _Ind. Aff. Rept._ 1858, p. 231. 'When in a state of semi-starvation the beast shows very plainly in them (Stick Indians): they are generally foul feeders, but at such a time they eat anything, and are disgusting in the extreme.' _Id._, 1858, p. 225; _Id._, 1860, p. 195; _Cornwallis' New El Dorado_, p. 97; _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., pp. 102-5; _Hittell_, in _Hesperian_, vol. iii., p. 408; _Winthrop's Canoe and Saddle_, pp. 33-7; _Maurelle's Jour._, p. 28.

[324] _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 253. At Gray Harbor the bows were somewhat more circular than elsewhere. _Id._, vol. ii., p. 84; _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., p. 319; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 209-10.

[325] _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., p. 321; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 231-2; _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 234. 'They have been nearly annihilated by the hordes of northern savages that have infested, and do now, even at the present day, infest our own shores' for slaves. They had fire-arms before our tribes, thus gaining an advantage.' _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1857, p. 327; _Clark's Lights and Shadows_, p. 224.

[326] _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 287.

[327] 'A single thread is wound over rollers at the top and bottom of a square frame, so as to form a continuous woof through which an alternate thread is carried by the hand, and pressed closely together by a sort of wooden comb; by turning the rollers every part of the woof is brought within reach of the weaver; by this means a bag formed, open at each end, which being cut down makes a square blanket.' _Kane's Wand._, pp. 210-11. Cuts showing the loom and process of weaving among the Nootsaks, also house, canoes, and willow baskets. _Coleman_, in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xxxix., pp. 799-800. The Clallams 'have a kind of cur with soft and long white hair, which they shear and mix with a little wool or the ravelings of old blankets.' _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., p. 431. The Makahs have 'blankets and capes made of the inner bark of the cedar, and edged with fur.' _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, pp. 241-2; _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., p. 32. The candle-fish 'furnishes the natives with their best oil, which is extracted by the very simple process of hanging it up, exposed to the sun, which in a few days seems to melt it away.' _Thornton's Ogn. and Cal._, vol. i., p. 388. They 'manufacture some of their blankets from the wool of the wild goat.' _Dunn's Oregon_, p. 231. The Queniults showed 'a blanket manufactured from the wool of mountain sheep, which are to be found on the precipitous slopes of the Olympian Mountains.' _Alta California_, _Feb. 9, 1861_, quoted in _California Farmer_, _July 25, 1862_; _Cornwallis' New El Dorado_, p. 97; _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 26.

[328] 'They present a model of which a white mechanic might well be proud.' Description of method of making, and cuts of Queniult, Clallam, and Cowlitz canoes, and a Queniult paddle. _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 79-82. At Port Orchard they 'exactly corresponded with the canoes of Nootka,' while those of some visitors were 'cut off square at each end,' and like those seen below Cape Orford. At Gray Harbor the war canoes 'had a piece of wood rudely carved, perforated, and placed at each end, three feet above the gunwale; through these holes they are able to discharge their arrows.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 264; vol. ii., p. 84. The Clallam boats were 'low and straight, and only adapted to the smoother interior waters.' _Scammon_, in _Overland Monthly_, vol. vii., p. 278. Cut showing Nootsak canoes in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xxxix., p. 799. 'The sides are exceedingly thin, seldom exceeding three-fourths of an inch.' To mend the canoe when cracks occur, 'holes are made in the sides, through which withes are passed, and pegged in such a way that the strain will draw it tighter; the withe is then crossed, and the end secured in the same manner. When the tying is finished, the whole is pitched with the gum of the pine.' _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 320-1. The Clallams have 'a very large canoe of ruder shape and workmanship, being wide and shovel-nosed,' used for the transportation of baggage. _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, p. 243; _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., pp. 430-1; _Seemann's Voy. Herald_, vol. i., p. 108; _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., pp. 25-6; _Winthrop's Canoe and Saddle_, p. 20; _Clark's Lights and Shadows_, pp. 224-6.

[329] _Kane's Wand._, pp. 237-9; _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1862, p. 409; _Starling_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iv., p. 601; _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 26.

[330] 'Ils obéissent à un chef, qui n'exerce son pouvoir qu'en temps de guerre.' _Rossi_, _Souvenirs_, p. 299. At Gray Harbor 'they appeared to be divided into three different tribes, or parties, each having one or two chiefs.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 84. Wilkes met a squaw chief at Nisqually, who 'seemed to exercise more authority than any that had been met with.' 'Little or no distinction of rank seems to exist among them; the authority of the chiefs is no longer recognized.' _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., p. 444; vol. v., p. 131. Yellow-cum had become chief of the Makahs from his own personal prowess. _Kane's Wand._, pp. 237-9; _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1857, pp. 327-8.

[331] _Sproat's Scenes_, p. 92; _Simpson's Overland Journ._, vol. i., pp. 242-3; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 214-15. The Nooksaks 'have no slaves.' _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1857, pp. 327-8; _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iv., p. 601. It is said 'that the descendants of slaves obtain freedom at the expiration of three centuries.' _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 28.

[332] The Makahs have some marriage ceremonies, 'such as going through the performance of taking the whale, manning a canoe, and throwing the harpoon into the bride's house.' _Ind. Aff. Rept._, p. 242. The Nooksak women 'are very industrious, and do most of the work, and procure the principal part of their sustenance.' _Id._, 1857, p. 327. 'The women have not the slightest pretension to virtue.' _Id._, 1858, p. 225; _Siwash Nuptials_, in _Olympia Washington Standard, July 30, 1870_. In matters of trade the opinion of the women is always called in, and their decision decides the bargain. _Seemann's Voy. Herald_, vol. i., p. 108. 'The whole burden of domestic occupation is thrown upon them.' Cut of the native baby-jumper. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 319-20, 361. At Gray Harbor they were not jealous. At Port Discovery they offered their children for sale. _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 231; vol. ii., pp. 83-4. 'Rarely having more than three or four' children. _Swan's N. W. Coast_, p. 266; _Clark's Lights and Shadows_, pp. 224-6.

[333] _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 320, 444; _Rossi_, _Souvenirs_, pp. 298-9; _San Francisco Bulletin_, _May 24, 1859._

[334] _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., pp. 263, 270. The Lummi 'are a very superstitious tribe, and pretend to have traditions--legends handed down to them by their ancestors.' 'No persuasion or pay will induce them to kill an owl or eat a pheasant.' _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1857, pp. 327-8; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 216-17, 229. No forms of salutation. _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., pp. 23-4; _Winthrop's Canoe and Saddle_, pp. 21-2.

[335] Among the Skagits 'Dr. Holmes saw an old man in the last stage of consumption, shivering from the effects of a cold bath at the temperature of 40° Fahrenheit. A favourite remedy in pulmonary consumption is to tie a rope tightly around the thorax, so as to force the diaphram to perform respiration without the aid of the thoracic muscles.' _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., p. 512. Among the Clallams, to cure a girl of a disease of the side, after stripping the patient naked, the medicine-man, throwing off his blanket, 'commenced singing and gesticulating in the most violent manner, whilst the others kept time by beating with little sticks on hollow wooden bowls and drums, singing continually. After exercising himself in this manner for about half an hour, until the perspiration ran down his body, he darted suddenly upon the young woman, catching hold of her side with his teeth and shaking her for a few minutes, while the patient seemed to suffer great agony. He then relinquished his hold, and cried out that he had got it, at the same time holding his hands to his mouth; after which he plunged them in the water and pretended to hold down with great difficulty the disease which he had extracted.' _Kane's Wand._, pp. 225-6. Small-pox seemed very prevalent by which many had lost the sight of one eye. _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 242. To cure a cold in the face the Queniults burned certain herbs to a cinder and mixing them with grease, anointed the face. _Swan's N. W. Coast_, p. 265. Among the Nooksaks mortality has not increased with civilization. 'As yet the only causes of any amount are consumption and the old diseases.' _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1857, p. 327. At Neah Bay, 'a scrofulous affection pervades the whole tribe.' The old, sick and maimed are abandoned by their friends to die. _Id._, 1872, p. 350.

[336] Slaves have no right to burial. _Kane's Wand._, p. 215. At a Queniult burial place 'the different colored blankets and calicoes hung round gave the place an appearance of clothes hung out to dry on a washing day.' _Swan's N. W. Coast_, p. 267. At Port Orchard bodies were 'wrapped firmly in matting, beneath which was a white blanket, closely fastened round the body, and under this a covering of blue cotton.' At Port Discovery bodies 'are wrapped in mats and placed upon the ground in a sitting posture, and surrounded with stakes and pieces of plank to protect them.' On the Cowlitz the burial canoes are painted with figures, and gifts are not deposited till several months after the funeral. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 323, 347-8, 509-10. Among the Nisquallies bodies of relatives are sometimes disinterred at different places, washed, re-wrapped and buried again in one grave. _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., pp. 238-9. 'Ornés de rubans de diverses couleurs, de dents de poissons, de chapelets et d'autres brimborions du goût des sauvages.' _Rossi_, _Souvenirs_, pp. 74-5. On Penn Cove, in a deserted village, were found 'several sepulchres formed exactly like a centry box. Some of them were open, and contained the skeletons of many young children tied up in baskets.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., pp. 254-6, 287; _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, p. 242; _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., p. 429. A correspondent describes a flathead mummy from Puget Sound preserved in San Francisco. 'The eye-balls are still round under the lid; the teeth, the muscles, and tendons perfect, the veins injected with some preserving liquid, the bowels, stomach and liver dried up, but not decayed, all perfectly preserved. The very blanket that entwines him, made of some threads of bark and saturated with a pitchy substance, is entire.' _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. v., p. 693; _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 32.

[337] 'Their native bashfulness renders all squaws peculiarly sensitive to any public notice or ridicule.' Probably the laziest people in the world. The mails are intrusted with safety to Indian carriers, who are perfectly safe from interference on the part of any Indian they may meet. _Kane's Wand._, p. 209-16, 227-8, 234, 247-8. 'La mémoire locale et personelle du sauvage est admirable; il n'oublie jamais un endroit ni une personne.' Nature seems to have given him memory to supply the want of intelligence. 'Much inclined to vengeance. Those having means may avert vengeance by payments.' _Rossi_, _Souvenirs_, pp. 113, 295-9. 'Perfectly indifferent to exposure; decency has no meaning in their language.' Although always begging, they refuse to accept any article not in good condition, calling it _Peeshaaak_, a term of contempt. _Seemann's Voy. Herald_, vol. i., pp. 108-9. Murder of a Spanish boat's crew in latitude 47° 20´. _Maurelle's Jour._, pp. 29, 31. 'Cheerful and well disposed' at Port Orchard. At Strait of Fuca 'little more elevated in their moral qualities than the Fuegians.' At Nisqually, 'addicted to stealing.' 'Vicious and exceedingly lazy, sleeping all day.' The Skagits are catholics, and are more advanced than others in civilization. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 317, 444, 510-11, 517. Both at Gray Harbor and Puget Sound they were uniformly civil and friendly, fair and honest in trade. Each tribe claimed that 'the others were bad people and that the party questioned were the only good Indians in the harbor.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 256; vol. ii., pp. 83-4. 'The Clallam tribe has always had a bad character, which their intercourse with shipping, and the introduction of whiskey, has by no means improved.' _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, p. 243. 'The superior courage of the Makahs, as well as their treachery, will make them more difficult of management than most other tribes.' _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., p. 429. The Lummis and other tribes at Bellingham Bay have already abandoned their ancient barbarous habits, and have adopted those of civilization. _Coleman_, in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xxxix., pp. 795-7; _Simpson's Overland Journ._, vol. i., pp. 240-2. 'The instincts of these people are of a very degraded character. They are filthy, cowardly, lazy, treacherous, drunken, avaricious, and much given to thieving. The women have not the slightest pretension to virtue.' The Makahs 'are the most independent Indians in my district--they and the Quilleyutes, their near neighbors.' _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1858, pp. 225, 231; _Id._, 1862, p. 390; _Id._, 1870, p. 20; _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iv., p. 601; _Winthrop's Canoe and Saddle_, p. 58; _Cram's Top. Mem._, p. 65.

[338] Perhaps the Cascades might more properly be named as the boundary, since the region of the Dalles, from the earliest records, has been the rendezvous for fishing, trading, and gambling purposes, of tribes from every part of the surrounding country, rather than the home of any particular nation.

[339] For details see TRIBAL BOUNDARIES at the end of this chapter. The Chinooks, Clatsops, Wakiakums and Cathlamets, 'resembling each other in person, dress, language, and manners.' The Chinooks and Wakiakums were originally one tribe, and Wakiakum was the name of the chief who seceded with his adherents. _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 335-6. 'They may be regarded as the distinctive type of the tribes to the north of the Oregon, for it is in them that the peculiarities of the population of these regions are seen in the most striking manner.' _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., pp. 15-6, 36. All the tribes about the mouth of the Columbia 'appear to be descended from the same stock ... and resemble one another in language, dress, and habits.' _Ross' Adven._, pp. 87-8. The Cathleyacheyachs at the Cascades differ but little from the Chinooks. _Id._, p. 111. Scouler calls the Columbia tribes _Cathlascons_, and considers them 'intimately related to the Kalapooiah Family.' _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., p. 225. The Willamette tribes 'differ very little in their habits and modes of life, from those on the Columbia River.' _Hunter's Cap._, p. 72. Mofras makes _Killimous_ a general name for all Indians south of the Columbia. _Explor._, tom. ii., p. 357; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 114-18; _Cox's Adven._, vol. ii., p. 133. The Nechecolees on the Willamette claimed an affinity with the Eloots at the Narrows of the Columbia. The Killamucks 'resemble in almost every particular the Clatsops and Chinnooks. _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 427, 504. 'Of the Coast Indians that I have seen there seems to be so little difference in their style of living that a description of one family will answer for the whole.' _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 153-4. 'All the natives inhabiting the southern shore of the Straits, and the deeply indented territory as far and including the tide-waters of the Columbia, may be comprehended under the general term of Chinooks.' _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 25.

[340] 'The race of the Chenooks is nearly run. From a large and powerful tribe ... they have dwindled down to about a hundred individuals, ... and these are a depraved, licentious, drunken set.' _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 108-10. The Willopahs 'may be considered as extinct, a few women only remaining.' _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., p. 428; _Mofras_, _Explor._, tom. ii., p. 351; _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, pp. 239-40; _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., p. 354; vol. ii., p. 217; _De Smet_, _Missions de l'Orégon_, pp. 163-4; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 173-6, 196-7; _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 335-6; _Fitzgerald's Hud. B. Co._, pp. 170-2; _Hines' Oregon_, pp. 103-19, 236; _Thornton's Ogn. and Cal._, vol. ii., pp. 52-3; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., p. 36; _Palmer's Jour._, pp. 84, 87; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 191-2. 'In the Wallamette valley, their favorite country, ... there are but few remnants left, and they are dispirited and broken-hearted.' _Robertson's Oregon_, p. 130.

[341] 'The personal appearance of the Chinooks differs so much from that of the aboriginal tribes of the United States, that it was difficult at first to recognize the affinity.' _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 27. 'There are no two nations in Europe so dissimilar as the tribes to the north and those to the south of the Columbia.' _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p. 88; vol. ii., p. 36. 'Thick set limbs,' north; 'slight,' south. _Id._, vol. i., p. 88; vol. ii., p. 16. 'Very inferior in muscular power.' _Id._, vol. ii., pp. 15-16. 'Among the ugliest of their race. They are below the middle size, with squat, clumsy forms.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., pp. 198, 216. The men from five feet to five feet six inches high, with well-shaped limbs; the women six to eight inches shorter, with bandy legs, thick ankles, broad, flat feet, loose hanging breasts. _Cox's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 303-4. 'A diminutive race, generally below five feet five inches, with crooked legs and thick ankles.' 'Broad, flat feet.' _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 87, 336. 'But not deficient in strength or activity.' _Nicolay's Oregon_, p. 145. Men 'stout, muscular and strong, but not tall;' women 'of the middle size, but very stout and flabby, with short necks and shapeless limbs.' _Ross' Adven._, pp. 89-93. At Cape Orford none exceed five feet six inches; 'tolerably well limbed, though slender in their persons.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 204. The Willamette tribes were somewhat larger and better shaped than those of the Columbia and the coast. _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 425, 436-7, 504, 508. _Hunter's Cap._, pp. 70-73; _Hines' Voy._, pp. 88, 91. 'Persons of the men generally are rather symmetrical; their stature is low, with light sinewy limbs, and remarkably small, delicate hands. The women are usually more rotund, and, in some instances, even approach obesity.' _Townsend's Nar._, p. 178. 'Many not even five feet.' _Franchère's Nar._, pp. 240-1. Can endure cold, but not fatigue; sharp sight and hearing, but obtuse smell and taste. 'The women are uncouth, and from a combination of causes appear old at an early age. _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 244-5. 'The Indians north of the Columbia are, for the most part good-looking, robust men, some of them having fine, symmetrical, forms. They have been represented as diminutive, with crooked legs and uncouth features. This is not correct; but, as a general rule, the direct reverse is the truth.' _Swan's N. W. Coast_, p. 154; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 122-3.

[342] The following terms applied to Chinook complexion are taken from the authors quoted in the preceding note: 'Copper-colored brown;' 'light copper color;' 'light olive;' 'fair complexion.' 'Not dark' when young. 'Rough tanned skins.' 'Dingy copper.' 'Fairer' than eastern Indians. Fairer on the coast than on the Columbia. Half-breeds partake of the swarthy hue of their mothers.

[343] 'The Cheenook cranium, even when not flattened, is long and narrow, compressed laterally, keel-shaped, like the skull of the Esquimaux.' Broad and high cheek-bones, with a receding forehead.' _Scouler_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., p. 220. 'Skulls ... totally devoid of any peculiar development.' Nose flat, nostrils distended, short irregular teeth; eyes black, piercing and treacherous. _Cox's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 115, 303. 'Broad faces, low foreheads, lank black hair, wide mouths.' 'Flat noses, and eyes turned obliquely upward at the outer corner.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., pp. 198, 216. 'Faces are round, with small, but animated eyes. Their noses are broad and flat at the top, and fleshy at the end, with large nostrils.' _Irving's Astoria_, p. 336. Portraits of two Calapooya Indians. _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 14. South of the Columbia they have 'long faces, thin lips,' but the Calapooyas in Willamette Valley have 'broad faces, low foreheads,' and the Chinooks have 'a wide face, flat nose, and eyes turned obliquely outwards.' _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p. 88; vol. ii., pp. 15-16. 'Dull phlegmatic want of expression' common to all adults. _Nicolay's Ogn. Ter._, p. 145. Women 'well-featured,' with 'light hair, and prominent eyes.' _Ross' Adven._, pp. 89-93. 'Their features rather partook of the general European character.' Hair long and black, clean and neatly combed. _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 204. 'Women have, in general, handsome faces.' 'There are rare instances of high aquiline noses; the eyes are generally black,' but sometimes 'of a dark yellowish brown, with a black pupil.' _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 425, 436-7. The men carefully eradicate every vestige of a beard. _Dunn's Oregon_, p. 124. 'The features of many are regular, though often devoid of expression.' _Townsend's Nar._, p. 178. 'Pluck out the beard at its first appearance.' _Kane's Wand._, p. 181. Portrait of chief, p. 174. 'A few of the old men only suffer a tuft to grow upon their chins.' _Franchère's Nar._, p. 240. One of the Clatsops 'had the reddest hair I ever saw, and a fair skin, much freckled.' _Gass' Jour._, p. 244; _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., p. 75. For descriptions and plates of Chinook skulls see _Morton's Crania_, pp. 202-13; pl. 42-7, 49, 50, and _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. ii., pp. 318-34.

[344] 'Practiced by at least ten or twelve distinct tribes of the lower country.' _Townsend's Nar._, pp. 175-6. 'On the coast it is limited to a space of about one hundred and seventy miles, extending between Cape Flattery and Cape Look-out. Inland, it extends up the Columbia to the first rapids, or one hundred and forty miles, and is checked at the falls on the Wallamette.' _Belcher's Voy._, vol. i., p. 307. The custom 'prevails among all the nations we have seen west of the Rocky Mountains,' but 'diminishes in receding eastward.' _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, p. 437. 'The Indians at the Dalles do not distort the head.' _Kane's Wand._, pp. 263, 180-2. 'The Chinooks are the most distinguished for their attachment to this singular usage.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 198. The tribes from the Columbia River to Millbank Sound flatten the forehead, also the Yakimas and Klikitats of the interior. _Tolmie_, in _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., pp. 231-2, 249. 'The practice prevails, generally, from the mouth of the Columbia to the Dalles, about one hundred and eighty miles, and from the Straits of Fuca on the north, to Coos Bay.... Northward of the Straits it diminishes gradually to a mere slight compression, finally confined to women, and abandoned entirely north of Milbank Sound. So east of the Cascade Mountains, it dies out in like manner.' _Gibbs_, in _Nott and Gliddon's Indig. Races_, p. 337. 'None but such as are of noble birth are allowed to flatten their skulls.' _Gray's Hist. Ogn._, p. 197.

[345] All authors who mention the Chinooks have something to say of this custom; the following give some description of the process and its effects, containing, however, no points not included in that given above. _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 122-3, 128-30; _Ross' Adven._, pp. 99-100; _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 167-8, with cut; _Chamber's Jour._, vol. x., pp. 111-2; _Belcher's Voy._, vol. i., pp. 307-11, with cuts; _Townsend's Nar._, pp. 175-6; _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 216; _Nicolay's Ogn. Ter._, p. 150; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., p. 294; _Irving's Astoria_, p. 89; _Cox's Adven._, vol. i., p. 302; _Catlin's N. Am. Ind._, vol. ii., pp. 110-11, with plate. Females remain longer than the boys. _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 476, 437. 'Not so great a deformity as is generally supposed.' _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 142-3, 251-2. 'Looking with contempt even upon the white for having round heads.' _Kane's Wand._, p. 181, 204, cut. 'As a general thing the tribes that have followed the practice of flattening the skull are inferior in intellect, less stirring and enterprising in their habits, and far more degraded in their morals than other tribes.' _Gray's Hist. Ogn._, p. 197. Mr. Gray is the only authority I have seen for this injurious effect, except Domenech, who pronounces the flat-heads more subject to apoplexy than others. _Deserts_, vol. ii., p. 87; _Gass' Jour._, pp. 224-5; _Brownell's Ind. Races_, pp. 335-7; _Morton's Crania Am._, pp. 203-13, cut of cradle and of skulls; _Mofras_, _Explor._, tom. ii., pp. 349-50, _Atlas_, pl. 26; _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_, pp. 294-5, 328, with cut; _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_ p. 124; _Wilson_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1862, p. 287.

[346] The Multnomah women's hair 'is most commonly braided into two tresses falling over each ear in front of the body.' _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 508-9, 416, 425-6, 437-8. The Clackamas 'tattoo themselves below the mouth, which gives a light blue appearance to the countenance.' _Kane's Wand._, pp. 241, 184-5, 256. At Cape Orford 'they seemed to prefer the comforts of cleanliness to the painting of their bodies.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 204. On the Columbia 'in the decoration of their persons they surpassed all the other tribes with paints of different colours, feathers and other ornaments.' _Id._, vol. ii., p. 77. 'Ils mettent toute leur vanité dans leurs colliers et leurs pendants d'oreilles.' _De Smet_, _Miss. de l'Orégon_, p. 45. 'Some of these girls I have seen with the whole rim of their ears bored full of holes, into each of which would be inserted a string of these shells that reached to the floor, and the whole weighing so heavy that to save their ears from being pulled off they were obliged to wear a band across the top of the head.' 'I never have seen either men or women put oil or grease of any kind on their bodies.' _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 112, 158-9. See _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 115, 123-4; _Cox's Adven._, pp. 111-12; _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 25; _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 336-8; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., p. 354; _Franchère's Nar._, p. 244.

[347] 'These robes are in general, composed of the skins of a small animal, which we have supposed to be the brown mungo.' 'Sometimes they have a blanket woven with the fingers, from the wool of their native sheep.' Every part of the body but the back and shoulders is exposed to view. The Nechecolies had 'larger and longer robes, which are generally of deer skin dressed in the hair.' _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 392, 425-6, 438, 504-9, 522. 'I have often seen them going about, half naked, when the thermometer ranged between 30° and 40°, and their children barefooted and barelegged in the snow.' 'The lower Indians do not dress as well, nor with as good taste, as the upper.' _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 244-5. The fringed skirt 'is still used by old women, and by all the females when they are at work in the water, and is called by them their _siwash coat_.' _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 154-5. _Ross' Adven._, pp. 89-93; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 123-4; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., pp. 15-16, 281-2, 288; _Townsend's Nar._, p. 178; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 184-5; _Franchère's Nar._, pp. 242-4. The conical cap reminded Pickering of the Siberian tribes. _Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., pp. 25, 39; _Cox's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 111-12, 126-7; _Hines' Voy._, p. 107. Collars of bears' claws, for the men, and elks' tusks for the women and children. _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 336-8; _Gass' Jour._, pp. 232, 239-40, 242-4, 267, 274, 278, 282.

[348] 'Their houses seemed to be more comfortable than those at Nootka, the roof having a greater inclination, and the planking being thatched over with the bark of trees. The entrance is through a hole, in a broad plank, covered in such a manner as to resemble the face of a man, the mouth serving the purpose of a door-way. The fire-place is sunk into the earth, and confined from spreading above by a wooden frame.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 77. Emmons, in _Schoolcraft's Archives_, vol. iii., p. 206, speaks of a palisade enclosure ten or fifteen feet high, with a covered way to the river. 'The Indian huts on the banks of the Columbia are, for the most part, constructed of the bark of trees, pine branches, and brambles, which are sometimes covered with skins or rags.' _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., p. 260. But 'the Chinooks build their houses of thick and broad planks,' etc. _Id._ Lewis and Clarke saw a house in the Willamette Valley two hundred and twenty-six feet long, divided into two ranges of large apartments separated by a narrow alley four feet wide. _Travels_, pp. 502-4, 509, 431-2, 415-16, 409, 392. The door is a piece of board 'which hangs loose by a string, like a sort of pendulum,' and is self-closing. _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 110-11. 'The tribes near the coast remove less frequently than those of the interior.' _California, Past, Present and Future_, p. 136. 'I never saw more than four fires, or above eighty persons--slaves and all--in the largest house.' _Ross' Adven._, pp. 98-9; _Palmer's Jour._, pp. 86, 108; _Irving's Astoria_, p. 322; _Nicolay's Ogn._, pp. 144, 148-9; _Cox's Adven._, vol. i., p. 327, from _Lewis and Clarke_; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 135-7, from _Lewis and Clarke_; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 144-5, 178-9, 245; _Franchère's Nar._, pp. 247-8; _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., p. 65; _Townsend's Nar._, p. 181; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 187-8; _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., pp. 204, 216-17; _Strickland's Hist. Missions_, pp. 136-9.