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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38010-0.txt b/38010-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..664312e --- /dev/null +++ b/38010-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7430 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Adventures of John Jewitt, by John +Rodgers Jewitt, Edited by Robert Brown + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Adventures of John Jewitt + Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island + + +Author: John Rodgers Jewitt + +Editor: Robert Brown + +Release Date: November 14, 2011 [eBook #38010] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT*** + + +E-text prepared by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38010-h.htm or 38010-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38010/38010-h/38010-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38010/38010-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/adventuresofjohn00jewiuoft + + + + + +[Illustration: Portrait of Dr. Robert Brown] + + +THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT + +Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship _Boston_ +During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among +the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island + +Edited with an Introduction and Notes + +by + +Robert Brown, Ph.D., M.A., F.L.S. +Commander of the First Vancouver Exploring Expedition + +With Thirteen Illustrations + + + + + + + +Clement Wilson +29 Paternoster Row, London, E.C. +1896 + +[_All Rights Reserved_] + +Morrison and Gibb, Printers, Edinburgh + + + + +IN MEMORY + + +A sad interest attaches to this little book. Although published after +his death, and therefore deprived of his final revision, it was not the +last work which Dr. Robert Brown did. His manuscript was actually +completed many months ago, but at his own request it was returned to him +to receive a last careful overhaul at his hands. This revision had been +practically finished, and the MS. lay ready uppermost among the papers +in his desk, where it was found after his death. Dr. Brown died on the +morning of the 26th of October, 1895, working almost to his last hour. +Before the leader he had written for the _Standard_ on the evening of +the 25th had come under the eyes of its readers, the hand that had +penned it was cold in death. Between the evening and the morning he went +home. He was only fifty-three, but "a righteous man, though he die +before his time, shall be at rest." + +And in one sense Dr. Brown needed rest--ay, even this last and sweetest +rest of all. His life had been one of unremitting work--work well done, +which the busy, hurrying world mostly heeded not, knowing naught of the +hand that did it. Some twenty years ago, when I first knew him, he was a +fair, stalwart Northerner, full of vigour, mirthful also, and apparently +looking out on the voyage of life with the confident, joyous eye of one +who felt he had strength within him to conquer. His latter days were +saddened by incessant toil, performed in weakness of body and jadedness +of brain, and by the feeling that his best work, the work into which he +put his rich stores of knowledge, was neither recognised nor requited as +it should have been. + +To a sensitive man the daily wear and tear of a journalist's life in +London is often murderous, always exhausting--and Dr. Brown was very +sensitive. Beneath the genial exterior, which seemed to indicate a +careless, light-hearted spirit, lay great depths of feeling, and a +tenderness that shrank from expressing itself. The man was too proud and +self-restrained to betray these depths even to those nearest and dearest +to him. This was at once a nobility in him and a weakness. Had he opened +his heart more, he would have chafed and fretted less, little annoyances +would not have become mountain loads of care. But the truth is, Dr. +Brown was not cut out for the life of an everyday journalist, either by +training, habits, or disposition. The ideal post for him would have been +that of a professor at some great university, where he could have had +abundant leisure to pursue his favourite studies, where young men would +have surrounded him and listened with delight to the outpouring of the +wealth of lore with which his capacious intellect was stored. His lot +was otherwise cast, and he accepted it manfully, battling with his +destiny to his last hours, grimly and in silence of soul, intent only on +one thing, to lift his children clear above the necessity for treading +the same rough road upon which he had worn himself out. + +Other and worthier hands than mine may trace, it is to be hoped, the +story of his life, his expeditions in America and Greenland, and his +many literary labours not only in popularising scientific subjects, with +a thoroughness and attractiveness too little recognised, but in walks +apart where the multitude could not judge him. My dominant feeling about +him for many years has been one of regret that he should be wearing his +life away so fast. He never learned to play; to be completely idle for a +day even became, latterly, irksome, almost irritating, to him. His +fingers itched to hold the pen, to handle a book. Although in earlier +times he could enjoy a brief holiday, he ever mixed work with his +pleasure; could, indeed, accept no pleasure which did not imply work +somewhere close to his hand. Thus his various journeys to Morocco, +ostensibly taken, at any rate the earlier of them, to escape from all +kinds of work, and from the sight of the day's newspaper, ended in his +becoming the foremost authority in Great Britain upon the literature, +present social condition, and probable future of that perishing country. +The acquisition of this knowledge was all in his day's enjoyment. + +The testimony of the introduction and notes to this little book is +enough to prove how thoroughly and conscientiously everything that Dr. +Brown undertook was done. The question of payment rarely entered into +his calculations. Some of his very best work was done for nothing, +because he loved to do it. Witness his edition of _Leo Africanus_, +prepared for the Hakluyt Society, and his innumerable memoirs to the +various learned Societies of which he was a member. + +Few of Dr. Brown's London friends were aware that his attainments as a +scientific botanist were of the highest order. Yet in this department of +science alone he had written thirty papers and reports, besides an +advanced text-book of Botany (published by William Blackwood and Sons), +before the summer of 1872, when he was only thirty years of age. These +were entirely outside his contributions to general literature on that +and other subjects, already at that date numerous; and if we add to the +list the various reports, essays, memoranda contributed by him to the +Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, of which he was President, to the +Royal Geographical Society, of whose Council he was a member at his +death, and to numerous other bodies, as well as to scientific and +popular journals, on geographical, geological, and zoological subjects, +from first to last the total mounts to several hundreds. In these +branches of science his heart lay always, but he laboured for his daily +bread and to give to him that needed. + +The portrait forming the frontispiece to this volume is from a +photograph of Dr. Brown taken in 1870, just after his return from his +last expedition to Greenland, and represents him much as he looked when, +some years later, he first came to London, after failing to obtain the +chair of Botany in Edinburgh University. That was a disappointment which +he cannot be said ever to have entirely surmounted. The memory of it to +some extent kept him aloof from his fellow-labourers in the world of +journalism. What work he had to do he did loyally, manfully, and with +the most scrupulous care; but he lived a man apart, more or less, from +his first coming among us to the end. In his family circle, and where he +was really known, his loss has brought a great sorrow. + + A. J. W. + LONDON, _February 16, 1896_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + INTRODUCTION. BY DR. ROBERT BROWN 13 + + CHAPTER I + BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EARLY LIFE OF THE AUTHOR 43 + + CHAPTER II + VOYAGE TO NOOTKA SOUND 53 + + CHAPTER III + INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES--MAQUINA--SEIZURE + OF THE VESSEL AND MURDER OF THE CREW 58 + + CHAPTER IV + RECEPTION OF JEWITT BY THE SAVAGES--ESCAPE OF + THOMPSON--ARRIVAL OF NEIGHBOURING TRIBES--AN INDIAN FEAST 70 + + CHAPTER V + BURNING OF THE VESSEL--COMMENCEMENT OF JEWITT'S JOURNAL 83 + + CHAPTER VI + DESCRIPTION OF NOOTKA SOUND--MANNER OF BUILDING + HOUSES--FURNITURE--DRESSES 95 + + CHAPTER VII + APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES--ORNAMENTS--OTTER-HUNTING-- + FISHING--CANOES 112 + + CHAPTER VIII + MUSIC--MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--SLAVES--NEIGHBOURING + TRIBES--TRADE WITH THESE--ARMY 129 + + CHAPTER IX + SITUATION OF THE AUTHOR--REMOVAL TO TASHEES--FISHING + PARTIES 142 + + CHAPTER X + CONVERSATION WITH MAQUINA--FRUITS--RELIGIOUS + CEREMONIES--VISIT TO UPQUESTA 156 + + CHAPTER XI + RETURN TO NOOTKA (FRIENDLY COVE)--DEATH OF MAQUINA'S + NEPHEW--INSANITY OF TOOTOOSCH--AN INDIAN MOUNTEBANK 172 + + CHAPTER XII + WAR WITH THE A-Y-CHARTS--A NIGHT ATTACK--PROPOSALS TO + PURCHASE THE AUTHOR 185 + + CHAPTER XIII + MARRIAGE OF THE AUTHOR--HIS ILLNESS--DISMISSES HIS + WIFE--RELIGION OF THE NATIVES--CLIMATE 198 + + CHAPTER XIV + ARRIVAL OF THE BRIG "LYDIA"--STRATAGEM OF THE + AUTHOR--ITS SUCCESS 223 + + APPENDIX + I. THE "BOSTON'S" CREW 247 + II. WAR-SONG OF THE NOOTKA TRIBE 248 + III. A LIST OF WORDS 249 + + INDEX 253 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + PORTRAIT OF DR. ROBERT BROWN (1870) _Frontispiece_ + DR. BROWN'S "BOY" 14 + PORT SAN JUAN INDIANS 16 + OHYAHT INDIAN 24 + INDIAN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE LANDING-STAGE, ESQUIMAULT 33 + HABITATIONS IN NOOTKA SOUND (TEMP. 1803) 97 + INTERIOR OF A HABITATION IN NOOTKA SOUND 103 + NOOTKA SOUND INDIANS 111 + INDIAN CANOES, VICTORIA, V. I. (TEMP. 1863) 125 + UK-LULAC-AHT INDIAN 135 + SALMON WEAR NEAR THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF QUAMICHAN, V. I. 149 + CALLICUM AND MAQUILLA, CHIEFS OF NOOTKA SOUND + (TEMP. 1803) 159 + INDIAN CHIEF'S GRAVE (TEMP. 1863) 209 + + + + +ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Many years ago--when America was in the midst of war, when railways +across the continent were but the dream of sanguine men, and when the +Pacific was a faraway sea--the writer of these lines passed part of a +pleasant summer in cruising along the western shores of Vancouver +Island. Our ship's company was not distinguished, for it consisted of +two fur-traders and an Indian "boy," and the sloop in which the crew and +passengers sailed was so small, that, when the wind failed, and the +brown folk ashore looked less amiable and the shore more rugged than was +desirable, we put her and ourselves beyond hail by the aid of what +seamen know as a "white ash breeze." Out of one fjord we went, only to +enter another so like it that there was often a difficulty in deciding +by the mere appearance of the shore which was which. Everywhere the +dense forest of Douglas fir and Menzies spruce covered the country from +the water's edge to the summit of the rounded hills which here and there +caught the eye in the still little known, but at that date almost +entirely unexplored interior. Wherever a tree could obtain a foothold, +there a tree grew, until in places their roots were at times laved by +the spray. Beneath this thick clothing of heavy timber flourished an +almost equally dense undergrowth of shrubs, which until then were only +known to us from the specimens introduced from North-West America into +the European gardens. Gay were the thickets of thimbleberry[1] and +salmonberry[2] wherever the soil was rich, and for miles the ground was +carpeted with the salal,[3] while the huckleberry,[4] the crab-apple,[5] +and the flowering currant[6] varied the monotony of the gloomy woods. In +places the ginseng, or, as the woodmen call it, the "devil's +walking-stick,"[7] with its long prickly stem and palm-like head of +great leaves, imparted an almost tropical aspect to scenery which, seen +from the deck of our little craft, looked so like that of Southern +Norway, that I have never seen the latter without recalling the outer +limits of British Columbia. On the few flat spits where the sun reached, +the gigantic cedars[8] and broad-leaved maples[9] lighted up the scene, +while the dogwood,[10] with its large white flowers reflected in the +water of some river which, after a turbulent course, had reached the sea +through a placid mouth, or a Menzies arbutus,[11] whose glossy leaves +and brown bark presented a more southern facies to the sombre jungles, +afforded here and there a relief to the never-ending fir and pine and +spruce. + +[Illustration: DR. BROWN'S "BOY."] + +A more solitary shore, so far as white men are concerned, it would be +hard to imagine. From the day we left until the day we returned, we +sighted only one sail; and from Port San Juan, where an Indian trader +lived a lonely life in an often-beleaguered blockhouse, to Koskeemo +Sound, where another of these voluntary exiles passed his years among +the savages, there was not a christened man, with the exception of the +little settlement of lumbermen at the head of the Alberni Canal. For +months at a time no keel ever ploughed this sea, and then too frequently +it was a warship sent from Victoria to chastise the tribesmen for some +outrage committed on wayfaring men such as we. The floating fur-trader +with whom we exchanged the courtesies of the wilderness had indeed been +despitefully used. For had he not taken to himself some savage woman, +who had levanted to her tribe with those miscellaneous effects which he +termed "iktas"? And the Klayoquahts had stolen his boat, and the +Kaoquahts his beans and his vermilion and his rice, and threatened to +scuttle his schooner and stick his head on its masthead. And, moreover, +to complete this tale of public pillage and private wrong, a certain +chief, to whom he applied many ornate epithets, had declared that he +cared not a salal-berry for all of "King George's warships." So that the +conclusion of this merchant of the wilds was that, until "half the +Indians were hanged, and the other half badly licked, there would be no +peace on the coast for honest men such as he." Then, under a cloud of +playful blasphemy, our friend sailed away. + +[Illustration: PORT SAN JUAN INDIANS.] + +For if civilisation was scarce in the Western Vancouver of '63, +savagedom was all-abounding. Not many hours passed without our having +dealings with the lords of the soil. It was indeed our business--or, at +least, the business of the two men and the Indian "boy"--to meet with +and make profit out of the barbarous folk. Hence it was seldom that we +went to sleep without the din of a board village in our ears, or woke +without the ancient and most fish-like smell of one being the first +odour which greeted our nostrils. In almost every cove, creek, or inlet +there was one of these camps, and every few miles we entered the +territory of a new tribe, ruled by a rival chief, rarely on terms with +his neighbour, and as often as not at war with him. More than once we +had occasion to witness the gruesome evidence of this state of matters. +A war party returning from a raid on a distant hamlet would be met with, +all painted in hideous colours, and with the bleeding heads of their +decapitated enemies fastened to the bows of their cedar canoes, and the +cowering captives, doomed to slavery, bound among the fighting men. Or, +casting anchor in front of a village, we would be shown with pride a row +of festering skulls stuck on poles, as proof of the military prowess of +our shifty hosts. + +These were, however, unusually unpleasant incidents. More frequently we +saw little except the more lightsome traits of what was then a very +primitive savage life, and the barbarous folk treated us kindly. A +marriage feast might be in progress, or a great "potlatch," or +merrymaking, at which the giving away of property was the principal +feature (p. 82), might be in full blaze at the very moment we steered +round the wooded point. Halibut and dog-fish were being caught in vast +quantities--the one for slicing and drying for winter use; the other for +the sake of the oil extracted from the liver, then as now an important +article of barter, being in ready demand by the Puget Sound saw-mills. +Now and then a fur-seal or, better still, a sea-otter would be killed. +But this is not the land of choice furs. Even the marten and the mink +were indifferent. Beaver--which in those days, after having been almost +hunted to death, were again getting numerous, owing to the low prices +which the pelts brought having slackened the trappers' zeal--would often +be brought on board, and a few hides of the wapiti, the "elk" of the +Western hunter, and the black-tailed deer which swarm in the Vancouver +woods, generally appeared at every village. The natives are, however, +essentially fish-eaters, and though in every tribe there is generally a +hunter or two, the majority of them seldom wander far afield, the +interior being in their mythology a land of evil things, of which wise +men would do well to keep clear. Even the black bear, which in autumn +was often a common feature of the country, where it ranged the +crab-apple thickets, was not at this season an object of the chase. Like +the deer and the wolves, it was shunning the heat and the flies by +summering near the snow which we could notice still capping some of the +inland hills, rising to heights of from five thousand to seven thousand +feet, and feasting on the countless salmon which were descending every +stream, until, with the receding waters, they were left stranded in the +upland pools. So cheap were salmon, that at times they could be bought +for a cent's worth of "trade goods," and deer in winter for a few +charges of powder and shot. A whale-hunt, in which the behemoth was +attacked by harpoons with attached inflated sealskins, after a fashion +with which I had become familiar when a resident among the Eskimo of +Baffin Bay, was a more curious sight. Yet dog-fish oil was the staple of +the unpicturesque traffic in which my companions engaged; while I, a +hunter after less considered trifles, landed to roam the woods and +shores for days at a time, gathering the few flowers which bloomed under +these umbrageous forests, though in number sufficient to tempt the +red-beaked humming-bird[12] to migrate from Mexico to these northern +regions, its tiny nest being frequently noticed on the tops of low +bushes. + +[Sidenote: The Aht Indians.] + +But, after all, the most interesting sight on the shore was the people +who inhabited it. They were the "Indians," whom my friend Gilbert Sproat +afterwards described as the "Ahts,"[13] for this syllable terminates the +name of each of the many little tribes into which they are divided. Yet, +with a disregard of the laws of nomenclature, the Ethnological Bureau at +Washington has only recently announced its intention of knowing them +officially by the meaningless title of "Wakashan." They are a people by +themselves, speaking a language which was confined to Vancouver Island, +with the exception of Cape Flattery, the western tip of Washington, +where the Makkahs speak it. In Vancouver Island, a region about the size +of Ireland, three, if not four distinct aboriginal tongues are in use, +in addition to Chinook Jargon, a sort of _lingua franca_ employed by the +Indians in their intercourse with the whites or with tribes whose speech +they do not understand. The Kawitshen (Cowitchan) with its various +dialects, the chief of which is the Tsongersth (Songer) of the people +near Victoria, prevails from Sooke in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, +northwards to Comox. From that point to the northern end of the island +various dialects of the Kwakiool (Cogwohl of the traders) are the medium +in which the tribesmen do not conceal their thoughts. The people of +Quatseno and Koskeemo Sounds, owing to their frequent intercourse with +Fort Rupert on the other side of the island, which at this point is at +its narrowest, understand and frequently speak the Kwakiool. But after +passing several days entirely alone among these people, I can vouch for +the fact that this dialect is so peculiar that it almost amounts to a +separate language. However, from this part, or properly, from Woody +Point southwards to Port San Juan, the Aht language is entirely +different. + +The latter locality,[14] nearly opposite Cape Flattery, on the other +side of Juan de Fuca Strait, the most southern part, and the only one on +the mainland where it is spoken, is the special territory of the +Pachenahts. When I knew them, they were, like all of their race, a +dwindling people. A few years earlier, Grant had estimated them to +number a hundred men. In 1863 there were not more than a fifth of that +number fit to manage a canoe, and the total number of the tribe did not +exceed sixty. War with the Sclallans and Makkahs on the opposite shore, +and smallpox, which is more powerful than gunpowder, had so decimated +them that, no longer able to hold their own, they had leagued with the +Nettinahts, old allies of theirs, for mutual defence. Quixto, the chief, +I find described in my notes as a stout fellow, terrible at a bargain, +very well disposed towards the whites, as are all his tribe, the husband +of four wives, an extraordinary number for the Indians of the coast, and +reputed to be rich in blankets and the other gear which constitutes +wealth among the aborigines of this part of the British Empire. In their +palmy days they had made way as far north as Clayoquat Sound and the +Ky-yoh-quaht-cutz in one direction, and with the Tsongersth to the +eastward, though that now pusillanimous tribe had generally the best of +them. Their eastern border is, however, the Jordan River, but they have +a fishing station at the Sombria (Cockles), and several miles up both +the Pandora and Jordan Rivers flowing into their bay. Karleit is their +western limit. + +The Nettinahts[15] are a more powerful tribe; indeed, at the period when +the writer of this book was a prisoner in Nootka Sound, they were among +the strongest of all the Aht people. Even then, they had four +hundred[16] fighting men, and were a people with whom it did not do to +be off your guard. They have--or had--many villages, from Pachena +Bay[17] to the west and Karleit to the east, besides three villages in +Nettinaht Inlet,[18] eleven fishing stations on the Nettinaht River, +three stations on the Cowitchan Lake, and one at Sguitz on the Cowitchan +River itself, while they sometimes descend as far as Tsanena to plant +potatoes. They have thus the widest borders of any Indian tribe in +Vancouver Island, and have a high reputation as hunters, whale-fishers, +and warriors. Moqulla was then the head chief, but every winter a +sub-tribe hunted and fished on the Cowitchan Lake, a sheet of water +which I was among the first to visit, and the very first to "lay down" +with approximate accuracy. Though nowadays--_Eheu fugaces, Postume, +Postume, labuntur anni!_--there is a waggon road to the lake, and, I am +told, "a sort of hotel" on the spot where eight-and-twenty years ago we +encamped on extremely short rations, though with the soothing knowledge +that if only the Fates were kindly and the wind favourable, there were +plenty of trout in the water, and a dinner at large in the woods around. +In those days most of the Nettinaht villages were fortified with wooden +pickets to prevent any night attack, and from its situation, Whyack, the +principal one (built on a cliff, stockaded on the seaward side, and +reached only by a narrow entrance where the surf breaks continuously), +is impregnable to hostile canoemen. This people accordingly carried +themselves with a high hand, and bore a name correspondingly bad. + +Barclay--or Berkeley Sound--is the home of various petty +tribes--Ohyahts, Howchuklisahts, Yu-clul-ahts, Toquahts, Seshahts, and +Opechesahts. The two with whom I was best acquainted were the last +named. The Seshahts lived at the top of the Alberni Canal--a long +narrow fjord or cleft in the island--and on the Seshaht Islands in the +Sound. During the summer months they came for salmon-fishing to Sa ha, +or the first rapids on the Kleekort or Saman River,[19] their chief +being Ia-pou-noul, who had just succeeded to this office owing to the +abdication of his father, though the entire fighting force of the tribe +did not number over fifty men. As late as 1859 the Seshahts seized an +American ship, the _Swiss Boy_. The Opechesahts, of whom I have very +kindly memories, as I encamped with their chief for many days, and +explored Sproat Lake in his company, were an offshoot of the Seshahts, +and had their home on the Kleekort River, but, owing to a massacre by +the now extinct Quallehum (Qualicom) Indians from the opposite coast, +who caught them on an island in Sproat Lake, they were reduced to +seventeen men, most of them, however, tall, handsome fellows, and good +hunters. Chieftainship in that part of the world goes by inheritance. +Hence there may be many of these hereditary aristocrats in a very small +tribe. Accordingly, few though the Opechesaht warriors were, three men, +Quatgenam, Kalooish or Kanash, and Quassoon, a shaggy, thick-set, and +tremendously strong individual who crossed the island with me in 1865, +were entitled to that rank; and it may be added that the women of this, +the most freshwater of all the Vancouver tribes, were noted for a more +than usual share of good looks. + +The Howchuklisahts, whose chief was Maz-o-wennis, numbered forty-five +people, including twenty-eight men. They lived in Ouchucklesit[20] +Harbour, off the Alberni Canal; they had also a fishing camp on +Henderson Lake, and two or three lodges on the rapid or stream flowing +out of that sheet of water, which was discovered and named by me. But +they were "bad to deal with." + +[Illustration: OHYAHT INDIAN.] + +The You-clul-ahts of Ucluelt Inlet, ruled by Ia-pou-noul, a wealthy man +in blankets and other Indian wealth, numbered about one hundred. The +chief of the Toquahts in Pipestem Inlet was Sow-wa-wenes, a middle-aged +man, who had an easy task, as his lieges numbered only eleven, so that +they were thirty years ago on the eve of extinction. The Ohyahts of +Grappler Creek were estimated in 1863 to be about one hundred and +seventy-five in fighting strength--which, multiplied by four for women +and children, would make them, for that region, an unusually strong +community. These figures are probably correct, since the man who made +the statement was, after living for years amongst them, eventually +murdered by the savages,[21] whom he had trusted too implicitly. +Kleesheens, a notorious scoundrel, was their chief. In Clayoquat Sound +were the Klahoquahts, Kellsmahts, Ahousahts, Heshquahts, and +Mamosahts--the last a little tribe numbering only five men. Indeed, with +the exception of the Klahoquahts (who numbered one hundred and sixty +men) and the Ahousahts (who claimed two hundred and fifty), these little +septs, all devoured by mutual hatred, and frequently at war with each +other, were even then dwindling to nothingness. But the Opetsahts, +though marked on the Admiralty Chart[22] as a separate tribe, are--or +were--only a village of the Ahousahts. + +In Nootka Sound, the Muchlahts and Mooachahts lived. In Esperanza +Inlet were the villages of two tribes--the Noochahlahts and Ayattisahts, +numbering forty and twenty-two men respectively, and chiefed at that +time by two worthies of the names of Mala-koi-Kennis, and +Quak-ate-Komisa, whom we left in the delectable condition of each +expecting the other round to cut his and his tribesmen's throats. + +North of this inlet were Ky-yoh-quahts, of the Sound of that name +(Kaioquat), numbering two hundred and fifty men. To us they were +exceedingly friendly, though a trader whom we met had a different tale +to tell of their treatment of him. Kanemat, a young man of about +twenty-two, was their chief, though the tribe was virtually governed by +his mother, a notable lady named Shipally, and at times by his pretty +squaw, Wick-anes, and his lively son and heir, Klahe-ek-enes. The +Chaykisahts, the Klahosahts, and the Neshahts of Woody Point are the +other Aht tribes, though the latter is not included among them by Mr. +Sproat. But they speak their language, of which their chief village is +its most northern limit. + +Everywhere their tribes showed such evident signs of decadence that by +this time some of them must be all but extinct. Still, as the whites had +not come much in contact with them--though all of them asked us for +"lum" (rum), but did not get it, it is clear enough what had been the +traders' staple--the "diseases of civilisation" could not be blamed for +their decay. Even then the practical extermination of two tribes was so +recent that the facts were still fresh in their neighbours' memory. +These were the Ekkalahts, who lived at the top of the Alberni Canal, but +were all but killed off in the same massacre by which the Opechesahts +were decimated. The only survivor was a man named Keekeon, who lived +with the Seshahts, most of whom had forgotten even the name of this +vanquished little nationality. The other tribe was the Koapinahts (or +Koapin-ah), who at that time numbered sixty or seventy people, but at +the period to which I refer they were reduced to two adults--a man and a +woman--all the rest having been slaughtered a few years earlier by the +Kwakiools from the other side of the island, in conjunction with the +Neshahts of Woody Point. In after days I learned to know these tribes +very familiarly, crossing and recrossing the island with or to them, +hunting and canoeing with them, in the woods, up the rivers, or on the +lakes, and gathering from their lips + + "This fair report of them who dwell + In that retirement." + +At first sight these "tinkler loons and siclike companie" were by no +means attractive. They were frowsy, and, undeniably, they were not +clean. But it was only after penetrating their inner ways, after +learning the wealth of custom and folk-lore of which they, all +unconscious of their riches, were the jealous custodians, that one began +to appreciate these primitive folk from a scientific point of view. Even +yet, as the writer recalls the days when he was prone to find men more +romantic than is possible in "middle life forlorn," it is difficult not +to associate the most prosaic of savages with something of the +picturesqueness which, in novels at least, used to cling to all their +race. For, as the charm of such existence as theirs unfolded itself to +the lover of woods and prairies, and lakes and virgin streams, the +neglect of soap and of sanitation was forgotten. As Mr. Leland has +remarked about the gipsies: "When their lives and legends are known, +the ethnologist is apt to think of Tieck's elves, and of the Shang +Valley, which was so grim and repulsive from without, but which, once +entered, was the gay forecourt of Goblin-land." + +In those days little was known--and little cared--about any of the +Western tribes, except by the "schooner-men," as the Indians called the +roving traders. Their very names were strange to the majority of the +Victoria people, and I am told that very few of the colonists of to-day +are any better informed. It has therefore been thought fitting that I +should go somewhat minutely into the condition of the Indians, at a +period when they were more primitive than now, as a slight contribution +to the meagre chronicles of a dying race. For if not preserved here, it +is likely to perish with almost the last survivor of a little band with +whom, during the last two decades, death has been busy. + +[Sidenote: Nootka Sound and its memories.] + +Among the many inlets which we entered on the cruise which has enabled +me to edit this narrative of a less fortunate predecessor, was Nootka +Sound. No portion of North-West America was more famous than this spot, +for once upon a time it was the former centre of the fur trade, and a +locality which more than once figured prominently in diplomatic +correspondence. Indeed, so associated was it as the type of this part of +the western continent, that in many works the heterogeneous group of +savages who inhabit the entire coast between the Columbia River and the +end of Vancouver Island was described as the "Nootka-Columbians." More +than one species of plant and animal attest the fact of this Sound +having been the locality at which the naturalist first broke ground in +North-West America. There are, for instance, a _Haliotis Nutkaensis_ (an +ear shell), a _Rubus Nutkanus_ (a raspberry); and a yellow cypress, +which, however, attained its chief development on the mainland much +farther north, bears among its synonyms that of _Chamcæcyparis +Nutkaensis_. For though it is undeniable that Ensign Juan Perez +discovered it as early as 1779, and named it Port San Lorenzo, after the +saint on whose day it was first seen, this fact was unknown or +forgotten, when, four years later, Cook entered, and called it King +George Sound, though he tells us it was afterwards found that it was +called Nootka by the natives. Hence arose the title it has ever since +borne, though this was an entire mistake on the great navigator's part, +since there is no word in the Aht language at all corresponding to +Nootka, unless indeed it is "Nootche," a mountain, which not unlikely +Cook mistook for that of the inlet generally. The proofs of the presence +of earlier visitors were iron and other tools, familiarity with ships, +and two silver spoons of Spanish manufacture, which, we may take it, had +been stolen from Perez's ship. The next vessel to enter the Sound was +the _Sea Otter_, under the command of Captain James Hanna, who made such +a haul in the shape of sea-otter skins that for many years Nootka was +the great rendezvous of the fur-traders who cruised as far north as +Russian America--now Alaska--and, like Portlock, Dixon, and Meares, +charted and named many of the most familiar parts of the British +Columbian coast. Meares built the _North-West America_ by the aid of +Chinese carpenters in Nootka Sound in the winter of 1788-89, this little +sloop being the first vessel, except a canoe, ever constructed in the +country north of California. + +The lucrative trade done by the English and American traders, some of +whom, disposing of their furs in China, sailed under the Portuguese flag +and fitted out at Macao as the port most readily open to them, +determined the Spaniards to assert their rights to the original +discovery. This was done by Don Estevan Martinez "taking possession" of +the Sound, seizing the vessels there, and erecting a fort to maintain +the territory against all comers. A hot diplomatic warfare ensued, the +result of which was the Convention of Nootka, by which the Sound was +made over to Great Britain; and it was while engaged on this mission of +receiving the Sound that Vancouver, conjointly with Quadra, the Spanish +commander, discovered that the region it intersects is an island, which +for a time bore their joint names, but by general consent has that of +Vancouver only attached to it nowadays. + +This was in the year 1795. Being now indisputably British territory, +Nootka and the coasts north and south of it became more and more +frequented by fur-traders, who found, in spite of the increasing +scarcity of pelts, and the higher prices which keener competition +brought about, an ample profit in buying tolerably cheap on the American +coast and selling very dear to the Chinese, whose love for the sea-otter +continues unabated. Many of these adventurers were Americans--hailing, +for the most part, from Boston. Hence to this day an American is +universally known among the North-Western Indians as a "Boston-man," +while an Englishman is quite as generally termed a "Kintshautsh man" +(King George man), it being during the long reign of George III. that +they first became acquainted with our countrymen. Their barter was +carried on in knives, copper plates, copper kettles, muskets, +brass-hilted swords, soldiers' coats and buttons, pistols, tomahawks, +and blankets, which soon superseded the more costly "Kotsaks" of +sea-otter until then the principal garment, though the women wore, as +they do still at times (or did when I knew the shore), blankets woven +out of pine-tree bark. Rum also seemed to have been freely disposed of, +and no doubt many of the outrages which early began to mark the +intercourse of the brown men and their white visitors were not a little +due to this, and to the customs, ever more free than welcome, in which +it is the habit of the mariner to indulge when he and the savage +forgather. At all events, the natives and their foreign visitors seem to +have come very soon into collision. Indeed, it was seldom that a voyage +was completed without some outrage on one or both sides, followed by +reprisals from the party supposed to have been wronged. Thus part of the +crew of the _Imperial Eagle_, under the command of Captain Barclay,[23] +who discovered and named in his own honour the Sound so called, were +murdered at "Queenhythe,"[24] south of Juan de Fuca Strait, which +Barclay was amongst the first to explore, or rather to rediscover. At a +later date, namely, in 1805, the _Atahualpa_ of Rhode Island was +attacked in Millbank Sound, and her captain, mate, and six seamen were +killed. In 1811 the _Tonquin_, belonging to John Jacob Astor's romantic +fur-trading adventure, which is so well known from Washington Irving's +_Astoria_, was seized by the savages on this coast, and then blown up by +M'Kay, the chief trader, with the entire crew and their assailants. The +scene of the catastrophe has been stated to be Nootka, but other +commentators have fixed upon Barclay Sound, and as late as 1863 an +intelligent trader informed me that some ship's timbers, half buried in +the sand there, were attributed by the Indians to some disastrous event, +which he believed to have been the one in question.[25] I am, however, +now inclined to think that in crediting Nahwitti, at the northern end of +Vancouver Island, with this notable event in the early history of +North-West America,[26] Dr. George Dawson has arrived at the truth. + +To this day--or until very recently--the Indians of the North-West +coast are not accounted very trustworthy, and at the period when I knew +them they were suspected of killing several traders and of looting more +than one small vessel, acts which earned for them frequent visits from +the gunboats at Esquimault, and in several instances the undesirable +distinction of having their villages shelled when they refused to +give up the offenders--generally a difficult operation, since it meant +pretty well the entire village. + +[Illustration: INDIAN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE LANDING-STAGE, ESQUIMAULT.] + +[Sidenote: John Jewitt and the capture of the "Boston" in 1803.] + +But the most famous of all the piracies of the Western Indians is that +of which an account is contained in John Jewitt's Narrative. The +ostensible author of this work was a Hull blacksmith, the armourer of +the _Boston_, an American ship which was seized while lying in Nootka +Sound, and the entire crew massacred, with the exception of Jewitt, who +was spared owing to his skill as a mechanic being valuable to the +Indians, and John Thompson, the sail-maker, who, though left for dead, +recovered, and was saved by the tact of Jewitt in representing him to be +his father. This happened in March 1803, and from that date until the +20th of July 1805, these two men were kept in slavery to the chief +Maquenna or Moqulla, when they were freed by the arrival of the brig +_Lydia_ of Boston, Samuel Hill master. During this servitude, Jewitt, +who seems to have been a man of some education, kept a journal and +acquired the Aht language, though the style in which his book is written +shows that in preparing it for the press he had obtained the assistance +of a more practised writer than himself. Still, his work is a valuable +contribution to ethnology. For, omitting the brief but excellent +accounts by Cook and Meares, it is the earliest, and, with the exception +of Mr. Sproat's lecture, the fullest description of these Indians. It is +indeed the only one treating specially on the Nootka people, with whom +alone he had any minute acquaintance. Some of the habits he pictures are +now obsolete, or greatly modified, but others--it may be said the +greater number--are exactly as he notes them to have been eighty-six +years ago. Besides the internal evidences of its authenticity, the truth +of the adventures described was vouched for at the time by Jewitt's +companion in slavery; and though there is no absolute proof of its +credibility, it may not be uninteresting to state that, thirty years +ago, I conversed with an American sea captain, who, as a boy, distinctly +remembered Jewitt working as a blacksmith in the town of Middleton in +Connecticut. When the book was first published, in the year 1815, +several editions appeared in America, and at least two reprints were +called for in England, so that the Narrative enjoyed considerable +popularity in the first two decades of the century. Writing in 1840, +Robert Green Low, Librarian to the Department of State at Washington, +characterises it as "a simple and unpretending narrative, which will, no +doubt, in after centuries, be read with interest by the enlightened +people of North-West America." Again, in 1845, the same industrious, +though not always impartial, historian remarks that "this little book +has been frequently reprinted, and, though seldom found in libraries, is +much read by boys and seamen in the United States." As copies are now +seldom met with, this is no longer the case, though on our cruise in +1863 it was one of the well-thumbed little library of the traders, one +of whom had inherited it from William Edy Banfield, whose name has +already been mentioned (p. 25). This trader, for many years a well-known +man on the out-of-the-way parts of the coast, furnished a curious link +between Jewitt's time and our own. For an old Indian told him that he +had, as a boy, served in the family of a chief of Nootka, called +Klan-nin-itth, at the time when Jewitt and Thompson were in slavery; and +that he often assisted Jewitt in making spears, arrows, and other +weapons required for hostile expeditions. He said, further, that the +white slave generally accompanied his owner on visits which he paid to +the Ayhuttisaht, Ahousaht, and Klahoquaht chiefs. This old man +especially remembered Jewitt, who was a good-humoured fellow, often +reciting and singing in his own language for the amusement of the +tribesmen. He was described as a tall, well-made youth, with a mirthful +countenance, whose dress latterly consisted of nothing but a mantle of +cedar bark. Mr. Sproat, who obtained his information from the same +quarter that I did, adds that there was a long story of Jewitt's +courting, and finally abducting, the daughter of Waughclagh, the +Ahousaht chief. This incident in his career is not recorded by our +author, who, however, was married to a daughter of Upquesta, an +Ayhuttisaht Indian. + +Apart, however, from Jewitt not caring to enlighten the decent-living +puritans of Connecticut too minutely regarding his youthful escapades, +it is not unlikely that Mr. Banfield's informant mixed up some +half-forgotten legends regarding another white man, who, seventeen years +before Jewitt's captivity, had voluntarily remained among these Nootka +Indians. This was a scapegrace named John M'Kay,[27] an Irishman, who, +after being in the East India Company's Service in some minor medical +capacity, shipped in 1785 on board the _Captain Cook_ as surgeon's mate, +and was left behind in Nootka Sound, in the hope that he would so +ingratiate himself with the natives, as to induce them to refuse furs to +any other traders except those with whom he was connected. This man +seems to have been an ignorant, untruthful braggart, who contradicted +himself in many important particulars. But entire credence may be given +to his statement that in a short time he sank into barbarism, becoming +as filthy as the dirtiest of his savage companions. For when Captain +Hanna saw him in August 1786, the natives had stripped him of his +clothes, and obliged him to adopt their dress and habits. He even +refused to leave, declaring that he had begun to relish dried fish and +whale oil--though, owing to a famine in the Sound, he got little of +either--and was well satisfied to stay for another year. After making +various excursions in the country about Nootka Sound, during which he +came to the conclusion that it was not a part of the American continent, +but a chain of detached islands, he gladly deserted his Indian wife, and +left with Captain Berkeley in 1787. To "preach, fight, and mend a +musket" seems to have been too much for this medical pluralist. His +further history I am unable to trace, though, for the sake of historical +roundness, it would have been interesting to believe that he was the +same M'Kay who twenty-four years later ended his career so terribly by +blowing up the _Tonquin_, with whose son I was well acquainted. + +In all of these transactions the head chief of Nootka, or at least of +the Mooachahts, figures prominently. This was Maquenna or Moqulla +(Jewitt's Maquina), who, with his relative Wikananish, ruled over most +of the tribes from here to Nettinaht Inlet. He was a shifty savage, +endowed with no small mental ability, and, though at times capable of +acts which were almost generous, untrustworthy like most of his race, +and when offended ready for any act of vindictiveness. Wikananish was on +a visit to Maquenna when the _Discovery_ and _Resolution_ entered the +Sound, and among the relics which Maquenna kept for many years were a +brass mortar left by Cook, which in Meares's day was borne before the +chief as a portion of his regalia, and three "pieces of a brassy metal +formed like cricket bats," on which were the remains of the name and +arms of Sir Joseph Banks, and the date 1775--Banks, it may be +remembered, being the scientific companion of Cook. In every subsequent +voyage Maquenna figures, and not a few of the outrages committed on that +coast were due either to him or to his instigation. Some, like his +attempt to seize Hanna's vessel in 1785, are known from extraneous +sources, and others were boasted of by him to Jewitt. The last of his +proceedings of which history has left any record, is the murder of the +crew of the _Boston_ and the enslavement of Thompson and Jewitt, and in +the narrative of the latter we are afforded a final glimpse of this +notorious "King."[28] + +[Sidenote: Changes since Jewitt's time.] + +When I visited Nootka Sound in 1863, fifty-eight years had passed since +the captivity of the author of this book. In the interval many things +had happened. But though the Indians had altered in some respects, they +were perhaps less changed than almost any other savages in America since +the whites came in contact with them. Eighty-five years had passed since +Cook had careened his ships in Resolution Cove, and seventy since +Vancouver entered the Sound on his almost more notable voyage. Yet the +bricks from the blacksmith's forge, fresh and vitrified as if they had +been in contact with the fire only yesterday, were at times dug up from +among the rank herbage. The village in Friendly Cove--a spot which not a +few mariners found to be very unfriendly--differed in no way from the +picture in Cook's _Voyage_; and though some curio-hunting captain had no +doubt long ago carried off the mortar and emblazoned brasses, the +natives still spoke traditionally of Cook and Vancouver, and were ready +to point out the spots where in 1788 Meares built the _North-West +America_ and the white men had cultivated. Memories of Martinez and +Quadra existed in the shape of many legends, of Indians with Iberian +features, and of several old people who by tradition (though some of +them were old enough to have remembered these navigators), could still +repeat the Spanish numerals. And the head chief of the Mooachahts in +Friendly Cove--vastly smaller though his tribe was, and much abridged +his power--was a grandson of Maquenna, called by the same name, and had +many of his worst characteristics. This fact I am likely to remember. +For he had been accused of having murdered, in the previous January, +Captain Stev of the _Trader_, and since that time no whites had ventured +near him. He, however, assured us that the report was simply a scandal +raised by the neighbouring tribes, who had long hated him and his +people, and would like to see them punished by the arrival of a gunboat, +and that in reality the vessel was wrecked, and the white men were +drowned. At the same time, among the voices heard that night at the +council held in Maquenna's great lodge, supported by the huge beams +described by Jewitt, were some in favour of killing his latest visitors, +on the principle that dead men tell no tales. But that the Noes had it, +the present narrative is the best proof. + +So far as their habits were concerned, they were in a condition as +primitive as at almost any period since the whites had visited them. +Many of the old people were covered only with a mantle of woven pine +bark, and beyond a shirt, in most cases made out of a flour sack, a +blanket was the sole garment of the majority of the tribesmen. At times +when they wanted to receive any goods, they simply pulled off the +blanket, wrapped up the articles in it, and went ashore stark naked, +with the exception of a piece of skin round the loins. The women wore +for the most part no other dress except the blanket and a curious apron +made of a fringe of bark strings. All of them painted hideously, the +women adding a streak of vermilion down the middle division of the hair, +and on high occasions the glittering mica sand, spoken of by Jewitt, was +called into requisition. Their customs--and I had plenty of +opportunities to study them in the course of the years which +followed--were in no way different from what they were in Cook's time. +No missionary seemed ever to have visited them, and their religious +observances were accordingly still the most unadulterated of paganism. +Jewitt's narrative is, however, as might have been expected, very vague +on such matters; and, curiously enough, he makes no mention of their +characteristic trait of compressing the foreheads of the children, the +tribes in Koskeemo Sound squeezing it, while the bones are still +cartilaginous, in a conical shape--though the brain is not thereby +permanently injured: it is simply displaced. + +Since that day, the tribesmen of the west coast of Vancouver Island have +grown fewer and fewer. Some of the smaller septs have indeed become +extinct, and others must be fast on the wane. They have, however, eaten +of the tree of knowledge, and the gunboats have now little occasion to +visit them for punitive purposes. Missionaries have even attempted to +teach them better manners. The Alberni saw-mills have long been +deserted, though other settlers have taken possession of the ground, and +several have squatted in Koskeemo Sound, in the hope that the coal-seams +there might induce the Pacific steamers to make that remote region their +headquarters. Finally, an effort is being made to induce fishermen from +the West of Scotland to settle on that coast. There is plenty of work +for them, and the Indians nowadays are very little to be feared. Indeed, +so far from the successors of Moqulla and Wikananish menacing Donald and +Sandy, they will be ready to help them for a consideration; though a +great deal of tact and forbearance will be necessary before people so +conservative as the hot-tempered Celts work smoothly with a race quite +as fiery and quite as wedded to old ways, as the Ahts among whom John +Jewitt passed the early years of this century. + + R. B. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Rubus Nutkanus._ + +[2] _Rubus spectabilis._ + +[3] _Gaultheria Shallon._ + +[4] _Vaccinium ovatum._ + +[5] _Pyrus rivularis._ + +[6] _Ribes sanguineum_, now a common shrub in our ornamental grounds. + +[7] _Echinopanax horridum._ + +[8] _Thuja gigantea_, a tree which to the Indian is what the bamboo is +to the Chinese. + +[9] _Acer macrophyllum._ + +[10] _Cornus Nuttallii._ + +[11] _Arbutus Menziesii._ + +[12] _Selasphorus rufus._ It is one of one hundred and fifty-three birds +which I catalogued from Vancouver Island (_Ibis_, Nov. 1868). + +[13] _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_ (1868), by the Hon. G. M. +Sproat, late Commissioner of Indian Affairs for British Columbia. + +[14] "Pachena" of the Indians. + +[15] Or, as they call themselves in their dialect of the Aht, +"Dittinahts." Nettinaht is a white man's corruption. + +[16] A few years earlier they were estimated at a thousand. + +[17] "Klootis" of the Indians. + +[18] Known to them as "Etlo." + +[19] They were not permitted this privilege until the whites came to +Alberni in August 1860. + +[20] Though the orthography of these names is often incorrect, and not +even phonetically accurate, I have, in order to avoid the mischief of a +confusion of nomenclature, kept to that of the Admiralty Chart. + +[21] This was the Banfield who acted as Indian agent in Barclay Sound. +He was drowned by Kleetsak, a slave of Kleesheens, capsizing the canoe +in which he was sailing, in revenge for a slight passed upon the chief. +I went ashore at the Ohyaht village in the same canoe, and was asked +whether I was not afraid, "for Banipe was killed in it." There was also +a story that the capsize was an accident. + +[22] It may be proper to state in this place that the interior details +of that chart are, with very few exceptions, from my explorations. But +the map on which they were laid down by me has been so often copied by +societies, governments, and private individuals without permission (and +without acknowledgment), that the author of it has long ceased to claim +a property so generally pillaged. The original, however, appeared, with +a memoir on the interior--"Das Innere der Vancouver Insel"--which has +not yet been translated, in Petermann's _Geographische Mittheilungen_, +1869. + +[23] Or Berkeley--for the name is spelt both ways. + +[24] Destruction Island, in lat. 47° 35'. This was almost the same spot +as that in which the Spaniards of Bodega's crew were massacred in 1775, +and for this reason they named it Isla de Dolores--the "Island of +Sorrows." It is in what is now the State of Washington, U.S.A. + +[25] Green Low will even blame Wikananish, who figures in Jewitt's +narrative, as the instigator of the outrage. + +[26] The Nahwitti Indians. Tlā-tlī-sī--Kwela and +Nekum-ke-līsla septs of the Kwakiool people. They now inhabit a +village named Meloopa, on the south-east side of Hope Island. But their +original hamlet was situated on a small rocky peninsula on the east side +of Cape Commerell, which forms the north point of Vancouver Island. Here +remains of old houses are still to be seen, at a place known to the +Indians as Nahwitti. It was close to this place that the _Tonquin_ was +blown up.--_Science_, vol. ix. p. 341. + +[27] "Maccay" (Meares); "M'Key" (Dixon). + +[28] There is a portrait of him, apparently authentic, in Meares's +_Voyages_, vol. ii. (1791). That in the original edition of Jewitt's +Narrative, like the plate of the capture of the _Boston_, appears to +have been drawn from description, though there is a certain resemblance +in it to Meares's sketch made fourteen or fifteen years earlier. But the +scenery, the canoes, the people, and, above all, the palm trees in +Nootka Sound, are purely imaginary. + + + + +JOHN JEWITT'S NARRATIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE OF THE AUTHOR + + +I was born in Boston, a considerable borough town in Lincolnshire, in +Great Britain, on the 21st of May, 1783. My father, Edward Jewitt, was +by trade a blacksmith, and esteemed among the first in his line of +business in that place. At the age of three years I had the misfortune +to lose my mother, a most excellent woman, who died in childbed, leaving +an infant daughter, who, with myself, and an elder brother by a former +marriage of my father, constituted the whole of our family. My father, +who considered a good education as the greatest blessing he could bestow +on his children, was very particular in paying every attention to us in +that respect, always exhorting us to behave well, and endeavouring to +impress on our minds the principles of virtue and morality, and no +expense in his power was spared to have us instructed in whatever might +render us useful and respectable in society. My brother, who was four +years older than myself and of a more hardy constitution, he destined +for his own trade, but to me he had resolved to give an education +superior to that which is to be obtained in a common school, it being +his intention that I should adopt one of the learned professions. +Accordingly, at the age of twelve he took me from the school in which I +had been taught the first rudiments of learning, and placed me under the +care of Mr. Moses, a celebrated teacher of an academy at Donnington, +about eleven miles from Boston, in order to be instructed in the Latin +language, and in some of the higher branches of the mathematics. I there +made considerable proficiency in writing, reading, and arithmetic, and +obtained a pretty good knowledge of navigation and of surveying; but my +progress in Latin was slow, not only owing to the little inclination I +felt for learning that language, but to a natural impediment in my +speech, which rendered it extremely difficult for me to pronounce it, so +that in a short time, with my father's consent, I wholly relinquished +the study. + +The period of my stay at this place was the most happy of my life. My +preceptor, Mr. Moses, was not only a learned, but a virtuous, +benevolent, and amiable man, universally beloved by his pupils, who took +delight in his instruction, and to whom he allowed every proper +amusement that consisted with attention to their studies. + +One of the principal pleasures I enjoyed was in attending the fair, +which is regularly held twice a year at Donnington, in the spring and in +the fall,[29] the second day being wholly devoted to selling horses, a +prodigious number of which are brought thither for that purpose. As the +scholars on these occasions were always indulged with a holiday, I +cannot express with what eagerness of youthful expectation I used to +anticipate these fairs, nor what delight I felt at the various shows, +exhibitions of wild beasts, and other entertainments that they +presented; I was frequently visited by my father, who always discovered +much joy on seeing me, praised me for my acquirements, and usually left +me a small sum for my pocket expenses. + +Among the scholars at this academy, there was one named Charles Rice, +with whom I formed a particular intimacy, which continued during the +whole of my stay. He was my class and room mate, and as the town he came +from, Ashby, was more than sixty miles off, instead of returning home, +he used frequently during the vacation to go with me to Boston, where he +always met with a cordial welcome from my father, who received me on +these occasions with the greatest affection, apparently taking much +pride in me. My friend in return used to take me with him to an uncle of +his in Donnington, a very wealthy man, who, having no children of his +own, was very fond of his nephew, and on his account I was always a +welcome visitor at the house. I had a good voice, and an ear for music, +to which I was always passionately attached, though my father +endeavoured to discourage this propensity, considering it (as is too +frequently the case) but an introduction to a life of idleness and +dissipation; and, having been remarked for my singing at church, which +was regularly attended on Sundays and festival days by the scholars, Mr. +Morthrop, my friend Rice's uncle, used frequently to request me to sing; +he was always pleased with my exhibitions of this kind, and it was no +doubt one of the means that secured me so gracious a reception at his +house. A number of other gentlemen in the place would sometimes send for +me to sing at their houses, and as I was not a little vain of my vocal +powers, I was much gratified on receiving these invitations, and +accepted them with the greatest pleasure. + +Thus passed away the two happiest years of my life, when my father, +thinking that I had received a sufficient education for the profession +he intended me for, took me from school at Donnington in order to +apprentice me to Doctor Mason, a surgeon of eminence at Reasby, in the +neighbourhood of the celebrated Sir Joseph Banks.[30] With regret did I +part from my school acquaintance, particularly my friend Rice, and +returned home with my father, on a short visit to my family, preparatory +to my intended apprenticeship. The disinclination I ever had felt for +the profession my father wished me to pursue, was still further +increased on my return. When a child I was always fond of being in the +shop, among the workmen, endeavouring to imitate what I saw them do; +this disposition so far increased after my leaving the academy, that I +could not bear to hear the least mention made of my being apprenticed to +a surgeon, and I used so many entreaties with my father to persuade him +to give up this plan and learn me his own trade, that he at last +consented. + +More fortunate would it probably have been for me, had I gratified the +wishes of this affectionate parent, in adopting the profession he had +chosen for me, than thus to have induced him to sacrifice them to mine. +However it might have been, I was at length introduced into the shop, +and my natural turn of mind corresponding with the employment, I became +in a short time uncommonly expert at the work to which I was set. I now +felt myself well contented, pleased with my occupation, and treated with +much affection by my father, and kindness by my step-mother, my father +having once more entered the state of matrimony, with a widow much +younger than himself, who had been brought up in a superior manner, and +was an amiable and sensible woman. + +About a year after I had commenced this apprenticeship, my father, +finding that he could carry on his business to more advantage in Hull, +removed thither with his family. An event of no little importance to me, +as it in a great measure influenced my future destiny. Hull being one of +the best ports in England, and a place of great trade, my father had +there full employment for his numerous workmen, particularly in vessel +work. This naturally leading me to an acquaintance with the sailors on +board some of the ships: the many remarkable stories they told me of +their voyages and adventures, and of the manners and customs of the +nations they had seen, excited a strong wish in me to visit foreign +countries, which was increased by my reading the voyages of Captain +Cook, and some other celebrated navigators. + +Thus passed the four years that I lived at Hull, where my father was +esteemed by all who knew him, as a worthy, industrious, and thriving +man. At this period a circumstance occurred which afforded me the +opportunity I had for some time wished, of gratifying my inclination of +going abroad. + + * * * * * + +Among our principal customers at Hull were the Americans who frequented +that port, and from whose conversation my father as well as myself +formed the most favourable opinion of that country, as affording an +excellent field for the exertions of industry, and a flattering prospect +for the establishment of a young man in life. In the summer of the year +1802, during the peace between England and France, the ship _Boston_, +belonging to Boston, in Massachusetts, and commanded by Captain John +Salter, arrived at Hull, whither she came to take on board a cargo of +such goods as were wanted for the trade with the Indians, on the +North-West coast of America, from whence, after having taken in a lading +of furs and skins, she was to proceed to China, and from thence home to +America. The ship having occasion for many repairs and alterations, +necessary for so long a voyage, the captain applied to my father to do +the smith's work, which was very considerable. That gentleman, who was +of a social turn, used often to call at my father's house, where he +passed many of his evenings, with his chief and second mates, Mr. B. +Delouisa and Mr. William Ingraham,[31] the latter a fine young man of +about twenty, of a most amiable temper, and of such affable manners, as +gained him the love and attachment of the whole crew. These gentlemen +used occasionally to take me with them to the theatre, an amusement +which I was very fond of, and which my father rather encouraged than +objected to, as he thought it a good means of preventing young men, who +are naturally inclined to seek for something to amuse them, from +frequenting taverns, ale-houses, and places of bad resort, equally +destructive of the health and morals, while the stage frequently +furnishes excellent lessons of morality and good conduct. + +In the evenings that he passed at my father's, Captain Salter, who had +for a great number of years been at sea, and seen almost all parts of +the world, used sometimes to speak of his voyages, and, observing me +listen with much attention to his relations, he one day, when I had +brought him some work, said to me in rather a jocose manner, "John, how +should you like to go with me?" I answered, that it would give me great +pleasure, that I had for a long time wished to visit foreign countries, +particularly America, which I had been told so many fine stories of, and +that if my father would give his consent, and he was willing to take me +with him, I would go. + +"I shall be very glad to do it," said he, "if your father can be +prevailed on to let you go; and as I want an expert smith for an +armourer, the one I have shipped for that purpose not being sufficiently +master of his trade, I have no doubt that you will answer my turn well, +as I perceive you are both active and ingenious, and on my return to +America I shall probably be able to do something much better for you in +Boston. I will take the first opportunity of speaking to your father +about it, and try to persuade him to consent." He accordingly, the next +evening that he called at our house, introduced the subject: my father +at first would not listen to the proposal. That best of parents, though +anxious for my advantageous establishment in life, could not bear to +think of parting with me, but on Captain Salter's telling him of what +benefit it would be to me to go the voyage with him, and that it was a +pity to keep a promising and ingenious young fellow like myself confined +to a small shop in England, when if I had tolerable success I might do +so much better in America, where wages were much higher and living +cheaper, he at length gave up his objections, and consented that I +should ship on board the _Boston_ as an armourer, at the rate of thirty +dollars per month, with an agreement that the amount due to me, together +with a certain sum of money, which my father gave Captain Salter for +that purpose, should be laid out by him on the North-West coast in the +purchase of furs for my account, to be disposed of in China for such +goods as would yield a profit on the return of the ship; my father being +solicitous to give me every advantage in his power of well establishing +myself in my trade in Boston, or some other maritime town of America. +Such were the flattering expectations which this good man indulged +respecting me. Alas! the fatal disaster that befell us, not only blasted +all these hopes, but involved me in extreme distress and wretchedness +for a long period after. + +The ship, having undergone a thorough repair and been well coppered, +proceeded to take on board her cargo, which consisted of English cloths, +Dutch blankets, looking-glasses, beads, knives, razors, etc., which +were received from Holland, some sugar and molasses, about twenty +hogsheads of rum, including stores for the ship, a great quantity of +ammunition, cutlasses, pistols, and three thousand muskets and +fowling-pieces. The ship being loaded and ready for sea, as I was +preparing for my departure, my father came to me, and, taking me aside, +said to me with much emotion, "John, I am now going to part with you, +and Heaven only knows if we shall ever again meet. But in whatever part +of the world you are, always bear it in mind, that on your own conduct +will depend your success in life. Be honest, industrious, frugal, and +temperate, and you will not fail, in whatsoever country it may be your +lot to be placed, to gain yourself friends. Let the Bible be your guide, +and your reliance in any fortune that may befall you, that Almighty +Being, who knows how to bring forth good from evil, and who never +deserts those who put their trust in Him." He repeated his exhortations +to me to lead an honest and Christian life, and to recollect that I had +a father, a mother, a brother, and sister, who could not but feel a +strong interest in my welfare, enjoining me to write him by the first +opportunity that should offer to England, from whatever part of the +world I might be in, more particularly on my arrival in Boston. This I +promised to do, but long unhappily was it before I was able to fulfil +this promise. I then took an affectionate leave of my worthy parent, +whose feelings would hardly permit him to speak, and, bidding an +affectionate farewell to my brother, sister, and step-mother, who +expressed the greatest solicitude for my future fortune, went on board +the ship, which proceeded to the Downs, to be ready for the first +favourable wind. I found myself well accommodated on board as regarded +my work, an iron forge having been erected on deck; this my father had +made for the ship on a new plan, for which he afterwards obtained a +patent; while a corner of the steerage was appropriated to my +vice-bench, so that in bad weather I could work below. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[29] These fairs are still held, though the dates are now May 26th, +September 4th, and October 27th. + +[30] The companion of Cook, and for many years President of the Royal +Society. + +[31] This William Ingraham must not be confounded with Joseph Ingraham, +who also visited Nootka Sound, and played a considerable part in the +exploration of the North-West American coast. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +VOYAGE TO NOOTKA SOUND + + +On the third day of September, 1802, we sailed from the Downs with a +fair wind, in company with twenty-four sail of American vessels, most of +which were bound home. + +I was sea-sick for a few of the first days, but it was of short +continuance, and on my recovery I found myself in uncommonly fine health +and spirits, and went to work with alacrity at my forge, in putting in +order some of the muskets, and making daggers, knives, and small +hatchets for the Indian trade, while in wet and stormy weather I was +occupied below in filing and polishing them. This was my employment, +having but little to do with sailing the vessel, though I used +occasionally to lend a hand in assisting the seamen in taking in and +making sail. + +As I had never before been out of sight of land, I cannot describe my +sensations, after I had recovered from the distressing effects of +sea-sickness, on viewing the mighty ocean by which I was surrounded, +bound only by the sky, while its waves, rising in mountains, seemed +every moment to threaten our ruin. Manifest as is the hand of Providence +in preserving its creatures from destruction, in no instance is it more +so than on the great deep; for whether we consider in its tumultuary +motions the watery deluge that each moment menaces to overwhelm us, the +immense violence of its shocks, the little that interposes between us +and death, a single plank forming our only security, which, should it +unfortunately be loosened, would plunge us at once into the abyss, our +gratitude ought strongly to be excited towards that superintending Deity +who in so wonderful a manner sustains our lives amid the waves. + +We had a pleasant and favourable passage of twenty-nine days to the +Island of St. Catherine,[32] on the coast of Brazils, where the captain +had determined to stop for a few days to wood and water. This place +belongs to the Portuguese. On entering the harbour, we were saluted by +the fort, which we returned. The next day the governor of the island +came on board of us with his suite; Captain Salter received him with +much respect, and invited him to dine with him, which he accepted. The +ship remained at St. Catherine's four days, during which time we were +busily employed in taking in wood, water, and fresh provisions, Captain +Salter thinking it best to furnish himself here with a full supply for +his voyage to the North-West coast, so as not to be obliged to stop at +the Sandwich Islands. St. Catherine's is a very commodious place for +vessels to stop at that are bound round Cape Horn, as it abounds with +springs of fine water, with excellent oranges, plantains, and bananas. + +Having completed our stores, we put to sea, and on the twenty-fifth of +December, at length passed Cape Horn, which we had made no less than +thirty-six days before, but were repeatedly forced back by contrary +winds, experiencing very rough and tempestuous weather in doubling it. + +Immediately after passing Cape Horn, all our dangers and difficulties +seemed to be at an end; the weather became fine, and so little labour +was necessary on board the ship, that the men soon recovered from their +fatigue and were in excellent spirits. A few days after we fell in with +an English South Sea whaling ship homeward bound,[33] which was the only +vessel we spoke with on our voyage. We now took the trade wind or +monsoon, during which we enjoyed the finest weather possible, so that +for the space of a fortnight we were not obliged to reeve a topsail or +to make a tack, and so light was the duty and easy the life of the +sailors during this time, that they appeared the happiest of any people +in the world. + +Captain Salter, who had been for many years in the East India trade, was +a most excellent seaman, and preserved the strictest order and +discipline on board his ship, though he was a man of mild temper and +conciliating manners, and disposed to allow every indulgence to his men, +not inconsistent with their duty. We had on board a fine band of music, +with which on Saturday nights, when the weather was pleasant, we were +accustomed to be regaled, the captain ordering them to play for several +hours for the amusement of the crew. This to me was most delightful, +especially during the serene evenings we experienced in traversing the +Southern Ocean. As for myself, during the day I was constantly occupied +at my forge, in refitting or repairing some of the ironwork of the +vessel, but principally in making tomahawks, daggers, etc., for the +North-West coast. + +During the first part of our voyage we saw scarcely any fish, excepting +some whales, a few sharks, and flying fish; but after weathering Cape +Horn we met with numerous shoals of sea porpoises, several of whom we +caught, and as we had been for some time without fresh provisions, I +found it not only a palatable, but really a very excellent food. To one +who has never before seen them, a shoal of these fish[34] presents a +very striking and singular appearance; beheld at a distance coming +towards a vessel, they look not unlike a great number of small black +waves rolling over one another in a confused manner, and approaching +with great swiftness. As soon as a shoal is seen, all is bustle and +activity on board the ship, the grains and the harpoons are immediately +got ready, and those who are best skilled in throwing them take their +stand at the bow and along the gunwale, anxiously awaiting the welcome +troop as they come, gambolling and blowing around the vessel, in search +of food. When pierced with the harpoon and drawn on board, unless the +fish is instantly killed by the stroke, which rarely happens, it utters +most pitiful cries, greatly resembling those of an infant. The flesh, +cut into steaks and broiled, is not unlike very coarse beef, and the +harslet in appearance and taste is so much like that of a hog, that it +would be no easy matter to distinguish the one from the other; from this +circumstance the sailors have given the name of the herring hog[35] to +this fish. I was told by some of the crew, that if one of them happens +to free itself from the grains or harpoons, when struck, all the others, +attracted by the blood, immediately quit the ship and give chase to the +wounded one, and as soon as they overtake it, immediately tear it in +pieces. We also caught a large shark, which had followed the ship for +several days, with a hook which I made for the purpose, and although the +flesh was by no means equal to that of the herring hog, yet to those +destitute as we were of anything fresh, I found it eat very well. After +passing the Cape, when the sea had become calm, we saw great numbers of +albatrosses, a large brown and white bird of the goose kind, one of +which Captain Salter shot, whose wings measured from their extremities +fifteen feet. One thing, however, I must not omit mentioning, as it +struck me in a most singular and extraordinary manner. This was, that on +passing Cape Horn in December, which was midsummer in that climate, the +nights were so light, without any moon, that we found no difficulty +whatever in reading small print, which we frequently did during our +watches. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[32] Santa Catharina. + +[33] This is now, so far as Great Britain is concerned, a reminiscence +of a vanished trade: the South Sea whaling is extinct. + +[34] The zoological reader does not require to be told that the +porpoise, a very general term applied by sailors to many small species +of cetaceans, is not a "fish." + +[35] _Porc poisson_ of the French, of which porpoise is simply a +corruption. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES--MAQUINA--SEIZURE OF THE VESSEL AND MURDER +OF THE CREW + + +In this manner, with a fair wind and easy weather from the 28th of +December, the period of our passing Cape Horn, we pursued our voyage to +the northward until the 12th of March, 1803, when we made Woody Point in +Nootka Sound, on the North-West coast of America. We immediately stood +up the Sound for Nootka, where[36] Captain Salter had determined to +stop, in order to supply the ship with wood and water before proceeding +up the coast to trade. But in order to avoid the risk of any molestation +or interruption to his men from the Indians while thus employed, he +proceeded with the ship about five miles to the northward of the +village, which is situated on Friendly Cove, and sent out his chief mate +with several of the crew in the boat to find a good place for anchoring +her. After sounding for some time, they returned with information that +they had discovered a secure place for anchorage, on the western side of +an inlet or small bay, at about half a mile from the coast, near a small +island which protected it from the sea, and where there was plenty of +wood and excellent water. The ship accordingly came to anchor in this +place, at twelve o'clock at night, in twelve fathom water, muddy bottom, +and so near the shore that to prevent the ship from winding we secured +her by a hawser to the trees. + +On the morning of the next day, the 13th, several of the natives came on +board in a canoe from the village of Nootka, with their king, called +Maquina, who appeared much pleased on seeing us, and with great seeming +cordiality welcomed Captain Salter and his officers to his country. As I +had never before beheld a savage of any nation, it may readily be +supposed that the novelty of their appearance, so different from any +people that I had hitherto seen, excited in me strong feelings of +surprise and curiosity. I was, however, particularly struck with the +looks of their king, who was a man of a dignified aspect, about six feet +in height and extremely straight and well proportioned; his features +were in general good, and his face was rendered remarkable by a large +Roman nose, a very uncommon form of feature among these people; his +complexion was of a dark copper hue, though his face, legs, and arms +were, on this occasion, so covered with red paint, that their natural +colour could scarcely be perceived; his eyebrows were painted black in +two broad stripes like a new moon, and his long black hair, which shone +with oil, was fastened in a bunch on the top of his head and strewed or +powdered all over with white down, which gave him a most curious and +extraordinary appearance. He was dressed in a large mantle or cloak of +the black sea-otter skin, which reached to his knees, and was fastened +around his middle by a broad belt of the cloth of the country, wrought +or painted with figures of several colours; this dress was by no means +unbecoming, but, on the contrary, had an air of savage magnificence. His +men were habited in mantles of the same cloth, which is made from the +bark of a tree,[37] and has some resemblance to straw matting; these are +nearly square, and have two holes in the upper part large enough to +admit the arms; they reach as low as the knees, and are fastened round +their bodies with a belt about four inches broad of the same cloth. + +From his having frequently visited the English and American ships that +traded to the coast, Maquina had learned the signification of a number +of English words, and in general could make himself pretty well +understood by us in our own language. He was always the first to go on +board such ships as came to Nootka, which he was much pleased in +visiting, even when he had no trade to offer, as he always received some +small present, and was in general extremely well treated by the +commanders. He remained on board of us for some time, during which the +captain took him into the cabin and treated him with a glass of +rum--these people being very fond of distilled spirits--and some biscuit +and molasses, which they prefer to any kind of food that we can offer +them.[38] + +As there are seldom many furs to be purchased at this place, and it was +not fully the season, Captain Salter had put in here not so much with an +expectation of trading, as to procure an ample stock of wood and water +for the supply of the ship on the coast, thinking it more prudent to +take it on board at Nootka, from the generally friendly disposition of +the people, than to endanger the safety of his men in sending them on +shore for that purpose among the more ferocious natives of the north. + +With this view, we immediately set about getting our water-casks in +readiness, and the next and two succeeding days, part of the crew were +sent on shore to cut pine timber, and assist the carpenter in making it +into yards and spars for the ship, while those on board were employed in +refitting the rigging, repairing the sails, etc., when we proceeded to +take in our wood and water as expeditiously as possible, during which +time I kept myself busily employed in repairing the muskets, making +knives, tomaxes,[39] etc., and doing such ironwork as was wanted for the +ship. + +Meantime more or less of the natives came on board of us daily, bringing +with them fresh salmon, with which they supplied us in great plenty, +receiving in return some trifling articles. Captain Salter was always +very particular, before admitting these people on board, to see that +they had no arms about them, by obliging them indiscriminately to throw +off their garments, so that he felt perfectly secure from any attack. + +On the 15th the king came on board with several of his chiefs; he was +dressed as before in his magnificent otter-skin robe, having his face +highly painted, and his hair tossed with the white down, which looked +like snow. His chiefs were dressed in mantles of the country cloth of +its natural colour, which is a pale yellow; these were ornamented with a +broad border, painted or wrought in figures of several colours, +representing men's heads, various animals, etc., and secured around them +by a belt like that of the king, from which it was distinguished only by +being narrower: the dress of the common people is of the same fashion, +and differs from that of the chiefs in being of a coarser texture, and +painted red, of one uniform colour. + +Captain Salter invited Maquina and his chiefs to dine with him, and it +was curious to see how these people (when they eat) seat themselves (in +their country fashion, upon our chairs) with their feet under them +crossed like Turks. They cannot endure the taste of salt, and the only +thing they would eat with us was the ship bread, which they were very +fond of, especially when dipped in molasses; they had also a great +liking for tea and coffee when well sweetened. As iron weapons and tools +of almost every kind are in much request among them, whenever they came +on board they were always very attentive to me, crowding around me at +the forge, as if to see in what manner I did my work, and in this way +became quite familiar, a circumstance, as will be seen in the end, of +great importance to me. The salmon which they brought us furnished a +most delicious treat to men who for a long time had lived wholly on +salt provisions, excepting such few sea fish as we had the good fortune +occasionally to take. We indeed feasted most luxuriously, and flattered +ourselves that we should not want while on the coast for plenty of fresh +provisions, little imagining the fate that awaited us, and that this +dainty food was to prove the unfortunate lure to our destruction! + +On the 19th the king came again on board, and was invited by the captain +to dine with him. He had much conversation with Captain Salter, and +informed him that there were plenty of wild ducks and geese near +Friendly Cove, on which the captain made him a present of a +double-barrelled fowling-piece, with which he appeared to be greatly +pleased, and soon after went on shore. + +On the 20th we were nearly ready for our departure, having taken in what +wood and water we were in want of. + +The next day Maquina came on board with nine pair of wild ducks, as a +present; at the same time he brought with him the gun, one of the locks +of which he had broken, telling the captain that it was _peshak_,[40] +that is, bad. Captain Salter was very much offended at this observation, +and, considering it as a mark of contempt for his present, he called the +king a liar, adding other opprobrious terms, and, taking the gun from +him, tossed it indignantly into the cabin, and, calling me to him, said, +"John, this fellow has broken this beautiful fowling-piece, see if you +can mend it." On examining it, I told him that it could be done. As I +have already observed, Maquina knew a number of English words, and +unfortunately understood but too well the meaning of the reproachful +terms that the captain addressed to him. He said not a word in reply, +but his countenance sufficiently expressed the rage he felt, though he +exerted himself to suppress it, and I observed him, while the captain +was speaking, repeatedly put his hand to his throat, and rub it upon his +bosom, which he afterwards told me was to keep down his heart, which was +rising into his throat and choking him. He soon after went on shore with +his men, evidently much discomposed. + +On the morning of the 22nd the natives came off to us as usual with +salmon, and remained on board; when about noon Maquina came alongside, +with a considerable number of his chiefs and men in their canoes, who, +after going through the customary examination, were admitted into the +ship. He had a whistle in his hand, and over his face a very ugly mask +of wood, representing the head of some wild beast, appeared to be +remarkably good-humoured and gay, and whilst his people sang and capered +about the deck, entertaining us with a variety of antic trick and +gestures, he blew his whistle to a kind of tune which seemed to regulate +their motions. As Captain Salter was walking on the quarter-deck, +amusing himself with their dancing, the king came up to him and inquired +when he intended to go to sea? He answered, "To-morrow." Maquina then +said, "You love salmon--much in Friendly Cove, why not go there and +catch some?" The captain thought that it would be very desirable to have +a good supply of these fish for the voyage, and, on consulting with Mr. +Delouisa, it was agreed to send part of the crew on shore after dinner +with the seine, in order to procure a quantity. Maquina and his chiefs +stayed and dined on board, and after dinner the chief mate went off with +nine men in the jolly-boat and yawl, to fish at Friendly Cove, having +set the steward on shore at our watering place, to wash the captain's +clothes. + +Shortly after the departure of the boats, I went down to my vice-bench +in the steerage, where I was employed in cleaning muskets. I had not +been there more than an hour, when I heard the men hoisting in the +longboat, which, in a few minutes after, was succeeded by a great bustle +and confusion on deck. I immediately ran up the steerage stairs, but +scarcely was my head above deck, when I was caught by the hair by one of +the savages, and lifted from my feet; fortunately for me, my hair being +short, and the ribbon with which it was tied slipping, I fell from his +hold into the steerage. As I was falling he struck at me with an axe, +which cut a deep gash in my forehead, and penetrated the skull, but in +consequence of his losing his hold I luckily escaped the full force of +the blow, which otherwise would have cleft my head in two. I fell, +stunned and senseless, upon the floor; how long I continued in this +situation I know not, but on recovering my senses, the first thing that +I did was to try to get up, but so weak was I, from the loss of blood, +that I fainted and fell. I was, however, soon recalled to my +recollection by three loud shouts or yells from the savages, which +convinced me that they had got possession of the ship. It is impossible +for me to describe my feelings at this terrific sound. Some faint idea +may be formed of them by those who have known what it is to half waken +from a hideous dream and still think it real. Never, no, never shall I +lose from my mind the impression of that dreadful moment. I expected +every instant to share the wretched fate of my unfortunate companions, +and when I heard the song of triumph, by which these infernal yells was +succeeded, my blood ran cold in my veins. + +Having at length sufficiently recovered my senses to look around me, +after wiping the blood from my eyes, I saw that the hatch of the +steerage was shut. This was done, as I afterwards discovered, by order +of Maquina, who, on seeing the savage strike at me with the axe, told +him not to hurt me, for that I was the armourer, and would be useful to +them in repairing their arms; while at the same time, to prevent any of +his men from injuring me, he had the hatch closed. But to me this +circumstance wore a very different appearance, for I thought that these +barbarians had only prolonged my life in order to deprive me of it by +the most cruel tortures. + +I remained in this horrid state of suspense for a very long time, when +at length the hatch was opened, and Maquina, calling me by name, ordered +me to come up. I groped my way up as well as I was able, being almost +blinded with the blood that flowed from my wound, and so weak as with +difficulty to walk. The king, on perceiving my situation, ordered one of +his men to bring a pot of water to wash the blood from my face, which +having done, I was able to see distinctly with one of my eyes, but the +other was so swollen from my wound, that it was closed. But what a +terrific spectacle met my eyes: six naked savages, standing in a circle +around me, covered with the blood of my murdered comrades, with their +daggers uplifted in their hands, prepared to strike. I now thought my +last moment had come, and recommended my soul to my Maker. + +The king, who, as I have already observed, knew enough of English to +make himself understood, entered the circle, and, placing himself before +me, addressed me nearly in the following words: "John--I speak--you no +say no; You say no--daggers come!" He then asked me if I would be his +slave during my life--if I would fight for him in his battles, if I +would repair his muskets and make daggers and knives for him--with +several other questions, to all of which I was careful to answer, yes. +He then told me that he would spare my life, and ordered me to kiss his +hands and feet to show my submission to him, which I did. In the +meantime his people were very clamorous to have me put to death, so that +there should be none of us left to tell our story to our countrymen, and +prevent them from coming to trade with them; but the king in the most +determined manner opposed their wishes, and to his favour am I wholly +indebted for my being yet among the living. + +As I was busy at work at the time of the attack, I was without my coat, +and what with the coldness of the weather, my feebleness from loss of +blood, the pain of my wound, and the extreme agitation and terror that I +still felt, I shook like a leaf, which the king observing, went into the +cabin, and, bringing up a greatcoat that belonged to the captain, threw +it over my shoulders, telling me to drink some rum from a bottle which +he handed me, at the same time giving me to understand that it would be +good for me, and keep me from trembling bling as I did. I took a +draught of it, after which, taking me by the hand, he led me to the +quarter-deck, where the most horrid sight presented itself that ever my +eyes witnessed. The heads of our unfortunate captain and his crew, to +the number of twenty-five, were all arranged in a line,[41] and Maquina, +ordering one of his people to bring a head, asked me whose it was: I +answered, the captain's. In like manner the others were showed me, and I +told him the names, excepting a few that were so horribly mangled that I +was not able to recognise them. + +I now discovered that all our unfortunate crew had been massacred, and +learned that, after getting possession of the ship, the savages had +broke open the arm-chest and magazine, and, supplying themselves with +ammunition and arms, sent a party on shore to attack our men, who had +gone thither to fish, and, being joined by numbers from the village, +without difficulty overpowered and murdered them, and, cutting off their +heads, brought them on board, after throwing their bodies into the sea. +On looking upon the deck, I saw it entirely covered with the blood of my +poor comrades, whose throats had been cut with their own jack-knives, +the savages having seized the opportunity, while they were busy in +hoisting in the boat, to grapple with them, and overpower them by their +numbers; in the scuffle the captain was thrown overboard, and despatched +by those in the canoes, who immediately cut off his head. What I felt on +this occasion, may be more readily conceived than expressed. + +After I had answered his questions, Maquina took my silk handkerchief +from my neck and bound it around my head, placing over the wound a leaf +of tobacco, of which we had a quantity on board. This was done at my +desire, as I had often found, from personal experience, the benefit of +this application to cuts. + +Maquina then ordered me to get the ship under weigh for Friendly Cove. +This I did by cutting the cables, and sending some of the natives aloft +to loose the sails, which they performed in a very bungling manner. But +they succeeded so far in loosing the jib and top-sails, that, with the +advantage of fair wind, I succeeded in getting the ship into the Cove, +where, by order of the king, I ran her ashore on a sandy beach, at eight +o'clock at night. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[36] By "Nootka," Friendly Cove, or "Yucuaht," is meant; there is no +special place of that name; the word, indeed, is unknown to the natives. +Woody Point, or Cape Cook, is in lat. 50° 6' 31" N. + +[37] The white pine (_Pinus monticola_). This is employed for making +blankets trimmed with sea-otter fur, but the mats used in their canoes +are made of cedar bark (_Thuja gigantea_). + +[38] This is still true. Many years ago, when there was a threat of +Indian trouble at Victoria, Sir James Douglas, famous as the first +governor of British Columbia, and still more celebrated as a factor of +the Hudson Bay Company, immediately allayed the rising storm by ordering +a keg of treacle and a box of biscuit to be opened. Instantly the knives +and muskets were tossed aside, and the irate savages fell to these +homely dainties with the best of goodwill to all concerned. "Dear me! +dear me! there is nothing like a little molasses," was the sage +governor's remark. At the Alberni saw-mills, on the West coast, the +invariable midday meal of the Indians loading lumber was coarse ship's +biscuit dipped in a tin basin of the cheapest treacle, around which the +mollified tribesmen squatted. + +[39] Tomahawks (little hatchets) in more familiar language. + +[40] _Pesh-shuak, Wikoo_, or _Chuuk_ is also used in the same sense, but +the first word is most frequently employed. + +[41] The Indians of the North-West coast and the wooded region protected +by the great rivers always take heads as trophies. The heads are +subsequently fixed on poles in front of their cedar-board lodges. The +prairie Indians and the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains generally +take, and always took, scalps alone, owing, perhaps, to the difficulty +of carrying heads. This is no obstacle to fighting men travelling in +canoes, on the bows of which they are often fastened while the warriors +are returning from hostile expeditions. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +RECEPTION OF JEWITT BY THE SAVAGES--ESCAPE OF THOMPSON--ARRIVAL OF +NEIGHBOURING TRIBES--AN INDIAN FEAST + + +We were received by the inhabitants of the village, men, women, and +children, with loud shouts of joy, and a most horrible drumming with +sticks upon the roofs and sides of their houses,[42] in which they had +also stuck a great number of lighted pine torches, to welcome their +king's return, and congratulate him on the success of his enterprise. + +Maquina then took me on shore to his house, which was very large, and +filled with people--where I was received with much kindness by the +women, particularly those belonging to the king, who had no less than +nine wives, all of whom came around me, expressing much sympathy for my +misfortune, gently stroking and patting my head in an encouraging and +soothing manner, with words expressive of condolence. How sweet is +compassion even from savages! Those who have been in a similar +situation, can alone truly appreciate its value. + +In the meantime all the warriors of the tribe, to the number of five +hundred,[43] had assembled at the king's house, to rejoice for their +success. They exulted greatly in having taken our ship, and each one +boasted of his own particular exploits in killing our men, but they were +in general much dissatisfied with my having been suffered to live, and +were very urgent with Maquina to deliver me to them, to be put to death, +which he obstinately refused to do, telling them that he had promised me +my life, and would not break his word; and that, besides, I knew how to +repair and to make arms, and should be of great use to them. + +The king then seated me by him, and ordered his women to bring him +something to eat, when they set before him some dried clams and +train-oil, of which he ate very heartily, and encouraged me to follow +his example, telling me to eat much, and take a great deal of oil, which +would make me strong and fat. Notwithstanding his praise of this new +kind of food, I felt no disposition to indulge in it, both the smell and +taste being loathsome to me; and had it been otherwise, such was the +pain I endured, the agitation of my mind, and the gloominess of my +reflections, that I should have felt very little inclination for eating. + +Not satisfied with his first refusal to deliver me up to them, the +people again became clamorous that Maquina should consent to my being +killed, saying that not one of us ought to be left alive to give +information to others of our countrymen, and prevent them from coming to +trade, or induce them to revenge the destruction of our ship, and they +at length became so boisterous, that he caught up a large club in a +passion, and drove them all out of the house. During this scene, a son +of the king, about eleven years old, attracted no doubt by the +singularity of my appearance, came up to me: I caressed him; he returned +my attentions with much apparent pleasure, and considering this as a +fortunate opportunity to gain the good will of the father, I took the +child on my knee, and, cutting the metal buttons from off the coat I had +on, I tied them around his neck. At this he was highly delighted, and +became so much attached to me, that he would not quit me. + +The king appeared much pleased with my attention to his son, and, +telling me that it was time to go to sleep, directed me to lie with his +son next to him, as he was afraid lest some of his people would come +while he was asleep and kill me with their daggers. I lay down as he +ordered me, but neither the state of my mind nor the pain I felt would +allow me to sleep. + +About midnight I was greatly alarmed by the approach of one of the +natives, who came to give information to the king that there was one of +the white men alive, who had knocked him down as he went on board the +ship at night. This Maquina communicated to me, giving me to understand +that as soon as the sun rose he should kill him. I endeavoured to +persuade him to spare his life, but he bade me be silent and go to +sleep. I said nothing more, but lay revolving in my mind what method I +could devise to save the life of this man. What a consolation, thought +I, what a happiness would it prove to me in my forlorn state among +these heathens, to have a Christian and one of my own countrymen for a +companion, and how greatly would it alleviate and lighten the burden of +my slavery. + +As I was thinking of some plan for his preservation, it all at once came +into my mind that this man was probably the sail-maker of the ship, +named Thompson, as I had not seen his head among those on deck, and knew +that he was below at work upon sails not long before the attack. The +more I thought of it, the more probable it appeared to me, and as +Thompson was a man nearly forty years of age, and had an old look, I +conceived it would be easy to make him pass for my father, and by this +means prevail on Maquina to spare his life. Towards morning I fell into +a dose, but was awakened with the first beams of the sun by the king, +who told me he was going to kill the man who was on board the ship, and +ordered me to accompany him. I rose and followed him, leading with me +the young prince, his son. + +On coming to the beach, I found all the men of the tribe assembled. The +king addressed them, saying that one of the white men had been found +alive on board the ship, and requested their opinion as to saving his +life or putting him to death. They were unanimously for the latter. This +determination he made known to me. Having arranged my plan, I asked him, +pointing to the boy, whom I still held by the hand, if he loved his son. +He answered that he did. I then asked the child if he loved his father, +and on his replying in the affirmative, I said, "And I also love mine." +I then threw myself on my knees at Maquina's feet, and implored him, +with tears in my eyes, to spare my father's life, if the man on board +should prove to be him, telling him that if he killed my father, it was +my wish that he should kill me too, and that if he did not, I would kill +myself--and that he would thus lose my services; whereas, by sparing my +father's life, he would preserve mine, which would be of great advantage +to him, by my repairing and making arms for him. + +Maquina appeared moved by my entreaties, and promised not to put the man +to death if he should be my father. He then explained to his people what +I had said, and ordered me to go on board and tell the man to come on +shore. To my unspeakable joy, on going into the hold, I found that my +conjecture was true. Thompson was there. He had escaped without any +injury, excepting a slight wound in the nose, given him by one of the +savages with a knife, as he attempted to come on deck, during the +scuffle. Finding the savages in possession of the ship, as he afterwards +informed me, he secreted himself in the hold, hoping for some chance to +make his escape; but that, the Indian who came on board in the night +approaching the place where he was, he supposed himself discovered, and, +being determined to sell his life as dearly as possible, as soon as he +came within his reach, he knocked him down, but the Indian, immediately +springing up, ran off at full speed. + +I informed him, in a few words, that all our men had been killed; that +the king had preserved my life, and had consented to spare his on the +supposition that he was my father, an opinion which he must be careful +not to undeceive them in, as it was his only safety. After giving him +his cue, I went on shore with him, and presented him to Maquina, who +immediately knew him to be the sail-maker, and was much pleased, +observing that he could make sails for his canoe. He then took us to his +house, and ordered something for us to eat. + +On the 24th and 25th, the natives were busily employed in taking the +cargo out of the ship, stripping her of her sails and rigging, cutting +away the spars and masts, and, in short, rendering her as complete a +wreck as possible, the muskets, ammunition, cloth, and all the principal +articles taken from her, being deposited in the king's house. + +While they were thus occupied, each one taking what he liked, my +companion and myself being obliged to aid them, I thought it best to +secure the accounts and papers of the ship, in hopes that on some future +day I might have it in my power to restore them to the owners. With this +view I took possession of the captain's writing-desk, which contained +the most of them, together with some paper and implements for writing. I +had also the good fortune to find a blank account-book, in which I +resolved, should it be permitted me, to write an account of our capture, +and the most remarkable occurrences that I should meet with during my +stay among these people, fondly indulging the hope that it would not be +long before some vessel would arrive to release us. I likewise found in +the cabin a small volume of sermons, a Bible, and a Common Prayer-book +of the Church of England, which furnished me and my comrade great +consolation in the midst of our mournful servitude, and enabled me, +under the favour of Divine Providence, to support with firmness the +miseries of a life which I might otherwise have found beyond my +strength to endure. + +As these people set no value upon things of this kind, I found no +difficulty in appropriating them to myself, by putting them in my chest, +which, though it had been broken open and rifled by the savages, as I +still had the key, I without much difficulty secured. In this I also put +some small tools belonging to the ship, with several other articles, +particularly a journal kept by the second mate, Mr. Ingraham, and a +collection of drawings and views of places taken by him, which I had the +good fortune to preserve, and on my arrival at Boston, I gave them to a +connection of his, the Honourable Judge Dawes, who sent them to his +family in New York. + +On the 26th, two ships were seen standing in for Friendly Cove. At their +first appearance the inhabitants were thrown into great confusion, but, +soon collecting a number of muskets and blunderbusses, ran to the shore, +from whence they kept up so brisk a fire at them, that they were +evidently afraid to approach nearer, and, after firing a few rounds of +grape-shot, which did no harm to any one, they wore ship and stood out +to sea. These ships, as I afterwards learned, were the _Mary_ and _Juno_ +of Boston. + +They were scarcely out of sight when Maquina expressed much regret that +he had permitted his people to fire at them, being apprehensive that +they would give information to others in what manner they had been +received, and prevent them from coming to trade with him. + +A few days after hearing of the capture of the ship, there arrived at +Nootka a great number of canoes filled with savages from no less than +twenty tribes to the north and south. Among those from the north were +the Ai-tiz-zarts,[44] Schoo-mad-its,[45] Neu-wit-ties,[46] +Savin-nars,[47] Ah-owz-arts,[48] Mo-watch-its,[49] Suth-setts,[50] +Neu-chad-lits,[51] Mich-la-its,[52] and Cay-u-quets,[53] the most of +whom were considered as tributary to Nootka. From the south, the +Aytch-arts[54] and Esqui-ates,[55] also tributary, with the +Kla-oo-quates,[56] and the Wickannish, a large and powerful tribe about +two hundred miles distant. + +These last were better clad than most of the others, and their canoes +wrought with much greater skill; they are furnished with sails as well +as paddles, and, with the advantage of a fair breeze, are usually but +twenty-four hours on their passage. + +Maquina, who was very proud of his new acquisition, was desirous of +welcoming these visitors in the European manner. He accordingly ordered +his men, as the canoes approached, to assemble on the beach with loaded +muskets and blunderbusses, placing Thompson at the cannon, which had +been brought from the ship and laid upon two long sticks of timber in +front of the village; then, taking a speaking trumpet in his hand, he +ascended with me the roof of his house, and began drumming or beating +upon the boards with a stick most violently. + +Nothing could be more ludicrous than the appearance of this motley group +of savages collected on the shore, dressed as they were with their +ill-gotten finery in the most fantastic manner, some in women's smocks, +taken from our cargo, others in _Kotsacks_[57] (or cloaks) of blue, red, +or yellow broadcloth, with stockings drawn over their heads, and their +necks hung round with numbers of powder-horns, shot-bags, and +cartouch-boxes, some of them having no less than ten muskets apiece on +their shoulders, and five or six daggers in their girdles. Diverting +indeed was it to see them all squatted upon the beach, holding their +muskets perpendicularly with the butt pressed upon the sand, instead of +against their shoulders, and in this position awaiting the order to +fire. + +Maquina, at last, called to them with his trumpet to fire, which they +did in the most awkward and timid manner, with their muskets hard +pressed upon the ground as above-mentioned. At the same moment the +cannon was fired by Thompson, immediately on which they threw themselves +back and began to roll and tumble over the sand as if they had been +shot, when, suddenly springing up, they began a song of triumph, and, +running backward and forward upon the shore, with the wildest +gesticulations, boasted of their exploits, and exhibited as trophies +what they had taken from us. Notwithstanding the unpleasantness of my +situation, and the feelings that this display of our spoils excited, I +could not avoid laughing at the strange appearance of these savages, +their awkward movements, and the singular contrast of their dress and +arms. + +When the ceremony was concluded, Maquina invited the strangers to a +feast at his house, consisting of whale-blubber, smoked herring spawn, +and dried fish and train-oil, of which they ate most plentifully. The +feast being over, the trays out of which they ate, and other things, +were immediately removed to make room for the dance, which was to close +the entertainment. This was performed by Maquina's son, the young prince +Sat-sat-sok-sis, whom I have already spoken of, in the following +manner:-- + +Three of the principal chiefs, drest in their otter-skin mantles, which +they wear only on extraordinary occasions and at festivals, having their +heads covered over with white down and their faces highly painted, came +forward into the middle of the room, each furnished with a bag filled +with white down, which they scattered around in such a manner as to +represent a fall of snow. These were followed by the young prince, who +was dressed in a long piece of yellow cloth, wrapped loosely around him, +and decorated with small bells, with a cap on his head to which was +fastened a curious mask in imitation of a wolf's head, while the rear +was brought up by the king himself in his robe of sea-otter skin, with a +small whistle in his mouth and a rattle in his hand, with which he kept +time to a sort of tune on his whistle. After passing very rapidly in +this order around the house, each of them seated himself, except the +prince, who immediately began his dance, which principally consisted in +springing up into the air in a squat posture, and constantly turning +around on his heels with great swiftness in a very narrow circle. + +This dance, with a few intervals of rest, was continued for about two +hours, during which the chiefs kept up a constant drumming with sticks +of about a foot in length on a long hollow plank, which was, though a +very noisy, a most doleful kind of music. This they accompanied with +songs, the king himself acting as chorister, while the women applauded +each feat of activity in the dancer, by repeating the words, _Wocash! +Wocash Tyee!_[58] that is, Good! very good, Prince! + +As soon as the dance was finished, Maquina began to give presents to the +strangers, in the name of his son Sat-sat-sok-sis. These were pieces of +European cloth, generally of a fathom in length, muskets, powder, shot, +etc. Whenever he gave them anything, they had a peculiar manner of +snatching it from him with a very stern and surly look, repeating each +time the words, _Wocash Tyee_. This I understood to be their custom, and +was considered as a compliment, which, if omitted, would be supposed as +a mark of disregard for the present. On this occasion Maquina gave away +no less than one hundred muskets, the same number of looking-glasses, +four hundred yards of cloth, and twenty casks of powder, besides other +things. + +After receiving these presents, the strangers retired on board their +canoes, for so numerous were they that Maquina would not suffer any but +the chiefs to sleep in the houses; and, in order to prevent the property +from being pillaged by them, he ordered Thompson and myself to keep +guard during the night, armed with cutlasses and pistols. + +In this manner tribes of savages from various parts of the coast +continued coming for several days, bringing with them blubber, oil, +herring spawn, dried fish, and clams, for which they received in return +presents of cloth, etc., after which they in general immediately +returned home. I observed that very few, if any, of them, except the +chiefs, had arms, which, I afterwards learned, is the custom with these +people, whenever they come upon a friendly visit or to trade, in order +to show, on their approach, that their intentions are pacific.[59] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[42] A common mode of expressing joy. During dancing and singing this +goes on continually. + +[43] In 1863, when I made a special inquiry, the whole number of adult +males in the Mooachaht tribe (the so-called Nootkans) was one hundred +and fifty. + +[44] Ayhuttisahts. + +[45] This name is unknown to me. + +[46] Nahwittis, or Flatlashekwill, an almost vanished tribe, join the +north end of Vancouver Island (Goletas Channel, Galliano Island, and +west-ward to Cape Scott). + +[47] The name of some village, not a tribe. + +[48] Ahousahts. + +[49] Mooachahts. The "Nootkans" proper of Friendly Cove. + +[50] Seshahts, but they are to the south (Alberni Canal) and Barclay +Sound. + +[51] Noochahlahts (lat. 49° 47' 20" N.). + +[52] Muchlahts, or Quaquina arm. + +[53] Ky-yoh-quahts. + +[54] This is probably another spelling of the E-cha-chahts. + +[55] Hishquayahts (lat. 49° 27' 31" N., long. 126° 25' 27" W.). + +[56] Klahoquahts. This and the other tribes mentioned in the text +are no longer tributary to the Mooachahts, and there is no "Wickannish" +tribe. As we have already seen (p. 38), it is the name of an +individual--probably the chief of the Klahoquahts. It is a common name. +The Nettinahts and the Klahoquahts are still renowned in canoe-making. +They chisel them out of the great cedar (_Thuja gigantea_) trees in this +district, for sale to other tribes. But Jewitt, who had no personal +knowledge of the homes of these tribes, makes sad havoc of their names +and the direction from which they came. + +[57] _Kootsik_, the "cotsack" of Meares. _Kootsik-poom_ is the pin by +which the Indian blanket cloak is fastened. In Meares's time the people +dressed in kootsiks of sea-otter skin. But even then they were getting +so fond of blankets, that without "woollens" among the barter, trade was +difficult. In fifteen years they learned a better use for sea-otters +worth £20 apiece than to make cloaks of them. + +[58] The words were really _Waw-kash_ (a word of salutation) and _Tyee_. +This is in most common use in Nootka Sound. The order of salutation to a +man is _Quaache-is_, to a woman _Chè-is_, and at parting _Klach-she_. A +married woman is _Klootsnah_; a young girl _Hah-quatl-is_; an unmarried +woman (whether old or young) _Hah-quatl_--distinctions which Jewitt does +not make in his brief vocabulary. The Indians have many words to express +varieties of the same action. Thus _pâttēs_ means to wash. But +_pâttēē_ is to wash all over; _tsont-soomik_, to wash the hands; +_tsocuks_, to wash a pan, etc. _Haouwith_, or _Hawilth_, is the original +word for chief, though _Tyee_ is commonly used. + +[59] This is one of the earliest--if not the first--account of these +periodical givings away of property so characteristic of the +North-Western coast Indians, and known to the whites as "Potlatches." An +Indian accumulates blankets and other portable property simply to give +away at such feasts. Then if a poor, he becomes a great man, and even a +kind of minor chief--a Life Peer, as it were. But those who have +received much are expected to return the compliment by also giving a +"potlatch," to which guests come from far and near. I have described one +of these in _The Races of Mankind_ (the first edition of _The Peoples of +the World_), vol. i. pp. 75-90. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BURNING OF THE VESSEL--COMMENCEMENT OF JEWITT'S JOURNAL + + +Early on the morning of the 19th the ship was discovered to be on fire. +This was owing to one of the savages having gone on board with a +firebrand at night for the purpose of plunder, some sparks from which +fell into the hold, and, communicating with some combustibles, soon +enveloped the whole in flames. The natives regretted the loss of the +ship the more as a great part of her cargo still remained on board. To +my companion and myself it was a most melancholy sight, for with her +disappeared from our eyes every trace of a civilised country; but the +disappointment we experienced was still more severely felt, for we had +calculated on having the provision to ourselves, which would have +furnished us with a stock for years, as whatever is cured with salt, +together with most of our other articles of food, are never eaten by +these people. I had luckily saved all my tools, excepting the anvil and +the bellows, which was attached to the forge, and from their weight had +not been brought on shore. We had also the good fortune, in looking over +what had been taken from the ship, to discover a box of chocolate and a +case of port wine, which, as the Indians were not fond of it, proved a +great comfort to us for some time; and from one of the natives I +obtained a Nautical Almanack which had belonged to the captain, and +which was of great use to me in determining the time. + +About two days after, on examining their booty, the savages found a +tierce of rum, with which they were highly delighted, as they have +become very fond of spirituous liquors since their intercourse with the +whites.[60] This was towards evening, and Maquina, having assembled all +the men at his house, gave a feast, at which they drank so freely of the +rum, that in a short time they became so extremely wild and frantic that +Thompson and myself, apprehensive for our safety, thought it prudent to +retire privately into the woods, where we continued till past midnight. + +On our return we found the women gone, who are always very temperate, +drinking nothing but water, having quitted the house and gone to the +other huts to sleep, so terrified were they at the conduct of the men, +who lay all stretched out on the floor in a state of complete +intoxication. How easy in this situation would it have been for us to +have dispatched or made ourselves masters of our enemies had there been +any ship near to which we could have escaped, but as we were situated +the attempt would have been madness. The wish of revenge was, however, +less strongly impressed on my mind than what appeared to be so evident +an interposition of Divine Providence in our favour. How little can man +penetrate its designs, and how frequently is that intended as a blessing +which he views as a curse. The burning of our ship, which we had +lamented so much, as depriving us of so many comforts, now appeared to +us in a very different light, for, had the savages got possession of the +rum, of which there were nearly twenty puncheons on board,[61] we must +inevitably have fallen a sacrifice to their fury in some of their +moments of intoxication. This cask, fortunately, and a case of gin, was +all the spirits they obtained from the ship. To prevent the recurrence +of similar danger, I examined the cask, and, finding still a +considerable quantity remaining, I bored a small hole in the bottom with +a gimblet, which before morning, to my great joy, completely emptied it. + + +By this time the wound in my head began to be much better, so that I +could enjoy some sleep, which I had been almost deprived of by the pain, +and though I was still feeble from the loss of blood and my sufferings, +I found myself sufficiently well to go to work at my trade, in making +for the king and his wives bracelets and other small ornaments of copper +or steel, and in repairing the arms, making use of a large square stone +for the anvil, and heating my metal in a common wood fire. This was very +gratifying to Maquina, and his women particularly, and secured me their +goodwill. + +In the meantime, great numbers from the other tribes kept continually +flocking to Nootka, bringing with them, in exchange for the ship's +plunder, such quantities of provision, that, notwithstanding the little +success that Maquina met with in whaling this season, and their +gluttonous waste, always eating to excess when they have it, regardless +of the morrow, seldom did the natives experience any want of food during +the summer. As to myself and companion, we fared as they did, never +wanting for such provision as they had, though we were obliged to eat it +cooked in their manner, and with train-oil as a sauce, a circumstance +not a little unpleasant, both from their uncleanly mode of cooking and +many of the articles of their food, which to a European are very +disgusting; but, as the saying is, hunger will break through stone +walls, and we found, at times, in the blubber of sea animals and the +flesh of the dog-fish, loathsome as it generally was, a very acceptable +repast. + +But much oftener would poor Thompson, who was no favourite with them, +have suffered from hunger had it not been for my furnishing him with +provision. This I was enabled to do from my work, Maquina allowing me +the privilege, when not employed for him, to work for myself in making +bracelets and other ornaments of copper, fish-hooks, daggers, etc., +either to sell to the tribes who visited us or for our own chiefs, who +on these occasions, besides supplying me with as much as I wished to +eat, and a sufficiency for Thompson, almost always made me a present of +a European garment, taken from the ship, or some fathoms of cloth, which +were made up by my comrade, and enabled us to go comfortably clad for +some time; or small bundles of penknives, razors, scissors, etc., for +one of which we could almost always procure from the natives two or +three fresh salmon, cod, or halibut; or dried fish, clams, and herring +spawn from the stranger tribes; and had we only been permitted to cook +them after our own way, as we had pots and other utensils belonging to +the ship, we should not have had much cause of complaint in this +respect; but so tenacious are these people of their customs, +particularly in the article of food and cooking, that the king always +obliged me to give whatever provision I bought to the women to cook. And +one day, finding Thompson and myself on the shore employed in boiling +down sea-water into salt, on being told what it was he was very much +displeased, and, taking the little we had procured, threw it into the +sea. In one instance alone, as a particular favour, he allowed me to +boil some salmon in my own way, when I invited him and his queen to eat +with me; they tasted it, but did not like it, and made their meal of +some of it that I had cooked in their country fashion. + +In May the weather became uncommonly mild and pleasant, and so forward +was vegetation, that I picked plenty of strawberries[62] by the middle +of the month. Of this fruit there are great quantities on this coast, +and I found them a most delicious treat. + +My health now had become almost re-established, my wound being so far +healed that it gave me no further trouble. I had never failed to wash it +regularly once a day in sea water, and to dress it with a fresh leaf of +tobacco, which I obtained from the natives, who had taken it from the +ship, but made no use of it. This was all the dressing I gave it, except +applying to it two or three times a little loaf sugar, which Maquina +gave me, in order to remove some proud flesh, which prevented it from +closing. + +My cure would doubtless have been much sooner effected had I have been +in a civilised country, where I could have had it dressed by a surgeon +and properly attended to. But alas! I had no good Samaritan, with oil +and wine, to bind up my wounds, and fortunate might I even esteem myself +that I was permitted to dress it myself, for the utmost that I could +expect from the natives was compassion for my misfortunes, which I +indeed experienced from the women, particularly the queen, or favourite +wife of Maquina, the mother of Sat-sat-sok-sis, who used frequently to +point to my head, and manifest much kindness and solicitude for me. I +must do Maquina the justice to acknowledge, that he always appeared +desirous of sparing me any labour which he believed might be hurtful to +me, frequently inquiring in an affectionate manner if my head pained me. +As for the others, some of the chiefs excepted, they cared little what +became of me, and probably would have been gratified with my death. + +My health being at length re-established and my wound healed, Thompson +became very importunate for me to begin my journal, and as I had no ink, +proposed to cut his finger to supply me with blood for the purpose +whenever I should want it. On the 1st of June I accordingly commenced a +regular diary, but had no occasion to make use of the expedient +suggested by my comrade, having found a much better substitute in the +expressed juice of a certain plant, which furnished me with a bright +green colour, and, after making a number of trials, I at length +succeeded in obtaining a very tolerable ink, by boiling the juice of the +blackberry with a mixture of finely powdered charcoal, and filtering it +through a cloth. This I afterwards preserved in bottles, and found it +answer very well, so true is it that "necessity is the mother of +invention." As for quills, I found no difficulty in procuring them +whenever I wanted, from the crows and ravens with which the beach was +almost always covered, attracted by the offal of whales, seals, etc., +and which were so tame that I could easily kill them with stones, while +a large clam-shell furnished me with an inkstand. + +The extreme solicitude of Thompson that I should begin my journal might +be considered as singular in a man who neither knew how to read or +write, a circumstance, by the way, very uncommon in an American, were we +less acquainted with the force of habit, he having been for many years +at sea, and accustomed to consider the keeping of a journal as a thing +indispensable. This man was born in Philadelphia, and at eight years old +ran away from his friends and entered as a cabin boy on board a ship +bound to London. On his arrival there, finding himself in distress, he +engaged as an apprentice to the captain of a collier, from whence he was +impressed on board an English man-of-war, and continued in the British +naval service about twenty-seven years, during which he was present at +the engagement under Lord Howe with the French fleet in June 1794, and +when peace was made between England and France, was discharged. He was a +very strong and powerful man, an expert boxer, and perfectly fearless; +indeed, so little was his dread of danger, that when irritated he was +wholly regardless of his life. Of this the following will furnish a +sufficient proof:-- + +One evening about the middle of April, as I was at the house of one of +the chiefs, where I had been employed on some work for him, word was +brought me that Maquina was going to kill Thompson. I immediately +hurried home, where I found the king in the act of presenting a loaded +musket at Thompson, who was standing before him with his breast bared +and calling on him to fire. I instantly stepped up to Maquina, who was +foaming with rage, and, addressing him in soothing words, begged him for +my sake not to kill my father, and at length succeeded in taking the +musket from him and persuading him to sit down. + +On inquiring into the cause of his anger, I learned that, while Thompson +was lighting the lamps in the king's room, Maquina having substituted +ours for their pine torches, some of the boys began to tease him, +running around him and pulling him by the trousers, among the most +forward of whom was the young prince. This caused Thompson to spill the +oil, which threw him into such a passion, that, without caring what he +did, he struck the prince so violent a blow in his face with his fist as +to knock him down. The sensation excited among the savages by an act +which was considered as the highest indignity, and a profanation of the +sacred person of majesty, may be easily conceived. The king was +immediately acquainted with it, who, on coming in and seeing his son's +face covered with blood, seized a musket and began to load it, +determined to take instant revenge of the audacious offender, and had I +arrived a few moments later than I did, my companion would certainly +have paid with his life for his rash and violent conduct. I found the +utmost difficulty in pacifying Maquina, who for a long time after could +not forgive Thompson, but would repeatedly say, "John, _you_ +die--Thompson kill." + +But to appease the king was not all that was necessary. In consequence +of the insult offered to their prince, the whole tribe held a council, +in which it was unanimously resolved that Thompson should be put to +death in the most cruel manner. I however interceded so strenuously with +Maquina for his life, telling him that if my father was killed, I was +determined not to survive him, that he refused to deliver him up to the +vengeance of his people, saying, that for John's sake they must consent +to let him live. The prince, who, after I had succeeded in calming his +father, gave me an account of what had happened, told me that it was +wholly out of regard to me, as Thompson was my father, that his life had +been spared, for that if any one of the tribe should dare to lift a hand +against him in anger, he would most certainly be put to death. + +Yet even this narrow escape produced not much effect on Thompson, or +induced him to restrain the violence of his temper. For, not many weeks +after, he was guilty of a similar indiscretion, in striking the eldest +son of a chief, who was about eighteen years old, and, according to +their custom, was considered as a Tyee, or chief, himself, in +consequence of his having provoked him by calling him a white slave. +This affair caused great commotion in the village, and the tribe was +very clamorous for his death, but Maquina would not consent. + +I used frequently to remonstrate with him on the imprudence of his +conduct, and beg him to govern his temper better, telling him that it +was our duty, since our lives were in the power of these savages, to do +nothing to exasperate them. But all I could say on this point availed +little, for so bitter was the hate he felt for them, which he was no way +backward in manifesting both by his looks and actions, that he declared +he never would submit to their insults, and that he had much rather be +killed than be obliged to live among them; adding that he only wished he +had a good vessel and some guns, and he would destroy the whole of the +cursed race; for to a brave sailor like him, who had fought the French +and Spaniards with glory, it was a punishment worse than death to be a +slave to such a poor, ignorant, despicable set of beings. + +As for myself, I thought very differently. After returning thanks to +that merciful Being who had in so wonderful a manner softened the hearts +of the savages in my favour, I had determined from the first of my +capture to adopt a conciliating conduct towards them, and conform +myself, as far as was in my power, to their customs and mode of +thinking, trusting that the same divine goodness that had rescued me +from death, would not always suffer me to languish in captivity among +these heathens. + +With this view, I sought to gain their goodwill by always endeavouring +to assume a cheerful countenance, appearing pleased with their sports +and buffoon tricks, making little ornaments for the wives and children +of their chiefs, by which means I became quite a favourite with them, +and fish-hooks, daggers, etc., for themselves. + +As a further recommendation to their favour, and what might eventually +prove of the utmost importance to us, I resolved to learn their +language, which in the course of a few months' residence I so far +succeeded in acquiring, as to be able in general to make myself well +understood. + +I likewise tried to persuade Thompson to learn it, as what might prove +necessary to him. But he refused, saying that he hated both them and +their cursed lingo, and would have nothing to do with it. + +By pursuing this conciliatory plan, so far did I gain the goodwill of +these savages, particularly the chiefs, that I scarcely ever failed +experiencing kind treatment from them, and was received with a smile of +welcome at their houses, where I was always sure of having something +given me to eat, whenever they had it, and many a good meal have I had +from them, when they themselves were short of provisions and suffering +for the want of them. + +And it was a common practice with me, when we had nothing to eat at +home, which happened not unfrequently during my stay among them, to go +around the village, and on noticing a smoke from any of the houses, +which denoted that they were cooking, enter in without ceremony, and ask +them for something, which I was never refused. + +Few nations, indeed, are there so very rude and unfeeling, whom constant +mild treatment, and an attention to please, will not mollify and obtain +from some return of kind attention. This the treatment I received from +these people may exemplify, for not numerous, even among those calling +themselves civilised, are there instances to be found of persons +depriving themselves of food to give it to a stranger, whatever may be +his merits. + +It may perhaps be as well in this place to give a description of Nootka; +some accounts of the tribes who were accustomed to visit us; and the +manners and customs of the people, as far as I hitherto had an +opportunity of observing them. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[60] It was about this date that Long, an Indian trader, described rum +as the _unum necessarium_ for traffic with the savages. It is still +eagerly asked for, though its sale or gift is illegal. + +[61] For sale, of course, to the Indians. + +[62] Chiefly _Fragaria chilensis_. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +DESCRIPTION OF NOOTKA SOUND--MANNER OF BUILDING +HOUSES--FURNITURE--DRESSES + + +The village of Nootka is situated in between 49 and 50 deg. N. lat.,[63] +at the bottom of Friendly Cove, on the west or north-west side. It +consists of about twenty houses or huts, on a small hill, which rises +with a gentle ascent from the shore. Friendly Cove, which affords good +and secure anchorage for ships close in with the shore, is a small +harbour of not more than a quarter or half a mile in length, and about +half a mile or three-quarters broad, formed by the line of coast on the +east and a long point or headland, which extends as much as three +leagues into the Sound, in nearly a westerly direction.[64] This, as +well as I can judge from what I have seen of it, is in general from one +to two miles in breadth, and mostly a rocky and unproductive soil, with +but few trees. The eastern and western shores of this harbour are steep +and in many parts rocky, the trees growing quite to the water's edge, +but the bottom to the north and north-west is a fine sandy beach of half +a mile or more in extent. + +From the village to the north and north-east extends a plain, the soil +of which is very excellent, and with proper cultivation may be made to +produce almost any of our European vegetables; this is but little more +than half a mile in breadth, and is terminated by the seacoast, which in +this place is lined with rocks and reefs, and cannot be approached by +ships. The coast in the neighbourhood of Nootka is in general low, and +but little broken into hills and valleys. The soil is good, well covered +with fine forests of pine, spruce, beech, and other trees, and abounds +with streams of the finest water, the general appearance being the same +for many miles around. + +The village is situated on the ground occupied by the Spaniards, when +they kept a garrison here; the foundations of the church and the +governor's house are yet visible, and a few European plants are still to +be found, which continue to be self-propagated, such as onions, peas, +and turnips, but the two last are quite small, particularly the turnips, +which afforded us nothing but the tops for eating. Their former village +stood on the same spot, but the Spaniards, finding it a commodious +situation, demolished the houses, and forced the inhabitants to retire +five or six miles into the country.[65] With great sorrow, as Maquina +told me, did they find themselves compelled to quit their ancient place +of residence, but with equal joy did they repossess themselves of it +when the Spanish garrison was expelled by the English. + +[Illustration: HABITATIONS IN NOOTKA SOUND.] + +The houses, as I have observed, are above twenty in number, built nearly +in a line. These are of different sizes, according to the rank or +quality of the _Tyee_, or chief, who lives in them, each having one, of +which he is considered as the lord. They vary not much in width, being +usually from thirty-six to forty feet wide, but are of very different +lengths, that of the king, which is much the longest, being about one +hundred and fifty feet, while the smallest, which contain only two +families, do not exceed forty feet in length; the house of the king is +also distinguished from the others by being higher. + +Their method of building is as follows: they erect in the ground two +very large posts, at such a distance apart as is intended for the length +of the house. On these, which are of equal height, and hollowed out at +the upper end, they lay a large spar for the ridge-pole of the building, +or, if the length of the house requires it, two or more, supporting +their ends by similar upright posts; these spars are sometimes of an +almost incredible size, having myself measured one in Maquina's house, +which I found to be one hundred feet long and eight feet four inches in +circumference. At equal distances from these two posts, two others are +placed on each side, to form the width of the building; these are rather +shorter than the first, and on them are laid in like manner spars, but +of a smaller size, having the upper part hewed flat, with a narrow ridge +on the outer side to support the ends of the planks. + +The roof is formed of pine planks with a broad feather edge, so as to +lap well over each other, which are laid lengthwise from the ridge-pole +in the centre, to the beams at the sides, after which the top is covered +with planks of eight feet broad, which form a kind of coving projecting +so far over the ends of the planks that form the roof, as completely to +exclude the rain. On these they lay large stones to prevent their being +displaced by the wind. The ends of the planks are not secured to the +beams on which they are laid by any fastening, so that in a high storm I +have often known all the men obliged to turn out and go upon the roof to +prevent them from being blown off, carrying large stones and pieces of +rock with them to secure the boards, always stripping themselves naked +on these occasions, whatever may be the severity of the weather, to +prevent their garments from being wet and muddied, as these storms are +almost always accompanied with heavy rains. The sides of their houses +are much more open and exposed to the weather; this proceeds from their +not being so easily made close as the roof, being built with planks of +about ten feet long and four or five wide, which they place between +stancheons or small posts of the height of the roof; of these there are +four to each range of boards, two at each end, and so near each other as +to leave space enough for admitting a plank. The planks or boards which +they make use of for building their houses, and for other uses, they +procure of different lengths as occasion requires, by splitting them out +with hard wooden wedges from pine logs, and afterwards dubbing them down +with their chisels, with much patience, to the thickness wanted, +rendering them quite smooth. + +There is but one entrance; this is placed usually at the end, though +sometimes in the middle, as was that of Maquina's. Through the middle of +the building, from one end to the other, runs a passage of about eight +or nine feet broad, on each side of which the several families that +occupy it live, each having its particular fireplace, but without any +kind of wall or separation to mark their respective limits; the chief +having his apartment at the upper end, and the next in rank opposite on +the other side. They have no other floor than the ground; the fireplace +or hearth consists of a number of stones loosely put together, but they +are wholly without a chimney, nor is there any opening left in the roof, +but whenever a fire is made, the plank immediately over it is thrust +aside, by means of a pole, to give vent to the smoke. + +The height of the houses in general, from the ground to the centre of +the roof, does not exceed ten feet, that of Maquina's was not far from +fourteen; the spar forming the ridge-pole of the latter was painted in +red and black circles alternately, by way of ornament, and the large +posts that supported it had their tops curiously wrought or carved, so +as to represent human heads of a monstrous size, which were painted in +their manner. These were not, however, considered as objects of +adoration, but merely as ornaments.[66] + +The furniture of these people is very simple, and consists only of +boxes, in which they put their clothes, furs, and such things as they +hold most valuable; tubs for keeping their provisions of spawn and +blubber in; trays from which they eat; baskets for their dried fish and +other purposes, and bags made of bark matting, of which they also make +their beds, spreading a piece of it upon the ground when they lie down, +and using no other bed covering than their garments. The boxes are of +pine, with a top that shuts over, and instead of nails or pegs, are +fastened with flexible twigs; they are extremely smooth and high +polished, and sometimes ornamented with rows of very small white shells. +The tubs are of a square form, secured in the like manner, and of +various sizes, some being extremely large, having seen them that were +six feet long by four broad and five deep. The trays are hollowed out +with their chisels from a solid block of wood, and the baskets and mats +are made from the bark of trees. + +From bark they likewise make the cloth for their garments, in the +following manner:--A quantity of this bark is taken and put into fresh +water, where it is kept for a fortnight, to give it time to completely +soften; it is then taken out and beaten upon a plank, with an instrument +made of bone, or some very hard wood, having grooves or hollows on one +side of it, care being taken to keep the mass constantly moistened with +water, in order to separate, with more ease, the hard and woody from the +soft and fibrous parts, which, when completed, they parcel out into +skeins, like thread. These they lay in the air to bleach, and afterwards +dye them black or red, as suits their fancies, their natural colour +being a pale yellow. In order to form the cloth, the women, by whom the +whole of this process is performed, take a certain number of these +skeins and twist them together, by rolling them with their hands upon +their knees into hard rolls, which are afterwards connected by means of +a strong thread, made for the purpose. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A HABITATION IN NOOTKA SOUND.] + +Their dress usually consists of but a single garment, which is a loose +cloak or mantle (called _kutsack_) in one piece, reaching nearly to the +feet. This is tied loosely over the right or left shoulder, so as to +leave the arms at full liberty. + +Those of the common people are painted red with ochre the better to keep +out the rain, but the chiefs wear them of their native colour, which is +a pale yellow, ornamenting them with borders of the sea-otter skin, a +kind of grey cloth made of the hair of some animal[67] which they +procure from the tribes to the south, or their own cloth wrought or +painted with various figures in red or black, representing men's heads, +the sun and moon, fish and animals, which are frequently executed with +much skill. They have also a girdle of the same kind for securing this +mantle or _kutsack_ around them, which is in general still more highly +ornamented, and serves them to wear their daggers and knives in. In +winter, however, they sometimes make use of an additional garment, which +is a kind of hood, with a hole in it for the purpose of admitting the +head, and falls over the breast and back, as low as the shoulders; this +is bordered both at top and bottom with fur, and is never worn except +when they go out. + +The garments of the women vary not essentially from those of the men, +the mantle having holes in it for the purpose of admitting the arms, and +being tied close under the chin instead of over the shoulder. The chiefs +have also mantles of the sea-otter skin, but these are only put on upon +extraordinary occasions; and one that is made from the skin of a certain +large animal, which is brought from the south by the Wickanninish[68] +and Kla-iz-zarts.[69] This they prepare by dressing it in warm water, +scraping off the hair and what flesh adheres to it carefully with sharp +mussel-shells, and spreading it out in the sun to dry on a wooden frame, +so as to preserve the shape. When dressed in this manner it becomes +perfectly white, and as pliable as the best deer's leather, but almost +as thick again. They then paint it in different figures with such paints +as they usually employ in decorating their persons; these figures mostly +represent human heads, canoes employed in catching whales, etc. + +This skin is called metamelth, and is probably got from an animal of +the moose kind; it is highly prized by these people, is their great war +dress, and only worn when they wish to make the best possible display of +themselves. Strips or bands of it, painted as above, are also sometimes +used by them for girdles or the bordering of their cloaks, and also for +bracelets and ankle ornaments by some of the inferior class. + +On their heads, when they go out upon any excursion, particularly +whaling or fishing, they wear a kind of cap or bonnet in form not unlike +a large sugar loaf with the top cut off. This is made of the same +materials with their cloth,[70] but is in general of a closer texture, +and by way of tassel has a long strip of the skin of the metamelth[71] +attached to it, covered with rows of small white shells or beads. Those +worn by the common people are painted entirely red, the chiefs having +theirs of different colours. The one worn by the king, and which serves +to designate him from all the others, is longer and broader at the +bottom; the top, instead of being flat, having upon it an ornament in +the figure of a small urn. It is also of a much finer texture than the +others, and plaited or wrought in black and white stripes, with the +representation in front of a canoe in pursuit of a whale, with the +harpooner standing in the prow prepared to strike. This bonnet is called +_Seeya-poks_. + +Their mode of living is very simple--their food consisting almost +wholly of fish, or fish spawn fresh or dried, the blubber of the whale, +seal, or sea-cow, mussels, clams, and berries of various kinds; all of +which are eaten with a profusion of train-oil for sauce, not excepting +even the most delicate fruit, as strawberries and raspberries. + +With so little variety in their food, no great secret can be expected in +their cookery. Of this, indeed, they may be said to know but two +methods, viz. by boiling and steaming, and even the latter is not very +frequently practised by them. Their mode of boiling is as follows:--Into +one of their tubs they pour water sufficient to cook the quantity of +provision wanted. A number of heated stones are then put in to make it +boil, when the salmon or other fish are put in without any other +preparation than sometimes cutting off the heads, tails, and fins, the +boiling in the meantime being kept up by the application of the hot +stones, after which it is left to cook until the whole is nearly reduced +to one mass. It is then taken out and distributed in the trays. In a +similar manner they cook their blubber and spawn, smoked or dried fish, +and, in fine, almost everything they eat, nothing going down with them +like broth. + +When they cook their fish by steam, which are usually the heads, tails, +and fins of the salmon, cod, and halibut, a large fire is kindled, upon +which they place a bed of stones, which, when the wood is burnt down, +becomes perfectly heated. Layers of green leaves or pine boughs are then +placed upon the stones, and the fish, clams, etc., being laid upon +them, water is poured over them, and the whole closely covered with mats +to keep in the steam. This is much the best mode of cooking, and clams +and mussels done in this manner are really excellent.[72] These, as I +have said, may be considered as their only kinds of cookery; though I +have, in a very few instances, known them dress the roe or spawn of the +salmon and the herring, when first taken, in a different manner; this +was by roasting them, the former being supported between two split +pieces of pine, and the other having a sharp stick run through it, with +one end fixed in the ground; sprats are also roasted by them in this +way, a number being spitted upon one stick; and this kind of food, with +a little salt, would be found no contemptible eating even to an +European. + +At their meals they seat themselves upon the ground, with their feet +curled up under them, around their trays, which are generally about +three feet long by one broad, and from six to eight inches deep. In +eating they make use of nothing but their fingers, except for the soup +or oil, which they lade out with clam-shells. + +Around one of these trays from four to six persons will seat themselves, +constantly dipping in their fingers or clam-shells one after the other. +The king and chiefs alone have separate trays, from which no one is +permitted to eat with them except the queen, or principal wife of the +chief; and whenever the king or one of the chiefs wishes to distinguish +any of his people with a special mark of favour on these occasions, he +calls him and gives him some of the choice bits from his tray. The +slaves eat at the same time, and of the same provisions, faring in this +respect as well as their masters, being seated with the family, and only +feeding from separate trays. + +Whenever a feast is given by the king or any of the chiefs, there is a +person who acts as a master of ceremonies, and whose business it is to +receive the guests as they enter the house, and point out to them their +respective seats, which is regulated with great punctiliousness as +regards rank; the king occupying the highest or the seat of honour, his +son or brother sitting next him, and so on with the chiefs according to +their quality; the private persons belonging to the same family being +always placed together, to prevent any confusion. The women are seldom +invited to their feasts, and only at those times when a general +invitation is given to the village.[73] + +As, whenever they cook, they always calculate to have an abundance for +all the guests, a profusion in this respect being considered as the +highest luxury, much more is usually set before them than they can eat. +That which is left in the king's tray, he sends to his house for his +family by one of his slaves, as do the chiefs theirs; while those who +eat from the same tray, and who generally belong to the same family, +take it home as common stock, or each one receives his portion, which is +distributed on the spot. This custom appeared very singular to my +companion and myself, and it was a most awkward thing for us, at first, +to have to lug home with us, in our hands or arms, the blubber of fish +that we received at these times, but we soon became reconciled to it, +and were very glad of an opportunity to do it. + +[Illustration: NOOTKA SOUND INDIANS.] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[63] The exact position of the village is lat. 49° 35' 31" N.; long. +126° 37' 32" W. + +[64] According to the Admiralty Sailing Directions, the Cove is about +two cables in extent, and sheltered from the sea by a small rocky +high-water island on its east side. It affords anchorage in the middle +for only one vessel of moderate size, though several small vessels might +find shelter. When Vancouver visited it in 1792, no less than eight +ships were in it, most of them small, and secured to the shore by +hawsers. + +[65] This means farther up the Sound; for there are villages in the +interior of Vancouver Island. The Admiralty Sailing Directions declare +that not a trace of the Spanish settlement now exists. This is scarcely +correct, for an indistinct ridge shows the site of houses, and here and +there a few bricks half hidden in the ground may be detected. I have +seen a cannon ball and a Mexican dollar found there. Many of the Nootka +Indians have large moustaches and whiskers, which may possibly be due to +their Spanish blood, and others were decidedly Chinese-looking, a fact +which may be traced to the presence of Meares's Chinese carpenters in +1778-79. Some of them can, or could, thirty years ago, by tradition, +count ten in Spanish; and there is a legend in the Sound to the effect +that the white men had begun to cultivate the ground, and to erect a +stockade and fort; when one day a ship came with papers for the head +man, who was observed to cry, and all the foreigners became sad. The +next day they began moving their goods to the ship. But, as Mr. Sproat +suggests, this might have reference to Meares's settlement. + +[66] This is a good description of the house of Maquina's grandson, as I +saw it fifty-eight years after Jewitt's time. + +[67] Dog's hair. A tribe on Fraser River used to keep flocks of these +curs, which they periodically clipped like sheep. + +[68] Probably the Klayoquahts (see p. 77). + +[69] Klahosahts. + +[70] The outside is made of cedar bark, the inside of white-hair bark. + +[71] I have more than once discussed the identity of this animal with +Indian traders. None of them recognised it, nor, indeed, were acquainted +with the animal by the name Jewitt applies to it. It is, however, not +unlikely the North-Western marmot (_Arctomys pruinosus_), specimens of +which are now and then--though, it must be admitted, rarely--seen in +Vancouver Island; but it is more common farther south. The Alberni +Indians (Seshahts and Opechesahts) used to talk of a beast called +_Sit-si-tehl_, which we took to be the marmot, and Mr. Sproat saw one; I +was not so fortunate. + +[72] In the opinion of the judicious Jewitt, every one who has eaten +food--especially salmon and shell-fish--cooked after this fashion will +coincide. _Experto crede._ + +[73] Or to one or more of the neighbouring tribes, such feasts being +known as _Wawkoahs_. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES--ORNAMENTS--OTTER-HUNTING--FISHING--CANOES + + +In point of personal appearance the people of Nootka are among the +best-looking of any of the tribes that I have seen. The men are in +general from about five feet six to five feet eight inches in height; +remarkably straight, of a good form, robust and strong, with their limbs +in general well turned and proportioned, excepting the legs and feet, +which are clumsy and ill formed, owing, no doubt, to their practice of +sitting on them, though I have seen instances in which they were very +well shaped; this defect is more particularly apparent in the women, who +are for the most part of the time within doors, and constantly sitting +while employed in their cooking and other occupations.[74] The only +instance of deformity that I saw amongst them was a man of dwarfish +stature; he was thirty years old, and but three feet three inches high; +he had, however, no other defect than his diminutive size, being well +made, and as strong and able to bear fatigue as what they were in +general.[75] + +Their complexion, when freed from the paint and oil with which their +skins are generally covered, is a brown, somewhat inclining to a copper +cast. The shape of the face is oval; the features are tolerably regular, +the lips being thin and the teeth very white and even; their eyes are +black but rather small, and the nose pretty well formed, being neither +flat nor very prominent; their hair is black, long, and coarse, but they +have no beard, completely extirpating it, as well as the hair from their +bodies, Maquina being the only exception, who suffered his beard to grow +on his upper lip in the manner of mustachios, which was considered as a +mark of dignity. + +As to the women, they are much whiter, many of them not being darker +than those in some of the southern parts of Europe. They are in general +very well-looking, and some quite handsome. Maquina's favourite wife in +particular, who was a Wickinninish princess, would be considered as a +beautiful woman in any country. She was uncommonly well formed, tall, +and of a majestic appearance; her skin remarkably fair for one of these +people, with considerable colour, her features handsome, and her eyes +black, soft, and languishing; her hair was very long, thick, and black, +as is that of the females in general, which is much softer than that of +the men; in this they take much pride, frequently oiling and plaiting it +carefully into two broad plaits, tying the ends with a strip of the +cloth of the country, and letting it hang down before on each side of +the face. + +The women keep their garments much neater and cleaner than the men, and +are extremely modest in their deportment and dress; their mantle, or +_kutsack_, which is longer than that of the men, reaching quite to their +feet and completely enveloping them, being tied close under the chin, +and bound with a girdle of the same cloth or of sea-otter skin around +their waists; it has also loose sleeves, which reach to the elbows. +Though fond of ornamenting their persons, they are by no means so +partial to paint as the men, merely colouring their eyebrows black and +drawing a bright red stripe from each corner of the mouth towards the +ear. Their ornaments consist chiefly of ear-rings, necklaces, bracelets, +rings for the fingers and ankles, and small nose-jewels (the latter are, +however, wholly confined to the wives of the king or chiefs); these are +principally made out of copper or brass, highly polished and of various +forms and sizes; the nose-jewel is usually a small white shell[76] or +bead suspended to a thread. + +The wives of the common people frequently wear for bracelets and ankle +rings strips of the country cloth or skin of the metamelth painted in +figures, and those of the king or principal chiefs, bracelets and +necklaces consisting of a number of strings of _Ife-waw_, an article +much prized by them, and which makes a very handsome appearance. This +_Ife-waw_, as they term it, is a kind of shell of a dazzling whiteness +and as smooth as ivory; it is of a cylindrical form, in a slight degree +curved, about the size of a goose quill, hollow, three inches in length +and gradually tapering to a point, which is broken off by the natives as +it is taken from the water; this they afterwards string upon threads of +bark and sell it by the fathom; it forms a kind of circulating medium +among these nations, five fathoms being considered as the price of a +slave, their most valuable species of property. It is principally +obtained from the Aitizzarts, a people living about thirty or forty +miles to the northward, who collect it from the reefs and sunken rocks +with which their coast abounds, though it is also brought in +considerable quantity from the south.[77] + +Their mode of taking it has been thus described to me:--To one end of a +pole is fastened a piece of plank, in which a considerable number of +pine pegs are inserted, made sharp at the ends; above the plank, in +order to sink it, a stone or some weight is tied, and the other end of +the pole suspended to a long rope; this is let down perpendicularly by +the _Ife-waw_ fishers in those places where that substance is found, +which are usually from fifty to sixty fathoms deep. On finding the +bottom, they raise the pole up a few feet and let it fall; this they +repeat a number of times, as if sounding, when they draw it up and take +off the _Ife-waw_ which is found adhering to the points. This method of +procuring it is very laborious and fatiguing, especially as they seldom +take more than two or three of these shells at a time, and frequently +none. + +Though the women, as I have said, make but little use of paint, the very +reverse is the case with the men. In decorating their heads and faces +they place their principal pride, and none of our most fashionable beaus +when preparing for a grand ball can be more particular; for I have known +Maquina, after having been employed more than an hour in painting his +face, rub the whole off, and recommence the operation anew, when it did +not entirely please him. + +The manner in which they paint themselves frequently varies, according +to the occasion, but it oftener is the mere dictate of whim. The most +usual method is to paint the eyebrows black in form of a half-moon and +the face red in small squares, with the arms and legs and part of the +body red; sometimes one half of the face is painted red in squares and +the other black; at others dotted with spots of red and black instead +of squares, with a variety of other devices, such as painting one half +of the face and body red and the other black. + +But a method of painting which they sometimes employed, and which they +were much more particular in, was by laying on the face a quantity of +bear's grease of about one-eighth of an inch thick; this they raised up +into ridges resembling a small bead in joiner's work with a stick +prepared for the purpose, and then painted them red, which gave the face +a very singular appearance. + +On extraordinary occasions the king and principal chiefs used to strew +over their faces, after painting, a fine black shining powder procured +from some mineral, as Maquina told me it was got from the rocks. This +they call _pelpelth_,[78] and value it highly, as, in their opinion, it +serves to set off their looks to great advantage, glittering especially +in the sun like silver. This article is brought them in bags by the +_Newchemass_,[79] a very savage nation who live a long way to the north, +from whom they likewise receive a superior kind of red paint, a species +of very fine and rich ochre, which they hold in much estimation. + +Notwithstanding this custom of painting themselves, they make it an +invariable practice, both in summer and winter, to bathe once a day, and +sometimes oftener; but as the paint is put on with oil, it is not much +discomposed thereby, and whenever they wish to wash it off, they repair +to some piece of fresh water and scour themselves with sand or rushes. + +In dressing their heads on occasion of a festival or a visit, they are +full as particular and almost as long as in painting. The hair, after +being well oiled, is carefully gathered upon the top of the head and +secured by a piece of pine or spruce bough with the green leaves upon +it. After having it properly fixed in this manner, the king and +principal chiefs used to strew all over it the white down obtained from +a species of large brown eagle which abounds on this coast, and which +they are very particular in arranging so as not to have a single feather +out of place, occasionally wetting the hair to make it adhere. This, +together with the bough, which is sometimes of considerable size and +stuck over with feathers by means of turpentine, gives them a very +singular and grotesque appearance, which they, however, think very +becoming, and the first thing they do, on learning the arrival of +strangers, is to go and decorate themselves in this manner. + +The men also wear bracelets of painted leather or copper and large +ear-rings of the latter, but the ornament on which they appear to set +the most value is the nose-jewel, if such an appellation may be given to +the wooden stick which some of them employ for this purpose. The king +and chiefs, however, wear them of a different form, being either small +pieces of polished copper or brass, of which I made many for them in +the shape of hearts and diamonds, or a twisted conical shell about half +an inch in length, of a bluish colour and very bright, which is brought +from the south. These are suspended by a small wire or string to the +hole in the gristle of the nose, which is formed in infancy by boring it +with a pin, the hole being afterwards enlarged by the repeated insertion +of wooden pegs of an increased size, until it becomes about the diameter +of a pipe-stem, though some have them of a size nearly sufficient to +admit the little finger. + +The common class, who cannot readily procure the more expensive jewels +that I have mentioned, substitute for them, usually, a smooth, round +stick, some of which are of an almost incredible length, for I have seen +them projecting not less than eight or nine inches beyond the face on +each side; this is made fast or secured in its place by little wedges on +each side of it. These "sprit-sail-yard fellows," as my messmate used to +call them, when rigged out in this manner, made quite a strange show, +and it was his delight, whenever he saw one of them coming towards us +with an air of consequence proportioned to the length of his stick, to +put up his hand suddenly as he was passing him, so as to strike the +stick, in order, as he said, to brace him up sharp to the wind; this +used to make them very angry, but nothing was more remote from +Thompson's ideas than a wish to cultivate their favour. + +The natives of Nootka appear to have but little inclination for the +chase, though some of them were expert marksmen, and used sometimes to +shoot ducks and geese; but the seal and the sea-otter form the +principal objects of their hunting, particularly the latter. + +Of this animal, so much noted for its valuable skin, the following +description may not be uninteresting:--The sea-otter[80] is nearly five +feet in length, exclusive of the tail, which is about twelve inches, and +is very thick and broad where it joins the body, but gradually tapers to +the end, which is tipped with white. The colour of the rest is a +shining, silky black, with the exception of a broad white stripe on the +top of the head. Nothing can be more beautiful than one of these animals +when seen swimming, especially when on the look-out for any object. At +such times it raises its head quite above the surface, and the contrast +between the shining black and the white, together with its sharp ears +and a long tuft of hair rising from the middle of its forehead, which +looks like three small horns, render it quite a novel and attractive +object. They are in general very tame, and will permit a canoe or boat +to approach very near before they dive. I was told, however, that they +are become much more shy since they have been accustomed to shoot them +with muskets, than when they used only arrows.[81] + +The skin is held in great estimation in China, more especially that of +the tail, the fur of which is finer and closer set than that on the +body. This is always cut off and sold separately by the natives. The +value of a skin is determined by its size, that being considered as a +prime skin which will reach, in length, from a man's chin to his feet. +The food of the sea-otter is fish, which he is very dexterous in taking, +being an excellent swimmer, with feet webbed like those of a goose. They +appear to be wholly confined to the seacoast, at least to the salt +water. They have usually three or four young at a time, but I know not +how often they breed, nor in what place they deposit their young, though +I have frequently seen them swimming around the mother when no larger +than rats. The flesh is eaten by the natives, cooked in their usual mode +by boiling, and is far preferable to that of the seal, of which they +make much account. + +But if not great hunters, there are few people more expert in fishing. +Their lines are generally, made from the sinew of the whale, and are +extremely strong. For the hook, they usually make use of a straight +piece of hard wood, in the lower part of which is inserted, and well +secured with thread or whale sinew, a bit of bone made very sharp at the +point and bearded; but I used to make for them hooks from iron, which +they preferred, not only as being less liable to break, but more certain +of securing the fish. Cod, halibut, and other sea fish were not only +caught by them with hooks, but even salmon. + +To take this latter fish, they practise the following method:--One +person seats himself in a small canoe, and, baiting his hook with a +sprat, which they are always careful to procure as fresh as possible, +fastens his line to the handle of the paddle; this, as he plies it in +the water, keeps the fish in constant motion, so as to give it the +appearance of life, which the salmon seeing, leaps at it and is +instantly hooked, and, by a sudden and dexterous motion of the paddle, +drawn on board. I have known some of the natives take no less than eight +or ten salmon of a morning, in this manner, and have seen from twenty to +thirty canoes at a time in Friendly Cove thus employed. + +They are likewise little less skilful in taking the whale. This they +kill with a kind of javelin or harpoon thus constructed and fitted: the +barbs are formed of bone, which are sharpened on the outer side, and +hollowed within, for the purpose of forming a socket for the staff; +these are then secured firmly together with a whale sinew, the point +being fitted so as to receive a piece of mussel-shell, which is ground +to a very sharp edge, and secured in its place by means of +turpentine.[82] To this head or prong is fastened a strong line of whale +sinew about nine feet in length, to the end of which is tied a bark rope +from fifty to sixty fathoms long, having from twenty to thirty sealskin +floats or buoys attached to it at certain intervals, in order to check +the motion of the whale and obstruct his diving. In the socket of the +harpoon a staff or pole of about ten feet long, gradually tapering from +the middle to each end, is placed; this the harpooner holds in his hand, +in order to strike the whale, and immediately detaches it as soon as the +fish is struck. + +The whale is considered as the king's fish, and no other person, when he +is present, is permitted to touch him until the royal harpoon has first +drawn his blood, however near he may approach; and it would be +considered almost a sacrilege for any of the common people to strike a +whale before he is killed, particularly if any of the chiefs should be +present.[83] They also kill the porpoise[84] and sea-cow[85] with +harpoons, but this inferior game is not interdicted the lower class. + +With regard to their canoes, some of the handsomest to be found on the +whole coast are made at Nootka, though very fine ones are brought by the +Wickinninish and the Kla-iz-zarts, who have them more highly ornamented. +They are of all sizes, from such as are capable of holding only one +person to their largest war canoes, which will carry forty men, and are +extremely light. Of these, the largest of any that I ever saw was one +belonging to Maquina, which I measured, and found to be forty-two feet +six inches in length at the bottom, and forty-six feet from stem to +stern. These are made of pine,[86] hollowed out from a tree with their +chisels solely, which are about three inches broad and six in length, +and set into a handle of very hard wood. + +This instrument was formerly made of flint, or some hard stone ground +down to as sharp an edge as possible, but since they have learned the +use of iron, they have almost all of them of that metal. Instead of a +mallet for striking this chisel, they make use of a smooth round stone, +which they hold in the palm of the hand. With this same awkward +instrument they not only excavate their canoes and trays and smooth +their planks, but cut down such trees as they want, either for building, +fuel, or other purposes, a labour which is mostly done by their slaves. + +The felling of trees, as practised by them, is a slow and most tedious +process, three of them being generally from two to three days in cutting +down a large one; yet so attached were they to their own method, that +notwithstanding they saw Thompson frequently, with one of our axes, of +which there was a number saved, fell a tree in less time than they +could have gone round it with their chisels, still they could not be +persuaded to make use of them. + +[Illustration: INDIAN CANOES, VICTORIA, V. I. (TEMP. 1863).] + +After hollowing out their canoes, which they do very neatly, they +fashion the outside, and slightly burn it, for the purpose of removing +any splinters or small points that might obstruct its passage through +the water, after which they rub it over thoroughly with rushes or coarse +mats, in order to smooth it, which not only renders it almost as smooth +as glass, but forms a better security for it from the weather; this +operation of burning and rubbing down the bottoms of their canoes is +practised as often as they acquire any considerable degree of roughness +from use. The outside by this means becomes quite black, and to complete +their work they paint the inside of a bright red, with ochre or some +other similar substance; the prows and sterns are almost always +ornamented with figures of ducks or some other kind of bird, the former +being so fashioned as to represent the head, and the latter the tail; +these are separate pieces from the canoe, and are fastened to it with +small flexible twigs or bark cord. + +Some of these canoes, particularly those employed in whaling, which will +hold about ten men, are ornamented within about two inches below the +gunwale with two parallel lines on each side of very small white shells, +running fore and aft, which has a very pretty effect. Their war canoes +have no ornament of this kind, but are painted on the outside with +figures in white chalk, representing eagles, whales, human heads, etc. +They are very dexterous in the use of their paddles, which are very +neatly wrought, and are five feet long, with a short handle and a blade +seven inches broad in the middle, tapering to a sharp point. With these +they will make a canoe skim very swiftly on the water, with scarcely any +noise, while they keep time to the stroke of the paddle with their +songs. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[74] Yet they are by no means weak in the legs, a coast Indian being +capable of long travel in the bush without tiring. The Hydahs of Queen +Charlotte Island, and the Tlinkets and Kaloshes of the neighbouring +mainland, are splendid specimens of men, tall, comparatively fair, +large-headed, regularly-featured, and endowed with courage and +intelligence, though their morals leave much to be desired. All the +canoe Indians are very strong-handed, owing to the constant use of the +paddle. In a scuffle with one of them, it does not do to let him get a +grip; better prevent him from coming to close quarters, for in this case +the white man has little chance. The Klahoquahts are the finest-looking +of the Vancouver west coast tribes. + +[75] I have rarely seen a corpulent Indian, and not one idiot, or a +cripple so deformed that he was incapable of earning his livelihood. It +is seldom that they are deformed from birth, and when they are, they +generally disappear, so as not to be a burden on the tribe. As a +facetious old savage remarked to me, when discussing that curious +immunity from helplessness in his tribe, "The climate doesn't agree with +them." The brother of Quisto, chief of the Pachenahts in 1865 (San Juan +Harbour), was much deformed in the legs, but he was an excellent +canoeman. + +[76] Commonly the flattish nacreous portion of the Abelone, or Ear-shell +(_Haliotis Kamschatkiana_), known as _Apats-em_, which is pawned or sold +in times of scarcity. By constant removal and insertion, the septum of +the nose, through which it is fastened, becomes in time so large that it +will admit almost any kind of moderately-sized ornament. Feathers are +frequently inserted, and more than once I have seen an Indian, clad in a +blanket alone, denude himself of his single garment to hold biscuits or +other goods, and dispose of his pipe by sticking it in the hole through +his nasal septum, which, had times been better, would have been occupied +with a piece of shell, either square, oblong, or of a horseshoe shape. + +[77] This is the well-known _Dentalium pretiosum_, or Tooth-shell, +generally known as the _Hioqua_. It is procured chiefly from Cape +Flattery, on the southern side of Juan de Fuca Strait, and from Koskeemo +Sound on the north. The "Aitizzarts" (Ayhuttisahts) probably obtained it +by barter with the tribes on that part of the coast. It is not much used +nowadays.--_The Peoples of the World_, vol. i. p. 60. + +[78] This is powdered mica of the black variety. It is obtained in +various places, from veins exposed, for the most part in the beds of +streams. + +[79] These seem to be the Nimpkish, from the Nimpkish River, south of +Fort Rupert, on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, who still +frequently cross the island by a chain of rivers and lakes to Nootka +Sound. This is confirmed by Jewitt writing in another place that they +lived somewhat in the interior. It is doubtful whether he knew that the +country in which he lived was an island. At all events, he never +mentions it by that name. This route I have described in "Das Innere der +Vancouver Insel" (Petermann, _Geographische Mittheilungen_, 1869). + +[80] _Enhydra lutris_, or "Quiaotluck," now so rapidly decreasing in +numbers that it can scarcely escape the fate of Steller's Rhytina. + +[81] For an account of the habits and history of these valued animals, +the reader is referred to _The Countries of the World_, vol. i. p. 304. + +[82] The harpoon is at present a little different in construction. Pine +resin, not "turpentine," is used for the purpose described, and the tips +of deers' horns are utilised for the barbs. The most remarkable fact +about the west coast of Vancouver Island whaling is its use of inflated +sealskins to impede the motion of the animal through the water. This is +an Eskimo contrivance in use by the Alaskans and other extreme northern +tribes, from whom the West Vancouverians seem to have borrowed it. In +Sproat's _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_, p. 226, there is an +excellent description of whaling as practised in that part of Vancouver +Island. The species pursued is usually finbacks, though a "black fish" +with good whalebone is occasionally captured. + +[83] The honour of using the harpoon is a hereditary privilege, enjoyed +by only a few men in a tribe, and previous to the whaling season the +crews have to practise all manner of ascetic practices in order to +ensure good luck in the venture. + +[84] This porpoise Dr. Gray considered, after examining a skull which I +brought to the British Museum in 1866, to differ little, if at all, from +the _Phocæna communis_ of the Atlantic; but Dr. (afterwards Sir) W. H. +Flower (_List of the Specimens of Cetacea_, etc., 1885, p. 16) seems to +be of a different opinion. + +[85] This "sea-cow," of which Meares also speaks as an animal hunted by +the Nootka people, though rarely seen so far south, must, one might +think, be another name for the seal or "sea-calf," were not the latter +expressly referred to by name. The sea-cow, dugong, or manatee is not +found in these seas, and the _Rhytina Stelleri_, once so abundant on +Behring Island in Behring Strait, is generally considered to have been +exterminated in the interval between 1741-1768. This, however, is hardly +in accordance with fact, for, as evidence collected by Nordenskjöld +proves, they were occasionally killed in 1780, while one was seen as +late as 1854. It is therefore by no means improbable that in 1803 a few +stragglers were still waiting their end on the shores of Vancouver +Island. The sea-lion (_Eumetopias Stelleri_) is a seal also verging on +extinction, the _Otaria ursinus_ being now the fur seal of commerce (and +politics) in that part of the North Pacific. + +[86] A species of cedar (_Thuja_) is the wood used. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MUSIC--MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--SLAVES--NEIGHBOURING TRIBES--TRADE WITH +THESE--ARMY + + +They have a number which they sing on various occasions--at war,[87] +whaling and fishing, at their marriages and feasts, and at public +festivals or solemnities. The language of the most of these appears to +be very different in many respects from that used in their common +conversation, which leads me to believe either that they have a +different mode of expressing themselves in poetry, or that they borrow +their songs from their neighbours; and what the more particularly +induces me to the latter opinion is, that whenever any of the +Newchemass, a people from the northward, and who speak a very different +language, arrived, they used to tell me that they expected a new song, +and were almost always sure to have one. + +Their tunes are generally soft and plaintive, and though not possessing +great variety, are not deficient in harmony. Their singing is generally +accompanied with several rude kinds of instrumental music, among the +most prominent of which is a kind of a drum. This is nothing more than +a long plank hollowed out on the under side and made quite thin, which +is beat upon by a stick of about a foot long, and renders a sound not +unlike beating on the head of an empty cask, but much louder. + +But the two most favourite instruments are the rattle and the pipe or +whistle; these are, however, only used by the king, the chiefs, or some +particular persons. The former is made of dried sealskin, so as to +represent a fish, and is filled with a number of small smooth pebbles; +it has a short handle, and is painted red. The whistle is made of bone, +generally the leg of a deer; it is short, but emits a very shrill sound. +They have likewise another kind of music, which they make use of in +dancing, in the manner of castanets. This is produced by a number of +mussel or cockle shells tied together and shaken to a kind of tune, +which is accompanied with the voice. + + * * * * * + +Their slaves, as I have observed, form their most valuable species of +property. These are of both sexes, being either captives taken by +themselves in war, or purchased from the neighbouring tribes, and who +reside in the same house, forming as it were a part of the family, are +usually kindly treated, eat of the same food, and live as well as their +masters. They are compelled, however, at times to labour severely, as +not only all the menial offices are performed by them, such as bringing +water, cutting wood, and a variety of others, but they are obliged to +make the canoes, to assist in building and repairing the houses, to +supply their masters with fish, and to attend them in war and to fight +for them. + +None but the king and chiefs have slaves, the common people being +prevented from holding them, either from their inability to purchase +them, or, as I am rather inclined to think, from its being considered as +the privilege of the former alone to have them,[88] especially as all +those made prisoners in war belong either to the king or the chiefs who +have captured them, each one holding such as have been taken by himself +or his slaves. There is probably, however, some little distinction in +favour of the king, who is always the commander of the expedition, as +Maquina had nearly fifty, male and female, in his house, a number +constituting about one half of its inhabitants, comprehending those +obtained by war and purchase; whereas none of the other chiefs had more +than twelve. The females are employed principally in manufacturing +cloth, in cooking, collecting berries, etc., and with regard to food and +living in general have not a much harder lot than their mistresses, the +principal difference consisting in these poor unfortunate creatures +being considered as free to any one, their masters prostituting them +whenever they think proper for the purpose of gain. In this way many of +them are brought on board the ships and offered to the crews, from +whence an opinion appears to have been formed by some of our navigators +injurious to the chastity of their females, than which nothing can be +more generally untrue, as perhaps in no part of the world is that virtue +more prized.[89] + +The houses at Nootka, as already stated, are about twenty, without +comprising those inhabited by the Klahars, a small tribe that has been +conquered and incorporated into that of Nootka, though they must be +considered as in a state of vassalage, as they are not permitted to have +any chiefs among them, and live by themselves in a cluster of small +houses at a little distance from the village. The Nootka tribe, which +consists of about five hundred warriors,[90] is not only more numerous +than almost any of the neighbouring tribes, but far exceeds them in the +strength and martial spirit of its people; and in fact there are but few +nations within a hundred miles either to the north or south but are +considered as tributary to them. + +In giving some account of the tribes that were accustomed to visit +Nootka, I shall commence at the southward with the Kla-iz-zarts, and the +Wickinninish, premising that in point of personal appearance there +prevails a wonderful diversity between the various tribes on the coast, +with the exception of the feet and legs, which are badly shaped in +almost all of them from their practice of sitting on them. + +The Kla-iz-zarts are a numerous and powerful tribe, living nearly three +hundred miles to the south, and are said to consist of more than a +thousand warriors.[91] They appear to be more civilised than any of the +others, being better and more neatly dressed, more mild and affable in +their manners, remarkable for their sprightliness and vivacity, and +celebrated for their singing and dancing. + +They exhibit also greater marks of improvement in whatever is wrought by +them; their canoes, though not superior to those of Nootka in point of +form and lightness, are more highly ornamented, and their weapons and +tools of every kind have a much higher finish and display more skill in +the workmanship. Their cast of countenance is very different from that +of the Nootkians, their faces being very broad, with a less prominent +nose and smaller eyes, and the top of the head flattened as if it had +been pressed down with a weight. Their complexion is also much fairer, +and their stature shorter, though they are well formed and strongly set. + +They have a custom which appears to be peculiar to them, as I never +observed it in any of the other tribes, which is to pluck out not only +their beards and the hair from their bodies, but also their eyebrows, so +as not to leave a vestige remaining. They were also in general more +skilful in painting and decorating themselves, and I have seen some of +them with no less than a dozen holes in each of their ears, to which +were suspended strings of small beads about two inches in length. Their +language is the same as spoken at Nootka, but their pronunciation is +much more hoarse and guttural. These people are not only very expert in +whaling, but are great hunters of the sea-otter and other animals, with +which their country is said to abound, and the metamelth, a large animal +of the deer kind, the skin of which I have already spoken of, another of +a light grey colour, with very fine hair, from which they manufacture a +handsome cloth, the beaver, and a species of large wild cat or tiger +cat. + +The Wickinninish,[92] their neighbours on the north, are about two +hundred miles from Nootka. They are a robust, strong, and warlike +people, but considered by the Nootkians as their inferiors in courage. +This tribe is more numerous than that of Nootka, amounting to between +six and seven hundred warriors. Though not so civilised as the +Kla-iz-zarts, and less skilful in their manufactures, like them they +employ themselves in hunting, as well as in whaling and fishing. Their +faces are broad, but less so than the Kla-iz-zarts, with a darker +complexion and a much less open and pleasing expression of countenance, +while their heads present a very different form, being pressed in at the +sides and lengthened towards the top somewhat in the shape of a sugar +loaf. These people are very frequent visitors at Nootka, a close +friendship subsisting between the two nations, Maquina's _Arcomah_ or +queen, _Y-ya-tintla-no_, being the daughter of the Wickinninish king. + +The Kla-oo-quates[93] adjoining them on the north are much less +numerous, their force not exceeding four hundred fighting men; they are +also behind them in the arts of life. These are a fierce, bold, and +enterprising people, and there were none that visited Nootka, whom +Maquina used to be more on his guard against, or viewed with so much +suspicion. The Eshquates[94] are about the same number; these are +considered as tributary to Maquina. Their coast abounds with rivers, +creeks, and marshes. + +[Illustration: UK-LULAC-AHT INDIAN.] + +To the north the nearest tribe of any importance is the Aitizzarts;[95] +these, however, do not exceed three hundred warriors. In appearance +they greatly resemble the people of Nootka, to whom they are considered +as tributary, their manners, dress, and style of living also being very +similar. They reside at about forty miles' distance up the Sound. A +considerable way farther to the northward are the Cayuquets;[96] these +are a much more numerous tribe than that of Nootka, but thought by the +latter to be deficient in courage and martial spirit, Maquina having +frequently told me that their hearts were a little like those of birds. + +There are also both at the north and south many other intervening +tribes, but in general small in number and insignificant, all of whom, +as well as the above-mentioned, speak the same language. But the +Newchemass, who come from a great way to the northward, and from some +distance inland, as I was told by Maquina, speak quite a different +language,[97] although it is well understood by those of Nootka. These +were the most savage-looking and ugly men that I ever saw, their +complexion being much darker, their stature shorter, and their hair +coarser, than that of the other nations, and their dress and appearance +dirty in an extreme. They wear their beards long like Jews, and have a +very morose and surly countenance. Their usual dress is a _kotsuk_ made +of wolf-skin, with a number of the tails attached to it, of which I have +seen no less than ten on one garment, hanging from the top to the +bottom; though they sometimes wear a similar mantle of bark cloth, of a +much coarser texture than that of Nootka, the original of which appears +to be the same, though from their very great filthiness it was almost +impossible to discover what it had been. + +Their mode of dressing the hair also varies essentially from that of the +other tribes, for they suffer that on the back of the head to hang +loose, and bind the other over their foreheads in the manner of a +fillet, with a strip of their country cloth, ornamented with small white +shells. Their weapons are the _cheetolth_, or war-club, which is made +from whalebone, daggers, bow and arrows, and a kind of spear pointed +with bone or copper.[98] They brought with them no furs for sale, +excepting a few wolf-skins, their merchandise consisting principally of +the black shining mineral called _pelpelth_, and the fine red paint, +which they carefully kept in close mat bags, some small dried salmon, +clams, and roes of fish, with occasionally a little coarse matting +cloth. They were accustomed to remain a much longer time at Nootka than +the other tribes, in order to recover from the fatigue of a long +journey, part of which was overland, and on these occasions taught their +songs to our savages. + +The trade of most of the other tribes with Nootka was principally +train-oil, seal or whale's blubber, fish fresh or dried, herring or +salmon spawn, clams and mussels, and the _yama_,[99] a species of fruit +which is pressed and dried, cloth, sea-otter skins, and slaves. From +the Aitizzarts and the Cayuquets, particularly the former, the best +Ife-whaw and in the greatest quantities was obtained. The Eshquates +furnished us with wild ducks and geese, particularly the latter. The +Wickinninish and Kla-iz-zarts brought to market many slaves, the best +sea-otter skins, great quantities of oil, whale sinew, and cakes of the +_yama_, highly ornamented canoes, some Ife-whaw, red ochre and pelpelth +of an inferior quality to that obtained from the Newchemass, but +particularly the so much valued metamelth, and an excellent root called +by the Kla-iz-zarts _Quawnoose_.[100] This is the size of a small onion, +but rather longer, being of a tapering form like a pear, and of a +brownish colour. It is cooked by steam, is always brought in baskets +ready prepared for eating, and is in truth a very fine vegetable, being +sweet, mealy, and of a most agreeable flavour. It was highly esteemed by +the natives, who used to eat it, as they did everything else, with +train-oil. From the Kla-iz-zarts was also received, though in no great +quantity, a cloth manufactured by them from the fur already spoken of, +which feels like wool and is of a grey colour. + +Many of the articles thus brought, particularly the provisions, were +considered as presents, or tributary offerings, but this must be viewed +as little more than a nominal acknowledgment of superiority, as they +rarely failed to get the full amount of the value of their presents. I +have known eighteen of the great tubs, in which they keep their +provisions, filled with spawn brought in this way. On these occasions a +great feast is always made, to which not only the strangers, but the +whole village, men, women, and children, are generally invited, and I +have seen five of the largest tubs employed at such time, in cooking at +the king's house. At these feasts they generally indulge in eating to an +excess, making up in this respect for their want of inebriating liquors, +which they know no method of preparing in any form, their only drink +being water. + +Whenever they came to visit or trade, it was their general custom to +stop a few miles distant, under the lee of some bluff or rock, and rig +themselves out in their best manner, by painting and dressing their +heads. On their first coming on shore, they were invited to eat by the +king, when they brought to him such articles as he wanted, after which +the rest of the inhabitants were permitted to purchase, the strangers +being careful to keep them in their canoes until sold, under strict +guard to prevent their being stolen, the disposition of these people for +thieving being so great, that it is necessary to keep a watchful eye +upon them. + +This was their usual mode of traffic, but whenever they wished to +purchase any particular object, as, for instance, a certain slave, or +some other thing of which they were very desirous, the canoe that came +for this purpose would lie off a little distance from the shore, and a +kind of ambassador or representative of the king or chief by whom it was +sent, dressed in their best manner, and with his head covered with the +white down, would rise, and, after making known the object of his +mission in a pompous speech, hold up specimens of such articles as he +was instructed to offer in payment, mentioning the number or quantity of +each, when, if the bargain was concluded, the exchange was immediately +made. + +On their visits of friendship or traffic, the chiefs alone used to sleep +on shore; this was generally at the house of the king or the head chief, +the others passing the night on board of their canoes, which was done +not only for the preservation of their property, but because they were +not permitted to remain on shore, lest they might excite some +disturbance or commit depredations. + +All these people generally go armed, the common class wearing only a +dagger suspended from their neck behind, with a string of metamelth, and +sometimes thrust in their girdles. The chiefs, in addition to the +dagger, carry the cheetolth, or war-club, suspended in the same manner +beneath their mantles; this, in the hands of a strong man, is a powerful +weapon, in the management of which some of the older chiefs are very +dexterous. It is made from the bone of a whale, and is very heavy. The +blade is about eighteen inches long and three broad, till it approaches +near the point, where it expands to the breadth of four inches. In the +middle, from whence it slopes off gradually to an edge on each side, it +is from one to two inches in thickness. This blade is usually covered +with figures of the sun and moon, a man's head, etc.; and the hilt, +which is made to represent the head of a man or some animal, is +curiously set with small white shells, and has a band of metamelth +fastened to it, in order to sling it over the shoulder. Some of the +tribes have also a kind of spear headed with copper or the bone of the +sting ray, which is a dangerous weapon; this is, however, not usual, and +only carried by the chiefs. The bow and arrow are still used by a few, +but since the introduction of firearms among them, this weapon has been +mostly laid aside. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[87] A specimen of one of their war-songs will be found at the end of +this work. + +[88] This was not the case. Any free-born native, provided he had the +means, could own a slave. + +[89] This is largely a tale of the past. + +[90] It is questionable if there are now as many people in the whole +tribe. Cook estimated the population of Friendly Cove at two thousand. + +[91] This is wrong. The Kla-iz-zarts (Klahosahts) live _north_ of Nootka +Sound. + +[92] In Meares's time (1788) Wickinninish was regarded as the most +powerful chief, next to Maquina or Maquilla, as he calls him. His +residence was usually at "Port Cox" (Clayoquat Sound), but his territory +extended as far south as Nettinaht, his subjects comprising thirteen +thousand people. Meares does not fall into Jewitt's blunder of +confounding the name of the chief with that of his tribe. But Meares +derived his information first hand, while Jewitt obtained it merely from +hearsay, never having visited any other part except the immediate +vicinity of Nootka Sound. + +[93] Klayoquahts. They have now barely two hundred warriors. + +[94] Hishquahts. If they have twenty men, that is all. Thirty years ago +they had only thirty adult males. + +[95] Ayhuttisahts. Thirty years ago they had thirty-six men fit to +fight. + +[96] Ky-yoh-quahts. In 1860 they numbered two hundred and thirty adult +men. + +[97] Namely, the Kwakiool spoken on the east and north coasts of +Vancouver Island from Comox northwards. + +[98] These implements have fallen out of use. + +[99] The salal (_Gaultheria Shallon_), which forms a carpet to the +ground, especially where the soil is poor. + +[100] The bulb of a pretty blue lily (_Gamassia esculenta_), well known +all over North-West America as the "gamass" or "kamass." The digging and +storing of it in summer form one of the most picturesque of Indian +occupations. The gamass camps are always lively, and the skill and +industry which a girl displays in this important part of her future +duties are carefully noted by the young men in search of wives. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SITUATION OF THE AUTHOR--REMOVAL TO TASHEES--FISHING PARTIES + + +But to return to our unhappy situation. Though my comrade and myself +fared as well, and even better than we could have expected among these +people, considering their customs and mode of living, yet our fears lest +no ship would come to our release, and that we should never more behold +a Christian country, were to us a source of constant pain. Our principal +consolation, in this gloomy state, was to go on Sundays, whenever the +weather would permit, to the borders of a freshwater pond about a mile +from the village, where, after bathing and putting on clean clothes, we +would seat ourselves under the shade of a beautiful pine, while I read +some chapters in the Bible, and the prayers appointed by our Church for +the day, ending our devotions with a fervent prayer to the Almighty, +that He would deign still to watch over and preserve our lives, rescue +us from the hands of the savages, and permit us once more to behold a +Christian land. + +In this manner were the greater part of our Sundays passed at Nootka; +and I felt gratified to Heaven that, amidst our other sufferings, we +were at least allowed the pleasure of offering up our devotions +unmolested, for Maquina, on my explaining to him as well as was in my +power the reason of our thus retiring at this time, far from objecting, +readily consented to it. + +The pond above mentioned was small, not more than a quarter of a mile in +breadth, and of no great length, the water being very clear, though not +of great depth, and bordered by a beautiful forest of pine, fir, +elm,[101] and beech,[101] free from bushes and underwood--a most +delightful retreat, which was rendered still more attractive by a great +number of birds that frequented it, particularly the humming-bird.[102] +Thither we used to go to wash our clothes, and felt secure from any +intrusion from the natives, as they rarely visited it, except for the +purpose of cleansing themselves of their paint. + +In July we at length thought that the hope of delivery we had so long +anxiously indulged was on the point of being gratified. A ship appeared +in the offing; but, alas! our fond hopes vanished almost as soon as +formed; for, instead of standing in for the shore, she passed to the +northward, and soon disappeared. I shall not attempt to describe our +disappointment--my heart sank within me, and I felt as though it was my +destiny never more to behold a Christian face. Four days after, there +occurred a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning, during which the +natives manifested great alarm and terror, the whole tribe hurrying to +Maquina's house, where, instead of keeping within, they seated +themselves on the roof, amid the severest of the tempest, drumming upon +the boards, and looking up to heaven, while the king beat the long +hollow plank, singing, and, as he afterwards told me, begging +_Quahootze_, the name they give to God, not to kill them, in which he +was accompanied by the whole tribe; this singing and drumming was +continued until the storm abated. + +As the summer drew near its close, we began to suffer from the frequent +want of food, which was principally owing to Maquina and the chiefs +being out whaling, in which he would not permit Thompson and myself to +join, lest we should make our escape to some of the neighbouring tribes. +At these times the women seldom or ever cook any provision, and we were +often hungry, but were sometimes fortunate enough to procure secretly a +piece of salmon, some other fish, spawn, or even blubber, which, by +boiling in salt water, with a few onions and turnips, the remains of the +Spanish garden, or young nettles or other herbs, furnished us a +delicious repast in private. + +In the meantime, we frequently received accounts from the tribes who +came to Nootka, both from the north and south, of there being vessels on +the coast, and were advised by their chiefs to make our escape, who also +promised us their aid, and to put us on board. These stories, however, +as I afterwards learned, were almost all of them without any foundation, +and merely invented by these people with a view to get us into their +power, in order to make slaves of us themselves, or to sell us to +others. + +But I was still more strongly solicited to leave Nootka by a woman. This +was a Wickinninish princess, a younger sister of Maquina's wife, who was +there on a visit. I had the good fortune, if it may be so called, to +become quite a favourite with her. She appeared much interested for me, +asked me many questions respecting my country, if I had a mother and +sister at home, and if they would not grieve for my absence. Her +complexion was fairer than that of the women in general, and her +features more regular, and she would have been quite handsome had it not +been for a defect in one of her eyes, the sight of which had been +injured by some accident; the reason, as Maquina told me, why she had +not been married, a defect of this kind being by these savages +considered as almost an insuperable objection. She urged me repeatedly +to return with her, telling me that the Wickinninish were much better +than the Nootkians; that her father would treat me more kindly than +Maquina, give me better food and clothes, and finally put me on board +one of my own country vessels. I felt, however, little disposed to +accompany her, considering my situation with Maquina full as eligible as +it would be with Wickinninish, if not better, notwithstanding all she +said to the contrary. + +On the 3rd of September the whole tribe quitted Nootka, according to +their constant practice, in order to pass the autumn and winter at +Tashees[103] and Cooptee, the latter lying about thirty miles up the +Sound, in a deep bay, the navigation of which is very dangerous, from +the great number of reefs and rocks with which it abounds. + +On these occasions everything is taken with them, even the planks of +their houses, in order to cover their new dwellings. To an European such +a removal exhibits a scene quite novel and strange; canoes piled up with +boards and boxes, and filled with men, women, and children, of all ranks +and sizes, making the air resound with their cries and songs. + +At these times, as well as when they have occasion to go some distance +from their houses, the infants are usually suspended across the mother's +shoulders, in a kind of cradle or hammock, formed of bark, of about six +inches in depth, and of the length of the child, by means of a leather +band inserted through loops on its edges; this they also keep them in +when at home, in order to preserve them in a straight position, and +prevent any distortion of the limbs, most probably a principal cause of +these people being so seldom deformed or crooked. + +The longboat of our ship having been repaired and furnished with a sail +by Thompson, Maquina gave us the direction of it, we being better +acquainted with managing it than his people, and, after loading her as +deep as she could swim, we proceeded in company with them to the north, +quitting Nootka with heavy hearts, as we could entertain no hopes of +release until our return, no ships ever coming to that part of the +coast. Passing Cooptee, which is situated on the southern bank, just +within the mouth of a small river flowing from the east in a narrow +valley at the foot of a mountain, we proceeded about fifteen miles up +this stream to Tashees, between a range of lofty hills on each side, +which extend a great distance inland, and are covered with the finest +forest trees of the country. Immediately on our arrival, we all went to +work very diligently in covering the houses with the planks we had +brought, the frames being ready erected, these people never pretending +to remove the timber. In a very short time the work was completed, and +we were established in our new residence. + +Tashees is pleasantly situated, and in a most secure position from the +winter storms, in a small vale or hollow on the south shore, at the foot +of a mountain. The spot on which it stands is level, and the soil very +fine, the country in its vicinity abounding with the most romantic +views, charmingly diversified, and fine streams of water falling in +beautiful cascades from the mountains. The river at this place is about +twenty rods in width, and, in its deepest part, from nine to twelve +feet. This village is the extreme point of navigation, as, immediately +beyond, the river becomes much more shallow, and is broken into falls +and rapids. The houses here are placed in a line like those at Nootka, +but closer together, the situation being more confined; they are also +smaller, in consequence of which we were much crowded, and incommoded +for room. + +The principal object in coming to this place is the facility it affords +these people of providing their winter stock of provisions, which +consists principally of salmon, and the spawn of that fish; to which may +be added herrings and sprats, and herring spawn. The latter, however, is +always procured by them at Nootka, previous to their quitting it. At the +seasons of spawning, which are early in spring and the last of August, +they collect a great quantity of pine branches, which they place in +different parts of the Cove at the depth of about ten feet, and secure +them by means of heavy stones. On these the herring deposit their spawn +in immense quantities; the bushes are then taken up, the spawn stripped +from the branches, and, after being washed and freed from the pine +leaves by the women, is dried and put up in baskets for use. It is +considered as their greatest delicacy, and eaten both cooked and raw; in +the former case, being boiled and eaten with train-oil, and in the +latter, mixed up with cold water alone. + +The salmon are taken at Tashees, principally in pots or wears. Their +method of taking them in wears is thus:--A pot of twenty feet in length, +and from four to five feet diameter at the mouth, is formed of a great +number of pine splinters, which are strongly secured, an inch and a half +from each other, by means of hoops made of flexible twigs, and placed +about eight inches apart. At the end it tapers almost to a point, near +which is a small wicker door for the purpose of taking out the fish. +This pot or wear is placed at the foot of a fall or rapid, where the +water is not very deep, and the fish, driven from above with long poles, +are intercepted and caught in the wear, from whence they are taken into +the canoes. In this manner I have seen more than seven hundred salmon +caught in the space of fifteen minutes.[104] I have also sometimes known +a few of the striped bass taken in this manner, but rarely. + +[Illustration: SALMON WEAR NEAR THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF QUAMICHAN, V. I.] + +At such times there is great feasting and merriment among them. The +women and female slaves being busily employed in cooking, or in curing +the fish for their winter stock, which is done by cutting off the heads +and tails, splitting them, taking out the back bone, and hanging them up +in their houses to dry. They also dry the halibut and cod, but these, +instead of curing whole, they cut up into small pieces for that purpose, +and expose to the sun. + +The spawn of the salmon, which is a principal article of their +provision, they take out, and, without any other preparation, throw it +into their tubs, where they leave it to stand and ferment, for, though +they frequently eat it fresh, they esteem it much more when it has +acquired a strong taste, and one of the greatest favours they can confer +on any person, is to invite him to eat _Quakamiss_, the name they give +this food, though scarcely anything can be more repugnant to an European +palate, than it is in this state; and whenever they took it out of these +large receptacles, which they are always careful to fill, such was the +stench which it exhaled, on being moved, that it was almost impossible +for me to abide it, even after habit had in a great degree dulled the +delicacy of my senses. When boiled it became less offensive, though it +still retained much of the putrid smell, and something of the taste. + +Such is the immense quantity of these fish, and they are taken with such +facility, that I have known upwards of twenty-five hundred brought into +Maquina's house at once; and at one of their great feasts, have seen +one hundred or more cooked in one of their largest tubs. + +I used frequently to go out with Maquina upon these fishing parties, and +was always sure to receive a handsome present of salmon, which I had the +privilege of calling mine; I also went with him several times in a +canoe, to strike the salmon, which I have attempted to do myself, but +could never succeed, it requiring a degree of adroitness that I did not +possess. I was also permitted to go out with a gun, and was several +times very successful in shooting wild ducks and teal, which are very +numerous here, though rather shy. These they cooked in their usual +manner, by boiling, without any farther dressing than skinning them. + +In many respects, however, our situation was less pleasant here than at +Nootka. We were more incommoded for room, the houses not being so +spacious, nor so well arranged, and as it was colder, we were compelled +to be much more within doors. We, however, did not neglect on Sundays, +when the weather would admit, to retire into the woods, and, by the side +of some stream, after bathing, return our thanks to God for preserving +us, and offer up to Him our customary devotions. + +I was, however, very apprehensive, soon after our arrival at this place, +that I should be deprived of the satisfaction of keeping my journal, as +Maquina one day, observing me writing, inquired of me what I was doing, +and when I endeavoured to explain it, by telling him that I was keeping +an account of the weather, he said it was not so, and that I was +speaking bad about him, and telling how he had taken our ship and killed +the crew, so as to inform my countrymen, and that if he ever saw me +writing in it again, he would throw it into the fire. I was much +rejoiced that he did no more than threaten, and became very cautious +afterwards not to let him see me write. + +Not long after, I finished some daggers for him, which I polished +highly; these pleased him much, and he gave me directions to make a +cheetolth, in which I succeeded so far to his satisfaction, that he gave +me a present of cloth sufficient to make me a complete suit of raiment, +besides other things. + +Thompson also, who had become rather more of a favourite than formerly, +since he had made a fine sail for his canoe, and some garments for him +out of European cloth, about this time completed another, which was +thought by the savages a most superb dress. This was a _kotsuk_ or +mantle, a fathom square, made entirely of European vest patterns of the +gayest colours. These were sewed together in a manner to make the best +show, and bound with a deep trimming of the finest otter-skin, with +which the arm-holes were also bordered; while the bottom was further +embellished with five or six rows of gilt buttons, placed as near as +possible to each other. + +Nothing could exceed the pride of Maquina when he first put on this +royal robe, decorated, like the coat of Joseph, with all the colours of +the rainbow, and glittering with the buttons, which as he strutted about +made a tinkling, while he repeatedly exclaimed, in a transport of +exultation, "_Klew shish Kotsuk--wick kum_ _atack Nootka_."[105]--"A +fine garment--Nootka can't make them." + +Maquina, who knew that the chiefs of the tribes who came to visit us had +endeavoured to persuade me to escape, frequently cautioned me not to +listen to them, saying that, should I make the attempt, and he were to +take me, he should certainly put me to death. While here, he gave me a +book, in which I found the names of seven persons belonging to the ship +_Manchester_, of Philadelphia, Captain Brian--viz. Daniel Smith, Lewis +Gillon, James Tom, Clark, Johnson, Ben, and Jack. These men, as Maquina +informed me, ran away from the ship and came to him, but that six of +them soon after went off in the night, with an intention to go to the +Wickinninish, but were stopped by the Eshquates, and sent back to him, +and that he ordered them to be put to death; and a most cruel death it +was, as I was told by one of the natives, four men holding one of them +on the ground, and forcing open his mouth, while they choked him by +ramming stones down his throat. + +As to Jack, the boy, who made no attempt to go off, Maquina afterwards +sold him to the Wickinninish. I was informed by the Princess Yuqua that +he was quite a small boy, who cried a great deal, being put to hard +labour beyond his strength by the natives, in cutting wood and bringing +water, and that when he heard of the murder of our crew, it had such an +effect on him, that he fell sick, and died shortly after. On learning +the melancholy fate of this unfortunate lad, it again awakened in my +bosom those feelings that I had experienced at the shocking death of my +poor comrades. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[101] These trees are not found in Vancouver Island. Possibly, though +they are not very like, Jewitt mistook them for the Oregon alder and the +American ash, both trees of that locality. + +[102] This is the migratory red-backed species (_Selasphorus rufus_, p. +19). + +[103] "Tashis Canal" of seamen--the Tashis River flows in at its head, +Coptee is at the mouth, Tashis farther up the stream. + +[104] Salmon used to be bought at Alberni at the rate of a cent apiece. +There have been times when the garden at Fort Rupert was manured with +fresh salmon. + +[105] This is a fair specimen of the kind of _lingua franca_ which even +then had begun to spring up in the intercourse of the early traders with +the Indians, and which by now takes the shape of the Chinook Jargon. +For, apart from the imperfectly pronounced Indian words, there is no +such term as Nootka in any language. It was a misconception of the first +visitors there. They probably mistook _Nootchee_, a mountain, for the +name of the country generally (p. 29). + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CONVERSATION WITH MAQUINA--FRUITS--RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES--VISIT TO +UPQUESTA + + +The king, finding that I was desirous of learning their language, was +much delighted, and took great pleasure in conversing with me. On one of +these occasions he explained to me his reasons for cutting off our ship, +saying that he bore no ill will to my countrymen, but that he had been +several times treated very ill by them. The first injury of which he had +cause to complain, was done him by a Captain Tawnington, who commanded a +schooner which passed a winter at Friendly Cove, where he was well +treated by the inhabitants. This man, taking advantage of Maquina's +absence, who had gone to the Wickinninish to procure a wife, armed +himself and crew, and entered the house, where there were none but +women, whom he threw into the greatest consternation, and, searching the +chests, took away all the skins, of which Maquina had no less than forty +of the best; and that about the same time, four of their chiefs were +barbarously killed by a Captain Martinez, a Spaniard.[106] + +That soon after, Captain Hanna, of the _Sea Otter_[107] in consequence +of one of the natives having stolen a chisel from the carpenter, fired +upon their canoes which were alongside, and killed upwards of twenty of +the natives, of whom several were _Tyees_ or chiefs; and that he +himself, being on board the vessel, in order to escape was obliged to +leap from the quarter-deck, and swim for a long way under water. + +These injuries had excited in the breast of Maquina an ardent desire of +revenge, the strongest passion of the savage heart, and though many +years had elapsed since their commission, still they were not forgotten, +and the want of a favourable opportunity alone prevented him from sooner +avenging them. Unfortunately for us, the long-wished-for opportunity at +length presented itself in our ship, which Maquina finding not guarded +with the usual vigilance of the North-West traders, and feeling his +desire of revenge rekindled by the insult offered him by Captain Salter, +formed a plan for attacking, and on his return called a council of his +chiefs, and communicated it to them, acquainting them with the manner in +which he had been treated. No less desirous of avenging this affront +offered their king than their former injuries, they readily agreed to +his proposal, which was to go on board without arms as usual, but under +different pretexts, in great numbers, and wait for his signal for the +moment of attacking their unsuspecting victims. The execution of this +scheme, as the reader knows, was unhappily too successful. + +And here I cannot but indulge a reflection that has frequently occurred +to me on the manner in which our people behave towards the natives. For, +though they are a thievish race, yet I have no doubt that many of the +melancholy disasters have principally arisen from the imprudent conduct +of some of the captains and crews of the ships employed in this trade, +in exasperating them by insulting, plundering, and even killing them on +slight grounds. This, as nothing is more sacred with a savage than the +principle of revenge, and no people are so impatient under insult, +induces them to wreak their vengeance upon the first vessel or boat's +crew that offers, making the innocent too frequently suffer for the +wrongs of the guilty, as few of them know how to discriminate between +persons of the same general appearance, more especially when speaking +the same language. And to this cause do I believe must principally be +ascribed the sanguinary disposition with which these people are +reproached, as Maquina repeatedly told me that it was not his wish to +hurt a white man, and that he never should have done it, though ever so +much in his power, had they not injured him. + +[Illustration: CALLICUM AND MAQUILLA, CHIEFS OF NOOTKA SOUND.] + +And were the commanders of our ships to treat the savages with rather +more civility than they sometimes do, I am inclined to think they would +find their account in it; not that I should recommend to them a +confidence in the good faith and friendly professions of these people, +so as in any degree to remit their vigilance, but, on the contrary, to +be strictly on their guard, and suffer but a very few of them to come on +board the ship, and admit not many of their canoes alongside at a time; +a precaution that would have been the means of preventing some of the +unfortunate events that have occurred, and if attended to, may in future +preserve many a valuable life. Such a regulation, too, from what I know +of their disposition and wants, would produce no serious difficulty in +trading with the savages, and they would soon become perfectly +reconciled to it. + +Among the provisions which the Indians procure at Tashees, I must not +omit mentioning a fruit that is very important, as forming a great +article of their food. This is what is called by them the _Yama_,[108] a +species of berry that grows in bunches like currants, upon a bush from +two to three feet high, with a large, round, and smooth leaf. This berry +is black, and about the size of a pistol shot, but of rather an oblong +shape, and open at the top like the blue whortleberry. The taste is +sweet, but a little acrid, and when first gathered, if eaten in any +great quantity, especially without oil, is apt to produce colics. To +procure it, large companies of women go out on the mountains, +accompanied by armed men to protect them against wild beasts, where they +frequently remain for several days, kindling a fire at night, and +sheltering themselves under sheds constructed of boughs. At these +parties they collect great quantities. I have known Maquina's queen and +her women return loaded, bringing with them upwards of twelve bushels. +In order to preserve it, it is pressed in the bunches between two +planks, and dried and put away in baskets for use. It is always eaten +with oil. + +Of berries of various kinds, such as strawberries, raspberries, +blackberries, etc., there are great quantities in the country, of which +the natives are very fond, gathering them in their seasons, and eating +them with oil, but the yama is the only one that they preserve. + +Fish is, however, their great article of food, as almost all the others, +excepting the yama, may be considered as accidental. They nevertheless +are far from disrelishing meat, for instance, venison and bear's flesh. +With regard to the latter, they have a most singular custom, which is, +that any one who eats of it is obliged to abstain from eating any kind +of fresh fish whatever for the term of two months, as they have a +superstitious belief that, should any of their people, after tasting +bear's flesh, eat of fresh salmon, cod, etc., the fish, though at ever +so great a distance off, would come to the knowledge of it, and be so +much offended thereat as not to allow themselves to be taken by any of +the inhabitants. This I had an opportunity of observing while at +Tashees, a bear having been killed early in December, of which not more +than ten of the natives would eat, being prevented by the prohibition +annexed to it, which also was the reason of my comrade and myself not +tasting it, on being told by Maquina the consequences. + +As there is something quite curious in their management of this animal, +when they have killed one, I shall give a description of it. After well +cleansing the bear from the dirt and blood with which it is generally +covered when killed, it is brought in and seated opposite the king in an +upright posture, with a chief's bonnet, wrought in figures, on its head, +and its fur powdered over with the white down. A tray of provision is +then set before it, and it is invited by words and gestures to eat. This +mock ceremony over, the reason of which I could never learn, the animal +is taken and skinned, and the flesh and entrails boiled up into a soup, +no part but the paunch being rejected.[109] + +This dressing the bear, as they call it, is an occasion of great +rejoicing throughout the village, all the inhabitants being invited to a +great feast at the king's house, though but few of them, in consequence +of the penalty, will venture to eat of the flesh, but generally content +themselves with their favourite dish of herring spawn and water. The +feast on this occasion was closed by a dance from Sat-sat-sok-sis, in +the manner I have already described, in the course of which he +repeatedly shifted his mask for another of a different form. + +A few days after, a second bear was taken, like the former, by means of +a trap. This I had the curiosity to go and see at the place where it was +caught, which was in the following manner:--On the edge of a small +stream of water in the mountains which the salmon ascend, and near the +spot where the bear is accustomed to watch for them, which is known by +its track, a trap or box about the height of a man's head is built of +posts and planks with a flat top, on which are laid a number of large +stones or rocks. The top and sides are then carefully covered with turf, +so as to resemble a little mound, and wholly to exclude the light, a +narrow entrance of the height of the building only being left, just +sufficient to admit the head and shoulders of the beast. On the inside, +to a large plank that covers the top is suspended by a strong cord a +salmon, the plank being left loose, so that a forcible pull will bring +it down. On coming to its usual haunt, the bear enters the trap, and, in +endeavouring to pull away the fish, brings down the whole covering with +its load of stones upon its head, and is almost always crushed to death +on the spot, or so wounded as to be unable to escape.[110] + +They are always careful to examine these traps every day, in order, if a +bear be caught, to bring it immediately, for it is not a little singular +that these people will eat no kind of meat that is in the least tainted, +or not perfectly fresh, while, on the contrary, it is hardly possible +for fish to be in too putrid a state for them, and I have frequently +known them, when a whale has been driven ashore, bring pieces of it home +with them in a state of offensiveness insupportable to anything but a +crow, and devour it with high relish, considering it as preferable to +that which is fresh. + +On the morning of the 13th of December, commenced what to us appeared a +most singular farce. Apparently without any previous notice, Maquina +discharged a pistol close to his son's ear, who immediately fell down as +if killed, upon which all the women of the house set up a most +lamentable cry, tearing handfuls of hair from their heads, and +exclaiming that the prince was dead. At the same time a great number of +the inhabitants rushed into the house, armed with their daggers, +muskets, etc., inquiring the cause of their outcry. These were +immediately followed by two others dressed in wolf-skins, with masks +over their faces representing the head of that animal; the latter came +in on their hands and feet in the manner of a beast, and, taking up the +prince, carried him off upon their backs, retiring in the same manner +they entered. We saw nothing more of the ceremony, as Maquina came to +us, and, giving us a quantity of dried provision, ordered us to quit the +house, and not return to the village before the expiration of seven +days, for that if we appeared within that period, he should kill us. + +At any other season of the year such an order would by us have been +considered as an indulgence, in enabling us to pass our time in whatever +way we wished; and even now, furnished as we were with sufficient +provision for that term, it was not very unpleasant to us, more +particularly Thompson, who was always desirous to keep as much as +possible out of the society and sight of the natives, whom he detested. +Taking with us our provisions, a bundle of clothes, and our axes, we +obeyed the directions of Maquina, and withdrew into the woods, where we +built ourselves a cabin to shelter us, with the branches of trees, and, +keeping up a good fire, secured ourselves pretty well from the cold. +Here we passed the prescribed period of our exile, with more content +than much of the time while with them, employing the day in reading and +praying for our release, or in rambling around and exploring the +country, the soil of which we found to be very good, and the face of it, +beautifully diversified with hills and valleys, refreshed with the +finest streams of water, and at night enjoyed comfortable repose upon a +bed of soft leaves, with our garments spread over us to protect us from +the cold. + +At the end of seven days we returned, and found several of the people of +Ai-tiz-zart with their king or chief at Tashees, who had been invited by +Maquina to attend the close of this performance, which I now learned was +a celebration, held by them annually, in honour of their god, whom they +call _Quahootze_,[111] to return him their thanks for his past, and +implore his future favours. It terminated on the 21st, the day after our +return, with a most extraordinary exhibition. Three men, each of whom +had two bayonets run through his sides, between the ribs, apparently +regardless of the pain, traversed the room, backwards and forwards, +singing war-songs, and exulting in this display of firmness. + +On the arrival of the 25th, we could not but call to mind that this, +being Christmas, was in our country a day of the greatest festivity, +when our fellow-countrymen, assembled in their churches, were +celebrating the goodness of God and the praises of the Saviour. What a +reverse did our situation offer!--captives in a savage land, and slaves +to a set of ignorant beings, unacquainted with religion or humanity, +hardly were we permitted to offer up our devotions by ourselves in the +woods, while we felt even grateful for this privilege. Thither, with the +king's permission, we withdrew, and, after reading the service appointed +for the day, sung the hymn of the Nativity, fervently praying that +Heaven in its goodness would permit us to celebrate the next festival of +this kind in some Christian land. + +On our return, in order to conform as much as was in our power to the +custom of our country, we were desirous of having a better supper than +usual. With this view, we bought from one of the natives some dried +clams and oil, and a root called _Kletsup_,[112] which we cooked by +steaming, and found it very palatable. This root consists of many +fibres, of about six inches long, and of the size of a crow quill. It is +sweet, of an agreeable taste, not unlike the _Quawnoose_, and it is +eaten with oil. The plant that produces it I have never seen. + +On the 31st all the tribe quitted Tashees for Cooptee, whither they go +to pass the remainder of the winter, and complete their fishing, taking +off everything with them in the same manner as at Nootka. We arrived in +a few hours at Cooptee, which is about fifteen miles, and immediately +set about covering the houses, which was soon completed. + +This place, which is their great herring and sprat fishery, stands just +within the mouth of the river, on the same side with Tashees, in a very +narrow valley at the foot of a high mountain. Though nearly as secure +as Tashees from the winter storms, it is by no means so pleasantly +situated, though to us it was a much more agreeable residence, as it +brought us nearer Nootka, where we were impatient to return, in hopes of +finding some vessel there, or hearing of the arrival of one near. + +The first snow that fell this season was the day after our arrival, on +New Year's Day; a day that, like Christmas, brought with it painful +recollections, but at the same time led us to indulge the hope of a more +fortunate year than the last. + +Early on the morning of the 7th of January, Maquina took me with him in +his canoe on a visit to Upquesta, chief of the Ai-tiz-zarts, who had +invited him to attend an exhibition at his village, similar to the one +with which he had been entertained at Tashees. This place is between +twenty and thirty miles distant up the Sound, and stands on the banks of +a small river about the size of that of Cooptee, just within its +entrance, in a valley of much greater extent than that of Tashees; it +consists of fourteen or fifteen houses, built and disposed in the manner +of those at Nootka. The tribe, which is considered as tributary to +Maquina, amounts to about three hundred warriors, and the inhabitants, +both men and women, are among the best-looking of any people on the +coast. + +On our arrival we were received at the shore by the inhabitants, a few +of whom were armed with muskets, which they fired, with loud shouts and +exclamations of _Wocash, wocash!_ + +We were welcomed by the chief's messenger, or master of ceremonies, +dressed in his best garments, with his hair powdered with white down, +and holding in his hand the cheetolth, the badge of his office. This man +preceded us to the chief's house, where he introduced and pointed out to +us our respective seats. On entering, the visitors took off their hats, +which they always wear on similar occasions, and Maquina his outer +robes, of which he has several on whenever he pays a visit, and seated +himself near the chief. + +As I was dressed in European clothes, I became quite an object of +curiosity to these people, very few of whom had ever seen a white man. +They crowded around me in numbers, taking hold of my clothes, examining +my face, hands, and feet, and even opening my mouth to see if I had a +tongue, for, notwithstanding I had by this time become well acquainted +with their language, I preserved the strictest silence, Maquina on our +first landing having enjoined me not to speak until he should direct. + +Having undergone this examination for some time, Maquina at length made +a sign to me to speak to them. On hearing me address them in their own +language, they were greatly astonished and delighted, and told Maquina +that they now perceived that I was a man like themselves, except that I +was white, and looked like a seal, alluding to my blue jacket and +trousers, which they wanted to persuade me to take off, as they did not +like their appearance. Maquina in the meantime gave an account to the +chief of the scheme he had formed for surprising our ship, and the +manner in which he and his people had carried it into execution, with +such particular and horrid details of that transaction as chilled the +blood in my veins. Trays of boiled herring spawn and train-oil were +soon after brought in and placed before us, neither the chief or any of +his people eating at the same time, it being contrary to the ideas of +hospitality entertained by these nations, to eat any part of the food +that is provided for strangers, always waiting until their visitors have +finished, before they have their own brought in. + +The following day closed their festival with an exhibition of a similar +kind to that which had been given at Tashees, but still more cruel; the +different tribes appearing on these occasions to endeavour to surpass +each other in their proofs of fortitude and endurance of pain. In the +morning, twenty men entered the chief's house, with each an arrow run +through the flesh of his sides and either arm, with a cord fastened to +the end, which, as the performers advanced, singing and boasting, was +forcibly drawn back by a person having hold of it. After this +performance was closed, we returned to Cooptee, which we reached at +midnight, our men keeping time with their songs to the stroke of their +paddles. + +The natives now began to take the herring and sprat in immense +quantities, with some salmon, and there was nothing but feasting from +morning till night. + +The following is the method they employ to take the herring. A stick of +about seven feet long, two inches broad, and half an inch thick, is +formed from some hard wood, one side of which is set with sharp teeth, +made from whalebone, at about half an inch apart. Provided with this +instrument, the fisherman seats himself in the prow of a canoe, which is +paddled by another, and whenever he comes to a shoal of herrings, which +cover the water in great quantities, he strikes it with both hands upon +them, and at the same moment, turning it up, brings it over the side of +the canoe, into which he lets those that are taken drop. It is +astonishing to see how many are caught by those who are dexterous at +this kind of fishing, as they seldom fail, when the shoals are numerous, +of taking as many as ten or twelve at a stroke, and in a very short time +will fill a canoe with them. Sprats are likewise caught in a similar +manner. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[106] This was probably Don Estevan Martinez, who, on the 6th of May +1789, arrived in the corvette _Princesa_, to take possession of the +country for his sovereign. He it was who landed materials and artillery, +and began to erect a fort on a small island at the entrance to Friendly +Cove. He seems to have been a most high-handed kind of Don, for he +seized the British vessels _Iphigenia_, _North-West America_, +_Argonaut_, and _Princess Royal_, then trading under the Portuguese +flag, and acted in so arbitrary a manner to the officers and crew, that +it was easy to believe he was not over scrupulous in his dealings with +the Indians. It was during his stay in Nootka Sound that Callicum, a +relation of Maquina's, and next to him in rank, was barbarously murdered +by an officer on board one of the Spanish ships, and his father refused +permission to dive for the body until he had handed over a number of +skins to the white savage. + +[107] Captain James Hanna was the second European to enter Nootka Sound +after Captain Cook had left it. The _Sea Otter_, a vessel under 70 tons, +was fitted out in China, and reached Nootka in August 1785; when +Maquina, presuming upon the inferior size of the craft and the small +number of the crew, made a desperate attack upon her. This was repulsed +by the courage of the ship's company, after which business proceeded on +such friendly terms that he procured five hundred and eighty-five +sea-otter skins in five weeks, which were sold in Canton for 20,600 +dollars. It was Hanna who discovered Fitzhugh Sound, Lance Island, Sea +Otter Harbour, and other now well-known spots on the North-West coast of +America. The incident related by Maquina is not to be found in the +records of the expedition which have descended to us. He made another +voyage in 1786, solely for commercial purposes. + +[108] _Gaultheria Shallon_ (see p. 137). + +[109] These observances are well worth noting in connection with the +others which attach to the bear among nearly all savage races. + +[110] These traps are still in common use. + +[111] _Quawteaht_, the supreme being of all the tribes speaking the +"Aht" language. + +[112] This seems the bracken fern root, which is eaten. But the name +usually applied to it is _Sheetla_. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +RETURN TO NOOTKA (FRIENDLY COVE)--DEATH OF MAQUINA'S NEPHEW--INSANITY OF +TOOTOOSCH--AN INDIAN MOUNTEBANK + + +About the beginning of February, Maquina gave a great feast, at which +were present not only all the inhabitants, but one hundred persons from +Ai-tiz-zart, and a number from Wickinninish who had been invited to +attend it. It is customary with them to give an annual entertainment of +this kind, and it is astonishing to see what a quantity of provision is +expended, or rather wasted, on such an occasion, when they always eat to +the greatest excess. It was at this feast that I saw upwards of an +hundred salmon cooked in one tub. The whole residence at Cooptee +presents an almost uninterrupted succession of feasting and +gormandising, and it would seem as if the principal object of these +people was to consume their whole stock of provision before leaving it, +trusting entirely to their success in fishing and whaling, for a supply +at Nootka. + +On the 25th of February we quitted Cooptee, and returned to Nootka. With +much joy did Thompson and myself again find ourselves in a place where, +notwithstanding the melancholy recollections which it excited, we hoped +before long to see some vessel arrive to our relief, and for this we +became the more solicitous, as of late we had become much more +apprehensive of our safety, in consequence of information brought +Maquina a few days before we left Cooptee, by some of the Cayuquets, +that there were twenty ships at the northward, preparing to come against +him, with an intent of destroying him and his whole tribe, for cutting +off the _Boston_. + +This story, which was wholly without foundation, and discovered +afterwards to have been invented by these people, for the purpose of +disquieting him, threw him into great alarm, and, notwithstanding all I +could say to convince him that it was an unfounded report, so great was +his jealousy of us, especially after it had been confirmed to him by +some others of the same nation, that he treated us with much harshness, +and kept a very suspicious eye upon us. + +Nothing, indeed, could be more unpleasant than our present situation, +when I reflected that our lives were altogether dependent on the will of +a savage, on whose caprice and suspicions no rational calculation could +be made. + + * * * * * + +Not long after our return, a son of Maquina's sister, a boy of eleven +years old, who had been for some time declining, died. Immediately on +his death, which was about midnight, all the men and women in the house +set up loud cries and shrieks, which, awakening Thompson and myself, so +disturbed us that we left the house. This lamentation was kept up during +the remainder of the night. In the morning, a great fire was kindled, +in which Maquina burned, in honour of the deceased, ten fathoms of +cloth, and buried with him ten fathoms more, eight of Ife-whaw, four +prime sea-otter skins, and two small trunks, containing our unfortunate +captain's clothes and watch. + +This boy was considered as a Tyee, or chief, being the only son of +Tootoosch, one of their principal chiefs, who had married Maquina's +sister, whence arose this ceremony on his interment: it being an +established custom with these people, that whenever a chief dies, his +most valuable property is burned or buried with him; it is, however, +wholly confined to the chiefs, and appears to be a mark of honour +appropriate to them.[113] In this instance, Maquina furnished the +articles, in order that his nephew might have the proper honours +rendered him. + +Tootoosch, his father, was esteemed the first warrior of the tribe, and +was one who had been particularly active in the destruction of our ship, +having killed two of our poor comrades, who were ashore, whose names +were Hall and Wood. About the time of our removal to Tashees, while in +the enjoyment of the highest health, he was suddenly seized with a fit +of delirium, in which he fancied that he saw the ghosts of those two men +constantly standing by him, and threatening him, so that he would take +no food, except what was forced into his mouth. + +A short time before this he had lost a daughter of about fifteen years +of age, which afflicted him greatly, and whether his insanity, a +disorder very uncommon amongst these savages, no instance of the kind +having occurred within the memory of the oldest man amongst them, +proceeded from this cause, or that it was the special interposition of +an all-merciful God in our favour, who by this means thought proper to +induce these barbarians still further to respect our lives, or that, for +hidden purposes, the Supreme Disposer of events sometimes permits the +spirits of the dead to revisit the world, and haunt the murderer, I know +not, but his mind, from this period until his death, which took place +but a few weeks after that of his son, was incessantly occupied with the +images of the men whom he had killed. + +This circumstance made much impression upon the tribe, particularly the +chiefs, whose uniform opposition to putting us to death, at the various +councils that were held on our account, I could not but in part +attribute to this cause; and Maquina used frequently, in speaking of +Tootoosch's sickness, to express much satisfaction that his hands had +not been stained with the blood of any of our men. + +When Maquina was first informed by his sister of the strange conduct of +her husband, he immediately went to his house, taking us with him; +suspecting that his disease had been caused by us, and that the ghosts +of our countrymen had been called thither by us, to torment him. We +found him raving about Hall and Wood, saying that they were _peshak_, +that is, bad. + +Maquina then placed some provision before him, to see if he would eat. +On perceiving it, he put forth his hand to take some, but instantly +withdrew it with signs of horror, saying that Hall and Wood were there, +and would not let him eat. Maquina then, pointing to us, asked if it was +not John and Thompson who troubled him. + +"_Wik_,"[114] he replied,--that is, no; "_John klushish--Thompson +klushish_"--John and Thompson are both good; then, turning to me, and +patting me on the shoulder, he made signs to me to eat. I tried to +persuade him that Hall and Wood were not there, and that none were near +him but ourselves; he said, "I know very well you do not see them, but I +do." + +At first Maquina endeavoured to convince him that he saw nothing, and to +laugh him out of his belief, but, finding that all was to no purpose, he +at length became serious, and asked me if I had ever seen anyone +affected in this manner, and what was the matter with him. I gave him to +understand, pointing to his head, that his brain was injured, and that +he did not see things as formerly. + +Being convinced by Tootoosch's conduct that we had no agency in his +indisposition, on our return home Maquina asked me what was done in my +country in similar cases. + +I told him that such persons were closely confined, and sometimes tied +up and whipped, in order to make them better.[115] + +After pondering for some time, he said that he should be glad to do +anything to relieve him, and that he should be whipped, and immediately +gave orders to some of his men to go to Tootoosch's house, bind him, and +bring him to his, in order to undergo the operation. + +Thompson was the person selected to administer this remedy, which he +undertook very readily, and for that purpose provided himself with a +good number of spruce branches, with which he whipped him most severely, +laying it on with the best will imaginable, while Tootoosch displayed +the greatest rage, kicking, spitting, and attempting to bite all who +came near him. This was too much for Maquina, who at length, unable to +endure it longer, ordered Thompson to desist and Tootoosch to be carried +back, saying that if there was no other way of curing him but by +whipping, he must remain mad. + +The application of the whip produced no beneficial effect on Tootoosch, +for he afterwards became still more deranged; in his fits of fury +sometimes seizing a club and beating his slaves in a most dreadful +manner, and striking and spitting at all who came near him, till at +length his wife, no longer daring to remain in the house with him, came +with her son to Maquina's. + + * * * * * + +The whaling season now commenced, and Maquina was out almost every day +in his canoe in pursuit of them, but for a considerable time with no +success, one day breaking the staff of his harpoon, another after having +been a long time fast to a whale, the weapon drawing, owing to the +breaking of the shell which formed its point, with several such like +accidents, arising from the imperfection of the instrument. + +At these times he always returned very morose and out of temper, +upbraiding his men with having violated their obligation to continence +preparatory to whaling. In this state of ill-humour he would give us +very little to eat, which, added to the women not cooking when the men +are away, reduced us to a very low fare. + +In consequence of the repeated occurrence of similar accidents, I +proposed to Maquina to make him a harpoon or foreganger of steel, which +would be less liable to fail him. The idea pleased him, and in a short +time I completed one for him, with which he was much delighted, and the +very next day went out to make a trial of it. + +He succeeded with it in taking a whale. Great was the joy throughout the +village as soon as it was known that the king had secured the whale, by +notice from a person stationed at the headland in the offing. All the +canoes were immediately launched, and, furnished with harpoons and +sealskin floats, hastened to assist in buoying it up and towing it in. + +The bringing in of this fish exhibited a scene of universal festivity. +As soon as the canoes appeared at the mouth of the Cove, those on board +of them singing a triumph to a slow air, to which they kept time with +their paddles, all who were on shore, men, women, and children, mounted +the roofs of their houses to congratulate the king on his success, +drumming most furiously on the planks, and exclaiming _Wocash--wocash, +Tyee!_ + +The whale, on being drawn on shore, was immediately cut up, and a great +feast of the blubber given at Maquina's house, to which all the village +were invited, who indemnified themselves for their Lent by eating as +usual to excess. I was highly praised for the goodness of my harpoon, +and a quantity of blubber given me, which I was permitted to cook as I +pleased; this I boiled in salt water with some young nettles and other +greens for Thompson and myself, and in this way we found it tolerable +food. + +Their method of procuring the oil, is to skim it from the water in which +the blubber is boiled, and when cool, put it up into whale bladders for +use; and of these I have seen them so large as, when filled, would +require no less than five or six men to carry. Several of the chiefs, +among whom were Maquina's brothers, who, after the king has caught the +first whale, are privileged to take them also, were very desirous, on +discovering the superiority of my harpoon, that I should make some for +them, but this Maquina would not permit, reserving for himself this +improved weapon. He, however, gave me directions to make a number more +for himself, which I executed, and also made him several lances, with +which he was greatly pleased. + + * * * * * + +As these people have some very singular observances preparatory to +whaling, an account of them will, I presume, not prove uninteresting, +especially as it may serve to give a better idea of their manners. A +short time before leaving Tashees, the king makes a point of passing a +day alone on the mountain, whither he goes very privately early in the +morning, and does not return till late in the evening.[116] This is +done, as I afterwards learned, for the purpose of singing and praying to +his God for success in whaling the ensuing season. At Cooptee the same +ceremony is performed, and at Nootka after the return thither, with +still greater solemnity, as for the next two days he appears very +thoughtful and gloomy, scarcely speaking to any one, and observes a most +rigid fast. On these occasions he has always a broad red fillet made of +bark bound around his head, in token of humiliation, with a large branch +of green spruce on the top, and his great rattle in his hand. + +In addition to this, for a week before commencing their whaling, both +himself and the crew of his canoe observe a fast, eating but very +little, and going into the water several times in the course of each day +to bathe, singing and rubbing their bodies, limbs, and faces with shells +and bushes, so that on their return I have seen them look as though they +had been severely torn with briers. They are likewise obliged to +abstain from any commerce with their women for the like period, the +latter restriction being considered as indispensable to their success. + + * * * * * + +Early in June, Tootoosch,[117] the crazy chief, died. On being +acquainted with his death, the whole village, men, women, and children, +set up a loud cry, with every testimony of the greatest grief, which +they continued for more than three hours. As soon as he was dead, the +body, according to their custom, was laid out on a plank, having the +head bound round with a red bark fillet, which is with them an emblem of +mourning and sorrow. After lying some time in this manner, he was +wrapped in an otter-skin robe, and, three fathoms of Ife-whaw being put +about his neck, he was placed in a large coffin or box of about three +feet deep, which was ornamented on the outside with two rows of the +small white shells. In this, the most valuable articles of his property +were placed with him, among which were no less than twenty-four prime +sea-otter skins. + +At night, which is their time for interring the dead, the coffin was +borne by eight men with two poles thrust through ropes passed around it, +to the place of burial, accompanied by his wife and family, with their +hair cut short in token of grief, all the inhabitants joining the +procession. + +The place of burial was a large cavern on the side of a hill at a little +distance from the village, in which, after depositing the coffin +carefully, all the attendants repaired to Maquina's house, where a +number of articles belonging to the deceased, consisting of blankets, +pieces of cloth, etc., were burned by a person appointed by Maquina for +that purpose, dressed and painted in the highest style, with his head +covered with white down, who, as he put in the several pieces one by +one, poured upon them a quantity of oil to increase the flame, in the +intervals between making a speech and playing off a variety of buffoon +tricks, and the whole closed with a feast, and a dance from +Sat-sat-sok-sis, the king's son. + +The man who performed the ceremony of burning on this occasion was a +very singular character named Kinneclimmets. He was held in high +estimation by the king, though only of the common class, probably from +his talent for mimicry and buffoonery, and might be considered as a kind +of king's jester, or rather, as combining in his person the character of +a buffoon with that of master of ceremonies and public orator to his +majesty, as he was the one who at feasts always regulated the places of +the guests, delivered speeches on receiving or returning visits, besides +amusing the company at all their entertainments, with a variety of +monkey pranks and antic gestures, which appeared to these savages the +height of wit and humour, but would be considered as extremely low by +the least polished people. + +Almost all the kings or head chiefs of the principal tribes were +accompanied by a similar character, who appeared to be attached to their +dignity, and are called in their language _Climmer-habbee_. + +This man Kinneclimmets was particularly odious to Thompson, who would +never join in the laugh at his tricks, but when he began, would almost +always quit the house with a very surly look, and an exclamation of +"Cursed fool!" which Maquina, who thought nothing could equal the +cleverness of his _Climmer-habbee_, used to remark with much +dissatisfaction, asking me why Thompson never laughed, observing that I +must have had a very good-tempered woman indeed for my mother, as my +father was so very ill-natured a man. + +Among those performances that gained him the greatest applause was his +talent of eating to excess, for I have known him devour at one meal no +less than seventy-five large herrings; and at another time, when a great +feast was given by Maquina, he undertook, after drinking three pints of +oil by way of a whet, to eat four dried salmon, and five quarts of +spawn, mixed up with a gallon of train-oil, and actually succeeded in +swallowing the greater part of this mess, until his stomach became so +overloaded as to discharge its contents in the dish. One of his +exhibitions, however, had nearly cost him his life; this was on the +occasion of Kla-quak-ee-na, one of the chiefs, having bought him a new +wife, in celebration of which he ran three times through a large fire, +and burned himself in such a manner that he was not able to stir for +more than four weeks. These feats of savage skill were much praised by +Maquina, who never failed to make him presents of cloth, muskets, etc., +on such occasions. + +The death of Tootoosch increased still more the disquietude which his +delirium had excited among the savages, and all those chiefs who had +killed our men became much alarmed lest they should be seized with the +same disorder and die like him; more particularly, as I had told Maquina +that I believed his insanity was a punishment inflicted on him by +Quahootze, for his cruelty in murdering two innocent men who had never +injured him. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[113] When an Indian dies, all of his property which has not been given +away, is either buried with him, or, in extreme cases, burned, not for +the purpose of accompanying him to the Spirit Land, but, so the people +have told me, to prevent any temptation to indulge in the bad luck of +mentioning his name. The only things that are exempted from this +practice are the dead man's best canoes, his house-planks, and fishing +and hunting implements, which, with any slaves he may possess, go to his +eldest son. I have known the deceased's house and all its contents to be +burned; but when this is not the case, then the materials are removed +elsewhere, and another building is erected. Around his grave--a box +raised from the ground on pillars, often quaintly carved, or a canoe, or +a box fixed up a tree--are placed various articles belonging to him (or +her). At one time they buried his money with him. But for obvious +reasons this custom has fallen into abeyance. + +[114] _Wik_ actually means "Not I." Good is _Klooceahatli_ or +_Klootakloosch_. + +[115] This, it must be remembered, was in the days before Connolly. +Maquina's remark that if an insane man could not be cured but by +whipping him, he must remain mad, proves that the savage chief was in +advance of his time. Insanity is, however, extremely rare among the +Indians. + +[116] He was, as the Indians say, "making his medicine," a term of very +elastic meaning. + +[117] "Tootoosch" is the Thunder Bird of "Aht" mythology. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WAR WITH THE A-Y-CHARTS--A NIGHT ATTACK--PROPOSALS TO PURCHASE THE +AUTHOR + + +Our situation had now become unpleasant in the extreme. The summer was +so far advanced that we nearly despaired of a ship arriving to our +relief, and with that expectation almost relinquished the hope of ever +having it in our power to quit this savage land. We were treated, too, +with less indulgence than before, both Thompson and myself being +obliged, in addition to our other employments, to perform the laborious +task of cutting and collecting fuel, which we had to bring on our +shoulders from nearly three miles' distance, as it consisted wholly of +dry leaves, all of which near the village had been consumed. + +To add to this, we suffered much abuse from the common people, who, when +Maquina or some of the chiefs were not present, would insult us, calling +us wretched slaves, asking us where was our Tyee or captain, making +gestures signifying that his head had been cut off, and that they would +do the like to us; though they generally took good care at such times to +keep well out of Thompson's reach, as they had more than once +experienced, to their cost, the strength of his fist. This conduct was +not only provoking and grating to our feelings in the highest degree, +but it convinced us of the ill disposition of these savages towards us, +and rendered us fearful lest they might at some time or other persuade +or force Maquina and the chiefs to put us to death. + +We were also often brought to great distress for the want of provisions, +so far as to be reduced to collect a scanty supply of mussels and +limpets from the rocks, and sometimes even compelled to part with some +of our most necessary articles of clothing in order to purchase food for +our subsistence. + +This was, however, principally owing to the inhabitants themselves +experiencing a great scarcity of provisions this season; there having +been, in the first place, but very few salmon caught at Friendly Cove, a +most unusual circumstance, as they generally abound there in the spring, +which was by the natives attributed to their having been driven away by +the blood of our men who had been thrown into the sea, which with true +savage inconsistency excited their murmurs against Maquina, who had +proposed cutting off our ship. Relying on this supply, they had in the +most inconsiderate manner squandered away their winter stock of +provisions, so that in a few days after their return it was entirely +expended. + +Nor were the king and chiefs much more fortunate in their whaling, even +after I had furnished Maquina with the improved weapon for that purpose; +but four whales having been taken during the season, which closes the +last of May, including one that had been struck by Maquina and escaped, +and was afterwards driven on shore about six miles from Nootka in +almost a state of putridity. + +These afforded but a short supply to a population, including all ages +and sexes, of no less than fifteen hundred persons, and of a character +so very improvident, that, after feasting most gluttonously whenever a +whale was caught, they were several times, for a week together, reduced +to the necessity of eating but once a day, and of collecting cockles and +mussels from the rocks for their food. + +And even after the cod and halibut fishing commenced, in June, in which +they met with tolerable success, such was the savage caprice of Maquina, +that he would often give us but little to eat, finally ordering us to +buy a canoe and fishing implements and go out ourselves and fish, or we +should have nothing. To do this we were compelled to part with our +greatcoats, which were not only important to us as garments, but of +which we made our beds, spreading them under us when we slept. From our +want of skill, however, in this new employ, we met with no success; on +discovering which, Maquina ordered us to remain at home. + +Another thing, which to me in particular proved an almost constant +source of vexation and disgust, and which living among them had not in +the least reconciled me to, was their extreme filthiness, not only in +eating fish, especially the whale, when in a state of offensive +putridity, but while at their meals, of making a practice of taking the +vermin from their heads or clothes and eating them, by turns thrusting +their fingers into their hair and into the dish, and spreading their +garments over the tubs in which the provision was cooking, in order to +set in motion their inhabitants.[118] + +Fortunately for Thompson, he regarded this much less than myself, and +when I used to point out to him any instance of their filthiness in this +respect, he would laugh and reply, "Never mind, John, the more good +things the better." I must, however, do Maquina the justice to state, +that he was much neater both in his person and eating than were the +others, as was likewise his queen, owing, no doubt, to his intercourse +with foreigners, which had given him ideas of cleanliness, for I never +saw either of them eat any of these animals, but, on the contrary, they +appeared not much to relish this taste in others. Their garments, also, +were much cleaner, Maquina having been accustomed to give his away when +they became soiled, till after he discovered that Thompson and myself +kept ours clean by washing them, when he used to make Thompson do the +same for him. + +Yet amidst this state of endurance and disappointment, in hearing +repeatedly of the arrival of ships at the north and south, most of which +proved to be idle reports, while expectation was almost wearied out in +looking for them, we did not wholly despond, relying on the mercy of the +Supreme Being, to offer up to whom our devotions on the days appointed +for His worship was our chief consolation and support, though we were +sometimes obliged, by our taskmasters, to infringe upon the Sabbath, +which was to me a source of much regret. + +We were, nevertheless, treated at times with much kindness by Maquina, +who would give us a plenty of the best that he had to eat, and +occasionally, some small present of cloth for a garment, promising me +that, if any ship should arrive within a hundred miles of Nootka, he +would send a canoe with a letter from me to the captain, so that he +might come to our release. These flattering promises and marks of +attention were, however, at those times when he thought himself in +personal danger from a mutinous spirit, which the scarcity of provisions +had excited among the natives, who, like true savages, imputed all their +public calamities, of whatever kind, to the misconduct of their chief, +or when he was apprehensive of an attack from some of the other tribes, +who were irritated with him for cutting off the _Boston_, as it had +prevented ships from coming to trade with them, and were constantly +alarming him with idle stories of vessels that were preparing to come +against him and exterminate both him and his people. + +At such times, he made us keep guard over him both night and day, armed +with cutlasses and pistols, being apparently afraid to trust any of his +own men. At one time, it was a general revolt of his people that he +apprehended; then three of his principal chiefs, among whom was his +elder brother, had conspired to take away his life; and at length he +fancied that a small party of Klaooquates, between whom and the +Nootkians little friendship subsisted, had come to Nootka, under a +pretence of trade, for the sole purpose of murdering him and his family, +telling us, probably to sharpen our vigilance, that their intention was +to kill us likewise; and so strongly were his fears excited on this +occasion, that he not only ordered us to keep near him armed by day, +whenever he went out, and to patrol at night before his house while they +remained, but to continue the same guard for three days after they were +gone, and to fire, at one and at four in the morning, one of the great +guns, to let them know, if, as he suspected, they were lurking in the +neighbourhood, that he was on his guard. + +While he was thus favourably disposed towards us, I took an opportunity +to inform him of the ill-treatment that we frequently received from his +people, and the insults that were offered us by some of the stranger +tribes in calling us white slaves, and loading us with other opprobrious +terms. He was much displeased, and said that his subjects should not be +allowed to treat us ill, and that if any of the strangers did it, he +wished us to punish the offenders with death, at the same time directing +us, for our security, to go constantly armed. + +This permission was soon improved by Thompson to the best advantage; for +a few days after, having gone to the pond to wash some of our clothes, +and a blanket for Maquina, several Wickinninish who were then at Nootka +came thither, and, seeing him washing the clothes, and the blanket +spread upon the grass to dry, they began, according to custom, to insult +him, and one of them, bolder than the others, walked over the blanket. +Thompson was highly incensed, and threatened the Indian with death if he +repeated the offence, but he, in contempt of the threat, trampled upon +the blanket, when, drawing his cutlass, without further ceremony, +Thompson cut off his head, on seeing which the others ran off at full +speed. Thompson then, gathering up the clothes and blanket, on which +were the marks of the Indian's dirty feet, and taking with him the head, +returned and informed the king of what had passed, who was much pleased, +and highly commended his conduct. This had a favourable effect for us, +not only on the stranger tribes but the inhabitants themselves, who +treated us afterwards with less disrespect. + +In the latter part of July, Maquina informed me that he was going to war +with the _A-y-charts_,[119] a tribe about fifty miles to the south, on +account of some controversy that had arisen the preceding summer, and +that I must make a number of daggers for his men, and cheetolths for his +chiefs, which having completed, he wished me to make for his own use a +weapon of quite a different form, in order to dispatch his enemy by one +blow on the head, it being the calculation of these nations, on going to +war, to surprise their adversaries while asleep. This was a steel +dagger, or more properly a spike, of about six inches long, made very +sharp, set at right angles in an iron handle of fifteen inches long, +terminating at the lower end in a crook or turn, so as to prevent its +being wrenched from the hand, and at the upper in a round knob or head, +from whence the spike protruded. This instrument I polished highly, and, +the more to please Maquina, formed on the back of the knob the +resemblance of a man's head, with the mouth open, substituting for eyes +black beads, which I fastened in with red sealing-wax. This pleased him +much, and was greatly admired by his chiefs, who wanted me to make +similar ones for them, but Maquina would not suffer it, reserving for +himself alone this weapon. + +When these people have finally determined on war, they make it an +invariable practice, for three or four weeks prior to the expedition, +to go into the water five or six times a day, when they wash and scrub +themselves from head to foot with bushes intermixed with briers, +so that their bodies and faces will often be entirely covered +with blood. During this severe exercise, they are continually +exclaiming, "_Wocash, Quahootze, Teechamme ah welth, wik-etish +tau-ilth--Kar sub-matemas--Wik-sish_ _to hauk matemas--I ya-ish +kah-shittle--As-smootish warich matemas_"; which signifies, "Good or +great God, let me live--Not be sick--Find the enemy--Not fear him--Find +him asleep, and kill a great many of them." + +During the whole of this period they have no intercourse with their +women, and for a week before setting out, abstain from feasting or any +kind of merriment, appearing thoughtful, gloomy, and morose, and for the +three last days are almost constantly in the water, both by day and +night, scrubbing and lacerating themselves in a terrible manner. +Maquina, having informed Thompson and myself that he should take us with +him, was very solicitous that we should bathe and scrub ourselves in the +same way with them, telling me that it would harden our skins, so that +the weapons of the enemy would not pierce them, but as we felt no great +inclination to amuse ourselves in this manner, we declined it. + +The expedition consisted of forty canoes, carrying from ten to twenty +men each. Thompson and myself armed ourselves with cutlasses and +pistols, but the natives, although they had a plenty of European arms, +took with them only their daggers and cheetolths, with a few bows and +arrows, the latter being about a yard in length, and pointed with +copper, mussel-shell, or bone; the bows are four feet and a half long, +with strings made of whale sinew. + +To go to A-y-chart, we ascended, from twenty to thirty miles,[120] a +river about the size of that of Tashees, the banks of which are high and +covered with wood. At midnight we came in sight of the village, which +was situated on the west bank near the shore, on a steep hill difficult +of access, and well calculated for defence. It consisted of fifteen or +sixteen houses, smaller than those at Nootka, and built in the same +style, but compactly placed. By Maquina's directions, the attack was +deferred until the first appearance of dawn, as he said that was the +time when men slept the soundest. + +At length, all being ready for the attack, we landed with the greatest +silence, and, going around so as to come upon the foe in the rear, +clambered up the hill, and while the natives, as is their custom, +entered the several huts creeping on all-fours, my comrade and myself +stationed ourselves without to intercept those who should attempt to +escape or come to the aid of their friends. I wished, if possible, not +to stain my hands in the blood of any fellow-creature; and though +Thompson would gladly have put to death all the savages in the country, +he was too brave to think of attacking a sleeping enemy. + +Having entered the houses, on the war-whoop being given by Maquina as he +seized the head of the chief and gave him the fatal blow, all proceeded +to the work of death. The A-y-charts, being thus surprised, were unable +to make resistance, and, with the exception of a very few who were so +fortunate as to make their escape, were all killed, or taken prisoners +on condition of becoming slaves to their captors. I had the good fortune +to take four captives, whom Maquina, as a favour, permitted me to +consider as mine, and occasionally employ them in fishing for me. As for +Thompson, who thirsted for revenge, he had no wish to take any +prisoners, but with his cutlass, the only weapon he would employ against +them, succeeded in killing seven stout fellows who came to attack him, +an act which obtained him great credit with Maquina and the chiefs, who +after this held him in much higher estimation, and gave him the +appellation of "Chehiel-suma-har," it being the name of a very +celebrated warrior of their nation in ancient times, whose exploits were +the constant theme of their praise. + +After having put to death all the old and infirm of either sex, as is +the barbarous practice of these people, and destroyed the buildings, we +re-embarked with our booty in our canoes for Nootka, where we were +received with great demonstrations of joy by the women and children, +accompanying our war-song with a most furious drumming on the houses. +The next day a great feast was given by Maquina in celebration of his +victory, which was terminated, as usual, with a dance by +Sat-sat-sok-sis.[121] + +Repeated applications had been made to Maquina by a number of kings or +chiefs to purchase me, especially after he had showed them the harpoon I +had made for him, which he took much pride in, but he constantly refused +to part with me on any terms. Among these, the king of the Wickinninish +was particularly solicitous to obtain me, having twice applied to +Maquina for that purpose, once in a very formal manner, by sending his +messenger with four canoes, who, as he approached the shore, decorated +in their highest style, with the white down on his head, etc., declared +that he came to buy "Tooteyoohannis," the name by which I was known to +them, for his master, and that he had brought for that purpose four +young male slaves, two highly ornamented canoes, such a number of the +skins of metamelth, and of the _quartlack_,[122] or sea-otter, and so +many fathoms of cloth and of Ife-whaw, while, as he mentioned the +different articles, they were pointed out or held up by his attendants; +but even this tempting offer had no influence on Maquina, who in the +latter part of the summer was again very strongly urged to sell me by +Ulatilla, or, as he is generally called, Machee Ulatilla, chief of the +Klaizzarts,[123] who had come to Nootka on a visit. + +This chief, who could speak tolerable English, had much more the +appearance of a civilised man than any of the savages that I saw. He +appeared to be about thirty, was rather small in his person, but +extremely well formed, with a skin almost as fair as that of an +European, good features, and a countenance expressive of candour and +amiableness, and which was almost always brightened with a smile. He was +much neater both in his dress and person than any of the other chiefs, +seldom wearing paint, except upon his eyebrows, which, after the custom +of his country, were plucked out, and a few strips of the pelpelth on +the lower part of his face. He always treated me with much kindness, was +fond of conversing with me in English and in his own language, asking me +many questions relative to my country, its manners, customs, etc., and +appeared to take a strong interest in my fate, telling me that if he +could persuade Maquina to part with me, he would put me on board the +first ship that came to his country, a promise which, from his +subsequent conduct, I have good reason to think he would have performed, +as my deliverance at length from captivity and suffering was, under the +favour of Divine Providence, wholly owing to him, the only letter that +ever reached an European or American vessel out of sixteen that I wrote +at different times and sent to various parts of the coast, having been +delivered by him in person. So much pleased was I with this man's +behaviour to me while at Nootka, that I made for him a cheetolth, which +I burnished highly, and engraved with figures. With this he was greatly +delighted. I also would have made for him a harpoon, would Maquina have +consented. + +With hearts full of dejection and almost lost to hope, no ship having +appeared off Nootka this season, did my companion and myself accompany +the tribe on their removal in September to Tashees, relinquishing in +consequence for six months even the remotest expectation of relief. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[118] This habit--unfortunately not peculiar to the Indians--is still +occasionally indulged in. The reason they give for it is, that when the +great flood covered the earth--a tradition that is found among other +North-West American Indians--they escaped in their canoes, and had to +eat lice for lack of any other food, and now practise it out of +gratitude. The superstitious observances of these tribes are so numerous +that the merest account of those known would fill a volume. One or two +interesting instances may be mentioned:--Thus, in sneezing, there is +good luck if the right nostril is alone affected. But if the left, then +evil fortune is at hand. When they pare their nails, which is not often, +they burn the parings, and if the smoke from them goes straight up, +their latter end will be good; if not, they will go to the place of +punishment. They used to regard--and perhaps still regard--the whites +not as human beings, but as a sort of demons. + +[119] The E-cha-chets are not at present recognised as a separate tribe. +But there is a large village in Clayoquat Sound on the south end of +Wakenninish Island which bears that name. Like many now all but extinct +tribes, who have become absorbed into greater ones, the E-cha-chets seem +in Jewitt's time to have been more numerous. In Meares's narrative, +"Lee-cha-ett" is mentioned as a village of Wakenninish, but this could +not have been the same place, for Maquina and Wakenninish were at this +period on good terms. The river which the expedition ascended to reach +the summer salmon fishing village of the tribe was probably either the +Bear or the Onamettis, both of which flow through some swampy ground +into the head of Bedwall Arm. But as usual Jewitt exaggerated the +distance up which the canoemen paddled. There is no river in Vancouver +Island navigable for twenty or thirty miles, and few, even when broken +by rapids and falls, quite that length. + +[120] This is an exaggerated estimate. + +[121] This is one of the best descriptions of West Coast warfare with +which I am acquainted. + +[122] "Quiaotluk," Jewitt, with innate cockneyism, inserting an _r_ +after _a_ wherever this is possible. No Indian can pronounce _r_, any +more than a Chinaman can. + +[123] Klahosahts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MARRIAGE OF THE AUTHOR--HIS ILLNESS--DISMISSES HIS WIFE--RELIGION OF THE +NATIVES--CLIMATE + + +Soon after our establishment there, Maquina informed me that he and his +chiefs had held council both before and after quitting Nootka, in which +they had determined that I must marry one of their women, urging as a +reason to induce me to consent, that, as there was now no probability of +a ship coming to Nootka to release me, that I must consider myself as +destined to pass the remainder of my life with them, that the sooner I +conformed to their customs the better, and that a wife and family would +render me more contented and satisfied with their mode of living. I +remonstrated against this decision, but to no purpose, for he told me +that, should I refuse, both Thompson and myself would be put to death; +telling me, however, that if there were none of the women of his tribe +that pleased me, he would go with me to some of the other tribes, where +he would purchase for me such a one as I should select. Reduced to this +sad extremity, with death on the one side and matrimony on the other, I +thought proper to choose what appeared to me the least of the two +evils, and consent to be married, on condition that, as I did not fancy +any of the Nootka women, I should be permitted to make choice of one +from some other tribe. + +This being settled, the next morning by daylight, Maquina, with about +fifty men in two canoes, set out with me for Ai-tiz-zart,[124] taking +with him a quantity of cloth, a number of muskets, sea-otter skins, +etc., for the purchase of my bride. With the aid of our paddles and +sails, being favoured with a fair breeze, we arrived some time before +sunset at the village. Our arrival excited a general alarm, and the men +hastened to the shore, armed with the weapons of their country, making +many warlike demonstrations, and displaying much zeal and activity. We, +in the meantime, remained quietly seated in our canoes, where we +remained for about half an hour, when the messenger of the chief, +dressed in their best manner, came to welcome us and invite us on shore +to eat.[125] We followed him in procession to the chief's house, Maquina +at our head, taking care to leave a sufficient number in the boats to +protect the property. When we came to the house, we were ushered in with +much ceremony, and our respective seats pointed out to us, mine being +next to Maquina by his request. + +After having been regaled with a feast of herring spawn and oil, Maquina +asked me if I saw any among the women who were present that I liked. I +immediately pointed out to a young girl of about seventeen, the +daughter of Upquesta, the chief, who was sitting near him by her mother. +On this, Maquina, making a sign to his men, arose, and, taking me by the +hand, walked into the middle of the room, and sent off two of his men to +bring the boxes containing the presents from the canoes. In the +meantime, Kinneclimmets, the master of ceremonies, whom I have already +spoken of, made himself ready for the part he was to act, by powdering +his hair with white down. When the chests were brought in, specimens of +the several articles were taken out, and showed by our men, one of whom +held up a musket, another a skin, a third a piece of cloth, etc. + +On this Kinneclimmets stepped forward, and, addressing the chief, +informed him that all these belonged to me, mentioning the number of +each kind, and that they were offered to him for the purchase of his +daughter Eu-stoch-ee-exqua, as a wife for me. As he said this, the men +who held up the various articles walked up to the chief, and with a very +stern and morose look, the complimentary one on these occasions, threw +them at his feet. Immediately on which, all the tribe, both men and +women, who were assembled on this occasion, set up a cry of +_Klack-ko-Tyee_,[126] that is, "Thank ye, chief." + +His men, after this ceremony, having returned to their places, Maquina +rose, and, in a speech of more than half an hour, said much in my praise +to the Ai-tiz-zart chief, telling him that I was as good a man as +themselves, differing from them only in being white, that I was besides +acquainted with many things of which they were ignorant; that I knew how +to make daggers, cheetolths, and harpoons, and was a very valuable +person, whom he was determined to keep always with him; praising me at +the same time for the goodness of my temper, and the manner in which I +had conducted myself since I had been with them, observing that all the +people of Nootka, and even the children, loved me. + +While Maquina was speaking, his master of ceremonies was continually +skipping about, making the most extravagant gestures, and exclaiming +"_Wocash!_" When he had ceased, the Ai-tiz-zart chief arose, amidst the +acclamations of his people, and began with setting forth the many good +qualities and accomplishments of his daughter; that he loved her +greatly, and as she was his only one, he could not think of parting with +her. He spoke in this manner for some time, but finally concluded by +consenting to the proposed union, requesting that she might be well used +and kindly treated by her husband. At the close of the speech, when the +chief began to manifest a disposition to consent to our union, +Kinneclimmets again began to call out as loud as he could bawl, +"_Wocash!_" cutting a thousand capers and spinning himself around on his +heel like a top. + +When Upquesta had finished his speech, he directed his people to carry +back the presents which Maquina had given him, to me, together with two +young male slaves to assist me in fishing. These, after having been +placed before me, were by Maquina's men taken on board the canoes. This +ceremony being over, we were invited by one of the principal chiefs to +a feast at his house, of _Klussamit_,[127] or dried herring, where, +after the eating was over, Kinneclimmets amused the company very highly +with his tricks, and the evening's entertainment was closed by a new +war-song from our men, and one in return from the Ai-tiz-zarts, +accompanied with expressive gestures, and wielding of their weapons. + +After this our company returned to lodge at Upquesta's, except a few who +were left on board the canoes to watch the property. In the morning I +received from the chief his daughter, with an earnest request that I +would use her well, which I promised him; when, taking leave of her +parents, she accompanied me with apparent satisfaction on board of the +canoe. + +The wind being ahead, the natives were obliged to have recourse to their +paddles, accompanying them with their songs, interspersed with the +witticisms and buffoonery of Kinneclimmets, who, in his capacity of +king's steersman, one of his functions which I forgot to enumerate, not +only guided the course of the canoe, but regulated the singing of the +boatmen. At about five in the morning we reached Tashees, where we found +all the inhabitants collected on the shore to receive us. + +We were welcomed with loud shouts of joy, and exclamations of +"_Wocash!_" and the women, taking my bride under their charge, conducted +her to Maquina's house, to be kept with them for ten days; it being an +universal custom, as Maquina informed me, that no intercourse should +take place between the new married pair during that period. At night +Maquina gave a great feast, which was succeeded by a dance, in which all +the women joined, and thus ended the festivities of my marriage.[128] + +The term of my probation being over, Maquina assigned me as an apartment +the space in the upper part of his house between him and his elder +brother, whose room was opposite. Here I established myself with my +family, consisting of myself and wife, Thompson, and the little +Sat-sat-sok-sis, who had always been strongly attached to me, and now +solicited his father to let him live with me, to which he consented. + +This boy was handsome, extremely well formed, amiable, and of a +pleasant, sprightly disposition. I used to take a pleasure in decorating +him with rings, bracelets, ear-jewels, etc., which I made for him of +copper, and ornamented and polished them in my best manner. I was also +very careful to keep him free from vermin of every kind, washing him and +combing his hair every day. These marks of attention were not only very +pleasing to the child, who delighted in being kept neat and clean, as +well as in being dressed off in his finery, but was highly gratifying +both to Maquina and his queen, who used to express much satisfaction at +my care of him. + +In making my domestic establishment, I determined, as far as possible, +to live in a more comfortable and cleanly manner than the others. For +this purpose I erected with planks a partition of about three feet high +between mine and the adjoining rooms, and made three bedsteads of the +same, which I covered with boards, for my family to sleep on, which I +found much more comfortable than sleeping on the floor amidst the dirt. + +Fortunately, I found my Indian princess both amiable and intelligent, +for one whose limited sphere of observation must necessarily give rise +to but a few ideas. She was extremely ready to agree to anything that I +proposed relative to our mode of living, was very attentive in keeping +her garments and person neat and clean, and appeared in every respect +solicitous to please me. + +She was, as I have said, about seventeen; her person was small but well +formed, as were her features; her complexion was, without exception, +fairer than any of the women, with considerable colour in her cheeks, +her hair long, black, and much softer than is usual with them, and her +teeth small, even, and of a dazzling whiteness; while the expression of +her countenance indicated sweetness of temper and modesty. She would +indeed have been considered as very pretty in any country, and, +excepting Maquina's queen, was by far the handsomest of any of their +women. + +With a partner possessing so many attractions, many may be apt to +conclude that I must have found myself happy,--at least, comparatively +so; but far otherwise was it with me. A compulsory marriage with the +most beautiful and accomplished person in the world can never prove a +source of real happiness; and, in my situation, I could not but view +this connection as a chain that was to bind me down to this savage land, +and prevent my ever again seeing a civilised country; especially when, +in a few days after, Maquina informed me that there had been a meeting +of his chiefs, in which it had been determined that, as I had married +one of their women, I must be considered as one of them, and conform to +their customs, and that in future neither myself nor Thompson should +wear our European clothes, but dress in kutsaks[129] like themselves. +This order was to me most painful, but I persuaded Maquina at length so +far to relax in it as to permit me to wear those I had at present, which +were almost worn out, and not to compel Thompson to change his dress, +observing that, as he was an old man, such a change would cause his +death. + +Their religious celebration, which the last year took place in December, +was in this commenced on the 15th of November, and continued for +fourteen days. As I was now considered as one of them, instead of being +ordered to the woods, Maquina directed Thompson and myself to remain and +pray with them to Quahootze to be good to them, and thank him for what +he had done. + +It was opened in much the same manner as the former. After which, all +the men and women in the village assembled at Maquina's house, in their +plainest dresses, and without any kind of ornaments about them, having +their heads bound around with the red fillet, a token of dejection and +humiliation, and their countenances expressive of seriousness and +melancholy. The performances during the continuance of this celebration +consisted almost wholly in singing a number of songs to mournful airs, +the king regulating the time by beating on his hollow plank or drum, +accompanied by one of his chiefs seated near him with the great rattle. +In the meantime they ate but seldom, and then very little, retiring to +sleep late, and rising at the first appearance of dawn, and even +interrupting this short period of repose by getting up at midnight and +singing. + +The ceremony was terminated by an exhibition of a similar character to +the one of the last year, but still more cruel. A boy of twelve years +old, with six bayonets run into his flesh, one through each arm and +thigh, and through each side close to the ribs, was carried around the +room suspended upon them, without manifesting any symptoms of pain. +Maquina, on my inquiring the reason of this display, informed me that it +was an ancient custom of his nation to sacrifice a man at the close of +this solemnity, in honour of their God, but that his father had +abolished it, and substituted this in its place.[130] The whole closed +on the evening of the 29th, with a great feast of salmon spawn and oil, +at which the natives, as usual, made up for their late abstinence. + +A few days after, a circumstance occurred, which, from its singularity, +I cannot forbear mentioning. I was sent for by my neighbour Yealthlower, +the king's elder brother, to file his teeth, which operation having been +performed, he informed me that a new wife, whom he had a little time +before purchased, having refused to sleep with him, it was his +intention, provided she persisted in her refusal, to bite off her nose. +I endeavoured to dissuade him from it, but he was determined, and, in +fact, performed his savage threat that very night, saying that since she +would not be his wife, she should not be that of any other, and in the +morning sent her back to her father. + +The inhuman act did not, however, proceed from any innate cruelty of +disposition or malice, as he was far from being of a barbarous temper; +but such is the despotism exercised by these savages over their women, +that he no doubt considered it as a just punishment for her offence, in +being so obstinate and perverse; as he afterwards told me, that in +similar cases the husband had a right with them to disfigure his wife in +this way or some other, to prevent her ever marrying again. + +About the middle of December, we left Tashees for Cooptee. As usual at +this season, we found the herrings in great plenty, and here the same +scene of riotous feasting that I witnessed last year was renewed by our +improvident natives, who, in addition to their usual fare, had a +plentiful supply of wild geese, which were brought us in great +quantities by the Eshquates. These, as Maquina informed me, were caught +with nets made from bark in the fresh waters of that country. Those who +take them make choice for that purpose of a dark and rainy night, and, +with their canoes stuck with lighted torches, proceed with as little +noise as possible to the place where the geese are collected, who, +dazzled by the light, suffer themselves to be approached very near, when +the net is thrown over them, and in this manner from fifty to sixty, or +even more, will sometimes be taken at one cast. + +On the 15th of January 1805, about midnight, I was thrown into +considerable alarm, in consequence of an eclipse of the moon, being +awakened from my sleep by a great outcry of the inhabitants. On going to +discover the cause of this tumult, I found them all out of their houses, +bearing lighted torches, singing and beating upon pieces of plank; and +when I asked them the reason of this proceeding, they pointed to the +moon, and said that a great cod-fish was endeavouring to swallow her, +and that they were driving him away. The origin of this superstition I +could not discover. + +[Illustration: INDIAN CHIEF'S GRAVE (TEMP. 1863).] + +Though, in some respects, my situation was rendered more comfortable +since my marriage, as I lived in a more cleanly manner, and had my food +better and more neatly cooked, of which, besides, I had always a plenty, +my slaves generally furnishing me, and Upquesta never failing to send me +an ample supply by the canoes that came from Ai-tiz-zart; still, from my +being obliged at this season of the year to change my accustomed +clothing, and to dress like the natives, with only a piece of cloth of +about two yards long thrown loosely around me, my European clothes +having been for some time entirely worn out, I suffered more than I can +express from the cold, especially as I was compelled to perform the +laborious task of cutting and bringing the firewood, which was rendered +still more oppressive to me, from my comrade, for a considerable part of +the winter, not having it in his power to lend me his aid, in +consequence of an attack of the rheumatism in one of his knees, with +which he suffered for more than four months, two or three weeks of which +he was so ill as to be under the necessity to leave the house. + +This state of suffering, with the little hope I now had of ever escaping +from the savages, began to render my life irksome to me; still, however, +I lost not my confidence in the aid of the Supreme Being, to whom, +whenever the weather and a suspension from the tasks imposed on me would +permit, I never failed regularly on Sundays to retire to the wood to +worship, taking Thompson with me when he was able to go. + +On the 20th of February, we returned to our summer quarters at Nootka, +but on my part, with far different sensations than the last spring, +being now almost in despair of any vessel arriving to release us, or our +being permitted to depart if there should. + +Soon after our return, as preparatory to the whaling season, Maquina +ordered me to make a good number of harpoons for himself and his chiefs, +several of which I had completed, with some lances, when, on the 16th of +March, I was taken very ill with a violent colic, caused, I presume, +from having suffered so much from the cold, in going without proper +clothing. For a number of hours I was in great pain, and expected to +die, and on its leaving me, I was so weak as scarcely to be able to +stand, while I had nothing comforting to take, nor anything to drink but +cold water. + +On the day following, a slave belonging to Maquina died, and was +immediately, as is their custom in such cases, tossed unceremoniously +out of doors, from whence he was taken by some others and thrown into +the water. The treatment of this poor creature made a melancholy +impression upon my mind, as I could not but think that such probably +would be my fate should I die among these heathens, and so far from +receiving a decent burial, that I should not even be allowed the common +privilege of having a little earth thrown over my remains. + +The feebleness in which the violent attack of my disorder had left me, +the dejection I felt at the almost hopelessness of my situation and the +want of warm clothing and proper nursing, though my Indian wife, as far +as she knew how, was always ready, even solicitous, to do everything for +me she could, still kept me very much indisposed, which Maquina +perceiving, he finally told me that if I did not like living with my +wife, and that was the cause of my being so sad, I might part with her. +This proposal I readily accepted, and the next day Maquina sent her back +to her father. + +On parting with me she discovered much emotion, begging me that I would +suffer her to remain till I had recovered, as there was no one who would +take so good care of me as herself. But when I told her she must go, for +that I did not think I should ever get well, which in truth I but little +expected, and that her father would take good care of her and treat her +much more kindly than Maquina, she took an affectionate leave, telling +me that she hoped I should soon get better, and left her two slaves to +take care of me. + +Though I rejoiced at her departure, I was greatly affected with the +simple expressions of her regard for me, and could not but feel strongly +interested for this poor girl, who in all her conduct towards me had +discovered so much mildness and attention to my wishes; and had it not +been that I considered her as an almost insuperable obstacle to my being +permitted to leave the country, I should no doubt have felt the +deprivation of her society a real loss. After her departure, I requested +Maquina that, as I had parted with my wife, he would permit me to resume +my European dress, as, otherwise, from not having been accustomed to +dress like them, I should certainly die. To this he consented, and I +once more became comfortably clad. + +Change of clothing, but, more than all, the hopes which I now began to +indulge that in the course of the summer I should be able to escape, in +a short time restored me to health, so far that I could again go to work +in making harpoons for Maquina, who probably, fearing that he should +have to part with me, determined to provide himself with a good stock. + +I shall not, however, long detain the reader with a detail of +occurrences that intervened between this period and that of my escape, +which, from that dull uniformity that marks the savage life, would be in +a measure but a repetition, nor dwell upon that mental torture I endured +from a constant conflict of hope and fear, when the former, almost +wearied out with repeated disappointment, offered to our sinking hearts +no prospect of release but death, to which we were constantly exposed +from the brutal ignorance and savage disposition of the common people, +who, in the various councils that were held this season to determine +what to do with us in case of the arrival of a ship, were almost always +for putting us to death, expecting by that means to conceal the murder +of our crew and to throw the blame of it on some other tribe. These +barbarous sentiments were, however, universally opposed by Maquina and +his chiefs, who would not consent to our being injured. But, as some of +their customs and traits of national character which I think deserving +of notice have not been mentioned, I shall proceed to give an account of +them. + + * * * * * + +The office of king or chief is, with those people, hereditary, and +descends to the eldest son, or, in failure of male issue, to the elder +brother, who in the regal line is considered as the second person in the +kingdom. At feasts, as I have observed, the king is always placed in the +highest or seat of honour, and the chiefs according to their respective +ranks, which appear in general to be determined by their affinity to the +royal family; they are also designated by the embellishments of their +mantles or kutsaks. The king, or head _Tyee_ is their leader in war, in +the management of which he is perfectly absolute. He is also president +of their councils, which are almost always regulated by his opinion. But +he has no kind of power over the property of his subjects, nor can he +require them to contribute to his wants, being in this respect no more +privileged than any other person. He has, in common with his chiefs, the +right of holding slaves, which is not enjoyed by private individuals, a +regulation probably arising from their having been originally captives +taken in battle, the spoils of war being understood as appertaining to +the king, who receives and apportions them among his several chiefs and +warriors according to their rank and deserts. + +In conformity with this idea, the plunder of the _Boston_ was all +deposited in Maquina's house, who distributed part of it among his +chiefs, according to their respective ranks or degree of favour with +him, giving to one three hundred muskets, to another one hundred and +fifty, with other things in like proportion. The king is, however, +obliged to support his dignity by making frequent entertainments, and +whenever he receives a large supply of provision, he must invite all the +men of his tribe to his house to eat it up, otherwise, as Maquina told +me, he would not be considered as conducting himself like a _Tyee_, and +would be no more thought of than a common man. + + * * * * * + +With regard to their religion.--They believe in the existence of a +Supreme Being, whom they call _Quahootze_, and who, to use Maquina's +expression, was one great _Tyee_ in the sky, who gave them their fish, +and could take them from them, and was the greatest of all kings. Their +usual place of worship appeared to be the water, for whenever they +bathed, they addressed some words in form of prayer to the God above, +entreating that he would preserve them in health, give them good success +in fishing, etc. These prayers were repeated with much more energy on +preparing for whaling or for war, as I have already mentioned. + +Some of them would sometimes go several miles to bathe, in order to do +it in secret; the reason for this I could never learn, though I am +induced to think it was in consequence of some family or private +quarrel, and that they did not wish what they said to be heard; while at +other times they would repair in the same secret manner to the woods to +pray. This was more particularly the case with the women, who might also +have been prompted by a sentiment of decency to retire for the purpose +of bathing, as they are remarkably modest. + +I once found one of our women more than two miles from the village on +her knees in the woods, with her eyes shut and her face turned towards +heaven, uttering words in a lamentable tone, amongst which I distinctly +heard, _Wocash Ah-welth_, meaning "good Lord," and which has nearly the +same signification with Quahootze. + +Though I came very near her, she appeared not to notice me, but +continued her devotions. And I have frequently seen the women go alone +into the woods, evidently for the purpose of addressing themselves to a +superior Being, and it was always very perceptible on their return when +they had been thus employed, from their silence and melancholy looks. + +They have no belief, however, in a state of future existence, as I +discovered in conversation with Maquina at Tootoosch's death, on my +attempting to convince him that he still existed, and that he would +again see him after his death; but he could comprehend nothing of it, +and, pointing to the ground, said that there was the end of him, and +that he was like that.[131] Nor do they believe in ghosts, +notwithstanding the case of Tootoosch would appear to contradict this +assertion, but that was a remarkable instance, and such a one as had +never been known to occur before; yet from the mummeries performed over +the sick, it is very apparent that they believe in the agency of +spirits, as they attribute diseases to some evil one that has entered +the body of the patient. Neither have they any priests, unless a kind of +conjurer[132] may be so considered who sings and prays over the sick to +drive away the evil spirit. + + * * * * * + +On the birth of twins, they have a most singular custom, which, I +presume, has its origin in some religious opinion, but what it is, I +could never satisfactorily learn. The father is prohibited for the space +of two years from eating any kind of meat, or fresh fish, during which +time he does no kind of labour whatever, being supplied with what he has +occasion for from the tribe. In the meantime, he and his wife, who is +also obliged to conform to the same abstinence, with their children, +live entirely separate from the others, a small hut being built for +their accommodation, and he is never invited to any of the feasts, +except such as consist wholly of dried provision, where he is treated +with great respect, and seated among the chiefs, though no more himself +than a private individual. + +Such births are very rare among them; an instance of the kind, however, +occurred while I was at Tashees the last time, but it was the only one +known since the reign of the former king. The father always appeared +very thoughtful and gloomy, never associated with the other +inhabitants, and was at none of the feasts, but such as were entirely of +dried provision, and of this he ate not to excess, and constantly +retired before the amusements commenced. His dress was very plain, and +he wore around his head the red fillet of bark, the symbol of mourning +and devotion. It was his daily practice to repair to the mountain, with +a chief's rattle in his hand, to sing and pray, as Maquina informed me, +for the fish to come into their waters. When not thus employed, he kept +continually at home, except when sent for to sing and perform his +ceremonies over the sick, being considered as a sacred character, and +one much in favour with their gods.[133] + +These people are remarkably healthful, and live to a very advanced age, +having quite a youthful appearance for their years.[134] They have +scarcely any disease but the colic, their remedy for which is friction, +a person rubbing the bowels of the sick violently, until the pain has +subsided, while the conjurer, or holy man, is employed, in the meantime, +in making his gestures, singing, and repeating certain words, and +blowing off the evil spirit, when the patient is wrapped up in a +bearskin, in order to produce perspiration. + +Their cure for the rheumatism, or similar pains, which I saw applied by +Maquina in the case of Thompson, to whom it gave relief, is by cutting +or scarifying the part affected. In dressing wounds, they simply wash +them with salt water, and bind them up with a strip of cloth, or the +bark of a tree. They are, however, very expert and successful in the +cure of fractured or dislocated limbs, reducing them very dexterously, +and, after binding them up with bark, supporting them with blocks of +wood, so as to preserve their position.[135] + +During the whole time I was among them, but five natural deaths +occurred, Tootoosch and his two infant children, an infant son of +Maquina, and the slave whom I have mentioned, a circumstance not a +little remarkable in a population of about fifteen hundred; and as +respects child-birth, so light do they make of it, that I have seen +their women, the day after, employed as usual, as if little or nothing +had happened. + +The Nootkians in their conduct towards each other are in general pacific +and inoffensive, and appear by no means an ill-tempered race, for I do +not recollect any instance of a violent quarrel between any of the men, +or the men and their wives, while I was with them, that of Yealthlower +excepted. But when they are in the least offended, they appear to be in +the most violent rage, acting like so many maniacs, foaming at the +mouth, kicking and spitting most furiously; but this is rather a fashion +with them than a demonstration of malignity, as in their public speeches +they use the same violence, and he is esteemed the greatest orator who +bawls the loudest, stamps, tosses himself about, foams, and spits the +most.[136] + +In speaking of their regulations, I have omitted mentioning that, on +attaining the age of seventeen, the eldest son of a chief is considered +as a chief himself, and that whenever the father makes a present, it is +always done in the name of his eldest son, or, if he has none, in that +of his daughter. The chiefs frequently purchase their wives at the age +of eight or ten, to prevent their being engaged by others, though they +do not take them from their parents until they are sixteen. + +With regard to climate, the greater part of the spring, summer, and +autumn is very pleasant, the weather being at no time oppressively hot, +and the winters uncommonly mild for so high a latitude, at least, as far +as my experience went. At Tashees and Cooptee, where we passed the +coldest part of the season, the winter did not set in till late in +December, nor have I ever yet known the ice, even on the freshwater +ponds, more than two or three inches in thickness, or a snow exceeding +four inches in depth; but what is wanting in snow, is amply made up in +rain, as I have frequently known it, during the winter months, rain +almost incessantly for five or six days in succession. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[124] Ayhuttisaht, also in Nootka Sound. + +[125] This is the custom if the visit of the strangers has not been +announced in advance. + +[126] _Ooshyuksomayts_ is another expression meaning much the same +thing. + +[127] _Kloosmit_ is "herring" (_Meletta cærulea_) generally. _Klooshist_ +is dried salmon, a more common article of food. + +[128] Jewitt's marriage was less ceremonious than is usual with Indians +of any rank, and the ten days' probation was not according to modern +customs. + +[129] _Kutsak_, or _kotsack_, or _kootsick_, or _cotsack_, for all these +forms occur, was the blanket worn cloakwise, rendered familiar to +Europeans in so many pictures and sketches. + +[130] Human sacrifices are quite common among the Northern tribes. But +in Vancouver they were very rare in my time, and are now still less +frequent. In 1863 the burial of a chief was celebrated by the heads of +several tribesmen being fixed about his grave. These were not taken by +force, but surrendered by the trembling tribesmen, the victims being +most likely slaves. In 1788, Meares affirms, on what we believe to be +insufficient evidence, that Maquina (Moqulla) sacrificed a human being +every new moon, to gratify "his unnatural appetite" for human flesh. The +victim was a slave selected by the blindfolded chief catching him in a +house in which a number were assembled. Meares even declares that +Maquina acknowledged his weakness, and that though Callicum, another +chief, avoided cannibalism, he reposed on a pillow filled with human +skulls. If so, the practice has ceased. Yet cannibalism was undeniably +practised at times among the Indians of both the East and West coasts. +There were in 1866 Indians living in Koskeemo Sound, who still talked of +the delights of human flesh. Many years ago, the Bella-Bellas ate a +servant of the Hudson Bay Company, and the Nuchaltaws of Cape Mudge are +affirmed by old traders to have paid the same doubtful compliment to a +sailor who fell into their clutches. + +[131] This, in common with other statements of the kind, is more than +doubtful. The best account of their religion is by Mr. Sproat, but even +he acknowledges that, after two years devoted to the subject, and to the +questioning of others who had passed half a lifetime amongst the "Ahts," +he could discover very little about their faith which could be +pronounced indisputably accurate. Even the Indians themselves are by no +means at one on the subject, people without a written creed or sacred +books being apt to entertain very contradictory ideas on their +theological tenets. I endeavoured to fathom some of their beliefs, and I +had ample opportunities; but I confess to the difficulty of getting +behind these reserved folk, and I did not meet with sufficient success +to make the results worth recording. + +[132] What Jewitt calls a "conjurer" is more commonly known in these +times as a "medicine man," who was, more often than not, a combination +nine parts rogue and one part fool. + +[133] This is entirely different from the views that are entertained by +other tribes. The tribes speaking the language which prevails from Port +San Juan to Comox are so ashamed of twins, that one of the hapless two +is almost invariably killed. I do not remember having ever seen a case. +Most of the Indian birth notions are very curious. + +[134] They are apt to rapidly change from young-looking to old-looking +men, without any of that pleasant "Indian summer" so characteristic of +people in more civilised communities. But advanced years are not common. +In 1864 the oldest man in the little Opechesaht tribe, whose homes are +on the Kleecoot River (flowing out of Sproat Lake into the Alberni +Inlet), was only sixty, so far as he could make out. + +[135] Bilious complaints, constipation, dysentery, consumption, fevers +and acute inflammatory diseases, and (amongst some tribes, but not +amongst the Nootkians), ophthalmia, are common, though rheumatism and +paralysis are infrequent. The "diseases of civilisation," it may be +added, have been known for many years. + +[136] This is still true. When sober they indulge in high words, and are +fond of teasing the women until they get out of temper; but a blow is +rare. Even the children seldom fall out, the necessity of small +communities living together for mutual protection compelling the members +to establish a _modus vivendi_. However, when drunk--and in spite of the +laws against liquor being sold to them, this is by no means +uncommon--they are prone to seek close quarters and act like angry +termagants. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ARRIVAL OF THE BRIG "LYDIA"--STRATAGEM OF THE AUTHOR--ITS SUCCESS + + +It was now past midsummer, and the hopes we had indulged of our release +became daily more faint, for though we had heard of no less than seven +vessels on the coast, yet none appeared inclined to venture to Nootka. + +The destruction of the _Boston_, the largest, strongest, and best +equipped ship, with the most valuable cargo of any that had ever been +fitted for the North-West trade, had inspired the commanders of others +with a general dread of coming thither, lest they should share the same +fate; and though in the letters I wrote (imploring those who should +receive them to come to the relief of two unfortunate Christians who +were suffering among heathen), I stated the cause of the _Boston's_ +capture, and that there was not the least danger in coming to Nootka, +provided they would follow the directions I laid down, still I felt very +little encouragement that any of these letters would come to hand; when, +on the morning of the 19th of July, a day that will be ever held by me +in grateful remembrance of the mercies of God, while I was employed with +Thompson in forging daggers for the king, my ears were saluted with the +joyful sound of three cannon, and the cries of the inhabitants, +exclaiming "_Weena, weena--Mamethlee!_"--that is, "Strangers--White +men!" + +Soon after, several of our people came running into the house, to inform +me that a vessel under full sail was coming into the harbour. Though my +heart bounded with joy, I repressed my feelings, and, affecting to pay +no attention to what was said, told Thompson to be on his guard, and not +betray any joy, as our release, and perhaps our lives, depended on our +conducting ourselves so as to induce the natives to suppose we were not +very anxious to leave them. We continued our work as if nothing had +happened, when, in a few minutes after, Maquina came in, and, seeing us +at work, appeared much surprised, and asked me if did not know that a +vessel had come. + +I answered in a careless manner, that it was nothing to me. "How, John," +said he, "you no glad go board?" I replied that I cared very little +about it, as I had become reconciled to their manner of living, and had +no wish to go away. He then told me that he had called a council of his +people respecting us, and that we must leave off work and be present at +it. + +The men having assembled at Maquina's house, he asked them what was +their opinion should be done with Thompson and myself, now a vessel had +arrived, and whether he had not better go on board himself, to make a +trade, and procure such articles as were wanted. Each one of the tribe +who wished, gave his opinion. Some were for putting us to death, and +pretending to the strangers that a different nation had cut off the +_Boston_; while others, less barbarous, were for sending us fifteen or +twenty miles back into the country, until the departure of the vessel. + +These, however, were the sentiments of the common people, the chiefs +opposing our being put to death, or injured, and several of them, among +the most forward of whom were Yealthlower and the young chief +Toowinnakinnish, were for immediately releasing us; but this, if he +could avoid it, by no means appeared to accord with Maquina's wishes. + +Having mentioned Toowinnakinnish, I shall briefly observe that he was a +young man of about twenty-three years old, the only son of +Toopeeshottee, the oldest and most respected chief of the tribe. His son +had always been remarkably kind and friendly to me, and I had in return +frequently made for him daggers, cheetolths, and other things, in my +best manner. He was one of the handsomest men among them, very amiable, +and much milder in his manners than any of the others, as well as neater +both in his person and house, at least his apartment, without even +excepting Maquina. + +With regard, however, to Maquina's going on board the vessel, which he +discovered a strong inclination to do, there was but one opinion, all +remonstrating against it, telling him that the captain would kill him or +keep him prisoner, in consequence of his having destroyed our ship. When +Maquina had heard their opinions, he told them that he was not afraid of +being hurt from going on board the vessel, but that he would, however, +as it respected that, be guided by John, whom he had always found true. +He then turned to me, and asked me if I thought there would be any +danger in his going on board. I answered, that I was not surprised at +the advice his people had given him, unacquainted as they were with the +manners of the white men, and judging them by their own; but if they had +been with them as much as I had, or even himself, they would think very +different. That he had almost always experienced good and civil +treatment from them, nor had he any reason to fear the contrary now, as +they never attempted to harm those who did not injure them; and if he +wished to go on board, he might do it, in my opinion, with security. + +After reflecting a few moments, he said, with much apparent +satisfaction, that if I would write a letter to the captain, telling him +good of him, that he had treated Thompson and myself kindly since we had +been with him, and to use him well, he would go. + +It may easily be supposed that I felt much joy at this determination, +but, knowing that the least incaution might annihilate all my hopes of +escape, was careful not to manifest it, and to treat his going or +staying as a matter perfectly indifferent to me. I told him that, if he +wished me to write such a letter, I had no objection, as it was the +truth, otherwise I could not have done it. + +I then proceeded to write the recommendatory letter, which the reader +will naturally imagine was of a somewhat different tenor from the one he +had required; for if deception is in any case warrantable, it was +certainly so in a situation like ours, where the only chance of +regaining that freedom of which we had been so unjustly deprived, +depended upon it; and I trust that few, even of the most rigid, will +condemn me with severity for making use of it, on an occasion which +afforded me the only hope of ever more beholding a Christian country, +and preserving myself, if not from death, at least from a life of +continued suffering. + +The letter which I wrote was nearly in the following terms:-- + + TO CAPTAIN---- + OF THE BRIG---- + NOOTKA, _July_ 19, 1805. + + SIR,--The bearer of this letter is the Indian king by the name + of Maquina. He was the instigator of the capture of the ship + _Boston_, of Boston, in North America, John Salter, captain, and + of the murder of twenty-five men of her crew, the two only + survivors being now on shore--Wherefore I hope you will take + care to confine him according to his merits, putting in your + dead-lights, and keeping so good a watch over him, that he + cannot escape from you. By so doing, we shall be able to obtain + our release in the course of a few hours. + + JOHN R. JEWITT, _Armourer of the "Boston"_ + _for himself, and_ + JOHN THOMPSON, _Sail-maker of the said ship_. + + +I have been asked how I dared to write in this manner: my answer is, +that from my long residence among these people, I knew that I had little +to apprehend from their anger on hearing of their king being confined, +while they knew his life depended upon my release, and that they would +sooner have given up five hundred white men, than have had him injured. +This will serve to explain the little apprehension I felt at their +menaces afterwards, for otherwise, sweet as liberty was to me, I should +hardly have ventured on so hazardous an experiment. + +On my giving the letter to Maquina, he asked me to explain it to him. +This I did line by line, as he pointed them out with his finger, but in +a sense very different from the real, giving him to understand that I +had written to the captain that, as he had been kind to me since I had +been taken by him, that it was my wish that the captain should treat him +accordingly, and give him what molasses, biscuit, and rum he wanted. + +When I had finished, placing his finger in a significant manner on my +name at the bottom, and eyeing me with a look that seemed to read my +inmost thoughts, he said to me, "John, you no lie?" Never did I undergo +such a scrutiny, or ever experience greater apprehensions than I felt at +that moment, when my destiny was suspended on the slightest thread, and +the least mark of embarrassment on mine, or suspicion of treachery on +his part, would probably have rendered my life the sacrifice. + +Fortunately I was able to preserve my composure, and my being painted in +the Indian manner, which Maquina had since my marriage required of me, +prevented any change in my countenance from being noticed, and I replied +with considerable promptitude, looking at him in my turn, with all the +confidence I could muster,-- + +"Why do you ask me such a question, Tyee? Have you ever known me to +lie?" + +"No." + +"Then how can you suppose I should tell you a lie now, since I have +never done it?" As I was speaking, he still continued looking at me with +the same piercing eye, but, observing nothing to excite his suspicion, +he told me that he believed what I said was true, and that he would go +on board, and gave orders to get ready his canoe. His chiefs again +attempted to dissuade him, using every argument for that purpose, while +his wives crowded around him, begging him on their knees not to trust +himself with the white men. Fortunately for my companion and myself, so +strong was his wish of going on board the vessel, that he was deaf to +their solicitations, and, making no other reply to them than "John no +lie," left the house, taking four prime skins with him as a present to +the captain. + +Scarcely had the canoe put off, when he ordered his men to stop, and, +calling to me, asked me if I did not want to go on board with him. +Suspecting this as a question merely intended to ensnare me, I replied +that I had no wish to do it, not having any desire to leave them. + +On going on board the brig, Maquina immediately gave his present of +skins and my letter to the captain, who, on reading it, asked him into +the cabin, where he gave him some biscuit and a glass of rum, at the +same time privately directing his mate to go forward, and return with +five or six of the men armed. When they appeared, the captain told +Maquina that he was his prisoner, and should continue so, until the two +men, whom he knew to be on shore, were released, at the same time +ordering him to be put in irons, and the windows secured, which was +instantly done, and a couple of men placed as a guard over him. Maquina +was greatly surprised and terrified at this reception; he, however, made +no attempt to resist, but requested the captain to permit one of his men +to come and see him. One of them was accordingly called, and Maquina +said something to him which the captain did not understand, but supposed +to be an order to release us, when, the man returning to the canoe, it +was paddled off with the utmost expedition to the shore. + +As the canoe approached, the inhabitants, who had all collected upon the +beach, manifested some uneasiness at not seeing their king on board, but +when, on its arrival, they were told that the captain had made him a +prisoner, and that John had spoke bad about him in the letter, they all, +both men and women, set up a loud howl, and ran backwards and forwards +upon the shore like so many lunatics, scratching their faces, and +tearing the hair in handfuls from their heads. + +After they had beat about in this manner for some time, the men ran to +their huts for their weapons, as if preparing to attack an invading +enemy; while Maquina's wives and the rest of the women came around me, +and, throwing themselves on their knees, begged me with tears to spare +his life; and Sat-sat-sok-sis, who kept constantly with me, taking me by +the hand, wept bitterly, and joined his entreaties to theirs, that I +would not let the white men kill his father. I told them not to afflict +themselves, that Maquina's life was in no danger, nor would the least +harm be done to him. + +The men were, however, extremely exasperated with me, more particularly +the common people, who came running in the most furious manner towards +me, brandishing their weapons, and threatening to cut me in pieces no +bigger than their thumb-nails, while others declared they would burn me +alive over a slow fire suspended by my heels. All this fury, however, +caused me but little alarm, as I felt convinced they would not dare to +execute their threats while the king was on board the brig. + +The chiefs took no part in this violent conduct, but came to me, and +inquired the reason why Maquina had been thus treated, and if the +captain intended to kill him. I told them that if they would silence the +people, so that I could be heard, I would explain all to them. They +immediately put a stop to the noise, when I informed them that the +captain, in confining Maquina, had done it only in order to make them +release Thompson and myself, as he well knew we were with them; and if +they would do that, their king would receive no injury, but be well +treated, otherwise he would be kept a prisoner. + +As many of them did not appear to be satisfied with this, and began to +repeat their murderous threats--"Kill me," said I to them, "if it is +your wish," throwing open the bearskin which I wore. "Here is my breast. +I am only one among so many, and can make no resistance; but unless you +wish to see your king hanging by his neck to that pole," pointing to the +yard-arm of the brig, "and the sailors firing at him with bullets, you +will not do it." + +"Oh no," was the general cry, "that must never be; but what must we do?" +I told them that their best plan would be to send Thompson on board, to +desire the captain to use Maquina well till I was released, which would +be soon. This they were perfectly willing to do, and I directed Thompson +to go on board. But he objected, saying that he would not leave me alone +with the savages. I told him not to be under any fear for me, for that +if I could get him off, I could manage well enough for myself; and that +I wished him, immediately on getting on board the brig, to see the +captain, and request him to keep Maquina close till I was released, as I +was in no danger while he had him safe. + +When I saw Thompson off, I asked the natives what they intended to do +with me. They said I must talk to the captain again, in another letter, +and tell him to let his boat come on shore with Maquina, and that I +should be ready to jump into the boat at the same time Maquina should +jump on shore. I told them that the captain, who knew that they had +killed my shipmates, would never trust his men so near the shore, for +fear they could kill them too, as they were so much more numerous, but +that if they would select any three of their number to go with me in a +canoe, when we came within hail, I would desire the captain to send his +boat with Maquina, to receive me in exchange for him. + +This appeared to please them, and after some whispering among the +chiefs, who, from what words I over-heard, concluded that if the captain +should refuse to send his boat with Maquina, the three men would have no +difficulty in bringing me back with them, they agreed to my proposal, +and selected three of their stoutest men to convey me. Fortunately, +having been for some time accustomed to see me armed, and suspecting no +design on my part, they paid no attention to the pistols that I had +about me. + +As I was going into the canoe, little Sat-sat-sok-sis, who could not +bear to part with me, asked me, with an affecting simplicity, since I +was going away to leave him, if the white men would not let his father +come on shore, and not kill him. I told him not to be concerned, for +that no one should injure his father, when, taking an affectionate leave +of me, and again begging me not to let the white men hurt his father, he +ran to comfort his mother, who was at a little distance, with the +assurances I had given him. + +On entering the canoe, I seated myself in the prow facing the three men, +having determined, if it was practicable, from the moment I found +Maquina was secured, to get on board the vessel before he was released, +hoping by that means to be enabled to obtain the restoration of what +property belonging to the _Boston_ still remained in the possession of +the savages, which I thought, if it could be done, a duty that I owed to +the owners. With feelings of joy impossible to be described did I quit +the savage shore, confident now that nothing could thwart my escape, or +prevent the execution of the plan that I had formed, as the men +appointed to convey and guard me were armed with nothing but their +paddles. + +As we came within hail of the brig, they at once ceased paddling, when, +presenting my pistols at them, I ordered them instantly to go on, or I +would shoot the whole of them. A proceeding so wholly unexpected threw +them into great consternation, and, resuming their paddles, in a few +moments, to my inexpressible delight, I once more found myself alongside +of a Christian ship, a happiness which I had almost despaired of ever +again enjoying. All the crew crowded to the side to see me as the canoe +came up, and manifested much joy at my safety. I immediately leaped on +board, where I was welcomed by the captain, Samuel Hill, of the brig +_Lydia_ of Boston, who congratulated me on my escape, informing me that +he had received my letter off Kloiz-zart[137] from the chief Machee +Ulatilla, who came off himself in his canoe to deliver it to him, on +which he immediately proceeded hither to aid me. I returned him my +thanks in the best manner I could for his humanity, though I hardly knew +what I said, such was the agitated state of my feelings at that moment, +with joy for my escape, thankfulness to the Supreme Being who had so +mercifully preserved me, and gratitude to those whom He had rendered +instrumental in my delivery, that I have no doubt that, what with my +strange dress, being painted with red and black from head to foot, +having a bearskin wrapped around me, and my long hair, which I was not +allowed to cut, fastened on the top of my head in a large bunch, with a +sprig of green spruce, I must have appeared more like one deranged than +a rational creature, as Captain Hill afterwards told me that he never +saw anything in the form of man look so wild as I did when I first came +on board. + +The captain then asked me into the cabin, where I found Maquina in +irons, with a guard over him. He looked very melancholy, but on seeing +me his countenance brightened up, and he expressed his pleasure with the +welcome of "_Wocash_, John," when, taking him by the hand, I asked the +captain's permission to take off his irons, assuring him that, as I was +with him, there was no danger of his being in the least troublesome. He +accordingly consented, and I felt a sincere pleasure in freeing from +fetters a man who, though he had caused the death of my poor comrades, +had nevertheless always proved my friend and protector, and whom I had +requested to be thus treated, only with a view of securing my liberty. +Maquina smiled, and appeared much pleased at this mark of attention from +me. When I had freed the king from his irons, Captain Hill wished to +learn the particulars of our capture, observing that an account of the +destruction of the ship and her crew had been received at Boston before +he sailed, but that nothing more was known, except that two of the men +were living, for whose rescue the owners had offered a liberal reward, +and that he had been able to get nothing out of the old man, whom the +sailors had supplied so plentifully with grog as to bring him too much +by the head to give any information. + +I gave him a correct statement of the whole proceeding, together with +the manner in which my life and that of my comrade had been preserved. +On hearing my story, he was greatly irritated against Maquina, and said +he ought to be killed. I observed that, however ill he might have acted +in taking our ship, yet that it might perhaps be wrong to judge an +uninformed savage with the same severity as a civilised person, who had +the light of religion and the laws of society to guide him. That +Maquina's conduct in taking our ship arose from an insult that he +thought he had received from Captain Salter, and from the unjustifiable +conduct of some masters of vessels who had robbed him, and, without +provocation, killed a number of his people. Besides, that a regard for +the safety of others ought to prevent his being put to death, as I had +lived long enough with these people to know that revenge of an injury is +held sacred by them, and that they would not fail to retaliate, should +we kill their king, on the first vessel or boat's crew that should give +them an opportunity; and that, though he might consider executing him as +but an act of justice, it would probably cost the lives of many +Americans. + +The captain appeared to be convinced from what I said of the impolicy of +taking Maquina's life, and said that he would leave it wholly with me +whether to spare or kill him, as he was resolved to incur no censure in +either case. I replied that I most certainly should never take the life +of a man who had preserved mine, had I no other reason, but as there was +some of the _Boston's_ property still remaining on shore, I considered +it a duty that I owed to those who were interested in that ship, to try +to save it for them, and with that view I thought it would be well to +keep him on board till it was given up. He concurred in this proposal, +saying, if there was any of the property left, it most certainly ought +to be got. + +During this conversation Maquina was in great anxiety, as, from what +English he knew, he perfectly comprehended the subject of our +deliberation; constantly interrupting me to inquire what we had +determined to do with him, what the captain said, if his life would be +spared, and if I did not think that Thompson would kill him. I pacified +him as well as I was able, by telling him that he had nothing to fear +from the captain, that he would not be hurt, and that if Thompson +wished to kill him, he would not be allowed to do it. He would then +remind me that I was indebted to him for my life, and that I ought to do +by him as he had done by me. I assured him that such was my intention, +and I requested him to remain quiet, and not alarm himself, as no harm +was intended him. But I found it extremely difficult to convince him of +this, as it accorded so little with the ideas of revenge entertained by +them. I told him, however, that he must restore all the property still +in his possession belonging to the ship. This he was perfectly ready to +do, happy to escape on such terms. + +But as it was now past five, and too late for the articles to be +collected and brought off, I told him that he must content himself to +remain on board with me that night, and in the morning he should be set +on shore as soon as the things were delivered. To this he agreed, on +condition that I would remain with him in the cabin. I then went upon +deck, and the canoe that brought me having been sent back, I hailed the +inhabitants and told them that their king had agreed to stay on board +till the next day, when he would return, but that no canoes must attempt +to come near the vessel during the night, as they would be fired upon. +They answered, "_Woho, woho_"--"Very well, very well." + +I then returned to Maquina, but so great were his terrors, that he would +not allow me to sleep, constantly disturbing me with his questions, and +repeating, "John, you know, when you was alone, and more than five +hundred men were your enemies, I was your friend, and prevented them +from putting you and Thompson to death, and now I am in the power of +your friends, you ought to do the same by me." I assured him that he +would be detained on board no longer than whilst the property was +released, and that as soon as it was done, he would be set at liberty. + +At daybreak I hailed the natives, and told them that it was Maquina's +order that they should bring off the cannon and anchors, and whatever +remained with them of the cargo of the ship. This they set about doing +with the utmost expedition, transporting the cannon and anchors by +lashing together two of their largest canoes, and covering them with +planks, and in the course of two hours they delivered everything on +board that I could recollect, with Thompson's and my chest, containing +the papers of the ship, etc. + +When everything belonging to the ship had been restored, Maquina was +permitted to return in his canoe, which had been sent for him, with a +present of what skins he had collected, which were about sixty, for the +captain, in acknowledgment of his having spared his life, and allowed +him to depart unhurt. + +Such was also the transport he felt when Captain Hill came into the +cabin, and told him that he was at liberty to go, that he threw off his +mantle, which consisted of four of the very best skins, and gave it to +him as a mark of his gratitude; in return for which the captain +presented him with a new greatcoat and hat, with which he appeared much +delighted. The captain then desired me to inform him that he should +return to that part of the coast in November, and that he wished him to +keep what skins he should get, which he would buy of him. This Maquina +promised, saying to me at the same time, "John, you know I shall be then +at Tashees, but when you come, make _pow_," which means, fire a gun, "to +let me know, and I will come down." When he came to the side of the +brig, he shook me cordially by the hand, and told me that he hoped I +would come to see him again in a big ship, and bring much plenty of +blankets, biscuit, molasses, and rum, for him and his son, who loved me +a great deal; and that he would keep all the furs he got for me, +observing at the same time, that he should never more take a letter of +recommendation from any one, or ever trust himself on board a vessel +unless I was there. Then, grasping both my hands with much emotion, +while the tears trickled down his cheeks, he bade me farewell, and stept +into the canoe, which immediately paddled him on shore. + +Notwithstanding my joy at my deliverance, and the pleasing anticipation +I felt of once more beholding a civilised country, and again being +permitted to offer up my devotions in a Christian church, I could not +avoid experiencing a painful sensation on parting with the savage chief, +who had preserved my life, and in general treated me with kindness, and, +considering their ideas and manners, much better than could have been +expected. + +My pleasure was also greatly damped by an unfortunate accident that +occurred to Toowinnakinnish. That interesting young chief had come on +board in the first canoe in the morning, anxious to see and comfort his +king. He was received with much kindness by Captain Hill, from the +favourable account I gave of him, and invited to remain on board. As the +muskets were delivered, he was in the cabin with Maquina, where was +also the captain, who, on receiving them, snapped a number in order to +try the locks; unluckily one of them happened to be loaded with swan +shot, and, going off, discharged its contents into the body of poor +Toowinnakinnish, who was sitting opposite. On hearing the report, I +instantly ran into the cabin, where I found him weltering in his blood, +with the captain, who was greatly shocked at the accident, endeavouring +to assist him. + +We raised him up, and did everything in our power to aid and comfort +him, telling him that we felt much grieved at his misfortune, and that +it was wholly unintentional; this he told me he was perfectly satisfied +of, and while we dressed and bound up his wounds, in the best manner we +could, he bore the pain with great calmness, and, bidding me farewell, +was put on board one of the canoes and taken on shore, where, after +languishing a few days, he expired. To me his misfortune was a source of +much affliction, as he had no share in the massacre of our crew, was of +a most amiable character, and had always treated me with the greatest +kindness and hospitality. + +The brig being under weigh, immediately on Maquina's quitting us, we +proceeded to the northward, constantly keeping the shore in sight, and +touching at various places for the purpose of trading. + +Having already exceeded the bounds I had prescribed myself, I shall not +attempt any account of our voyage upon the coast, or a description of +the various nations we met with in the course of it, among whom were a +people of a very singular appearance, called by the sailors the +_Wooden-lips_.[138] They have many skins, and the trade is principally +managed by their women, who are not only expert in making a bargain, but +as dexterous in the management of their canoes as the men are elsewhere. + +After a period of nearly four months from our leaving Nootka, we +returned from the northward to Columbia River, for the purpose of +procuring masts, etc., for our brig, which had suffered considerably in +her spars during a gale of wind. We proceeded about ten miles up the +river to a small Indian village, where we heard from the inhabitants +that Captains Clark and Lewis, from the United States of America, had +been there about a fortnight before, on their journey overland, and had +left several medals with them, which they showed us.[139] The river at +this place is of considerable breadth, and both sides of it from its +entrance covered with forests of the very finest pine timber, fir, and +spruce, interspersed with Indian settlements. + +From this place, after providing ourselves with spars, we sailed for +Nootka, where we arrived in the latter part of November.[140] The tribe +being absent, the agreed signal was given, by firing a cannon, and in a +few hours after a canoe appeared, which landed at the village, and, +putting the king on shore, came off to the brig. Inquiry was immediately +made by Kinneclimmets, who was one of the three men in the canoe, if +John was there, as the king had some skins to sell them if he was. I +then went forward and invited them on board, with which they readily +complied, telling me that Maquina had a number of skins with him, but +that he would not come on board unless I would go on shore for him. This +I agreed to, provided they would remain in the brig in the meantime. To +this they consented, and the captain, taking them into the cabin, +treated them with bread and molasses. I then went on shore in the canoe, +notwithstanding the remonstrances of Thompson and the captain, who, +though he wanted the skins, advised me by no means to put myself in +Maquina's power; but I assured him that I had no fear as long as those +men were on board. + +As I landed, Maquina came up and welcomed me with much joy: on inquiring +for the men, I told him that they were to remain till my return. "Ah, +John," said he, "I see you are afraid to trust me, but if they had come +with you, I should not have hurt you, though I should have taken good +care not to let you go on board of another vessel." He then took his +chest of skins, and, stepping into the canoe, I paddled him alongside +the brig, where he was received and treated by Captain Hill with the +greatest cordiality, who bought of him his skins. He left us much +pleased with his reception, inquiring of me how many moons it would be +before I should come back again to see him and his son; saying that he +would keep all his furs for me, and that as soon as my son, who was then +about five months old, was of a suitable age to take from his mother, he +would send for him, and take care of him as his own.[141] + +As soon as Maquina had quitted us, we got under weigh, and stood again +to the northward. We continued on the coast until the 11th of August, +1806,[142] when, having completed our trade, we sailed for China, to the +great joy of all our crew, and particularly so to me. With a degree of +satisfaction that I can ill express, did I quit a coast to which I was +resolved nothing should again tempt me to return, and as the tops of the +mountains sank in the blue waves of the ocean, I seemed to feel my heart +lightened of an oppressive load. + +We had a prosperous passage to China, arriving at Macao in December, +from whence the brig proceeded to Canton. There I had the good fortune +to meet a townsman and an old acquaintance in the mate of an English +East Indiaman, named John Hill, whose father, a wealthy merchant in Hull +in the Baltic trade, was a next-door neighbour to mine. Shortly after +our arrival, the captain being on board of an English ship, and +mentioning his having had the good fortune to liberate two men of the +_Boston's_ crew from the savages, and that one of them was named Jewitt, +my former acquaintance immediately came on board the brig to see me. + +Words can ill express my feelings on seeing him. Circumstanced as I was, +among persons who were entire strangers to me, to meet thus in a foreign +land with one between whom and myself a considerable intimacy had +subsisted, was a pleasure that those alone who have been in a similar +situation can properly estimate. He appeared on his part no less happy +to see me, whom he supposed to be dead, as the account of our capture +had been received in England some time before his sailing, and all my +friends supposed me to have been murdered. From this young man I +received every attention and aid that a feeling heart interested in the +fate of another could confer. He supplied me with a new suit of clothes +and a hat, a small sum of money for my necessary expenses, and a number +of little articles for sea stores on my voyage to America. I also gave +him a letter for my father, in which I mentioned my wonderful +preservation and escape through the humanity of Captain Hill, with whom +I should return to Boston. This letter he enclosed to his father by a +ship that was just sailing, in consequence of which it was received much +earlier than it otherwise would have been. + +We left China in February 1807, and, after a pleasant voyage of one +hundred and fourteen days, arrived at Boston. My feelings on once more +finding myself in a Christian country, among a people speaking the same +language with myself, may be more readily conceived than expressed. In +the post office in that place I found a letter for me from my mother, +acknowledging the receipt of mine from China, expressing the great joy +of my family on hearing of my being alive and well, whom they had for a +long time given up for dead, and requesting me to write to them on +receiving her letter, which I accordingly did. While in Boston I was +treated with much kindness and hospitality by the owners of the ship +_Boston_, Messrs. Francis and Thomas Amory of that place, to whom I feel +myself under great obligations for their goodness to me, and the +assistance which they so readily afforded a stranger in distress. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[137] This seems another variant of Klaosaht. + +[138] These are doubtless the Hydahs and their kindred, the women of +whom insert a wooden or ivory trough in their lower lip. + +[139] Lewis and Clark reached the mouth of Columbia River on the 15th of +November 1805, and wintered at "Fort Clatsop," as they called their +dwelling among the then numerous Clatsop Indians, until the 23rd of +March 1806, when they began the return journey. The Indians have long +ago vanished from the lower Columbia, the remnant of the Clatsops, and +the Chinooks on the opposite side, now wearing out the tribal existence +in inland Reservations. But it is still possible to come across one of +the medals which the explorers distributed amongst them. + +[140] It is clear, therefore, from this statement that Lewis and Clark +had left Fort Clatsop much more than a fortnight before the vessel in +which Jewitt was arrived there; for it is impossible to suppose that the +latter took from April to November to get at spars and make the return +voyage to Nootka. But the journal of Lewis and Clark was not published +until 1814, so that, when Jewitt wrote, he had no ready means of +checking the Indians' statement, though neither he nor his editor seems +to have troubled books much. + +[141] The cavalier manner in which Jewitt abandons his family is quite +in the fur-trader's fashion. It does not seem that he even asked to see +his Indian "princess!" + +[142] If Jewitt's information about the departure of Lewis and Clark +from the Columbia River is even approximately accurate, the date must be +wrong by a year, and the subsequent one quite as far out of the due +reckoning. 1806 may be a misprint for 1807. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +I. THE "BOSTON'S" CREW + + Names of the Crew of the Ship _Boston_, belonging to Boston in + Massachusetts, owned by Messrs. F. and T. Amory, Merchants of + that place--All of whom, excepting two, were on the 22nd of + March, 1803, barbarously murdered by the savages of Nootka. + + John Salter, of Boston, Captain. + B. Delouisa, Ditto, Chief Mate. + William Ingraham, of New York, Second Mate. + Edward Thompson, of Blyth (England), Boatswain. + Adam Siddle, of Hull, ditto, Carpenter. + Philip Brown, of Cambridge (Mass.), Joiner. + John Dorthy, of Situate, ditto, Blacksmith. + Abraham Waters, of Philadelphia, Steward. + Francis Duffield, of Penton (England), Tailor. + John Wilson (blackman), of Virginia, Cook. + William Caldwell, of Boston, Seaman. + Joseph Miner, of Newport, Ditto. + William Robinson, of Leigh[143] (Scotland), Ditto. + Thomas Wilson, of Air,[144] ditto, Ditto. + Andrew Kelly, Ditto, ditto, Ditto. + Robert Burton, of the Isle of Man, Ditto. + James M'Clay, of Dublin, Ditto. + Thomas Platten, of Blackney, Norfolk, Eng. Ditto. + Thomas Newton, of Hull, " Ditto. + Charles Bates, of St. James Deeping, " Ditto. + John Hall, of Newcastle, " Ditto. + Samuel Wood, of Glasgow (Scotland), Ditto. + Peter Alstrom, Norwegian, Ditto. + Francis Marten, Portuguese, Ditto. + Jupiter Senegal (blackman) Ditto. + John Thompson, Philadelphia, Sail Maker, + who escaped--since dead. + John R. Jewitt, of Hull (England), Armourer, + +the writer of the Journal from whence this Narrative is taken, and who +at present, March 1815, resides in Middletown, in the State of +Connecticut. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[143] Leith. + +[144] Ayr. + + + + +II. WAR-SONG OF THE NOOTKA TRIBE + +_Commencing with a Chorus repeated at the end of each line._ + + Hah-yee hah yar har, he yar hah. + Hah-yah hee yar har--he yar hah. + Iye ie ee yah har--ee yie hah. + Ie yar ee yar hah--ee yar yah. + Ie yar ee I yar yar hah--Ie yar ee yee yah! + + Ie-yee ma hi-chill at-sish Kla-ha--Hah-ye-hah. + Que nok ar parts arsh waw--Ie yie-yar. + Waw-hoo naks sar hasch--Yar-hah. I-yar hee I-yar. + Waw hoo naks ar hasch yak-queets sish ni-ese, + Waw har. Hie yee ah-hah. + +Repeated over and over, with gestures and brandishing of weapons. + + +_Note._ + +_Ie-yee ma hi-chill_ signifies, "Ye do not know." It appears to be a +poetical mode of expression, the common one for "You do not know" being +_Wik-kum-atash_; from this, it would seem that they have two languages, +one for their songs and another for common use. The general meaning of +this first stanza appears to be, "Ye little know, ye men of Klahar, what +valiant warriors we are. Poorly can our foes contend with us, when we +come on with our daggers," etc. + +The Nootkians have no songs of an historical nature, nor do they appear +to have any tradition respecting their origin.[145] + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[145] That is not quite true. They have several of a vague order: one, +for example, is that all the Indians are sprung from Quawteaht and the +Thunder Birds. Another is that all the tribes on the West Coast come +from the west; the different tribes having sprung from the canoes full +of migrants stranded by a storm here and there, and so forth. + + + + +III. A LIST OF WORDS + +_In the Nootkian Language, the most in use._[146] + + + Check-up, Man. + Kloots-mah, Woman. + Noowexa, Father. + Hooma-hexa, Mother. + Tanassis, Child. + Katlahtik, Brother. + Kloot-chem-up, Sister. + Tanassis-check-up, Son. + Tanassis-kloots-mah, Daughter. + Tau-hat-se-tee, Head. + Kassee, Eye. + Hap-se-up, Hair. + Neetsa, Nose. + Parpee, Ears. + Chee-chee, Teeth. + Choop, Tongue. + Kook-a-nik-sa, Hands. + Klish-klin, Feet. + Oop-helth, Sun or Moon. + Tar-toose, Stars. + Sie-yah, Sky. + Toop-elth, Sea. + Cha-hak, Fresh water. + Meet-la, Rain. + Queece, Snow. + Noot-chee, Mountain or hill. + Kla-tur-miss, Earth. + Een-nuk-see, Fire or fuel. + Mook-see, Rock. + Muk-ka-tee, House. + Wik, No. + He-ho, Yes. + Kak-koelth, Slave. + Mah-hack, Whale. + Klack-e-miss, Oil. + Quart-lak, Sea-otter. + Coo-coo-ho-sa, Seal. + Moo-watch, Bear. + So-har, Salmon. + Toosch-qua, Cod. + Pow-ee, Halibut. + Kloos-a-mit, Herring. + Chap-atz, Canoe. + Oo-wha-pa, Paddle. + Chee-me-na, Fish-hook. + Chee-men, Fish-hooks. + Sick-a-minny, Iron. + Toophelth, Cloth. + Cham-mass, Fruit. + Cham-mas-sish, Sweet or pleasant to the taste. + Moot-sus, Powder. + Chee-pokes, Copper. + Hah-welks, Hungry. + Nee-sim-mer-hise, Enough. + Chat-ta-yek, Knife or dagger. + Klick-er-yek, Rings. + Quish-ar, Smoke. + Mar-met-ta, Goose or duck. + Pook-shit-tle, To blow. + Een-a-qui-shit-tle, To kindle a fire. + Ar-teese, To bathe. + Ma-mook-su-mah, To go to fish. + Smootish-check-up, Warrior. + Cha-alt-see klat-tur wah, Go off, or go away. + Ma-kook, To sell. + Kah-ah-pah-chilt, Give me something. + Oo-nah, How many. + Iy ah-ish, Much. + Ko-mme-tak, I understand. + I-yee ma hak, I do not understand. + Em-ma-chap, To play. + Kle-whar, To laugh. + Mac-kam-mah-sish, Do you want to buy. + Kah-ah-coh, Bring it. + Sah-wauk, One. + Att-la, Two. + Kat-sa, Three. + Mooh, Four. + Soo-chah, Five. + Noo-poo, Six. + At-tle-poo, Seven. + At-lah-quelth, Eight. + Saw-wauk-quelth, Nine. + Hy-o, Ten. + Sak-aitz, Twenty. + Soo-jewk, One hundred. + Hy-e-oak, One thousand. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[146] Most of the words in this vocabulary are given with reasonable +correctness, though the transliteration is somewhat primitive. A fuller +and more accurate one may be found in the Appendix to Sproat's _Scenes +and Studies of Savage Life_ (1868), pp. 295-309, so that it is not +necessary to annotate the present one. Those in Cook's _Voyage_ and in +Dawson and Tolmie's _Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of +British Columbia_ (1884), are short and imperfect. I have a much fuller +one in manuscript. + + + + +INDEX + + + PAGE + +Aht Indians, The, 19 +---- The various tribes of, 23 + +A-y-chart, Journey to, 193 +---- Natives, conflict with, 194 + + +Bear, Capture of the, 164 +---- Management of the, 163 + +Boston, Arrival at, 244 +---- Reception at, by friends, 245 + +_Boston_, The-- + Burning of, 83 + Capture of, 32, 64 + List of crew of, 247 + Murder of crew of, 68 + + +Canoes, Description of, 124 + +Cayuquets, The, 136 + +China, Arrival at, 244 + +Celebration, A religious, 205 + +Climate, 221 + +Cook and Vancouver, 38 + +Cooptee, Town of, 145, 168 + + +Death, Indian customs observed at, 173 + + +Feast, An Indian, 80 + +Fruit, Various kinds of, 162 + + +Geese, Mode of capture of, 208 + + +Herring, Mode of capture of, 171 + +Hull, Leave-taking at, 51 + + +Klaizzarts, The, 132 + +Kla-oo-quates, The, 134 + +Kletsup Root, Description of, 167 + + +Ife-waw, Method of securing, 116 + + +Jewitt-- + Birth of, 43 + Domestic management, 204 + Early life of, 44 + Illness of, 212 + Marriage of, 201 + Parentage of, 43 + Proposal to release, 232 + Proposal to murder, 214 + Reception of, by savages, 70 + Received by Captain Hill, 235 + Sufferings from cold, 211 + Suspicions of, by Maquina, 228 + Termination of captivity, 234 + +Journal, Jewitt's, Commencement of, 89 + + +King, Privileges of the, 215 + + +Language, Commencement to learn, 93 + +_Lydia_, The, Arrival of, 224 +----Departure of, 241 +----Letter to captain of, 227 + + +_Manchester_, The, 154 + +Maquina--, 59, 188 + Capture and Imprisonment of, 229 + Council concerning, 236 + Release of, 238 + Visit of, to the _Lydia_, 243 + +Mooachats, The, 38 + +Moon, Eclipse of the, in 1805, 208 + + +Newchemass, The, 136 + +Native, Indecent burial of a, 212 + +Natives, Intercourse with, 58 + +Nettinahts, The, 21 + +Nootka Sound, 28, 95 +---- ---- Return to, 72 +---- ---- Voyage to, 53 + +Nootkians, The-- + Complexion and physique, 113 + Diseases of, 220 + Dress of, 105 + Filthiness of, 187 + Food of, 110 + General conduct of, 225 + Houses of, 97 + Mode of living of, 108 + Musical instruments of, 129 + Ornaments and decorations of, 115, 117 + Personal appearance of, 112 + Religion of, 216 + Slaves of, 130 + Sports of, 120 + Superstitions of, 217 + War-song of, 248 + +Nootkian language, List of words, 249 + + +Porpoises, Sea, Capture of, 56 + + +Quahootze, The celebration of, 165 + + +Salmon, Method of capture of the, 121, 148 + +Salter, Captain John, 48, 55 + +Savages, Treatment of, by English Commanders, 156, 161 + +Savagedom in Western Vancouver, 16 + +Sea-otter, Description of the, 120 + +Sundays at Nootka, 142 + + +Tashees, 147 + +Thompson-- + Escape by stratagem of, 74 + Escape from death of, 90 + Reception of, by crew of the _Lydia_, 232 + +Tootoosch-- + Description of, 174 + Death of, 181 + Funeral of, 182 + Singular Derangement of, 176 + +Toowinnakinnish, 235, 240 + +Trade, Articles of, 137 + +Tribes, Arrival of neighbouring, 77 + +Twins, Custom at birth of, 218 + + +Ulatilla, 198 + +Upquesta, Town of, 168 +----Reception at, 169 + + +War, Preparations for, with the A-y-charts, 192 + +Whale, Method of capture of, 122, 178 + +Whale-oil, Method of procuring, 179 + +Whaling, Observances preparatory to, 180 + +Wickinninish Native, Insult of, 191 + +Wife, Departure of Jewitt's, 213 + +Wooden-lips, The, 241 + + +Yama fruit, Species of, 161 + +Yealthlower, Cruelty of, 207 + + +MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + _CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS._ + + The Investors' Review. + EDITED BY A. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/38010-0.zip b/38010-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..759ced3 --- /dev/null +++ b/38010-0.zip diff --git a/38010-8.txt b/38010-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c18ea21 --- /dev/null +++ b/38010-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7438 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Adventures of John Jewitt, by John +Rodgers Jewitt, Edited by Robert Brown + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Adventures of John Jewitt + Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island + + +Author: John Rodgers Jewitt + +Editor: Robert Brown + +Release Date: November 14, 2011 [eBook #38010] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT*** + + +E-text prepared by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38010-h.htm or 38010-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38010/38010-h/38010-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38010/38010-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/adventuresofjohn00jewiuoft + + +Transcriber's note: + + The following notation has been used for letters with macrons + above them that cannot be represented in the Latin-1 encoding: + [=a], [=e], [=i]. These characters are represented correctly + in the UTF-8 and HTML versions of this e-book. + + + + + +[Illustration: Portrait of Dr. Robert Brown] + + +THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT + +Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship _Boston_ +During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among +the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island + +Edited with an Introduction and Notes + +by + +Robert Brown, Ph.D., M.A., F.L.S. +Commander of the First Vancouver Exploring Expedition + +With Thirteen Illustrations + + + + + + + +Clement Wilson +29 Paternoster Row, London, E.C. +1896 + +[_All Rights Reserved_] + +Morrison and Gibb, Printers, Edinburgh + + + + +IN MEMORY + + +A sad interest attaches to this little book. Although published after +his death, and therefore deprived of his final revision, it was not the +last work which Dr. Robert Brown did. His manuscript was actually +completed many months ago, but at his own request it was returned to him +to receive a last careful overhaul at his hands. This revision had been +practically finished, and the MS. lay ready uppermost among the papers +in his desk, where it was found after his death. Dr. Brown died on the +morning of the 26th of October, 1895, working almost to his last hour. +Before the leader he had written for the _Standard_ on the evening of +the 25th had come under the eyes of its readers, the hand that had +penned it was cold in death. Between the evening and the morning he went +home. He was only fifty-three, but "a righteous man, though he die +before his time, shall be at rest." + +And in one sense Dr. Brown needed rest--ay, even this last and sweetest +rest of all. His life had been one of unremitting work--work well done, +which the busy, hurrying world mostly heeded not, knowing naught of the +hand that did it. Some twenty years ago, when I first knew him, he was a +fair, stalwart Northerner, full of vigour, mirthful also, and apparently +looking out on the voyage of life with the confident, joyous eye of one +who felt he had strength within him to conquer. His latter days were +saddened by incessant toil, performed in weakness of body and jadedness +of brain, and by the feeling that his best work, the work into which he +put his rich stores of knowledge, was neither recognised nor requited as +it should have been. + +To a sensitive man the daily wear and tear of a journalist's life in +London is often murderous, always exhausting--and Dr. Brown was very +sensitive. Beneath the genial exterior, which seemed to indicate a +careless, light-hearted spirit, lay great depths of feeling, and a +tenderness that shrank from expressing itself. The man was too proud and +self-restrained to betray these depths even to those nearest and dearest +to him. This was at once a nobility in him and a weakness. Had he opened +his heart more, he would have chafed and fretted less, little annoyances +would not have become mountain loads of care. But the truth is, Dr. +Brown was not cut out for the life of an everyday journalist, either by +training, habits, or disposition. The ideal post for him would have been +that of a professor at some great university, where he could have had +abundant leisure to pursue his favourite studies, where young men would +have surrounded him and listened with delight to the outpouring of the +wealth of lore with which his capacious intellect was stored. His lot +was otherwise cast, and he accepted it manfully, battling with his +destiny to his last hours, grimly and in silence of soul, intent only on +one thing, to lift his children clear above the necessity for treading +the same rough road upon which he had worn himself out. + +Other and worthier hands than mine may trace, it is to be hoped, the +story of his life, his expeditions in America and Greenland, and his +many literary labours not only in popularising scientific subjects, with +a thoroughness and attractiveness too little recognised, but in walks +apart where the multitude could not judge him. My dominant feeling about +him for many years has been one of regret that he should be wearing his +life away so fast. He never learned to play; to be completely idle for a +day even became, latterly, irksome, almost irritating, to him. His +fingers itched to hold the pen, to handle a book. Although in earlier +times he could enjoy a brief holiday, he ever mixed work with his +pleasure; could, indeed, accept no pleasure which did not imply work +somewhere close to his hand. Thus his various journeys to Morocco, +ostensibly taken, at any rate the earlier of them, to escape from all +kinds of work, and from the sight of the day's newspaper, ended in his +becoming the foremost authority in Great Britain upon the literature, +present social condition, and probable future of that perishing country. +The acquisition of this knowledge was all in his day's enjoyment. + +The testimony of the introduction and notes to this little book is +enough to prove how thoroughly and conscientiously everything that Dr. +Brown undertook was done. The question of payment rarely entered into +his calculations. Some of his very best work was done for nothing, +because he loved to do it. Witness his edition of _Leo Africanus_, +prepared for the Hakluyt Society, and his innumerable memoirs to the +various learned Societies of which he was a member. + +Few of Dr. Brown's London friends were aware that his attainments as a +scientific botanist were of the highest order. Yet in this department of +science alone he had written thirty papers and reports, besides an +advanced text-book of Botany (published by William Blackwood and Sons), +before the summer of 1872, when he was only thirty years of age. These +were entirely outside his contributions to general literature on that +and other subjects, already at that date numerous; and if we add to the +list the various reports, essays, memoranda contributed by him to the +Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, of which he was President, to the +Royal Geographical Society, of whose Council he was a member at his +death, and to numerous other bodies, as well as to scientific and +popular journals, on geographical, geological, and zoological subjects, +from first to last the total mounts to several hundreds. In these +branches of science his heart lay always, but he laboured for his daily +bread and to give to him that needed. + +The portrait forming the frontispiece to this volume is from a +photograph of Dr. Brown taken in 1870, just after his return from his +last expedition to Greenland, and represents him much as he looked when, +some years later, he first came to London, after failing to obtain the +chair of Botany in Edinburgh University. That was a disappointment which +he cannot be said ever to have entirely surmounted. The memory of it to +some extent kept him aloof from his fellow-labourers in the world of +journalism. What work he had to do he did loyally, manfully, and with +the most scrupulous care; but he lived a man apart, more or less, from +his first coming among us to the end. In his family circle, and where he +was really known, his loss has brought a great sorrow. + + A. J. W. + LONDON, _February 16, 1896_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + INTRODUCTION. BY DR. ROBERT BROWN 13 + + CHAPTER I + BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EARLY LIFE OF THE AUTHOR 43 + + CHAPTER II + VOYAGE TO NOOTKA SOUND 53 + + CHAPTER III + INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES--MAQUINA--SEIZURE + OF THE VESSEL AND MURDER OF THE CREW 58 + + CHAPTER IV + RECEPTION OF JEWITT BY THE SAVAGES--ESCAPE OF + THOMPSON--ARRIVAL OF NEIGHBOURING TRIBES--AN INDIAN FEAST 70 + + CHAPTER V + BURNING OF THE VESSEL--COMMENCEMENT OF JEWITT'S JOURNAL 83 + + CHAPTER VI + DESCRIPTION OF NOOTKA SOUND--MANNER OF BUILDING + HOUSES--FURNITURE--DRESSES 95 + + CHAPTER VII + APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES--ORNAMENTS--OTTER-HUNTING-- + FISHING--CANOES 112 + + CHAPTER VIII + MUSIC--MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--SLAVES--NEIGHBOURING + TRIBES--TRADE WITH THESE--ARMY 129 + + CHAPTER IX + SITUATION OF THE AUTHOR--REMOVAL TO TASHEES--FISHING + PARTIES 142 + + CHAPTER X + CONVERSATION WITH MAQUINA--FRUITS--RELIGIOUS + CEREMONIES--VISIT TO UPQUESTA 156 + + CHAPTER XI + RETURN TO NOOTKA (FRIENDLY COVE)--DEATH OF MAQUINA'S + NEPHEW--INSANITY OF TOOTOOSCH--AN INDIAN MOUNTEBANK 172 + + CHAPTER XII + WAR WITH THE A-Y-CHARTS--A NIGHT ATTACK--PROPOSALS TO + PURCHASE THE AUTHOR 185 + + CHAPTER XIII + MARRIAGE OF THE AUTHOR--HIS ILLNESS--DISMISSES HIS + WIFE--RELIGION OF THE NATIVES--CLIMATE 198 + + CHAPTER XIV + ARRIVAL OF THE BRIG "LYDIA"--STRATAGEM OF THE + AUTHOR--ITS SUCCESS 223 + + APPENDIX + I. THE "BOSTON'S" CREW 247 + II. WAR-SONG OF THE NOOTKA TRIBE 248 + III. A LIST OF WORDS 249 + + INDEX 253 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + PORTRAIT OF DR. ROBERT BROWN (1870) _Frontispiece_ + DR. BROWN'S "BOY" 14 + PORT SAN JUAN INDIANS 16 + OHYAHT INDIAN 24 + INDIAN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE LANDING-STAGE, ESQUIMAULT 33 + HABITATIONS IN NOOTKA SOUND (TEMP. 1803) 97 + INTERIOR OF A HABITATION IN NOOTKA SOUND 103 + NOOTKA SOUND INDIANS 111 + INDIAN CANOES, VICTORIA, V. I. (TEMP. 1863) 125 + UK-LULAC-AHT INDIAN 135 + SALMON WEAR NEAR THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF QUAMICHAN, V. I. 149 + CALLICUM AND MAQUILLA, CHIEFS OF NOOTKA SOUND + (TEMP. 1803) 159 + INDIAN CHIEF'S GRAVE (TEMP. 1863) 209 + + + + +ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Many years ago--when America was in the midst of war, when railways +across the continent were but the dream of sanguine men, and when the +Pacific was a faraway sea--the writer of these lines passed part of a +pleasant summer in cruising along the western shores of Vancouver +Island. Our ship's company was not distinguished, for it consisted of +two fur-traders and an Indian "boy," and the sloop in which the crew and +passengers sailed was so small, that, when the wind failed, and the +brown folk ashore looked less amiable and the shore more rugged than was +desirable, we put her and ourselves beyond hail by the aid of what +seamen know as a "white ash breeze." Out of one fjord we went, only to +enter another so like it that there was often a difficulty in deciding +by the mere appearance of the shore which was which. Everywhere the +dense forest of Douglas fir and Menzies spruce covered the country from +the water's edge to the summit of the rounded hills which here and there +caught the eye in the still little known, but at that date almost +entirely unexplored interior. Wherever a tree could obtain a foothold, +there a tree grew, until in places their roots were at times laved by +the spray. Beneath this thick clothing of heavy timber flourished an +almost equally dense undergrowth of shrubs, which until then were only +known to us from the specimens introduced from North-West America into +the European gardens. Gay were the thickets of thimbleberry[1] and +salmonberry[2] wherever the soil was rich, and for miles the ground was +carpeted with the salal,[3] while the huckleberry,[4] the crab-apple,[5] +and the flowering currant[6] varied the monotony of the gloomy woods. In +places the ginseng, or, as the woodmen call it, the "devil's +walking-stick,"[7] with its long prickly stem and palm-like head of +great leaves, imparted an almost tropical aspect to scenery which, seen +from the deck of our little craft, looked so like that of Southern +Norway, that I have never seen the latter without recalling the outer +limits of British Columbia. On the few flat spits where the sun reached, +the gigantic cedars[8] and broad-leaved maples[9] lighted up the scene, +while the dogwood,[10] with its large white flowers reflected in the +water of some river which, after a turbulent course, had reached the sea +through a placid mouth, or a Menzies arbutus,[11] whose glossy leaves +and brown bark presented a more southern facies to the sombre jungles, +afforded here and there a relief to the never-ending fir and pine and +spruce. + +[Illustration: DR. BROWN'S "BOY."] + +A more solitary shore, so far as white men are concerned, it would be +hard to imagine. From the day we left until the day we returned, we +sighted only one sail; and from Port San Juan, where an Indian trader +lived a lonely life in an often-beleaguered blockhouse, to Koskeemo +Sound, where another of these voluntary exiles passed his years among +the savages, there was not a christened man, with the exception of the +little settlement of lumbermen at the head of the Alberni Canal. For +months at a time no keel ever ploughed this sea, and then too frequently +it was a warship sent from Victoria to chastise the tribesmen for some +outrage committed on wayfaring men such as we. The floating fur-trader +with whom we exchanged the courtesies of the wilderness had indeed been +despitefully used. For had he not taken to himself some savage woman, +who had levanted to her tribe with those miscellaneous effects which he +termed "iktas"? And the Klayoquahts had stolen his boat, and the +Kaoquahts his beans and his vermilion and his rice, and threatened to +scuttle his schooner and stick his head on its masthead. And, moreover, +to complete this tale of public pillage and private wrong, a certain +chief, to whom he applied many ornate epithets, had declared that he +cared not a salal-berry for all of "King George's warships." So that the +conclusion of this merchant of the wilds was that, until "half the +Indians were hanged, and the other half badly licked, there would be no +peace on the coast for honest men such as he." Then, under a cloud of +playful blasphemy, our friend sailed away. + +[Illustration: PORT SAN JUAN INDIANS.] + +For if civilisation was scarce in the Western Vancouver of '63, +savagedom was all-abounding. Not many hours passed without our having +dealings with the lords of the soil. It was indeed our business--or, at +least, the business of the two men and the Indian "boy"--to meet with +and make profit out of the barbarous folk. Hence it was seldom that we +went to sleep without the din of a board village in our ears, or woke +without the ancient and most fish-like smell of one being the first +odour which greeted our nostrils. In almost every cove, creek, or inlet +there was one of these camps, and every few miles we entered the +territory of a new tribe, ruled by a rival chief, rarely on terms with +his neighbour, and as often as not at war with him. More than once we +had occasion to witness the gruesome evidence of this state of matters. +A war party returning from a raid on a distant hamlet would be met with, +all painted in hideous colours, and with the bleeding heads of their +decapitated enemies fastened to the bows of their cedar canoes, and the +cowering captives, doomed to slavery, bound among the fighting men. Or, +casting anchor in front of a village, we would be shown with pride a row +of festering skulls stuck on poles, as proof of the military prowess of +our shifty hosts. + +These were, however, unusually unpleasant incidents. More frequently we +saw little except the more lightsome traits of what was then a very +primitive savage life, and the barbarous folk treated us kindly. A +marriage feast might be in progress, or a great "potlatch," or +merrymaking, at which the giving away of property was the principal +feature (p. 82), might be in full blaze at the very moment we steered +round the wooded point. Halibut and dog-fish were being caught in vast +quantities--the one for slicing and drying for winter use; the other for +the sake of the oil extracted from the liver, then as now an important +article of barter, being in ready demand by the Puget Sound saw-mills. +Now and then a fur-seal or, better still, a sea-otter would be killed. +But this is not the land of choice furs. Even the marten and the mink +were indifferent. Beaver--which in those days, after having been almost +hunted to death, were again getting numerous, owing to the low prices +which the pelts brought having slackened the trappers' zeal--would often +be brought on board, and a few hides of the wapiti, the "elk" of the +Western hunter, and the black-tailed deer which swarm in the Vancouver +woods, generally appeared at every village. The natives are, however, +essentially fish-eaters, and though in every tribe there is generally a +hunter or two, the majority of them seldom wander far afield, the +interior being in their mythology a land of evil things, of which wise +men would do well to keep clear. Even the black bear, which in autumn +was often a common feature of the country, where it ranged the +crab-apple thickets, was not at this season an object of the chase. Like +the deer and the wolves, it was shunning the heat and the flies by +summering near the snow which we could notice still capping some of the +inland hills, rising to heights of from five thousand to seven thousand +feet, and feasting on the countless salmon which were descending every +stream, until, with the receding waters, they were left stranded in the +upland pools. So cheap were salmon, that at times they could be bought +for a cent's worth of "trade goods," and deer in winter for a few +charges of powder and shot. A whale-hunt, in which the behemoth was +attacked by harpoons with attached inflated sealskins, after a fashion +with which I had become familiar when a resident among the Eskimo of +Baffin Bay, was a more curious sight. Yet dog-fish oil was the staple of +the unpicturesque traffic in which my companions engaged; while I, a +hunter after less considered trifles, landed to roam the woods and +shores for days at a time, gathering the few flowers which bloomed under +these umbrageous forests, though in number sufficient to tempt the +red-beaked humming-bird[12] to migrate from Mexico to these northern +regions, its tiny nest being frequently noticed on the tops of low +bushes. + +[Sidenote: The Aht Indians.] + +But, after all, the most interesting sight on the shore was the people +who inhabited it. They were the "Indians," whom my friend Gilbert Sproat +afterwards described as the "Ahts,"[13] for this syllable terminates the +name of each of the many little tribes into which they are divided. Yet, +with a disregard of the laws of nomenclature, the Ethnological Bureau at +Washington has only recently announced its intention of knowing them +officially by the meaningless title of "Wakashan." They are a people by +themselves, speaking a language which was confined to Vancouver Island, +with the exception of Cape Flattery, the western tip of Washington, +where the Makkahs speak it. In Vancouver Island, a region about the size +of Ireland, three, if not four distinct aboriginal tongues are in use, +in addition to Chinook Jargon, a sort of _lingua franca_ employed by the +Indians in their intercourse with the whites or with tribes whose speech +they do not understand. The Kawitshen (Cowitchan) with its various +dialects, the chief of which is the Tsongersth (Songer) of the people +near Victoria, prevails from Sooke in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, +northwards to Comox. From that point to the northern end of the island +various dialects of the Kwakiool (Cogwohl of the traders) are the medium +in which the tribesmen do not conceal their thoughts. The people of +Quatseno and Koskeemo Sounds, owing to their frequent intercourse with +Fort Rupert on the other side of the island, which at this point is at +its narrowest, understand and frequently speak the Kwakiool. But after +passing several days entirely alone among these people, I can vouch for +the fact that this dialect is so peculiar that it almost amounts to a +separate language. However, from this part, or properly, from Woody +Point southwards to Port San Juan, the Aht language is entirely +different. + +The latter locality,[14] nearly opposite Cape Flattery, on the other +side of Juan de Fuca Strait, the most southern part, and the only one on +the mainland where it is spoken, is the special territory of the +Pachenahts. When I knew them, they were, like all of their race, a +dwindling people. A few years earlier, Grant had estimated them to +number a hundred men. In 1863 there were not more than a fifth of that +number fit to manage a canoe, and the total number of the tribe did not +exceed sixty. War with the Sclallans and Makkahs on the opposite shore, +and smallpox, which is more powerful than gunpowder, had so decimated +them that, no longer able to hold their own, they had leagued with the +Nettinahts, old allies of theirs, for mutual defence. Quixto, the chief, +I find described in my notes as a stout fellow, terrible at a bargain, +very well disposed towards the whites, as are all his tribe, the husband +of four wives, an extraordinary number for the Indians of the coast, and +reputed to be rich in blankets and the other gear which constitutes +wealth among the aborigines of this part of the British Empire. In their +palmy days they had made way as far north as Clayoquat Sound and the +Ky-yoh-quaht-cutz in one direction, and with the Tsongersth to the +eastward, though that now pusillanimous tribe had generally the best of +them. Their eastern border is, however, the Jordan River, but they have +a fishing station at the Sombria (Cockles), and several miles up both +the Pandora and Jordan Rivers flowing into their bay. Karleit is their +western limit. + +The Nettinahts[15] are a more powerful tribe; indeed, at the period when +the writer of this book was a prisoner in Nootka Sound, they were among +the strongest of all the Aht people. Even then, they had four +hundred[16] fighting men, and were a people with whom it did not do to +be off your guard. They have--or had--many villages, from Pachena +Bay[17] to the west and Karleit to the east, besides three villages in +Nettinaht Inlet,[18] eleven fishing stations on the Nettinaht River, +three stations on the Cowitchan Lake, and one at Sguitz on the Cowitchan +River itself, while they sometimes descend as far as Tsanena to plant +potatoes. They have thus the widest borders of any Indian tribe in +Vancouver Island, and have a high reputation as hunters, whale-fishers, +and warriors. Moqulla was then the head chief, but every winter a +sub-tribe hunted and fished on the Cowitchan Lake, a sheet of water +which I was among the first to visit, and the very first to "lay down" +with approximate accuracy. Though nowadays--_Eheu fugaces, Postume, +Postume, labuntur anni!_--there is a waggon road to the lake, and, I am +told, "a sort of hotel" on the spot where eight-and-twenty years ago we +encamped on extremely short rations, though with the soothing knowledge +that if only the Fates were kindly and the wind favourable, there were +plenty of trout in the water, and a dinner at large in the woods around. +In those days most of the Nettinaht villages were fortified with wooden +pickets to prevent any night attack, and from its situation, Whyack, the +principal one (built on a cliff, stockaded on the seaward side, and +reached only by a narrow entrance where the surf breaks continuously), +is impregnable to hostile canoemen. This people accordingly carried +themselves with a high hand, and bore a name correspondingly bad. + +Barclay--or Berkeley Sound--is the home of various petty +tribes--Ohyahts, Howchuklisahts, Yu-clul-ahts, Toquahts, Seshahts, and +Opechesahts. The two with whom I was best acquainted were the last +named. The Seshahts lived at the top of the Alberni Canal--a long +narrow fjord or cleft in the island--and on the Seshaht Islands in the +Sound. During the summer months they came for salmon-fishing to Sa ha, +or the first rapids on the Kleekort or Saman River,[19] their chief +being Ia-pou-noul, who had just succeeded to this office owing to the +abdication of his father, though the entire fighting force of the tribe +did not number over fifty men. As late as 1859 the Seshahts seized an +American ship, the _Swiss Boy_. The Opechesahts, of whom I have very +kindly memories, as I encamped with their chief for many days, and +explored Sproat Lake in his company, were an offshoot of the Seshahts, +and had their home on the Kleekort River, but, owing to a massacre by +the now extinct Quallehum (Qualicom) Indians from the opposite coast, +who caught them on an island in Sproat Lake, they were reduced to +seventeen men, most of them, however, tall, handsome fellows, and good +hunters. Chieftainship in that part of the world goes by inheritance. +Hence there may be many of these hereditary aristocrats in a very small +tribe. Accordingly, few though the Opechesaht warriors were, three men, +Quatgenam, Kalooish or Kanash, and Quassoon, a shaggy, thick-set, and +tremendously strong individual who crossed the island with me in 1865, +were entitled to that rank; and it may be added that the women of this, +the most freshwater of all the Vancouver tribes, were noted for a more +than usual share of good looks. + +The Howchuklisahts, whose chief was Maz-o-wennis, numbered forty-five +people, including twenty-eight men. They lived in Ouchucklesit[20] +Harbour, off the Alberni Canal; they had also a fishing camp on +Henderson Lake, and two or three lodges on the rapid or stream flowing +out of that sheet of water, which was discovered and named by me. But +they were "bad to deal with." + +[Illustration: OHYAHT INDIAN.] + +The You-clul-ahts of Ucluelt Inlet, ruled by Ia-pou-noul, a wealthy man +in blankets and other Indian wealth, numbered about one hundred. The +chief of the Toquahts in Pipestem Inlet was Sow-wa-wenes, a middle-aged +man, who had an easy task, as his lieges numbered only eleven, so that +they were thirty years ago on the eve of extinction. The Ohyahts of +Grappler Creek were estimated in 1863 to be about one hundred and +seventy-five in fighting strength--which, multiplied by four for women +and children, would make them, for that region, an unusually strong +community. These figures are probably correct, since the man who made +the statement was, after living for years amongst them, eventually +murdered by the savages,[21] whom he had trusted too implicitly. +Kleesheens, a notorious scoundrel, was their chief. In Clayoquat Sound +were the Klahoquahts, Kellsmahts, Ahousahts, Heshquahts, and +Mamosahts--the last a little tribe numbering only five men. Indeed, with +the exception of the Klahoquahts (who numbered one hundred and sixty +men) and the Ahousahts (who claimed two hundred and fifty), these little +septs, all devoured by mutual hatred, and frequently at war with each +other, were even then dwindling to nothingness. But the Opetsahts, +though marked on the Admiralty Chart[22] as a separate tribe, are--or +were--only a village of the Ahousahts. + +In Nootka Sound, the Muchlahts and Mooachahts lived. In Esperanza +Inlet were the villages of two tribes--the Noochahlahts and Ayattisahts, +numbering forty and twenty-two men respectively, and chiefed at that +time by two worthies of the names of Mala-koi-Kennis, and +Quak-ate-Komisa, whom we left in the delectable condition of each +expecting the other round to cut his and his tribesmen's throats. + +North of this inlet were Ky-yoh-quahts, of the Sound of that name +(Kaioquat), numbering two hundred and fifty men. To us they were +exceedingly friendly, though a trader whom we met had a different tale +to tell of their treatment of him. Kanemat, a young man of about +twenty-two, was their chief, though the tribe was virtually governed by +his mother, a notable lady named Shipally, and at times by his pretty +squaw, Wick-anes, and his lively son and heir, Klahe-ek-enes. The +Chaykisahts, the Klahosahts, and the Neshahts of Woody Point are the +other Aht tribes, though the latter is not included among them by Mr. +Sproat. But they speak their language, of which their chief village is +its most northern limit. + +Everywhere their tribes showed such evident signs of decadence that by +this time some of them must be all but extinct. Still, as the whites had +not come much in contact with them--though all of them asked us for +"lum" (rum), but did not get it, it is clear enough what had been the +traders' staple--the "diseases of civilisation" could not be blamed for +their decay. Even then the practical extermination of two tribes was so +recent that the facts were still fresh in their neighbours' memory. +These were the Ekkalahts, who lived at the top of the Alberni Canal, but +were all but killed off in the same massacre by which the Opechesahts +were decimated. The only survivor was a man named Keekeon, who lived +with the Seshahts, most of whom had forgotten even the name of this +vanquished little nationality. The other tribe was the Koapinahts (or +Koapin-ah), who at that time numbered sixty or seventy people, but at +the period to which I refer they were reduced to two adults--a man and a +woman--all the rest having been slaughtered a few years earlier by the +Kwakiools from the other side of the island, in conjunction with the +Neshahts of Woody Point. In after days I learned to know these tribes +very familiarly, crossing and recrossing the island with or to them, +hunting and canoeing with them, in the woods, up the rivers, or on the +lakes, and gathering from their lips + + "This fair report of them who dwell + In that retirement." + +At first sight these "tinkler loons and siclike companie" were by no +means attractive. They were frowsy, and, undeniably, they were not +clean. But it was only after penetrating their inner ways, after +learning the wealth of custom and folk-lore of which they, all +unconscious of their riches, were the jealous custodians, that one began +to appreciate these primitive folk from a scientific point of view. Even +yet, as the writer recalls the days when he was prone to find men more +romantic than is possible in "middle life forlorn," it is difficult not +to associate the most prosaic of savages with something of the +picturesqueness which, in novels at least, used to cling to all their +race. For, as the charm of such existence as theirs unfolded itself to +the lover of woods and prairies, and lakes and virgin streams, the +neglect of soap and of sanitation was forgotten. As Mr. Leland has +remarked about the gipsies: "When their lives and legends are known, +the ethnologist is apt to think of Tieck's elves, and of the Shang +Valley, which was so grim and repulsive from without, but which, once +entered, was the gay forecourt of Goblin-land." + +In those days little was known--and little cared--about any of the +Western tribes, except by the "schooner-men," as the Indians called the +roving traders. Their very names were strange to the majority of the +Victoria people, and I am told that very few of the colonists of to-day +are any better informed. It has therefore been thought fitting that I +should go somewhat minutely into the condition of the Indians, at a +period when they were more primitive than now, as a slight contribution +to the meagre chronicles of a dying race. For if not preserved here, it +is likely to perish with almost the last survivor of a little band with +whom, during the last two decades, death has been busy. + +[Sidenote: Nootka Sound and its memories.] + +Among the many inlets which we entered on the cruise which has enabled +me to edit this narrative of a less fortunate predecessor, was Nootka +Sound. No portion of North-West America was more famous than this spot, +for once upon a time it was the former centre of the fur trade, and a +locality which more than once figured prominently in diplomatic +correspondence. Indeed, so associated was it as the type of this part of +the western continent, that in many works the heterogeneous group of +savages who inhabit the entire coast between the Columbia River and the +end of Vancouver Island was described as the "Nootka-Columbians." More +than one species of plant and animal attest the fact of this Sound +having been the locality at which the naturalist first broke ground in +North-West America. There are, for instance, a _Haliotis Nutkaensis_ (an +ear shell), a _Rubus Nutkanus_ (a raspberry); and a yellow cypress, +which, however, attained its chief development on the mainland much +farther north, bears among its synonyms that of _Chamccyparis +Nutkaensis_. For though it is undeniable that Ensign Juan Perez +discovered it as early as 1779, and named it Port San Lorenzo, after the +saint on whose day it was first seen, this fact was unknown or +forgotten, when, four years later, Cook entered, and called it King +George Sound, though he tells us it was afterwards found that it was +called Nootka by the natives. Hence arose the title it has ever since +borne, though this was an entire mistake on the great navigator's part, +since there is no word in the Aht language at all corresponding to +Nootka, unless indeed it is "Nootche," a mountain, which not unlikely +Cook mistook for that of the inlet generally. The proofs of the presence +of earlier visitors were iron and other tools, familiarity with ships, +and two silver spoons of Spanish manufacture, which, we may take it, had +been stolen from Perez's ship. The next vessel to enter the Sound was +the _Sea Otter_, under the command of Captain James Hanna, who made such +a haul in the shape of sea-otter skins that for many years Nootka was +the great rendezvous of the fur-traders who cruised as far north as +Russian America--now Alaska--and, like Portlock, Dixon, and Meares, +charted and named many of the most familiar parts of the British +Columbian coast. Meares built the _North-West America_ by the aid of +Chinese carpenters in Nootka Sound in the winter of 1788-89, this little +sloop being the first vessel, except a canoe, ever constructed in the +country north of California. + +The lucrative trade done by the English and American traders, some of +whom, disposing of their furs in China, sailed under the Portuguese flag +and fitted out at Macao as the port most readily open to them, +determined the Spaniards to assert their rights to the original +discovery. This was done by Don Estevan Martinez "taking possession" of +the Sound, seizing the vessels there, and erecting a fort to maintain +the territory against all comers. A hot diplomatic warfare ensued, the +result of which was the Convention of Nootka, by which the Sound was +made over to Great Britain; and it was while engaged on this mission of +receiving the Sound that Vancouver, conjointly with Quadra, the Spanish +commander, discovered that the region it intersects is an island, which +for a time bore their joint names, but by general consent has that of +Vancouver only attached to it nowadays. + +This was in the year 1795. Being now indisputably British territory, +Nootka and the coasts north and south of it became more and more +frequented by fur-traders, who found, in spite of the increasing +scarcity of pelts, and the higher prices which keener competition +brought about, an ample profit in buying tolerably cheap on the American +coast and selling very dear to the Chinese, whose love for the sea-otter +continues unabated. Many of these adventurers were Americans--hailing, +for the most part, from Boston. Hence to this day an American is +universally known among the North-Western Indians as a "Boston-man," +while an Englishman is quite as generally termed a "Kintshautsh man" +(King George man), it being during the long reign of George III. that +they first became acquainted with our countrymen. Their barter was +carried on in knives, copper plates, copper kettles, muskets, +brass-hilted swords, soldiers' coats and buttons, pistols, tomahawks, +and blankets, which soon superseded the more costly "Kotsaks" of +sea-otter until then the principal garment, though the women wore, as +they do still at times (or did when I knew the shore), blankets woven +out of pine-tree bark. Rum also seemed to have been freely disposed of, +and no doubt many of the outrages which early began to mark the +intercourse of the brown men and their white visitors were not a little +due to this, and to the customs, ever more free than welcome, in which +it is the habit of the mariner to indulge when he and the savage +forgather. At all events, the natives and their foreign visitors seem to +have come very soon into collision. Indeed, it was seldom that a voyage +was completed without some outrage on one or both sides, followed by +reprisals from the party supposed to have been wronged. Thus part of the +crew of the _Imperial Eagle_, under the command of Captain Barclay,[23] +who discovered and named in his own honour the Sound so called, were +murdered at "Queenhythe,"[24] south of Juan de Fuca Strait, which +Barclay was amongst the first to explore, or rather to rediscover. At a +later date, namely, in 1805, the _Atahualpa_ of Rhode Island was +attacked in Millbank Sound, and her captain, mate, and six seamen were +killed. In 1811 the _Tonquin_, belonging to John Jacob Astor's romantic +fur-trading adventure, which is so well known from Washington Irving's +_Astoria_, was seized by the savages on this coast, and then blown up by +M'Kay, the chief trader, with the entire crew and their assailants. The +scene of the catastrophe has been stated to be Nootka, but other +commentators have fixed upon Barclay Sound, and as late as 1863 an +intelligent trader informed me that some ship's timbers, half buried in +the sand there, were attributed by the Indians to some disastrous event, +which he believed to have been the one in question.[25] I am, however, +now inclined to think that in crediting Nahwitti, at the northern end of +Vancouver Island, with this notable event in the early history of +North-West America,[26] Dr. George Dawson has arrived at the truth. + +To this day--or until very recently--the Indians of the North-West +coast are not accounted very trustworthy, and at the period when I knew +them they were suspected of killing several traders and of looting more +than one small vessel, acts which earned for them frequent visits from +the gunboats at Esquimault, and in several instances the undesirable +distinction of having their villages shelled when they refused to +give up the offenders--generally a difficult operation, since it meant +pretty well the entire village. + +[Illustration: INDIAN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE LANDING-STAGE, ESQUIMAULT.] + +[Sidenote: John Jewitt and the capture of the "Boston" in 1803.] + +But the most famous of all the piracies of the Western Indians is that +of which an account is contained in John Jewitt's Narrative. The +ostensible author of this work was a Hull blacksmith, the armourer of +the _Boston_, an American ship which was seized while lying in Nootka +Sound, and the entire crew massacred, with the exception of Jewitt, who +was spared owing to his skill as a mechanic being valuable to the +Indians, and John Thompson, the sail-maker, who, though left for dead, +recovered, and was saved by the tact of Jewitt in representing him to be +his father. This happened in March 1803, and from that date until the +20th of July 1805, these two men were kept in slavery to the chief +Maquenna or Moqulla, when they were freed by the arrival of the brig +_Lydia_ of Boston, Samuel Hill master. During this servitude, Jewitt, +who seems to have been a man of some education, kept a journal and +acquired the Aht language, though the style in which his book is written +shows that in preparing it for the press he had obtained the assistance +of a more practised writer than himself. Still, his work is a valuable +contribution to ethnology. For, omitting the brief but excellent +accounts by Cook and Meares, it is the earliest, and, with the exception +of Mr. Sproat's lecture, the fullest description of these Indians. It is +indeed the only one treating specially on the Nootka people, with whom +alone he had any minute acquaintance. Some of the habits he pictures are +now obsolete, or greatly modified, but others--it may be said the +greater number--are exactly as he notes them to have been eighty-six +years ago. Besides the internal evidences of its authenticity, the truth +of the adventures described was vouched for at the time by Jewitt's +companion in slavery; and though there is no absolute proof of its +credibility, it may not be uninteresting to state that, thirty years +ago, I conversed with an American sea captain, who, as a boy, distinctly +remembered Jewitt working as a blacksmith in the town of Middleton in +Connecticut. When the book was first published, in the year 1815, +several editions appeared in America, and at least two reprints were +called for in England, so that the Narrative enjoyed considerable +popularity in the first two decades of the century. Writing in 1840, +Robert Green Low, Librarian to the Department of State at Washington, +characterises it as "a simple and unpretending narrative, which will, no +doubt, in after centuries, be read with interest by the enlightened +people of North-West America." Again, in 1845, the same industrious, +though not always impartial, historian remarks that "this little book +has been frequently reprinted, and, though seldom found in libraries, is +much read by boys and seamen in the United States." As copies are now +seldom met with, this is no longer the case, though on our cruise in +1863 it was one of the well-thumbed little library of the traders, one +of whom had inherited it from William Edy Banfield, whose name has +already been mentioned (p. 25). This trader, for many years a well-known +man on the out-of-the-way parts of the coast, furnished a curious link +between Jewitt's time and our own. For an old Indian told him that he +had, as a boy, served in the family of a chief of Nootka, called +Klan-nin-itth, at the time when Jewitt and Thompson were in slavery; and +that he often assisted Jewitt in making spears, arrows, and other +weapons required for hostile expeditions. He said, further, that the +white slave generally accompanied his owner on visits which he paid to +the Ayhuttisaht, Ahousaht, and Klahoquaht chiefs. This old man +especially remembered Jewitt, who was a good-humoured fellow, often +reciting and singing in his own language for the amusement of the +tribesmen. He was described as a tall, well-made youth, with a mirthful +countenance, whose dress latterly consisted of nothing but a mantle of +cedar bark. Mr. Sproat, who obtained his information from the same +quarter that I did, adds that there was a long story of Jewitt's +courting, and finally abducting, the daughter of Waughclagh, the +Ahousaht chief. This incident in his career is not recorded by our +author, who, however, was married to a daughter of Upquesta, an +Ayhuttisaht Indian. + +Apart, however, from Jewitt not caring to enlighten the decent-living +puritans of Connecticut too minutely regarding his youthful escapades, +it is not unlikely that Mr. Banfield's informant mixed up some +half-forgotten legends regarding another white man, who, seventeen years +before Jewitt's captivity, had voluntarily remained among these Nootka +Indians. This was a scapegrace named John M'Kay,[27] an Irishman, who, +after being in the East India Company's Service in some minor medical +capacity, shipped in 1785 on board the _Captain Cook_ as surgeon's mate, +and was left behind in Nootka Sound, in the hope that he would so +ingratiate himself with the natives, as to induce them to refuse furs to +any other traders except those with whom he was connected. This man +seems to have been an ignorant, untruthful braggart, who contradicted +himself in many important particulars. But entire credence may be given +to his statement that in a short time he sank into barbarism, becoming +as filthy as the dirtiest of his savage companions. For when Captain +Hanna saw him in August 1786, the natives had stripped him of his +clothes, and obliged him to adopt their dress and habits. He even +refused to leave, declaring that he had begun to relish dried fish and +whale oil--though, owing to a famine in the Sound, he got little of +either--and was well satisfied to stay for another year. After making +various excursions in the country about Nootka Sound, during which he +came to the conclusion that it was not a part of the American continent, +but a chain of detached islands, he gladly deserted his Indian wife, and +left with Captain Berkeley in 1787. To "preach, fight, and mend a +musket" seems to have been too much for this medical pluralist. His +further history I am unable to trace, though, for the sake of historical +roundness, it would have been interesting to believe that he was the +same M'Kay who twenty-four years later ended his career so terribly by +blowing up the _Tonquin_, with whose son I was well acquainted. + +In all of these transactions the head chief of Nootka, or at least of +the Mooachahts, figures prominently. This was Maquenna or Moqulla +(Jewitt's Maquina), who, with his relative Wikananish, ruled over most +of the tribes from here to Nettinaht Inlet. He was a shifty savage, +endowed with no small mental ability, and, though at times capable of +acts which were almost generous, untrustworthy like most of his race, +and when offended ready for any act of vindictiveness. Wikananish was on +a visit to Maquenna when the _Discovery_ and _Resolution_ entered the +Sound, and among the relics which Maquenna kept for many years were a +brass mortar left by Cook, which in Meares's day was borne before the +chief as a portion of his regalia, and three "pieces of a brassy metal +formed like cricket bats," on which were the remains of the name and +arms of Sir Joseph Banks, and the date 1775--Banks, it may be +remembered, being the scientific companion of Cook. In every subsequent +voyage Maquenna figures, and not a few of the outrages committed on that +coast were due either to him or to his instigation. Some, like his +attempt to seize Hanna's vessel in 1785, are known from extraneous +sources, and others were boasted of by him to Jewitt. The last of his +proceedings of which history has left any record, is the murder of the +crew of the _Boston_ and the enslavement of Thompson and Jewitt, and in +the narrative of the latter we are afforded a final glimpse of this +notorious "King."[28] + +[Sidenote: Changes since Jewitt's time.] + +When I visited Nootka Sound in 1863, fifty-eight years had passed since +the captivity of the author of this book. In the interval many things +had happened. But though the Indians had altered in some respects, they +were perhaps less changed than almost any other savages in America since +the whites came in contact with them. Eighty-five years had passed since +Cook had careened his ships in Resolution Cove, and seventy since +Vancouver entered the Sound on his almost more notable voyage. Yet the +bricks from the blacksmith's forge, fresh and vitrified as if they had +been in contact with the fire only yesterday, were at times dug up from +among the rank herbage. The village in Friendly Cove--a spot which not a +few mariners found to be very unfriendly--differed in no way from the +picture in Cook's _Voyage_; and though some curio-hunting captain had no +doubt long ago carried off the mortar and emblazoned brasses, the +natives still spoke traditionally of Cook and Vancouver, and were ready +to point out the spots where in 1788 Meares built the _North-West +America_ and the white men had cultivated. Memories of Martinez and +Quadra existed in the shape of many legends, of Indians with Iberian +features, and of several old people who by tradition (though some of +them were old enough to have remembered these navigators), could still +repeat the Spanish numerals. And the head chief of the Mooachahts in +Friendly Cove--vastly smaller though his tribe was, and much abridged +his power--was a grandson of Maquenna, called by the same name, and had +many of his worst characteristics. This fact I am likely to remember. +For he had been accused of having murdered, in the previous January, +Captain Stev of the _Trader_, and since that time no whites had ventured +near him. He, however, assured us that the report was simply a scandal +raised by the neighbouring tribes, who had long hated him and his +people, and would like to see them punished by the arrival of a gunboat, +and that in reality the vessel was wrecked, and the white men were +drowned. At the same time, among the voices heard that night at the +council held in Maquenna's great lodge, supported by the huge beams +described by Jewitt, were some in favour of killing his latest visitors, +on the principle that dead men tell no tales. But that the Noes had it, +the present narrative is the best proof. + +So far as their habits were concerned, they were in a condition as +primitive as at almost any period since the whites had visited them. +Many of the old people were covered only with a mantle of woven pine +bark, and beyond a shirt, in most cases made out of a flour sack, a +blanket was the sole garment of the majority of the tribesmen. At times +when they wanted to receive any goods, they simply pulled off the +blanket, wrapped up the articles in it, and went ashore stark naked, +with the exception of a piece of skin round the loins. The women wore +for the most part no other dress except the blanket and a curious apron +made of a fringe of bark strings. All of them painted hideously, the +women adding a streak of vermilion down the middle division of the hair, +and on high occasions the glittering mica sand, spoken of by Jewitt, was +called into requisition. Their customs--and I had plenty of +opportunities to study them in the course of the years which +followed--were in no way different from what they were in Cook's time. +No missionary seemed ever to have visited them, and their religious +observances were accordingly still the most unadulterated of paganism. +Jewitt's narrative is, however, as might have been expected, very vague +on such matters; and, curiously enough, he makes no mention of their +characteristic trait of compressing the foreheads of the children, the +tribes in Koskeemo Sound squeezing it, while the bones are still +cartilaginous, in a conical shape--though the brain is not thereby +permanently injured: it is simply displaced. + +Since that day, the tribesmen of the west coast of Vancouver Island have +grown fewer and fewer. Some of the smaller septs have indeed become +extinct, and others must be fast on the wane. They have, however, eaten +of the tree of knowledge, and the gunboats have now little occasion to +visit them for punitive purposes. Missionaries have even attempted to +teach them better manners. The Alberni saw-mills have long been +deserted, though other settlers have taken possession of the ground, and +several have squatted in Koskeemo Sound, in the hope that the coal-seams +there might induce the Pacific steamers to make that remote region their +headquarters. Finally, an effort is being made to induce fishermen from +the West of Scotland to settle on that coast. There is plenty of work +for them, and the Indians nowadays are very little to be feared. Indeed, +so far from the successors of Moqulla and Wikananish menacing Donald and +Sandy, they will be ready to help them for a consideration; though a +great deal of tact and forbearance will be necessary before people so +conservative as the hot-tempered Celts work smoothly with a race quite +as fiery and quite as wedded to old ways, as the Ahts among whom John +Jewitt passed the early years of this century. + + R. B. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Rubus Nutkanus._ + +[2] _Rubus spectabilis._ + +[3] _Gaultheria Shallon._ + +[4] _Vaccinium ovatum._ + +[5] _Pyrus rivularis._ + +[6] _Ribes sanguineum_, now a common shrub in our ornamental grounds. + +[7] _Echinopanax horridum._ + +[8] _Thuja gigantea_, a tree which to the Indian is what the bamboo is +to the Chinese. + +[9] _Acer macrophyllum._ + +[10] _Cornus Nuttallii._ + +[11] _Arbutus Menziesii._ + +[12] _Selasphorus rufus._ It is one of one hundred and fifty-three birds +which I catalogued from Vancouver Island (_Ibis_, Nov. 1868). + +[13] _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_ (1868), by the Hon. G. M. +Sproat, late Commissioner of Indian Affairs for British Columbia. + +[14] "Pachena" of the Indians. + +[15] Or, as they call themselves in their dialect of the Aht, +"Dittinahts." Nettinaht is a white man's corruption. + +[16] A few years earlier they were estimated at a thousand. + +[17] "Klootis" of the Indians. + +[18] Known to them as "Etlo." + +[19] They were not permitted this privilege until the whites came to +Alberni in August 1860. + +[20] Though the orthography of these names is often incorrect, and not +even phonetically accurate, I have, in order to avoid the mischief of a +confusion of nomenclature, kept to that of the Admiralty Chart. + +[21] This was the Banfield who acted as Indian agent in Barclay Sound. +He was drowned by Kleetsak, a slave of Kleesheens, capsizing the canoe +in which he was sailing, in revenge for a slight passed upon the chief. +I went ashore at the Ohyaht village in the same canoe, and was asked +whether I was not afraid, "for Banipe was killed in it." There was also +a story that the capsize was an accident. + +[22] It may be proper to state in this place that the interior details +of that chart are, with very few exceptions, from my explorations. But +the map on which they were laid down by me has been so often copied by +societies, governments, and private individuals without permission (and +without acknowledgment), that the author of it has long ceased to claim +a property so generally pillaged. The original, however, appeared, with +a memoir on the interior--"Das Innere der Vancouver Insel"--which has +not yet been translated, in Petermann's _Geographische Mittheilungen_, +1869. + +[23] Or Berkeley--for the name is spelt both ways. + +[24] Destruction Island, in lat. 47 35'. This was almost the same spot +as that in which the Spaniards of Bodega's crew were massacred in 1775, +and for this reason they named it Isla de Dolores--the "Island of +Sorrows." It is in what is now the State of Washington, U.S.A. + +[25] Green Low will even blame Wikananish, who figures in Jewitt's +narrative, as the instigator of the outrage. + +[26] The Nahwitti Indians. Compare the Tl[=a]-tl[=i]-s[=i]--Kwela and +Nekum-ke-l[=i]sla septs of the Kwakiool people. They now inhabit a +village named Meloopa, on the south-east side of Hope Island. But their +original hamlet was situated on a small rocky peninsula on the east side +of Cape Commerell, which forms the north point of Vancouver Island. Here +remains of old houses are still to be seen, at a place known to the +Indians as Nahwitti. It was close to this place that the _Tonquin_ was +blown up.--_Science_, vol. ix. p. 341. + +[27] "Maccay" (Meares); "M'Key" (Dixon). + +[28] There is a portrait of him, apparently authentic, in Meares's +_Voyages_, vol. ii. (1791). That in the original edition of Jewitt's +Narrative, like the plate of the capture of the _Boston_, appears to +have been drawn from description, though there is a certain resemblance +in it to Meares's sketch made fourteen or fifteen years earlier. But the +scenery, the canoes, the people, and, above all, the palm trees in +Nootka Sound, are purely imaginary. + + + + +JOHN JEWITT'S NARRATIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE OF THE AUTHOR + + +I was born in Boston, a considerable borough town in Lincolnshire, in +Great Britain, on the 21st of May, 1783. My father, Edward Jewitt, was +by trade a blacksmith, and esteemed among the first in his line of +business in that place. At the age of three years I had the misfortune +to lose my mother, a most excellent woman, who died in childbed, leaving +an infant daughter, who, with myself, and an elder brother by a former +marriage of my father, constituted the whole of our family. My father, +who considered a good education as the greatest blessing he could bestow +on his children, was very particular in paying every attention to us in +that respect, always exhorting us to behave well, and endeavouring to +impress on our minds the principles of virtue and morality, and no +expense in his power was spared to have us instructed in whatever might +render us useful and respectable in society. My brother, who was four +years older than myself and of a more hardy constitution, he destined +for his own trade, but to me he had resolved to give an education +superior to that which is to be obtained in a common school, it being +his intention that I should adopt one of the learned professions. +Accordingly, at the age of twelve he took me from the school in which I +had been taught the first rudiments of learning, and placed me under the +care of Mr. Moses, a celebrated teacher of an academy at Donnington, +about eleven miles from Boston, in order to be instructed in the Latin +language, and in some of the higher branches of the mathematics. I there +made considerable proficiency in writing, reading, and arithmetic, and +obtained a pretty good knowledge of navigation and of surveying; but my +progress in Latin was slow, not only owing to the little inclination I +felt for learning that language, but to a natural impediment in my +speech, which rendered it extremely difficult for me to pronounce it, so +that in a short time, with my father's consent, I wholly relinquished +the study. + +The period of my stay at this place was the most happy of my life. My +preceptor, Mr. Moses, was not only a learned, but a virtuous, +benevolent, and amiable man, universally beloved by his pupils, who took +delight in his instruction, and to whom he allowed every proper +amusement that consisted with attention to their studies. + +One of the principal pleasures I enjoyed was in attending the fair, +which is regularly held twice a year at Donnington, in the spring and in +the fall,[29] the second day being wholly devoted to selling horses, a +prodigious number of which are brought thither for that purpose. As the +scholars on these occasions were always indulged with a holiday, I +cannot express with what eagerness of youthful expectation I used to +anticipate these fairs, nor what delight I felt at the various shows, +exhibitions of wild beasts, and other entertainments that they +presented; I was frequently visited by my father, who always discovered +much joy on seeing me, praised me for my acquirements, and usually left +me a small sum for my pocket expenses. + +Among the scholars at this academy, there was one named Charles Rice, +with whom I formed a particular intimacy, which continued during the +whole of my stay. He was my class and room mate, and as the town he came +from, Ashby, was more than sixty miles off, instead of returning home, +he used frequently during the vacation to go with me to Boston, where he +always met with a cordial welcome from my father, who received me on +these occasions with the greatest affection, apparently taking much +pride in me. My friend in return used to take me with him to an uncle of +his in Donnington, a very wealthy man, who, having no children of his +own, was very fond of his nephew, and on his account I was always a +welcome visitor at the house. I had a good voice, and an ear for music, +to which I was always passionately attached, though my father +endeavoured to discourage this propensity, considering it (as is too +frequently the case) but an introduction to a life of idleness and +dissipation; and, having been remarked for my singing at church, which +was regularly attended on Sundays and festival days by the scholars, Mr. +Morthrop, my friend Rice's uncle, used frequently to request me to sing; +he was always pleased with my exhibitions of this kind, and it was no +doubt one of the means that secured me so gracious a reception at his +house. A number of other gentlemen in the place would sometimes send for +me to sing at their houses, and as I was not a little vain of my vocal +powers, I was much gratified on receiving these invitations, and +accepted them with the greatest pleasure. + +Thus passed away the two happiest years of my life, when my father, +thinking that I had received a sufficient education for the profession +he intended me for, took me from school at Donnington in order to +apprentice me to Doctor Mason, a surgeon of eminence at Reasby, in the +neighbourhood of the celebrated Sir Joseph Banks.[30] With regret did I +part from my school acquaintance, particularly my friend Rice, and +returned home with my father, on a short visit to my family, preparatory +to my intended apprenticeship. The disinclination I ever had felt for +the profession my father wished me to pursue, was still further +increased on my return. When a child I was always fond of being in the +shop, among the workmen, endeavouring to imitate what I saw them do; +this disposition so far increased after my leaving the academy, that I +could not bear to hear the least mention made of my being apprenticed to +a surgeon, and I used so many entreaties with my father to persuade him +to give up this plan and learn me his own trade, that he at last +consented. + +More fortunate would it probably have been for me, had I gratified the +wishes of this affectionate parent, in adopting the profession he had +chosen for me, than thus to have induced him to sacrifice them to mine. +However it might have been, I was at length introduced into the shop, +and my natural turn of mind corresponding with the employment, I became +in a short time uncommonly expert at the work to which I was set. I now +felt myself well contented, pleased with my occupation, and treated with +much affection by my father, and kindness by my step-mother, my father +having once more entered the state of matrimony, with a widow much +younger than himself, who had been brought up in a superior manner, and +was an amiable and sensible woman. + +About a year after I had commenced this apprenticeship, my father, +finding that he could carry on his business to more advantage in Hull, +removed thither with his family. An event of no little importance to me, +as it in a great measure influenced my future destiny. Hull being one of +the best ports in England, and a place of great trade, my father had +there full employment for his numerous workmen, particularly in vessel +work. This naturally leading me to an acquaintance with the sailors on +board some of the ships: the many remarkable stories they told me of +their voyages and adventures, and of the manners and customs of the +nations they had seen, excited a strong wish in me to visit foreign +countries, which was increased by my reading the voyages of Captain +Cook, and some other celebrated navigators. + +Thus passed the four years that I lived at Hull, where my father was +esteemed by all who knew him, as a worthy, industrious, and thriving +man. At this period a circumstance occurred which afforded me the +opportunity I had for some time wished, of gratifying my inclination of +going abroad. + + * * * * * + +Among our principal customers at Hull were the Americans who frequented +that port, and from whose conversation my father as well as myself +formed the most favourable opinion of that country, as affording an +excellent field for the exertions of industry, and a flattering prospect +for the establishment of a young man in life. In the summer of the year +1802, during the peace between England and France, the ship _Boston_, +belonging to Boston, in Massachusetts, and commanded by Captain John +Salter, arrived at Hull, whither she came to take on board a cargo of +such goods as were wanted for the trade with the Indians, on the +North-West coast of America, from whence, after having taken in a lading +of furs and skins, she was to proceed to China, and from thence home to +America. The ship having occasion for many repairs and alterations, +necessary for so long a voyage, the captain applied to my father to do +the smith's work, which was very considerable. That gentleman, who was +of a social turn, used often to call at my father's house, where he +passed many of his evenings, with his chief and second mates, Mr. B. +Delouisa and Mr. William Ingraham,[31] the latter a fine young man of +about twenty, of a most amiable temper, and of such affable manners, as +gained him the love and attachment of the whole crew. These gentlemen +used occasionally to take me with them to the theatre, an amusement +which I was very fond of, and which my father rather encouraged than +objected to, as he thought it a good means of preventing young men, who +are naturally inclined to seek for something to amuse them, from +frequenting taverns, ale-houses, and places of bad resort, equally +destructive of the health and morals, while the stage frequently +furnishes excellent lessons of morality and good conduct. + +In the evenings that he passed at my father's, Captain Salter, who had +for a great number of years been at sea, and seen almost all parts of +the world, used sometimes to speak of his voyages, and, observing me +listen with much attention to his relations, he one day, when I had +brought him some work, said to me in rather a jocose manner, "John, how +should you like to go with me?" I answered, that it would give me great +pleasure, that I had for a long time wished to visit foreign countries, +particularly America, which I had been told so many fine stories of, and +that if my father would give his consent, and he was willing to take me +with him, I would go. + +"I shall be very glad to do it," said he, "if your father can be +prevailed on to let you go; and as I want an expert smith for an +armourer, the one I have shipped for that purpose not being sufficiently +master of his trade, I have no doubt that you will answer my turn well, +as I perceive you are both active and ingenious, and on my return to +America I shall probably be able to do something much better for you in +Boston. I will take the first opportunity of speaking to your father +about it, and try to persuade him to consent." He accordingly, the next +evening that he called at our house, introduced the subject: my father +at first would not listen to the proposal. That best of parents, though +anxious for my advantageous establishment in life, could not bear to +think of parting with me, but on Captain Salter's telling him of what +benefit it would be to me to go the voyage with him, and that it was a +pity to keep a promising and ingenious young fellow like myself confined +to a small shop in England, when if I had tolerable success I might do +so much better in America, where wages were much higher and living +cheaper, he at length gave up his objections, and consented that I +should ship on board the _Boston_ as an armourer, at the rate of thirty +dollars per month, with an agreement that the amount due to me, together +with a certain sum of money, which my father gave Captain Salter for +that purpose, should be laid out by him on the North-West coast in the +purchase of furs for my account, to be disposed of in China for such +goods as would yield a profit on the return of the ship; my father being +solicitous to give me every advantage in his power of well establishing +myself in my trade in Boston, or some other maritime town of America. +Such were the flattering expectations which this good man indulged +respecting me. Alas! the fatal disaster that befell us, not only blasted +all these hopes, but involved me in extreme distress and wretchedness +for a long period after. + +The ship, having undergone a thorough repair and been well coppered, +proceeded to take on board her cargo, which consisted of English cloths, +Dutch blankets, looking-glasses, beads, knives, razors, etc., which +were received from Holland, some sugar and molasses, about twenty +hogsheads of rum, including stores for the ship, a great quantity of +ammunition, cutlasses, pistols, and three thousand muskets and +fowling-pieces. The ship being loaded and ready for sea, as I was +preparing for my departure, my father came to me, and, taking me aside, +said to me with much emotion, "John, I am now going to part with you, +and Heaven only knows if we shall ever again meet. But in whatever part +of the world you are, always bear it in mind, that on your own conduct +will depend your success in life. Be honest, industrious, frugal, and +temperate, and you will not fail, in whatsoever country it may be your +lot to be placed, to gain yourself friends. Let the Bible be your guide, +and your reliance in any fortune that may befall you, that Almighty +Being, who knows how to bring forth good from evil, and who never +deserts those who put their trust in Him." He repeated his exhortations +to me to lead an honest and Christian life, and to recollect that I had +a father, a mother, a brother, and sister, who could not but feel a +strong interest in my welfare, enjoining me to write him by the first +opportunity that should offer to England, from whatever part of the +world I might be in, more particularly on my arrival in Boston. This I +promised to do, but long unhappily was it before I was able to fulfil +this promise. I then took an affectionate leave of my worthy parent, +whose feelings would hardly permit him to speak, and, bidding an +affectionate farewell to my brother, sister, and step-mother, who +expressed the greatest solicitude for my future fortune, went on board +the ship, which proceeded to the Downs, to be ready for the first +favourable wind. I found myself well accommodated on board as regarded +my work, an iron forge having been erected on deck; this my father had +made for the ship on a new plan, for which he afterwards obtained a +patent; while a corner of the steerage was appropriated to my +vice-bench, so that in bad weather I could work below. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[29] These fairs are still held, though the dates are now May 26th, +September 4th, and October 27th. + +[30] The companion of Cook, and for many years President of the Royal +Society. + +[31] This William Ingraham must not be confounded with Joseph Ingraham, +who also visited Nootka Sound, and played a considerable part in the +exploration of the North-West American coast. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +VOYAGE TO NOOTKA SOUND + + +On the third day of September, 1802, we sailed from the Downs with a +fair wind, in company with twenty-four sail of American vessels, most of +which were bound home. + +I was sea-sick for a few of the first days, but it was of short +continuance, and on my recovery I found myself in uncommonly fine health +and spirits, and went to work with alacrity at my forge, in putting in +order some of the muskets, and making daggers, knives, and small +hatchets for the Indian trade, while in wet and stormy weather I was +occupied below in filing and polishing them. This was my employment, +having but little to do with sailing the vessel, though I used +occasionally to lend a hand in assisting the seamen in taking in and +making sail. + +As I had never before been out of sight of land, I cannot describe my +sensations, after I had recovered from the distressing effects of +sea-sickness, on viewing the mighty ocean by which I was surrounded, +bound only by the sky, while its waves, rising in mountains, seemed +every moment to threaten our ruin. Manifest as is the hand of Providence +in preserving its creatures from destruction, in no instance is it more +so than on the great deep; for whether we consider in its tumultuary +motions the watery deluge that each moment menaces to overwhelm us, the +immense violence of its shocks, the little that interposes between us +and death, a single plank forming our only security, which, should it +unfortunately be loosened, would plunge us at once into the abyss, our +gratitude ought strongly to be excited towards that superintending Deity +who in so wonderful a manner sustains our lives amid the waves. + +We had a pleasant and favourable passage of twenty-nine days to the +Island of St. Catherine,[32] on the coast of Brazils, where the captain +had determined to stop for a few days to wood and water. This place +belongs to the Portuguese. On entering the harbour, we were saluted by +the fort, which we returned. The next day the governor of the island +came on board of us with his suite; Captain Salter received him with +much respect, and invited him to dine with him, which he accepted. The +ship remained at St. Catherine's four days, during which time we were +busily employed in taking in wood, water, and fresh provisions, Captain +Salter thinking it best to furnish himself here with a full supply for +his voyage to the North-West coast, so as not to be obliged to stop at +the Sandwich Islands. St. Catherine's is a very commodious place for +vessels to stop at that are bound round Cape Horn, as it abounds with +springs of fine water, with excellent oranges, plantains, and bananas. + +Having completed our stores, we put to sea, and on the twenty-fifth of +December, at length passed Cape Horn, which we had made no less than +thirty-six days before, but were repeatedly forced back by contrary +winds, experiencing very rough and tempestuous weather in doubling it. + +Immediately after passing Cape Horn, all our dangers and difficulties +seemed to be at an end; the weather became fine, and so little labour +was necessary on board the ship, that the men soon recovered from their +fatigue and were in excellent spirits. A few days after we fell in with +an English South Sea whaling ship homeward bound,[33] which was the only +vessel we spoke with on our voyage. We now took the trade wind or +monsoon, during which we enjoyed the finest weather possible, so that +for the space of a fortnight we were not obliged to reeve a topsail or +to make a tack, and so light was the duty and easy the life of the +sailors during this time, that they appeared the happiest of any people +in the world. + +Captain Salter, who had been for many years in the East India trade, was +a most excellent seaman, and preserved the strictest order and +discipline on board his ship, though he was a man of mild temper and +conciliating manners, and disposed to allow every indulgence to his men, +not inconsistent with their duty. We had on board a fine band of music, +with which on Saturday nights, when the weather was pleasant, we were +accustomed to be regaled, the captain ordering them to play for several +hours for the amusement of the crew. This to me was most delightful, +especially during the serene evenings we experienced in traversing the +Southern Ocean. As for myself, during the day I was constantly occupied +at my forge, in refitting or repairing some of the ironwork of the +vessel, but principally in making tomahawks, daggers, etc., for the +North-West coast. + +During the first part of our voyage we saw scarcely any fish, excepting +some whales, a few sharks, and flying fish; but after weathering Cape +Horn we met with numerous shoals of sea porpoises, several of whom we +caught, and as we had been for some time without fresh provisions, I +found it not only a palatable, but really a very excellent food. To one +who has never before seen them, a shoal of these fish[34] presents a +very striking and singular appearance; beheld at a distance coming +towards a vessel, they look not unlike a great number of small black +waves rolling over one another in a confused manner, and approaching +with great swiftness. As soon as a shoal is seen, all is bustle and +activity on board the ship, the grains and the harpoons are immediately +got ready, and those who are best skilled in throwing them take their +stand at the bow and along the gunwale, anxiously awaiting the welcome +troop as they come, gambolling and blowing around the vessel, in search +of food. When pierced with the harpoon and drawn on board, unless the +fish is instantly killed by the stroke, which rarely happens, it utters +most pitiful cries, greatly resembling those of an infant. The flesh, +cut into steaks and broiled, is not unlike very coarse beef, and the +harslet in appearance and taste is so much like that of a hog, that it +would be no easy matter to distinguish the one from the other; from this +circumstance the sailors have given the name of the herring hog[35] to +this fish. I was told by some of the crew, that if one of them happens +to free itself from the grains or harpoons, when struck, all the others, +attracted by the blood, immediately quit the ship and give chase to the +wounded one, and as soon as they overtake it, immediately tear it in +pieces. We also caught a large shark, which had followed the ship for +several days, with a hook which I made for the purpose, and although the +flesh was by no means equal to that of the herring hog, yet to those +destitute as we were of anything fresh, I found it eat very well. After +passing the Cape, when the sea had become calm, we saw great numbers of +albatrosses, a large brown and white bird of the goose kind, one of +which Captain Salter shot, whose wings measured from their extremities +fifteen feet. One thing, however, I must not omit mentioning, as it +struck me in a most singular and extraordinary manner. This was, that on +passing Cape Horn in December, which was midsummer in that climate, the +nights were so light, without any moon, that we found no difficulty +whatever in reading small print, which we frequently did during our +watches. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[32] Santa Catharina. + +[33] This is now, so far as Great Britain is concerned, a reminiscence +of a vanished trade: the South Sea whaling is extinct. + +[34] The zoological reader does not require to be told that the +porpoise, a very general term applied by sailors to many small species +of cetaceans, is not a "fish." + +[35] _Porc poisson_ of the French, of which porpoise is simply a +corruption. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES--MAQUINA--SEIZURE OF THE VESSEL AND MURDER +OF THE CREW + + +In this manner, with a fair wind and easy weather from the 28th of +December, the period of our passing Cape Horn, we pursued our voyage to +the northward until the 12th of March, 1803, when we made Woody Point in +Nootka Sound, on the North-West coast of America. We immediately stood +up the Sound for Nootka, where[36] Captain Salter had determined to +stop, in order to supply the ship with wood and water before proceeding +up the coast to trade. But in order to avoid the risk of any molestation +or interruption to his men from the Indians while thus employed, he +proceeded with the ship about five miles to the northward of the +village, which is situated on Friendly Cove, and sent out his chief mate +with several of the crew in the boat to find a good place for anchoring +her. After sounding for some time, they returned with information that +they had discovered a secure place for anchorage, on the western side of +an inlet or small bay, at about half a mile from the coast, near a small +island which protected it from the sea, and where there was plenty of +wood and excellent water. The ship accordingly came to anchor in this +place, at twelve o'clock at night, in twelve fathom water, muddy bottom, +and so near the shore that to prevent the ship from winding we secured +her by a hawser to the trees. + +On the morning of the next day, the 13th, several of the natives came on +board in a canoe from the village of Nootka, with their king, called +Maquina, who appeared much pleased on seeing us, and with great seeming +cordiality welcomed Captain Salter and his officers to his country. As I +had never before beheld a savage of any nation, it may readily be +supposed that the novelty of their appearance, so different from any +people that I had hitherto seen, excited in me strong feelings of +surprise and curiosity. I was, however, particularly struck with the +looks of their king, who was a man of a dignified aspect, about six feet +in height and extremely straight and well proportioned; his features +were in general good, and his face was rendered remarkable by a large +Roman nose, a very uncommon form of feature among these people; his +complexion was of a dark copper hue, though his face, legs, and arms +were, on this occasion, so covered with red paint, that their natural +colour could scarcely be perceived; his eyebrows were painted black in +two broad stripes like a new moon, and his long black hair, which shone +with oil, was fastened in a bunch on the top of his head and strewed or +powdered all over with white down, which gave him a most curious and +extraordinary appearance. He was dressed in a large mantle or cloak of +the black sea-otter skin, which reached to his knees, and was fastened +around his middle by a broad belt of the cloth of the country, wrought +or painted with figures of several colours; this dress was by no means +unbecoming, but, on the contrary, had an air of savage magnificence. His +men were habited in mantles of the same cloth, which is made from the +bark of a tree,[37] and has some resemblance to straw matting; these are +nearly square, and have two holes in the upper part large enough to +admit the arms; they reach as low as the knees, and are fastened round +their bodies with a belt about four inches broad of the same cloth. + +From his having frequently visited the English and American ships that +traded to the coast, Maquina had learned the signification of a number +of English words, and in general could make himself pretty well +understood by us in our own language. He was always the first to go on +board such ships as came to Nootka, which he was much pleased in +visiting, even when he had no trade to offer, as he always received some +small present, and was in general extremely well treated by the +commanders. He remained on board of us for some time, during which the +captain took him into the cabin and treated him with a glass of +rum--these people being very fond of distilled spirits--and some biscuit +and molasses, which they prefer to any kind of food that we can offer +them.[38] + +As there are seldom many furs to be purchased at this place, and it was +not fully the season, Captain Salter had put in here not so much with an +expectation of trading, as to procure an ample stock of wood and water +for the supply of the ship on the coast, thinking it more prudent to +take it on board at Nootka, from the generally friendly disposition of +the people, than to endanger the safety of his men in sending them on +shore for that purpose among the more ferocious natives of the north. + +With this view, we immediately set about getting our water-casks in +readiness, and the next and two succeeding days, part of the crew were +sent on shore to cut pine timber, and assist the carpenter in making it +into yards and spars for the ship, while those on board were employed in +refitting the rigging, repairing the sails, etc., when we proceeded to +take in our wood and water as expeditiously as possible, during which +time I kept myself busily employed in repairing the muskets, making +knives, tomaxes,[39] etc., and doing such ironwork as was wanted for the +ship. + +Meantime more or less of the natives came on board of us daily, bringing +with them fresh salmon, with which they supplied us in great plenty, +receiving in return some trifling articles. Captain Salter was always +very particular, before admitting these people on board, to see that +they had no arms about them, by obliging them indiscriminately to throw +off their garments, so that he felt perfectly secure from any attack. + +On the 15th the king came on board with several of his chiefs; he was +dressed as before in his magnificent otter-skin robe, having his face +highly painted, and his hair tossed with the white down, which looked +like snow. His chiefs were dressed in mantles of the country cloth of +its natural colour, which is a pale yellow; these were ornamented with a +broad border, painted or wrought in figures of several colours, +representing men's heads, various animals, etc., and secured around them +by a belt like that of the king, from which it was distinguished only by +being narrower: the dress of the common people is of the same fashion, +and differs from that of the chiefs in being of a coarser texture, and +painted red, of one uniform colour. + +Captain Salter invited Maquina and his chiefs to dine with him, and it +was curious to see how these people (when they eat) seat themselves (in +their country fashion, upon our chairs) with their feet under them +crossed like Turks. They cannot endure the taste of salt, and the only +thing they would eat with us was the ship bread, which they were very +fond of, especially when dipped in molasses; they had also a great +liking for tea and coffee when well sweetened. As iron weapons and tools +of almost every kind are in much request among them, whenever they came +on board they were always very attentive to me, crowding around me at +the forge, as if to see in what manner I did my work, and in this way +became quite familiar, a circumstance, as will be seen in the end, of +great importance to me. The salmon which they brought us furnished a +most delicious treat to men who for a long time had lived wholly on +salt provisions, excepting such few sea fish as we had the good fortune +occasionally to take. We indeed feasted most luxuriously, and flattered +ourselves that we should not want while on the coast for plenty of fresh +provisions, little imagining the fate that awaited us, and that this +dainty food was to prove the unfortunate lure to our destruction! + +On the 19th the king came again on board, and was invited by the captain +to dine with him. He had much conversation with Captain Salter, and +informed him that there were plenty of wild ducks and geese near +Friendly Cove, on which the captain made him a present of a +double-barrelled fowling-piece, with which he appeared to be greatly +pleased, and soon after went on shore. + +On the 20th we were nearly ready for our departure, having taken in what +wood and water we were in want of. + +The next day Maquina came on board with nine pair of wild ducks, as a +present; at the same time he brought with him the gun, one of the locks +of which he had broken, telling the captain that it was _peshak_,[40] +that is, bad. Captain Salter was very much offended at this observation, +and, considering it as a mark of contempt for his present, he called the +king a liar, adding other opprobrious terms, and, taking the gun from +him, tossed it indignantly into the cabin, and, calling me to him, said, +"John, this fellow has broken this beautiful fowling-piece, see if you +can mend it." On examining it, I told him that it could be done. As I +have already observed, Maquina knew a number of English words, and +unfortunately understood but too well the meaning of the reproachful +terms that the captain addressed to him. He said not a word in reply, +but his countenance sufficiently expressed the rage he felt, though he +exerted himself to suppress it, and I observed him, while the captain +was speaking, repeatedly put his hand to his throat, and rub it upon his +bosom, which he afterwards told me was to keep down his heart, which was +rising into his throat and choking him. He soon after went on shore with +his men, evidently much discomposed. + +On the morning of the 22nd the natives came off to us as usual with +salmon, and remained on board; when about noon Maquina came alongside, +with a considerable number of his chiefs and men in their canoes, who, +after going through the customary examination, were admitted into the +ship. He had a whistle in his hand, and over his face a very ugly mask +of wood, representing the head of some wild beast, appeared to be +remarkably good-humoured and gay, and whilst his people sang and capered +about the deck, entertaining us with a variety of antic trick and +gestures, he blew his whistle to a kind of tune which seemed to regulate +their motions. As Captain Salter was walking on the quarter-deck, +amusing himself with their dancing, the king came up to him and inquired +when he intended to go to sea? He answered, "To-morrow." Maquina then +said, "You love salmon--much in Friendly Cove, why not go there and +catch some?" The captain thought that it would be very desirable to have +a good supply of these fish for the voyage, and, on consulting with Mr. +Delouisa, it was agreed to send part of the crew on shore after dinner +with the seine, in order to procure a quantity. Maquina and his chiefs +stayed and dined on board, and after dinner the chief mate went off with +nine men in the jolly-boat and yawl, to fish at Friendly Cove, having +set the steward on shore at our watering place, to wash the captain's +clothes. + +Shortly after the departure of the boats, I went down to my vice-bench +in the steerage, where I was employed in cleaning muskets. I had not +been there more than an hour, when I heard the men hoisting in the +longboat, which, in a few minutes after, was succeeded by a great bustle +and confusion on deck. I immediately ran up the steerage stairs, but +scarcely was my head above deck, when I was caught by the hair by one of +the savages, and lifted from my feet; fortunately for me, my hair being +short, and the ribbon with which it was tied slipping, I fell from his +hold into the steerage. As I was falling he struck at me with an axe, +which cut a deep gash in my forehead, and penetrated the skull, but in +consequence of his losing his hold I luckily escaped the full force of +the blow, which otherwise would have cleft my head in two. I fell, +stunned and senseless, upon the floor; how long I continued in this +situation I know not, but on recovering my senses, the first thing that +I did was to try to get up, but so weak was I, from the loss of blood, +that I fainted and fell. I was, however, soon recalled to my +recollection by three loud shouts or yells from the savages, which +convinced me that they had got possession of the ship. It is impossible +for me to describe my feelings at this terrific sound. Some faint idea +may be formed of them by those who have known what it is to half waken +from a hideous dream and still think it real. Never, no, never shall I +lose from my mind the impression of that dreadful moment. I expected +every instant to share the wretched fate of my unfortunate companions, +and when I heard the song of triumph, by which these infernal yells was +succeeded, my blood ran cold in my veins. + +Having at length sufficiently recovered my senses to look around me, +after wiping the blood from my eyes, I saw that the hatch of the +steerage was shut. This was done, as I afterwards discovered, by order +of Maquina, who, on seeing the savage strike at me with the axe, told +him not to hurt me, for that I was the armourer, and would be useful to +them in repairing their arms; while at the same time, to prevent any of +his men from injuring me, he had the hatch closed. But to me this +circumstance wore a very different appearance, for I thought that these +barbarians had only prolonged my life in order to deprive me of it by +the most cruel tortures. + +I remained in this horrid state of suspense for a very long time, when +at length the hatch was opened, and Maquina, calling me by name, ordered +me to come up. I groped my way up as well as I was able, being almost +blinded with the blood that flowed from my wound, and so weak as with +difficulty to walk. The king, on perceiving my situation, ordered one of +his men to bring a pot of water to wash the blood from my face, which +having done, I was able to see distinctly with one of my eyes, but the +other was so swollen from my wound, that it was closed. But what a +terrific spectacle met my eyes: six naked savages, standing in a circle +around me, covered with the blood of my murdered comrades, with their +daggers uplifted in their hands, prepared to strike. I now thought my +last moment had come, and recommended my soul to my Maker. + +The king, who, as I have already observed, knew enough of English to +make himself understood, entered the circle, and, placing himself before +me, addressed me nearly in the following words: "John--I speak--you no +say no; You say no--daggers come!" He then asked me if I would be his +slave during my life--if I would fight for him in his battles, if I +would repair his muskets and make daggers and knives for him--with +several other questions, to all of which I was careful to answer, yes. +He then told me that he would spare my life, and ordered me to kiss his +hands and feet to show my submission to him, which I did. In the +meantime his people were very clamorous to have me put to death, so that +there should be none of us left to tell our story to our countrymen, and +prevent them from coming to trade with them; but the king in the most +determined manner opposed their wishes, and to his favour am I wholly +indebted for my being yet among the living. + +As I was busy at work at the time of the attack, I was without my coat, +and what with the coldness of the weather, my feebleness from loss of +blood, the pain of my wound, and the extreme agitation and terror that I +still felt, I shook like a leaf, which the king observing, went into the +cabin, and, bringing up a greatcoat that belonged to the captain, threw +it over my shoulders, telling me to drink some rum from a bottle which +he handed me, at the same time giving me to understand that it would be +good for me, and keep me from trembling bling as I did. I took a +draught of it, after which, taking me by the hand, he led me to the +quarter-deck, where the most horrid sight presented itself that ever my +eyes witnessed. The heads of our unfortunate captain and his crew, to +the number of twenty-five, were all arranged in a line,[41] and Maquina, +ordering one of his people to bring a head, asked me whose it was: I +answered, the captain's. In like manner the others were showed me, and I +told him the names, excepting a few that were so horribly mangled that I +was not able to recognise them. + +I now discovered that all our unfortunate crew had been massacred, and +learned that, after getting possession of the ship, the savages had +broke open the arm-chest and magazine, and, supplying themselves with +ammunition and arms, sent a party on shore to attack our men, who had +gone thither to fish, and, being joined by numbers from the village, +without difficulty overpowered and murdered them, and, cutting off their +heads, brought them on board, after throwing their bodies into the sea. +On looking upon the deck, I saw it entirely covered with the blood of my +poor comrades, whose throats had been cut with their own jack-knives, +the savages having seized the opportunity, while they were busy in +hoisting in the boat, to grapple with them, and overpower them by their +numbers; in the scuffle the captain was thrown overboard, and despatched +by those in the canoes, who immediately cut off his head. What I felt on +this occasion, may be more readily conceived than expressed. + +After I had answered his questions, Maquina took my silk handkerchief +from my neck and bound it around my head, placing over the wound a leaf +of tobacco, of which we had a quantity on board. This was done at my +desire, as I had often found, from personal experience, the benefit of +this application to cuts. + +Maquina then ordered me to get the ship under weigh for Friendly Cove. +This I did by cutting the cables, and sending some of the natives aloft +to loose the sails, which they performed in a very bungling manner. But +they succeeded so far in loosing the jib and top-sails, that, with the +advantage of fair wind, I succeeded in getting the ship into the Cove, +where, by order of the king, I ran her ashore on a sandy beach, at eight +o'clock at night. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[36] By "Nootka," Friendly Cove, or "Yucuaht," is meant; there is no +special place of that name; the word, indeed, is unknown to the natives. +Woody Point, or Cape Cook, is in lat. 50 6' 31" N. + +[37] The white pine (_Pinus monticola_). This is employed for making +blankets trimmed with sea-otter fur, but the mats used in their canoes +are made of cedar bark (_Thuja gigantea_). + +[38] This is still true. Many years ago, when there was a threat of +Indian trouble at Victoria, Sir James Douglas, famous as the first +governor of British Columbia, and still more celebrated as a factor of +the Hudson Bay Company, immediately allayed the rising storm by ordering +a keg of treacle and a box of biscuit to be opened. Instantly the knives +and muskets were tossed aside, and the irate savages fell to these +homely dainties with the best of goodwill to all concerned. "Dear me! +dear me! there is nothing like a little molasses," was the sage +governor's remark. At the Alberni saw-mills, on the West coast, the +invariable midday meal of the Indians loading lumber was coarse ship's +biscuit dipped in a tin basin of the cheapest treacle, around which the +mollified tribesmen squatted. + +[39] Tomahawks (little hatchets) in more familiar language. + +[40] _Pesh-shuak, Wikoo_, or _Chuuk_ is also used in the same sense, but +the first word is most frequently employed. + +[41] The Indians of the North-West coast and the wooded region protected +by the great rivers always take heads as trophies. The heads are +subsequently fixed on poles in front of their cedar-board lodges. The +prairie Indians and the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains generally +take, and always took, scalps alone, owing, perhaps, to the difficulty +of carrying heads. This is no obstacle to fighting men travelling in +canoes, on the bows of which they are often fastened while the warriors +are returning from hostile expeditions. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +RECEPTION OF JEWITT BY THE SAVAGES--ESCAPE OF THOMPSON--ARRIVAL OF +NEIGHBOURING TRIBES--AN INDIAN FEAST + + +We were received by the inhabitants of the village, men, women, and +children, with loud shouts of joy, and a most horrible drumming with +sticks upon the roofs and sides of their houses,[42] in which they had +also stuck a great number of lighted pine torches, to welcome their +king's return, and congratulate him on the success of his enterprise. + +Maquina then took me on shore to his house, which was very large, and +filled with people--where I was received with much kindness by the +women, particularly those belonging to the king, who had no less than +nine wives, all of whom came around me, expressing much sympathy for my +misfortune, gently stroking and patting my head in an encouraging and +soothing manner, with words expressive of condolence. How sweet is +compassion even from savages! Those who have been in a similar +situation, can alone truly appreciate its value. + +In the meantime all the warriors of the tribe, to the number of five +hundred,[43] had assembled at the king's house, to rejoice for their +success. They exulted greatly in having taken our ship, and each one +boasted of his own particular exploits in killing our men, but they were +in general much dissatisfied with my having been suffered to live, and +were very urgent with Maquina to deliver me to them, to be put to death, +which he obstinately refused to do, telling them that he had promised me +my life, and would not break his word; and that, besides, I knew how to +repair and to make arms, and should be of great use to them. + +The king then seated me by him, and ordered his women to bring him +something to eat, when they set before him some dried clams and +train-oil, of which he ate very heartily, and encouraged me to follow +his example, telling me to eat much, and take a great deal of oil, which +would make me strong and fat. Notwithstanding his praise of this new +kind of food, I felt no disposition to indulge in it, both the smell and +taste being loathsome to me; and had it been otherwise, such was the +pain I endured, the agitation of my mind, and the gloominess of my +reflections, that I should have felt very little inclination for eating. + +Not satisfied with his first refusal to deliver me up to them, the +people again became clamorous that Maquina should consent to my being +killed, saying that not one of us ought to be left alive to give +information to others of our countrymen, and prevent them from coming to +trade, or induce them to revenge the destruction of our ship, and they +at length became so boisterous, that he caught up a large club in a +passion, and drove them all out of the house. During this scene, a son +of the king, about eleven years old, attracted no doubt by the +singularity of my appearance, came up to me: I caressed him; he returned +my attentions with much apparent pleasure, and considering this as a +fortunate opportunity to gain the good will of the father, I took the +child on my knee, and, cutting the metal buttons from off the coat I had +on, I tied them around his neck. At this he was highly delighted, and +became so much attached to me, that he would not quit me. + +The king appeared much pleased with my attention to his son, and, +telling me that it was time to go to sleep, directed me to lie with his +son next to him, as he was afraid lest some of his people would come +while he was asleep and kill me with their daggers. I lay down as he +ordered me, but neither the state of my mind nor the pain I felt would +allow me to sleep. + +About midnight I was greatly alarmed by the approach of one of the +natives, who came to give information to the king that there was one of +the white men alive, who had knocked him down as he went on board the +ship at night. This Maquina communicated to me, giving me to understand +that as soon as the sun rose he should kill him. I endeavoured to +persuade him to spare his life, but he bade me be silent and go to +sleep. I said nothing more, but lay revolving in my mind what method I +could devise to save the life of this man. What a consolation, thought +I, what a happiness would it prove to me in my forlorn state among +these heathens, to have a Christian and one of my own countrymen for a +companion, and how greatly would it alleviate and lighten the burden of +my slavery. + +As I was thinking of some plan for his preservation, it all at once came +into my mind that this man was probably the sail-maker of the ship, +named Thompson, as I had not seen his head among those on deck, and knew +that he was below at work upon sails not long before the attack. The +more I thought of it, the more probable it appeared to me, and as +Thompson was a man nearly forty years of age, and had an old look, I +conceived it would be easy to make him pass for my father, and by this +means prevail on Maquina to spare his life. Towards morning I fell into +a dose, but was awakened with the first beams of the sun by the king, +who told me he was going to kill the man who was on board the ship, and +ordered me to accompany him. I rose and followed him, leading with me +the young prince, his son. + +On coming to the beach, I found all the men of the tribe assembled. The +king addressed them, saying that one of the white men had been found +alive on board the ship, and requested their opinion as to saving his +life or putting him to death. They were unanimously for the latter. This +determination he made known to me. Having arranged my plan, I asked him, +pointing to the boy, whom I still held by the hand, if he loved his son. +He answered that he did. I then asked the child if he loved his father, +and on his replying in the affirmative, I said, "And I also love mine." +I then threw myself on my knees at Maquina's feet, and implored him, +with tears in my eyes, to spare my father's life, if the man on board +should prove to be him, telling him that if he killed my father, it was +my wish that he should kill me too, and that if he did not, I would kill +myself--and that he would thus lose my services; whereas, by sparing my +father's life, he would preserve mine, which would be of great advantage +to him, by my repairing and making arms for him. + +Maquina appeared moved by my entreaties, and promised not to put the man +to death if he should be my father. He then explained to his people what +I had said, and ordered me to go on board and tell the man to come on +shore. To my unspeakable joy, on going into the hold, I found that my +conjecture was true. Thompson was there. He had escaped without any +injury, excepting a slight wound in the nose, given him by one of the +savages with a knife, as he attempted to come on deck, during the +scuffle. Finding the savages in possession of the ship, as he afterwards +informed me, he secreted himself in the hold, hoping for some chance to +make his escape; but that, the Indian who came on board in the night +approaching the place where he was, he supposed himself discovered, and, +being determined to sell his life as dearly as possible, as soon as he +came within his reach, he knocked him down, but the Indian, immediately +springing up, ran off at full speed. + +I informed him, in a few words, that all our men had been killed; that +the king had preserved my life, and had consented to spare his on the +supposition that he was my father, an opinion which he must be careful +not to undeceive them in, as it was his only safety. After giving him +his cue, I went on shore with him, and presented him to Maquina, who +immediately knew him to be the sail-maker, and was much pleased, +observing that he could make sails for his canoe. He then took us to his +house, and ordered something for us to eat. + +On the 24th and 25th, the natives were busily employed in taking the +cargo out of the ship, stripping her of her sails and rigging, cutting +away the spars and masts, and, in short, rendering her as complete a +wreck as possible, the muskets, ammunition, cloth, and all the principal +articles taken from her, being deposited in the king's house. + +While they were thus occupied, each one taking what he liked, my +companion and myself being obliged to aid them, I thought it best to +secure the accounts and papers of the ship, in hopes that on some future +day I might have it in my power to restore them to the owners. With this +view I took possession of the captain's writing-desk, which contained +the most of them, together with some paper and implements for writing. I +had also the good fortune to find a blank account-book, in which I +resolved, should it be permitted me, to write an account of our capture, +and the most remarkable occurrences that I should meet with during my +stay among these people, fondly indulging the hope that it would not be +long before some vessel would arrive to release us. I likewise found in +the cabin a small volume of sermons, a Bible, and a Common Prayer-book +of the Church of England, which furnished me and my comrade great +consolation in the midst of our mournful servitude, and enabled me, +under the favour of Divine Providence, to support with firmness the +miseries of a life which I might otherwise have found beyond my +strength to endure. + +As these people set no value upon things of this kind, I found no +difficulty in appropriating them to myself, by putting them in my chest, +which, though it had been broken open and rifled by the savages, as I +still had the key, I without much difficulty secured. In this I also put +some small tools belonging to the ship, with several other articles, +particularly a journal kept by the second mate, Mr. Ingraham, and a +collection of drawings and views of places taken by him, which I had the +good fortune to preserve, and on my arrival at Boston, I gave them to a +connection of his, the Honourable Judge Dawes, who sent them to his +family in New York. + +On the 26th, two ships were seen standing in for Friendly Cove. At their +first appearance the inhabitants were thrown into great confusion, but, +soon collecting a number of muskets and blunderbusses, ran to the shore, +from whence they kept up so brisk a fire at them, that they were +evidently afraid to approach nearer, and, after firing a few rounds of +grape-shot, which did no harm to any one, they wore ship and stood out +to sea. These ships, as I afterwards learned, were the _Mary_ and _Juno_ +of Boston. + +They were scarcely out of sight when Maquina expressed much regret that +he had permitted his people to fire at them, being apprehensive that +they would give information to others in what manner they had been +received, and prevent them from coming to trade with him. + +A few days after hearing of the capture of the ship, there arrived at +Nootka a great number of canoes filled with savages from no less than +twenty tribes to the north and south. Among those from the north were +the Ai-tiz-zarts,[44] Schoo-mad-its,[45] Neu-wit-ties,[46] +Savin-nars,[47] Ah-owz-arts,[48] Mo-watch-its,[49] Suth-setts,[50] +Neu-chad-lits,[51] Mich-la-its,[52] and Cay-u-quets,[53] the most of +whom were considered as tributary to Nootka. From the south, the +Aytch-arts[54] and Esqui-ates,[55] also tributary, with the +Kla-oo-quates,[56] and the Wickannish, a large and powerful tribe about +two hundred miles distant. + +These last were better clad than most of the others, and their canoes +wrought with much greater skill; they are furnished with sails as well +as paddles, and, with the advantage of a fair breeze, are usually but +twenty-four hours on their passage. + +Maquina, who was very proud of his new acquisition, was desirous of +welcoming these visitors in the European manner. He accordingly ordered +his men, as the canoes approached, to assemble on the beach with loaded +muskets and blunderbusses, placing Thompson at the cannon, which had +been brought from the ship and laid upon two long sticks of timber in +front of the village; then, taking a speaking trumpet in his hand, he +ascended with me the roof of his house, and began drumming or beating +upon the boards with a stick most violently. + +Nothing could be more ludicrous than the appearance of this motley group +of savages collected on the shore, dressed as they were with their +ill-gotten finery in the most fantastic manner, some in women's smocks, +taken from our cargo, others in _Kotsacks_[57] (or cloaks) of blue, red, +or yellow broadcloth, with stockings drawn over their heads, and their +necks hung round with numbers of powder-horns, shot-bags, and +cartouch-boxes, some of them having no less than ten muskets apiece on +their shoulders, and five or six daggers in their girdles. Diverting +indeed was it to see them all squatted upon the beach, holding their +muskets perpendicularly with the butt pressed upon the sand, instead of +against their shoulders, and in this position awaiting the order to +fire. + +Maquina, at last, called to them with his trumpet to fire, which they +did in the most awkward and timid manner, with their muskets hard +pressed upon the ground as above-mentioned. At the same moment the +cannon was fired by Thompson, immediately on which they threw themselves +back and began to roll and tumble over the sand as if they had been +shot, when, suddenly springing up, they began a song of triumph, and, +running backward and forward upon the shore, with the wildest +gesticulations, boasted of their exploits, and exhibited as trophies +what they had taken from us. Notwithstanding the unpleasantness of my +situation, and the feelings that this display of our spoils excited, I +could not avoid laughing at the strange appearance of these savages, +their awkward movements, and the singular contrast of their dress and +arms. + +When the ceremony was concluded, Maquina invited the strangers to a +feast at his house, consisting of whale-blubber, smoked herring spawn, +and dried fish and train-oil, of which they ate most plentifully. The +feast being over, the trays out of which they ate, and other things, +were immediately removed to make room for the dance, which was to close +the entertainment. This was performed by Maquina's son, the young prince +Sat-sat-sok-sis, whom I have already spoken of, in the following +manner:-- + +Three of the principal chiefs, drest in their otter-skin mantles, which +they wear only on extraordinary occasions and at festivals, having their +heads covered over with white down and their faces highly painted, came +forward into the middle of the room, each furnished with a bag filled +with white down, which they scattered around in such a manner as to +represent a fall of snow. These were followed by the young prince, who +was dressed in a long piece of yellow cloth, wrapped loosely around him, +and decorated with small bells, with a cap on his head to which was +fastened a curious mask in imitation of a wolf's head, while the rear +was brought up by the king himself in his robe of sea-otter skin, with a +small whistle in his mouth and a rattle in his hand, with which he kept +time to a sort of tune on his whistle. After passing very rapidly in +this order around the house, each of them seated himself, except the +prince, who immediately began his dance, which principally consisted in +springing up into the air in a squat posture, and constantly turning +around on his heels with great swiftness in a very narrow circle. + +This dance, with a few intervals of rest, was continued for about two +hours, during which the chiefs kept up a constant drumming with sticks +of about a foot in length on a long hollow plank, which was, though a +very noisy, a most doleful kind of music. This they accompanied with +songs, the king himself acting as chorister, while the women applauded +each feat of activity in the dancer, by repeating the words, _Wocash! +Wocash Tyee!_[58] that is, Good! very good, Prince! + +As soon as the dance was finished, Maquina began to give presents to the +strangers, in the name of his son Sat-sat-sok-sis. These were pieces of +European cloth, generally of a fathom in length, muskets, powder, shot, +etc. Whenever he gave them anything, they had a peculiar manner of +snatching it from him with a very stern and surly look, repeating each +time the words, _Wocash Tyee_. This I understood to be their custom, and +was considered as a compliment, which, if omitted, would be supposed as +a mark of disregard for the present. On this occasion Maquina gave away +no less than one hundred muskets, the same number of looking-glasses, +four hundred yards of cloth, and twenty casks of powder, besides other +things. + +After receiving these presents, the strangers retired on board their +canoes, for so numerous were they that Maquina would not suffer any but +the chiefs to sleep in the houses; and, in order to prevent the property +from being pillaged by them, he ordered Thompson and myself to keep +guard during the night, armed with cutlasses and pistols. + +In this manner tribes of savages from various parts of the coast +continued coming for several days, bringing with them blubber, oil, +herring spawn, dried fish, and clams, for which they received in return +presents of cloth, etc., after which they in general immediately +returned home. I observed that very few, if any, of them, except the +chiefs, had arms, which, I afterwards learned, is the custom with these +people, whenever they come upon a friendly visit or to trade, in order +to show, on their approach, that their intentions are pacific.[59] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[42] A common mode of expressing joy. During dancing and singing this +goes on continually. + +[43] In 1863, when I made a special inquiry, the whole number of adult +males in the Mooachaht tribe (the so-called Nootkans) was one hundred +and fifty. + +[44] Ayhuttisahts. + +[45] This name is unknown to me. + +[46] Nahwittis, or Flatlashekwill, an almost vanished tribe, join the +north end of Vancouver Island (Goletas Channel, Galliano Island, and +west-ward to Cape Scott). + +[47] The name of some village, not a tribe. + +[48] Ahousahts. + +[49] Mooachahts. The "Nootkans" proper of Friendly Cove. + +[50] Seshahts, but they are to the south (Alberni Canal) and Barclay +Sound. + +[51] Noochahlahts (lat. 49 47' 20" N.). + +[52] Muchlahts, or Quaquina arm. + +[53] Ky-yoh-quahts. + +[54] This is probably another spelling of the E-cha-chahts. + +[55] Hishquayahts (lat. 49 27' 31" N., long. 126 25' 27" W.). + +[56] Klahoquahts. This and the other tribes mentioned in the text +are no longer tributary to the Mooachahts, and there is no "Wickannish" +tribe. As we have already seen (p. 38), it is the name of an +individual--probably the chief of the Klahoquahts. It is a common name. +The Nettinahts and the Klahoquahts are still renowned in canoe-making. +They chisel them out of the great cedar (_Thuja gigantea_) trees in this +district, for sale to other tribes. But Jewitt, who had no personal +knowledge of the homes of these tribes, makes sad havoc of their names +and the direction from which they came. + +[57] _Kootsik_, the "cotsack" of Meares. _Kootsik-poom_ is the pin by +which the Indian blanket cloak is fastened. In Meares's time the people +dressed in kootsiks of sea-otter skin. But even then they were getting +so fond of blankets, that without "woollens" among the barter, trade was +difficult. In fifteen years they learned a better use for sea-otters +worth 20 apiece than to make cloaks of them. + +[58] The words were really _Waw-kash_ (a word of salutation) and _Tyee_. +This is in most common use in Nootka Sound. The order of salutation to a +man is _Quaache-is_, to a woman _Ch-is_, and at parting _Klach-she_. A +married woman is _Klootsnah_; a young girl _Hah-quatl-is_; an unmarried +woman (whether old or young) _Hah-quatl_--distinctions which Jewitt does +not make in his brief vocabulary. The Indians have many words to express +varieties of the same action. Thus _ptt[=e]s_ means to wash. But +_ptt[=e][=e]_ is to wash all over; _tsont-soomik_, to wash the hands; +_tsocuks_, to wash a pan, etc. _Haouwith_, or _Hawilth_, is the original +word for chief, though _Tyee_ is commonly used. + +[59] This is one of the earliest--if not the first--account of these +periodical givings away of property so characteristic of the +North-Western coast Indians, and known to the whites as "Potlatches." An +Indian accumulates blankets and other portable property simply to give +away at such feasts. Then if a poor, he becomes a great man, and even a +kind of minor chief--a Life Peer, as it were. But those who have +received much are expected to return the compliment by also giving a +"potlatch," to which guests come from far and near. I have described one +of these in _The Races of Mankind_ (the first edition of _The Peoples of +the World_), vol. i. pp. 75-90. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BURNING OF THE VESSEL--COMMENCEMENT OF JEWITT'S JOURNAL + + +Early on the morning of the 19th the ship was discovered to be on fire. +This was owing to one of the savages having gone on board with a +firebrand at night for the purpose of plunder, some sparks from which +fell into the hold, and, communicating with some combustibles, soon +enveloped the whole in flames. The natives regretted the loss of the +ship the more as a great part of her cargo still remained on board. To +my companion and myself it was a most melancholy sight, for with her +disappeared from our eyes every trace of a civilised country; but the +disappointment we experienced was still more severely felt, for we had +calculated on having the provision to ourselves, which would have +furnished us with a stock for years, as whatever is cured with salt, +together with most of our other articles of food, are never eaten by +these people. I had luckily saved all my tools, excepting the anvil and +the bellows, which was attached to the forge, and from their weight had +not been brought on shore. We had also the good fortune, in looking over +what had been taken from the ship, to discover a box of chocolate and a +case of port wine, which, as the Indians were not fond of it, proved a +great comfort to us for some time; and from one of the natives I +obtained a Nautical Almanack which had belonged to the captain, and +which was of great use to me in determining the time. + +About two days after, on examining their booty, the savages found a +tierce of rum, with which they were highly delighted, as they have +become very fond of spirituous liquors since their intercourse with the +whites.[60] This was towards evening, and Maquina, having assembled all +the men at his house, gave a feast, at which they drank so freely of the +rum, that in a short time they became so extremely wild and frantic that +Thompson and myself, apprehensive for our safety, thought it prudent to +retire privately into the woods, where we continued till past midnight. + +On our return we found the women gone, who are always very temperate, +drinking nothing but water, having quitted the house and gone to the +other huts to sleep, so terrified were they at the conduct of the men, +who lay all stretched out on the floor in a state of complete +intoxication. How easy in this situation would it have been for us to +have dispatched or made ourselves masters of our enemies had there been +any ship near to which we could have escaped, but as we were situated +the attempt would have been madness. The wish of revenge was, however, +less strongly impressed on my mind than what appeared to be so evident +an interposition of Divine Providence in our favour. How little can man +penetrate its designs, and how frequently is that intended as a blessing +which he views as a curse. The burning of our ship, which we had +lamented so much, as depriving us of so many comforts, now appeared to +us in a very different light, for, had the savages got possession of the +rum, of which there were nearly twenty puncheons on board,[61] we must +inevitably have fallen a sacrifice to their fury in some of their +moments of intoxication. This cask, fortunately, and a case of gin, was +all the spirits they obtained from the ship. To prevent the recurrence +of similar danger, I examined the cask, and, finding still a +considerable quantity remaining, I bored a small hole in the bottom with +a gimblet, which before morning, to my great joy, completely emptied it. + + +By this time the wound in my head began to be much better, so that I +could enjoy some sleep, which I had been almost deprived of by the pain, +and though I was still feeble from the loss of blood and my sufferings, +I found myself sufficiently well to go to work at my trade, in making +for the king and his wives bracelets and other small ornaments of copper +or steel, and in repairing the arms, making use of a large square stone +for the anvil, and heating my metal in a common wood fire. This was very +gratifying to Maquina, and his women particularly, and secured me their +goodwill. + +In the meantime, great numbers from the other tribes kept continually +flocking to Nootka, bringing with them, in exchange for the ship's +plunder, such quantities of provision, that, notwithstanding the little +success that Maquina met with in whaling this season, and their +gluttonous waste, always eating to excess when they have it, regardless +of the morrow, seldom did the natives experience any want of food during +the summer. As to myself and companion, we fared as they did, never +wanting for such provision as they had, though we were obliged to eat it +cooked in their manner, and with train-oil as a sauce, a circumstance +not a little unpleasant, both from their uncleanly mode of cooking and +many of the articles of their food, which to a European are very +disgusting; but, as the saying is, hunger will break through stone +walls, and we found, at times, in the blubber of sea animals and the +flesh of the dog-fish, loathsome as it generally was, a very acceptable +repast. + +But much oftener would poor Thompson, who was no favourite with them, +have suffered from hunger had it not been for my furnishing him with +provision. This I was enabled to do from my work, Maquina allowing me +the privilege, when not employed for him, to work for myself in making +bracelets and other ornaments of copper, fish-hooks, daggers, etc., +either to sell to the tribes who visited us or for our own chiefs, who +on these occasions, besides supplying me with as much as I wished to +eat, and a sufficiency for Thompson, almost always made me a present of +a European garment, taken from the ship, or some fathoms of cloth, which +were made up by my comrade, and enabled us to go comfortably clad for +some time; or small bundles of penknives, razors, scissors, etc., for +one of which we could almost always procure from the natives two or +three fresh salmon, cod, or halibut; or dried fish, clams, and herring +spawn from the stranger tribes; and had we only been permitted to cook +them after our own way, as we had pots and other utensils belonging to +the ship, we should not have had much cause of complaint in this +respect; but so tenacious are these people of their customs, +particularly in the article of food and cooking, that the king always +obliged me to give whatever provision I bought to the women to cook. And +one day, finding Thompson and myself on the shore employed in boiling +down sea-water into salt, on being told what it was he was very much +displeased, and, taking the little we had procured, threw it into the +sea. In one instance alone, as a particular favour, he allowed me to +boil some salmon in my own way, when I invited him and his queen to eat +with me; they tasted it, but did not like it, and made their meal of +some of it that I had cooked in their country fashion. + +In May the weather became uncommonly mild and pleasant, and so forward +was vegetation, that I picked plenty of strawberries[62] by the middle +of the month. Of this fruit there are great quantities on this coast, +and I found them a most delicious treat. + +My health now had become almost re-established, my wound being so far +healed that it gave me no further trouble. I had never failed to wash it +regularly once a day in sea water, and to dress it with a fresh leaf of +tobacco, which I obtained from the natives, who had taken it from the +ship, but made no use of it. This was all the dressing I gave it, except +applying to it two or three times a little loaf sugar, which Maquina +gave me, in order to remove some proud flesh, which prevented it from +closing. + +My cure would doubtless have been much sooner effected had I have been +in a civilised country, where I could have had it dressed by a surgeon +and properly attended to. But alas! I had no good Samaritan, with oil +and wine, to bind up my wounds, and fortunate might I even esteem myself +that I was permitted to dress it myself, for the utmost that I could +expect from the natives was compassion for my misfortunes, which I +indeed experienced from the women, particularly the queen, or favourite +wife of Maquina, the mother of Sat-sat-sok-sis, who used frequently to +point to my head, and manifest much kindness and solicitude for me. I +must do Maquina the justice to acknowledge, that he always appeared +desirous of sparing me any labour which he believed might be hurtful to +me, frequently inquiring in an affectionate manner if my head pained me. +As for the others, some of the chiefs excepted, they cared little what +became of me, and probably would have been gratified with my death. + +My health being at length re-established and my wound healed, Thompson +became very importunate for me to begin my journal, and as I had no ink, +proposed to cut his finger to supply me with blood for the purpose +whenever I should want it. On the 1st of June I accordingly commenced a +regular diary, but had no occasion to make use of the expedient +suggested by my comrade, having found a much better substitute in the +expressed juice of a certain plant, which furnished me with a bright +green colour, and, after making a number of trials, I at length +succeeded in obtaining a very tolerable ink, by boiling the juice of the +blackberry with a mixture of finely powdered charcoal, and filtering it +through a cloth. This I afterwards preserved in bottles, and found it +answer very well, so true is it that "necessity is the mother of +invention." As for quills, I found no difficulty in procuring them +whenever I wanted, from the crows and ravens with which the beach was +almost always covered, attracted by the offal of whales, seals, etc., +and which were so tame that I could easily kill them with stones, while +a large clam-shell furnished me with an inkstand. + +The extreme solicitude of Thompson that I should begin my journal might +be considered as singular in a man who neither knew how to read or +write, a circumstance, by the way, very uncommon in an American, were we +less acquainted with the force of habit, he having been for many years +at sea, and accustomed to consider the keeping of a journal as a thing +indispensable. This man was born in Philadelphia, and at eight years old +ran away from his friends and entered as a cabin boy on board a ship +bound to London. On his arrival there, finding himself in distress, he +engaged as an apprentice to the captain of a collier, from whence he was +impressed on board an English man-of-war, and continued in the British +naval service about twenty-seven years, during which he was present at +the engagement under Lord Howe with the French fleet in June 1794, and +when peace was made between England and France, was discharged. He was a +very strong and powerful man, an expert boxer, and perfectly fearless; +indeed, so little was his dread of danger, that when irritated he was +wholly regardless of his life. Of this the following will furnish a +sufficient proof:-- + +One evening about the middle of April, as I was at the house of one of +the chiefs, where I had been employed on some work for him, word was +brought me that Maquina was going to kill Thompson. I immediately +hurried home, where I found the king in the act of presenting a loaded +musket at Thompson, who was standing before him with his breast bared +and calling on him to fire. I instantly stepped up to Maquina, who was +foaming with rage, and, addressing him in soothing words, begged him for +my sake not to kill my father, and at length succeeded in taking the +musket from him and persuading him to sit down. + +On inquiring into the cause of his anger, I learned that, while Thompson +was lighting the lamps in the king's room, Maquina having substituted +ours for their pine torches, some of the boys began to tease him, +running around him and pulling him by the trousers, among the most +forward of whom was the young prince. This caused Thompson to spill the +oil, which threw him into such a passion, that, without caring what he +did, he struck the prince so violent a blow in his face with his fist as +to knock him down. The sensation excited among the savages by an act +which was considered as the highest indignity, and a profanation of the +sacred person of majesty, may be easily conceived. The king was +immediately acquainted with it, who, on coming in and seeing his son's +face covered with blood, seized a musket and began to load it, +determined to take instant revenge of the audacious offender, and had I +arrived a few moments later than I did, my companion would certainly +have paid with his life for his rash and violent conduct. I found the +utmost difficulty in pacifying Maquina, who for a long time after could +not forgive Thompson, but would repeatedly say, "John, _you_ +die--Thompson kill." + +But to appease the king was not all that was necessary. In consequence +of the insult offered to their prince, the whole tribe held a council, +in which it was unanimously resolved that Thompson should be put to +death in the most cruel manner. I however interceded so strenuously with +Maquina for his life, telling him that if my father was killed, I was +determined not to survive him, that he refused to deliver him up to the +vengeance of his people, saying, that for John's sake they must consent +to let him live. The prince, who, after I had succeeded in calming his +father, gave me an account of what had happened, told me that it was +wholly out of regard to me, as Thompson was my father, that his life had +been spared, for that if any one of the tribe should dare to lift a hand +against him in anger, he would most certainly be put to death. + +Yet even this narrow escape produced not much effect on Thompson, or +induced him to restrain the violence of his temper. For, not many weeks +after, he was guilty of a similar indiscretion, in striking the eldest +son of a chief, who was about eighteen years old, and, according to +their custom, was considered as a Tyee, or chief, himself, in +consequence of his having provoked him by calling him a white slave. +This affair caused great commotion in the village, and the tribe was +very clamorous for his death, but Maquina would not consent. + +I used frequently to remonstrate with him on the imprudence of his +conduct, and beg him to govern his temper better, telling him that it +was our duty, since our lives were in the power of these savages, to do +nothing to exasperate them. But all I could say on this point availed +little, for so bitter was the hate he felt for them, which he was no way +backward in manifesting both by his looks and actions, that he declared +he never would submit to their insults, and that he had much rather be +killed than be obliged to live among them; adding that he only wished he +had a good vessel and some guns, and he would destroy the whole of the +cursed race; for to a brave sailor like him, who had fought the French +and Spaniards with glory, it was a punishment worse than death to be a +slave to such a poor, ignorant, despicable set of beings. + +As for myself, I thought very differently. After returning thanks to +that merciful Being who had in so wonderful a manner softened the hearts +of the savages in my favour, I had determined from the first of my +capture to adopt a conciliating conduct towards them, and conform +myself, as far as was in my power, to their customs and mode of +thinking, trusting that the same divine goodness that had rescued me +from death, would not always suffer me to languish in captivity among +these heathens. + +With this view, I sought to gain their goodwill by always endeavouring +to assume a cheerful countenance, appearing pleased with their sports +and buffoon tricks, making little ornaments for the wives and children +of their chiefs, by which means I became quite a favourite with them, +and fish-hooks, daggers, etc., for themselves. + +As a further recommendation to their favour, and what might eventually +prove of the utmost importance to us, I resolved to learn their +language, which in the course of a few months' residence I so far +succeeded in acquiring, as to be able in general to make myself well +understood. + +I likewise tried to persuade Thompson to learn it, as what might prove +necessary to him. But he refused, saying that he hated both them and +their cursed lingo, and would have nothing to do with it. + +By pursuing this conciliatory plan, so far did I gain the goodwill of +these savages, particularly the chiefs, that I scarcely ever failed +experiencing kind treatment from them, and was received with a smile of +welcome at their houses, where I was always sure of having something +given me to eat, whenever they had it, and many a good meal have I had +from them, when they themselves were short of provisions and suffering +for the want of them. + +And it was a common practice with me, when we had nothing to eat at +home, which happened not unfrequently during my stay among them, to go +around the village, and on noticing a smoke from any of the houses, +which denoted that they were cooking, enter in without ceremony, and ask +them for something, which I was never refused. + +Few nations, indeed, are there so very rude and unfeeling, whom constant +mild treatment, and an attention to please, will not mollify and obtain +from some return of kind attention. This the treatment I received from +these people may exemplify, for not numerous, even among those calling +themselves civilised, are there instances to be found of persons +depriving themselves of food to give it to a stranger, whatever may be +his merits. + +It may perhaps be as well in this place to give a description of Nootka; +some accounts of the tribes who were accustomed to visit us; and the +manners and customs of the people, as far as I hitherto had an +opportunity of observing them. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[60] It was about this date that Long, an Indian trader, described rum +as the _unum necessarium_ for traffic with the savages. It is still +eagerly asked for, though its sale or gift is illegal. + +[61] For sale, of course, to the Indians. + +[62] Chiefly _Fragaria chilensis_. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +DESCRIPTION OF NOOTKA SOUND--MANNER OF BUILDING +HOUSES--FURNITURE--DRESSES + + +The village of Nootka is situated in between 49 and 50 deg. N. lat.,[63] +at the bottom of Friendly Cove, on the west or north-west side. It +consists of about twenty houses or huts, on a small hill, which rises +with a gentle ascent from the shore. Friendly Cove, which affords good +and secure anchorage for ships close in with the shore, is a small +harbour of not more than a quarter or half a mile in length, and about +half a mile or three-quarters broad, formed by the line of coast on the +east and a long point or headland, which extends as much as three +leagues into the Sound, in nearly a westerly direction.[64] This, as +well as I can judge from what I have seen of it, is in general from one +to two miles in breadth, and mostly a rocky and unproductive soil, with +but few trees. The eastern and western shores of this harbour are steep +and in many parts rocky, the trees growing quite to the water's edge, +but the bottom to the north and north-west is a fine sandy beach of half +a mile or more in extent. + +From the village to the north and north-east extends a plain, the soil +of which is very excellent, and with proper cultivation may be made to +produce almost any of our European vegetables; this is but little more +than half a mile in breadth, and is terminated by the seacoast, which in +this place is lined with rocks and reefs, and cannot be approached by +ships. The coast in the neighbourhood of Nootka is in general low, and +but little broken into hills and valleys. The soil is good, well covered +with fine forests of pine, spruce, beech, and other trees, and abounds +with streams of the finest water, the general appearance being the same +for many miles around. + +The village is situated on the ground occupied by the Spaniards, when +they kept a garrison here; the foundations of the church and the +governor's house are yet visible, and a few European plants are still to +be found, which continue to be self-propagated, such as onions, peas, +and turnips, but the two last are quite small, particularly the turnips, +which afforded us nothing but the tops for eating. Their former village +stood on the same spot, but the Spaniards, finding it a commodious +situation, demolished the houses, and forced the inhabitants to retire +five or six miles into the country.[65] With great sorrow, as Maquina +told me, did they find themselves compelled to quit their ancient place +of residence, but with equal joy did they repossess themselves of it +when the Spanish garrison was expelled by the English. + +[Illustration: HABITATIONS IN NOOTKA SOUND.] + +The houses, as I have observed, are above twenty in number, built nearly +in a line. These are of different sizes, according to the rank or +quality of the _Tyee_, or chief, who lives in them, each having one, of +which he is considered as the lord. They vary not much in width, being +usually from thirty-six to forty feet wide, but are of very different +lengths, that of the king, which is much the longest, being about one +hundred and fifty feet, while the smallest, which contain only two +families, do not exceed forty feet in length; the house of the king is +also distinguished from the others by being higher. + +Their method of building is as follows: they erect in the ground two +very large posts, at such a distance apart as is intended for the length +of the house. On these, which are of equal height, and hollowed out at +the upper end, they lay a large spar for the ridge-pole of the building, +or, if the length of the house requires it, two or more, supporting +their ends by similar upright posts; these spars are sometimes of an +almost incredible size, having myself measured one in Maquina's house, +which I found to be one hundred feet long and eight feet four inches in +circumference. At equal distances from these two posts, two others are +placed on each side, to form the width of the building; these are rather +shorter than the first, and on them are laid in like manner spars, but +of a smaller size, having the upper part hewed flat, with a narrow ridge +on the outer side to support the ends of the planks. + +The roof is formed of pine planks with a broad feather edge, so as to +lap well over each other, which are laid lengthwise from the ridge-pole +in the centre, to the beams at the sides, after which the top is covered +with planks of eight feet broad, which form a kind of coving projecting +so far over the ends of the planks that form the roof, as completely to +exclude the rain. On these they lay large stones to prevent their being +displaced by the wind. The ends of the planks are not secured to the +beams on which they are laid by any fastening, so that in a high storm I +have often known all the men obliged to turn out and go upon the roof to +prevent them from being blown off, carrying large stones and pieces of +rock with them to secure the boards, always stripping themselves naked +on these occasions, whatever may be the severity of the weather, to +prevent their garments from being wet and muddied, as these storms are +almost always accompanied with heavy rains. The sides of their houses +are much more open and exposed to the weather; this proceeds from their +not being so easily made close as the roof, being built with planks of +about ten feet long and four or five wide, which they place between +stancheons or small posts of the height of the roof; of these there are +four to each range of boards, two at each end, and so near each other as +to leave space enough for admitting a plank. The planks or boards which +they make use of for building their houses, and for other uses, they +procure of different lengths as occasion requires, by splitting them out +with hard wooden wedges from pine logs, and afterwards dubbing them down +with their chisels, with much patience, to the thickness wanted, +rendering them quite smooth. + +There is but one entrance; this is placed usually at the end, though +sometimes in the middle, as was that of Maquina's. Through the middle of +the building, from one end to the other, runs a passage of about eight +or nine feet broad, on each side of which the several families that +occupy it live, each having its particular fireplace, but without any +kind of wall or separation to mark their respective limits; the chief +having his apartment at the upper end, and the next in rank opposite on +the other side. They have no other floor than the ground; the fireplace +or hearth consists of a number of stones loosely put together, but they +are wholly without a chimney, nor is there any opening left in the roof, +but whenever a fire is made, the plank immediately over it is thrust +aside, by means of a pole, to give vent to the smoke. + +The height of the houses in general, from the ground to the centre of +the roof, does not exceed ten feet, that of Maquina's was not far from +fourteen; the spar forming the ridge-pole of the latter was painted in +red and black circles alternately, by way of ornament, and the large +posts that supported it had their tops curiously wrought or carved, so +as to represent human heads of a monstrous size, which were painted in +their manner. These were not, however, considered as objects of +adoration, but merely as ornaments.[66] + +The furniture of these people is very simple, and consists only of +boxes, in which they put their clothes, furs, and such things as they +hold most valuable; tubs for keeping their provisions of spawn and +blubber in; trays from which they eat; baskets for their dried fish and +other purposes, and bags made of bark matting, of which they also make +their beds, spreading a piece of it upon the ground when they lie down, +and using no other bed covering than their garments. The boxes are of +pine, with a top that shuts over, and instead of nails or pegs, are +fastened with flexible twigs; they are extremely smooth and high +polished, and sometimes ornamented with rows of very small white shells. +The tubs are of a square form, secured in the like manner, and of +various sizes, some being extremely large, having seen them that were +six feet long by four broad and five deep. The trays are hollowed out +with their chisels from a solid block of wood, and the baskets and mats +are made from the bark of trees. + +From bark they likewise make the cloth for their garments, in the +following manner:--A quantity of this bark is taken and put into fresh +water, where it is kept for a fortnight, to give it time to completely +soften; it is then taken out and beaten upon a plank, with an instrument +made of bone, or some very hard wood, having grooves or hollows on one +side of it, care being taken to keep the mass constantly moistened with +water, in order to separate, with more ease, the hard and woody from the +soft and fibrous parts, which, when completed, they parcel out into +skeins, like thread. These they lay in the air to bleach, and afterwards +dye them black or red, as suits their fancies, their natural colour +being a pale yellow. In order to form the cloth, the women, by whom the +whole of this process is performed, take a certain number of these +skeins and twist them together, by rolling them with their hands upon +their knees into hard rolls, which are afterwards connected by means of +a strong thread, made for the purpose. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A HABITATION IN NOOTKA SOUND.] + +Their dress usually consists of but a single garment, which is a loose +cloak or mantle (called _kutsack_) in one piece, reaching nearly to the +feet. This is tied loosely over the right or left shoulder, so as to +leave the arms at full liberty. + +Those of the common people are painted red with ochre the better to keep +out the rain, but the chiefs wear them of their native colour, which is +a pale yellow, ornamenting them with borders of the sea-otter skin, a +kind of grey cloth made of the hair of some animal[67] which they +procure from the tribes to the south, or their own cloth wrought or +painted with various figures in red or black, representing men's heads, +the sun and moon, fish and animals, which are frequently executed with +much skill. They have also a girdle of the same kind for securing this +mantle or _kutsack_ around them, which is in general still more highly +ornamented, and serves them to wear their daggers and knives in. In +winter, however, they sometimes make use of an additional garment, which +is a kind of hood, with a hole in it for the purpose of admitting the +head, and falls over the breast and back, as low as the shoulders; this +is bordered both at top and bottom with fur, and is never worn except +when they go out. + +The garments of the women vary not essentially from those of the men, +the mantle having holes in it for the purpose of admitting the arms, and +being tied close under the chin instead of over the shoulder. The chiefs +have also mantles of the sea-otter skin, but these are only put on upon +extraordinary occasions; and one that is made from the skin of a certain +large animal, which is brought from the south by the Wickanninish[68] +and Kla-iz-zarts.[69] This they prepare by dressing it in warm water, +scraping off the hair and what flesh adheres to it carefully with sharp +mussel-shells, and spreading it out in the sun to dry on a wooden frame, +so as to preserve the shape. When dressed in this manner it becomes +perfectly white, and as pliable as the best deer's leather, but almost +as thick again. They then paint it in different figures with such paints +as they usually employ in decorating their persons; these figures mostly +represent human heads, canoes employed in catching whales, etc. + +This skin is called metamelth, and is probably got from an animal of +the moose kind; it is highly prized by these people, is their great war +dress, and only worn when they wish to make the best possible display of +themselves. Strips or bands of it, painted as above, are also sometimes +used by them for girdles or the bordering of their cloaks, and also for +bracelets and ankle ornaments by some of the inferior class. + +On their heads, when they go out upon any excursion, particularly +whaling or fishing, they wear a kind of cap or bonnet in form not unlike +a large sugar loaf with the top cut off. This is made of the same +materials with their cloth,[70] but is in general of a closer texture, +and by way of tassel has a long strip of the skin of the metamelth[71] +attached to it, covered with rows of small white shells or beads. Those +worn by the common people are painted entirely red, the chiefs having +theirs of different colours. The one worn by the king, and which serves +to designate him from all the others, is longer and broader at the +bottom; the top, instead of being flat, having upon it an ornament in +the figure of a small urn. It is also of a much finer texture than the +others, and plaited or wrought in black and white stripes, with the +representation in front of a canoe in pursuit of a whale, with the +harpooner standing in the prow prepared to strike. This bonnet is called +_Seeya-poks_. + +Their mode of living is very simple--their food consisting almost +wholly of fish, or fish spawn fresh or dried, the blubber of the whale, +seal, or sea-cow, mussels, clams, and berries of various kinds; all of +which are eaten with a profusion of train-oil for sauce, not excepting +even the most delicate fruit, as strawberries and raspberries. + +With so little variety in their food, no great secret can be expected in +their cookery. Of this, indeed, they may be said to know but two +methods, viz. by boiling and steaming, and even the latter is not very +frequently practised by them. Their mode of boiling is as follows:--Into +one of their tubs they pour water sufficient to cook the quantity of +provision wanted. A number of heated stones are then put in to make it +boil, when the salmon or other fish are put in without any other +preparation than sometimes cutting off the heads, tails, and fins, the +boiling in the meantime being kept up by the application of the hot +stones, after which it is left to cook until the whole is nearly reduced +to one mass. It is then taken out and distributed in the trays. In a +similar manner they cook their blubber and spawn, smoked or dried fish, +and, in fine, almost everything they eat, nothing going down with them +like broth. + +When they cook their fish by steam, which are usually the heads, tails, +and fins of the salmon, cod, and halibut, a large fire is kindled, upon +which they place a bed of stones, which, when the wood is burnt down, +becomes perfectly heated. Layers of green leaves or pine boughs are then +placed upon the stones, and the fish, clams, etc., being laid upon +them, water is poured over them, and the whole closely covered with mats +to keep in the steam. This is much the best mode of cooking, and clams +and mussels done in this manner are really excellent.[72] These, as I +have said, may be considered as their only kinds of cookery; though I +have, in a very few instances, known them dress the roe or spawn of the +salmon and the herring, when first taken, in a different manner; this +was by roasting them, the former being supported between two split +pieces of pine, and the other having a sharp stick run through it, with +one end fixed in the ground; sprats are also roasted by them in this +way, a number being spitted upon one stick; and this kind of food, with +a little salt, would be found no contemptible eating even to an +European. + +At their meals they seat themselves upon the ground, with their feet +curled up under them, around their trays, which are generally about +three feet long by one broad, and from six to eight inches deep. In +eating they make use of nothing but their fingers, except for the soup +or oil, which they lade out with clam-shells. + +Around one of these trays from four to six persons will seat themselves, +constantly dipping in their fingers or clam-shells one after the other. +The king and chiefs alone have separate trays, from which no one is +permitted to eat with them except the queen, or principal wife of the +chief; and whenever the king or one of the chiefs wishes to distinguish +any of his people with a special mark of favour on these occasions, he +calls him and gives him some of the choice bits from his tray. The +slaves eat at the same time, and of the same provisions, faring in this +respect as well as their masters, being seated with the family, and only +feeding from separate trays. + +Whenever a feast is given by the king or any of the chiefs, there is a +person who acts as a master of ceremonies, and whose business it is to +receive the guests as they enter the house, and point out to them their +respective seats, which is regulated with great punctiliousness as +regards rank; the king occupying the highest or the seat of honour, his +son or brother sitting next him, and so on with the chiefs according to +their quality; the private persons belonging to the same family being +always placed together, to prevent any confusion. The women are seldom +invited to their feasts, and only at those times when a general +invitation is given to the village.[73] + +As, whenever they cook, they always calculate to have an abundance for +all the guests, a profusion in this respect being considered as the +highest luxury, much more is usually set before them than they can eat. +That which is left in the king's tray, he sends to his house for his +family by one of his slaves, as do the chiefs theirs; while those who +eat from the same tray, and who generally belong to the same family, +take it home as common stock, or each one receives his portion, which is +distributed on the spot. This custom appeared very singular to my +companion and myself, and it was a most awkward thing for us, at first, +to have to lug home with us, in our hands or arms, the blubber of fish +that we received at these times, but we soon became reconciled to it, +and were very glad of an opportunity to do it. + +[Illustration: NOOTKA SOUND INDIANS.] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[63] The exact position of the village is lat. 49 35' 31" N.; long. +126 37' 32" W. + +[64] According to the Admiralty Sailing Directions, the Cove is about +two cables in extent, and sheltered from the sea by a small rocky +high-water island on its east side. It affords anchorage in the middle +for only one vessel of moderate size, though several small vessels might +find shelter. When Vancouver visited it in 1792, no less than eight +ships were in it, most of them small, and secured to the shore by +hawsers. + +[65] This means farther up the Sound; for there are villages in the +interior of Vancouver Island. The Admiralty Sailing Directions declare +that not a trace of the Spanish settlement now exists. This is scarcely +correct, for an indistinct ridge shows the site of houses, and here and +there a few bricks half hidden in the ground may be detected. I have +seen a cannon ball and a Mexican dollar found there. Many of the Nootka +Indians have large moustaches and whiskers, which may possibly be due to +their Spanish blood, and others were decidedly Chinese-looking, a fact +which may be traced to the presence of Meares's Chinese carpenters in +1778-79. Some of them can, or could, thirty years ago, by tradition, +count ten in Spanish; and there is a legend in the Sound to the effect +that the white men had begun to cultivate the ground, and to erect a +stockade and fort; when one day a ship came with papers for the head +man, who was observed to cry, and all the foreigners became sad. The +next day they began moving their goods to the ship. But, as Mr. Sproat +suggests, this might have reference to Meares's settlement. + +[66] This is a good description of the house of Maquina's grandson, as I +saw it fifty-eight years after Jewitt's time. + +[67] Dog's hair. A tribe on Fraser River used to keep flocks of these +curs, which they periodically clipped like sheep. + +[68] Probably the Klayoquahts (see p. 77). + +[69] Klahosahts. + +[70] The outside is made of cedar bark, the inside of white-hair bark. + +[71] I have more than once discussed the identity of this animal with +Indian traders. None of them recognised it, nor, indeed, were acquainted +with the animal by the name Jewitt applies to it. It is, however, not +unlikely the North-Western marmot (_Arctomys pruinosus_), specimens of +which are now and then--though, it must be admitted, rarely--seen in +Vancouver Island; but it is more common farther south. The Alberni +Indians (Seshahts and Opechesahts) used to talk of a beast called +_Sit-si-tehl_, which we took to be the marmot, and Mr. Sproat saw one; I +was not so fortunate. + +[72] In the opinion of the judicious Jewitt, every one who has eaten +food--especially salmon and shell-fish--cooked after this fashion will +coincide. _Experto crede._ + +[73] Or to one or more of the neighbouring tribes, such feasts being +known as _Wawkoahs_. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES--ORNAMENTS--OTTER-HUNTING--FISHING--CANOES + + +In point of personal appearance the people of Nootka are among the +best-looking of any of the tribes that I have seen. The men are in +general from about five feet six to five feet eight inches in height; +remarkably straight, of a good form, robust and strong, with their limbs +in general well turned and proportioned, excepting the legs and feet, +which are clumsy and ill formed, owing, no doubt, to their practice of +sitting on them, though I have seen instances in which they were very +well shaped; this defect is more particularly apparent in the women, who +are for the most part of the time within doors, and constantly sitting +while employed in their cooking and other occupations.[74] The only +instance of deformity that I saw amongst them was a man of dwarfish +stature; he was thirty years old, and but three feet three inches high; +he had, however, no other defect than his diminutive size, being well +made, and as strong and able to bear fatigue as what they were in +general.[75] + +Their complexion, when freed from the paint and oil with which their +skins are generally covered, is a brown, somewhat inclining to a copper +cast. The shape of the face is oval; the features are tolerably regular, +the lips being thin and the teeth very white and even; their eyes are +black but rather small, and the nose pretty well formed, being neither +flat nor very prominent; their hair is black, long, and coarse, but they +have no beard, completely extirpating it, as well as the hair from their +bodies, Maquina being the only exception, who suffered his beard to grow +on his upper lip in the manner of mustachios, which was considered as a +mark of dignity. + +As to the women, they are much whiter, many of them not being darker +than those in some of the southern parts of Europe. They are in general +very well-looking, and some quite handsome. Maquina's favourite wife in +particular, who was a Wickinninish princess, would be considered as a +beautiful woman in any country. She was uncommonly well formed, tall, +and of a majestic appearance; her skin remarkably fair for one of these +people, with considerable colour, her features handsome, and her eyes +black, soft, and languishing; her hair was very long, thick, and black, +as is that of the females in general, which is much softer than that of +the men; in this they take much pride, frequently oiling and plaiting it +carefully into two broad plaits, tying the ends with a strip of the +cloth of the country, and letting it hang down before on each side of +the face. + +The women keep their garments much neater and cleaner than the men, and +are extremely modest in their deportment and dress; their mantle, or +_kutsack_, which is longer than that of the men, reaching quite to their +feet and completely enveloping them, being tied close under the chin, +and bound with a girdle of the same cloth or of sea-otter skin around +their waists; it has also loose sleeves, which reach to the elbows. +Though fond of ornamenting their persons, they are by no means so +partial to paint as the men, merely colouring their eyebrows black and +drawing a bright red stripe from each corner of the mouth towards the +ear. Their ornaments consist chiefly of ear-rings, necklaces, bracelets, +rings for the fingers and ankles, and small nose-jewels (the latter are, +however, wholly confined to the wives of the king or chiefs); these are +principally made out of copper or brass, highly polished and of various +forms and sizes; the nose-jewel is usually a small white shell[76] or +bead suspended to a thread. + +The wives of the common people frequently wear for bracelets and ankle +rings strips of the country cloth or skin of the metamelth painted in +figures, and those of the king or principal chiefs, bracelets and +necklaces consisting of a number of strings of _Ife-waw_, an article +much prized by them, and which makes a very handsome appearance. This +_Ife-waw_, as they term it, is a kind of shell of a dazzling whiteness +and as smooth as ivory; it is of a cylindrical form, in a slight degree +curved, about the size of a goose quill, hollow, three inches in length +and gradually tapering to a point, which is broken off by the natives as +it is taken from the water; this they afterwards string upon threads of +bark and sell it by the fathom; it forms a kind of circulating medium +among these nations, five fathoms being considered as the price of a +slave, their most valuable species of property. It is principally +obtained from the Aitizzarts, a people living about thirty or forty +miles to the northward, who collect it from the reefs and sunken rocks +with which their coast abounds, though it is also brought in +considerable quantity from the south.[77] + +Their mode of taking it has been thus described to me:--To one end of a +pole is fastened a piece of plank, in which a considerable number of +pine pegs are inserted, made sharp at the ends; above the plank, in +order to sink it, a stone or some weight is tied, and the other end of +the pole suspended to a long rope; this is let down perpendicularly by +the _Ife-waw_ fishers in those places where that substance is found, +which are usually from fifty to sixty fathoms deep. On finding the +bottom, they raise the pole up a few feet and let it fall; this they +repeat a number of times, as if sounding, when they draw it up and take +off the _Ife-waw_ which is found adhering to the points. This method of +procuring it is very laborious and fatiguing, especially as they seldom +take more than two or three of these shells at a time, and frequently +none. + +Though the women, as I have said, make but little use of paint, the very +reverse is the case with the men. In decorating their heads and faces +they place their principal pride, and none of our most fashionable beaus +when preparing for a grand ball can be more particular; for I have known +Maquina, after having been employed more than an hour in painting his +face, rub the whole off, and recommence the operation anew, when it did +not entirely please him. + +The manner in which they paint themselves frequently varies, according +to the occasion, but it oftener is the mere dictate of whim. The most +usual method is to paint the eyebrows black in form of a half-moon and +the face red in small squares, with the arms and legs and part of the +body red; sometimes one half of the face is painted red in squares and +the other black; at others dotted with spots of red and black instead +of squares, with a variety of other devices, such as painting one half +of the face and body red and the other black. + +But a method of painting which they sometimes employed, and which they +were much more particular in, was by laying on the face a quantity of +bear's grease of about one-eighth of an inch thick; this they raised up +into ridges resembling a small bead in joiner's work with a stick +prepared for the purpose, and then painted them red, which gave the face +a very singular appearance. + +On extraordinary occasions the king and principal chiefs used to strew +over their faces, after painting, a fine black shining powder procured +from some mineral, as Maquina told me it was got from the rocks. This +they call _pelpelth_,[78] and value it highly, as, in their opinion, it +serves to set off their looks to great advantage, glittering especially +in the sun like silver. This article is brought them in bags by the +_Newchemass_,[79] a very savage nation who live a long way to the north, +from whom they likewise receive a superior kind of red paint, a species +of very fine and rich ochre, which they hold in much estimation. + +Notwithstanding this custom of painting themselves, they make it an +invariable practice, both in summer and winter, to bathe once a day, and +sometimes oftener; but as the paint is put on with oil, it is not much +discomposed thereby, and whenever they wish to wash it off, they repair +to some piece of fresh water and scour themselves with sand or rushes. + +In dressing their heads on occasion of a festival or a visit, they are +full as particular and almost as long as in painting. The hair, after +being well oiled, is carefully gathered upon the top of the head and +secured by a piece of pine or spruce bough with the green leaves upon +it. After having it properly fixed in this manner, the king and +principal chiefs used to strew all over it the white down obtained from +a species of large brown eagle which abounds on this coast, and which +they are very particular in arranging so as not to have a single feather +out of place, occasionally wetting the hair to make it adhere. This, +together with the bough, which is sometimes of considerable size and +stuck over with feathers by means of turpentine, gives them a very +singular and grotesque appearance, which they, however, think very +becoming, and the first thing they do, on learning the arrival of +strangers, is to go and decorate themselves in this manner. + +The men also wear bracelets of painted leather or copper and large +ear-rings of the latter, but the ornament on which they appear to set +the most value is the nose-jewel, if such an appellation may be given to +the wooden stick which some of them employ for this purpose. The king +and chiefs, however, wear them of a different form, being either small +pieces of polished copper or brass, of which I made many for them in +the shape of hearts and diamonds, or a twisted conical shell about half +an inch in length, of a bluish colour and very bright, which is brought +from the south. These are suspended by a small wire or string to the +hole in the gristle of the nose, which is formed in infancy by boring it +with a pin, the hole being afterwards enlarged by the repeated insertion +of wooden pegs of an increased size, until it becomes about the diameter +of a pipe-stem, though some have them of a size nearly sufficient to +admit the little finger. + +The common class, who cannot readily procure the more expensive jewels +that I have mentioned, substitute for them, usually, a smooth, round +stick, some of which are of an almost incredible length, for I have seen +them projecting not less than eight or nine inches beyond the face on +each side; this is made fast or secured in its place by little wedges on +each side of it. These "sprit-sail-yard fellows," as my messmate used to +call them, when rigged out in this manner, made quite a strange show, +and it was his delight, whenever he saw one of them coming towards us +with an air of consequence proportioned to the length of his stick, to +put up his hand suddenly as he was passing him, so as to strike the +stick, in order, as he said, to brace him up sharp to the wind; this +used to make them very angry, but nothing was more remote from +Thompson's ideas than a wish to cultivate their favour. + +The natives of Nootka appear to have but little inclination for the +chase, though some of them were expert marksmen, and used sometimes to +shoot ducks and geese; but the seal and the sea-otter form the +principal objects of their hunting, particularly the latter. + +Of this animal, so much noted for its valuable skin, the following +description may not be uninteresting:--The sea-otter[80] is nearly five +feet in length, exclusive of the tail, which is about twelve inches, and +is very thick and broad where it joins the body, but gradually tapers to +the end, which is tipped with white. The colour of the rest is a +shining, silky black, with the exception of a broad white stripe on the +top of the head. Nothing can be more beautiful than one of these animals +when seen swimming, especially when on the look-out for any object. At +such times it raises its head quite above the surface, and the contrast +between the shining black and the white, together with its sharp ears +and a long tuft of hair rising from the middle of its forehead, which +looks like three small horns, render it quite a novel and attractive +object. They are in general very tame, and will permit a canoe or boat +to approach very near before they dive. I was told, however, that they +are become much more shy since they have been accustomed to shoot them +with muskets, than when they used only arrows.[81] + +The skin is held in great estimation in China, more especially that of +the tail, the fur of which is finer and closer set than that on the +body. This is always cut off and sold separately by the natives. The +value of a skin is determined by its size, that being considered as a +prime skin which will reach, in length, from a man's chin to his feet. +The food of the sea-otter is fish, which he is very dexterous in taking, +being an excellent swimmer, with feet webbed like those of a goose. They +appear to be wholly confined to the seacoast, at least to the salt +water. They have usually three or four young at a time, but I know not +how often they breed, nor in what place they deposit their young, though +I have frequently seen them swimming around the mother when no larger +than rats. The flesh is eaten by the natives, cooked in their usual mode +by boiling, and is far preferable to that of the seal, of which they +make much account. + +But if not great hunters, there are few people more expert in fishing. +Their lines are generally, made from the sinew of the whale, and are +extremely strong. For the hook, they usually make use of a straight +piece of hard wood, in the lower part of which is inserted, and well +secured with thread or whale sinew, a bit of bone made very sharp at the +point and bearded; but I used to make for them hooks from iron, which +they preferred, not only as being less liable to break, but more certain +of securing the fish. Cod, halibut, and other sea fish were not only +caught by them with hooks, but even salmon. + +To take this latter fish, they practise the following method:--One +person seats himself in a small canoe, and, baiting his hook with a +sprat, which they are always careful to procure as fresh as possible, +fastens his line to the handle of the paddle; this, as he plies it in +the water, keeps the fish in constant motion, so as to give it the +appearance of life, which the salmon seeing, leaps at it and is +instantly hooked, and, by a sudden and dexterous motion of the paddle, +drawn on board. I have known some of the natives take no less than eight +or ten salmon of a morning, in this manner, and have seen from twenty to +thirty canoes at a time in Friendly Cove thus employed. + +They are likewise little less skilful in taking the whale. This they +kill with a kind of javelin or harpoon thus constructed and fitted: the +barbs are formed of bone, which are sharpened on the outer side, and +hollowed within, for the purpose of forming a socket for the staff; +these are then secured firmly together with a whale sinew, the point +being fitted so as to receive a piece of mussel-shell, which is ground +to a very sharp edge, and secured in its place by means of +turpentine.[82] To this head or prong is fastened a strong line of whale +sinew about nine feet in length, to the end of which is tied a bark rope +from fifty to sixty fathoms long, having from twenty to thirty sealskin +floats or buoys attached to it at certain intervals, in order to check +the motion of the whale and obstruct his diving. In the socket of the +harpoon a staff or pole of about ten feet long, gradually tapering from +the middle to each end, is placed; this the harpooner holds in his hand, +in order to strike the whale, and immediately detaches it as soon as the +fish is struck. + +The whale is considered as the king's fish, and no other person, when he +is present, is permitted to touch him until the royal harpoon has first +drawn his blood, however near he may approach; and it would be +considered almost a sacrilege for any of the common people to strike a +whale before he is killed, particularly if any of the chiefs should be +present.[83] They also kill the porpoise[84] and sea-cow[85] with +harpoons, but this inferior game is not interdicted the lower class. + +With regard to their canoes, some of the handsomest to be found on the +whole coast are made at Nootka, though very fine ones are brought by the +Wickinninish and the Kla-iz-zarts, who have them more highly ornamented. +They are of all sizes, from such as are capable of holding only one +person to their largest war canoes, which will carry forty men, and are +extremely light. Of these, the largest of any that I ever saw was one +belonging to Maquina, which I measured, and found to be forty-two feet +six inches in length at the bottom, and forty-six feet from stem to +stern. These are made of pine,[86] hollowed out from a tree with their +chisels solely, which are about three inches broad and six in length, +and set into a handle of very hard wood. + +This instrument was formerly made of flint, or some hard stone ground +down to as sharp an edge as possible, but since they have learned the +use of iron, they have almost all of them of that metal. Instead of a +mallet for striking this chisel, they make use of a smooth round stone, +which they hold in the palm of the hand. With this same awkward +instrument they not only excavate their canoes and trays and smooth +their planks, but cut down such trees as they want, either for building, +fuel, or other purposes, a labour which is mostly done by their slaves. + +The felling of trees, as practised by them, is a slow and most tedious +process, three of them being generally from two to three days in cutting +down a large one; yet so attached were they to their own method, that +notwithstanding they saw Thompson frequently, with one of our axes, of +which there was a number saved, fell a tree in less time than they +could have gone round it with their chisels, still they could not be +persuaded to make use of them. + +[Illustration: INDIAN CANOES, VICTORIA, V. I. (TEMP. 1863).] + +After hollowing out their canoes, which they do very neatly, they +fashion the outside, and slightly burn it, for the purpose of removing +any splinters or small points that might obstruct its passage through +the water, after which they rub it over thoroughly with rushes or coarse +mats, in order to smooth it, which not only renders it almost as smooth +as glass, but forms a better security for it from the weather; this +operation of burning and rubbing down the bottoms of their canoes is +practised as often as they acquire any considerable degree of roughness +from use. The outside by this means becomes quite black, and to complete +their work they paint the inside of a bright red, with ochre or some +other similar substance; the prows and sterns are almost always +ornamented with figures of ducks or some other kind of bird, the former +being so fashioned as to represent the head, and the latter the tail; +these are separate pieces from the canoe, and are fastened to it with +small flexible twigs or bark cord. + +Some of these canoes, particularly those employed in whaling, which will +hold about ten men, are ornamented within about two inches below the +gunwale with two parallel lines on each side of very small white shells, +running fore and aft, which has a very pretty effect. Their war canoes +have no ornament of this kind, but are painted on the outside with +figures in white chalk, representing eagles, whales, human heads, etc. +They are very dexterous in the use of their paddles, which are very +neatly wrought, and are five feet long, with a short handle and a blade +seven inches broad in the middle, tapering to a sharp point. With these +they will make a canoe skim very swiftly on the water, with scarcely any +noise, while they keep time to the stroke of the paddle with their +songs. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[74] Yet they are by no means weak in the legs, a coast Indian being +capable of long travel in the bush without tiring. The Hydahs of Queen +Charlotte Island, and the Tlinkets and Kaloshes of the neighbouring +mainland, are splendid specimens of men, tall, comparatively fair, +large-headed, regularly-featured, and endowed with courage and +intelligence, though their morals leave much to be desired. All the +canoe Indians are very strong-handed, owing to the constant use of the +paddle. In a scuffle with one of them, it does not do to let him get a +grip; better prevent him from coming to close quarters, for in this case +the white man has little chance. The Klahoquahts are the finest-looking +of the Vancouver west coast tribes. + +[75] I have rarely seen a corpulent Indian, and not one idiot, or a +cripple so deformed that he was incapable of earning his livelihood. It +is seldom that they are deformed from birth, and when they are, they +generally disappear, so as not to be a burden on the tribe. As a +facetious old savage remarked to me, when discussing that curious +immunity from helplessness in his tribe, "The climate doesn't agree with +them." The brother of Quisto, chief of the Pachenahts in 1865 (San Juan +Harbour), was much deformed in the legs, but he was an excellent +canoeman. + +[76] Commonly the flattish nacreous portion of the Abelone, or Ear-shell +(_Haliotis Kamschatkiana_), known as _Apats-em_, which is pawned or sold +in times of scarcity. By constant removal and insertion, the septum of +the nose, through which it is fastened, becomes in time so large that it +will admit almost any kind of moderately-sized ornament. Feathers are +frequently inserted, and more than once I have seen an Indian, clad in a +blanket alone, denude himself of his single garment to hold biscuits or +other goods, and dispose of his pipe by sticking it in the hole through +his nasal septum, which, had times been better, would have been occupied +with a piece of shell, either square, oblong, or of a horseshoe shape. + +[77] This is the well-known _Dentalium pretiosum_, or Tooth-shell, +generally known as the _Hioqua_. It is procured chiefly from Cape +Flattery, on the southern side of Juan de Fuca Strait, and from Koskeemo +Sound on the north. The "Aitizzarts" (Ayhuttisahts) probably obtained it +by barter with the tribes on that part of the coast. It is not much used +nowadays.--_The Peoples of the World_, vol. i. p. 60. + +[78] This is powdered mica of the black variety. It is obtained in +various places, from veins exposed, for the most part in the beds of +streams. + +[79] These seem to be the Nimpkish, from the Nimpkish River, south of +Fort Rupert, on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, who still +frequently cross the island by a chain of rivers and lakes to Nootka +Sound. This is confirmed by Jewitt writing in another place that they +lived somewhat in the interior. It is doubtful whether he knew that the +country in which he lived was an island. At all events, he never +mentions it by that name. This route I have described in "Das Innere der +Vancouver Insel" (Petermann, _Geographische Mittheilungen_, 1869). + +[80] _Enhydra lutris_, or "Quiaotluck," now so rapidly decreasing in +numbers that it can scarcely escape the fate of Steller's Rhytina. + +[81] For an account of the habits and history of these valued animals, +the reader is referred to _The Countries of the World_, vol. i. p. 304. + +[82] The harpoon is at present a little different in construction. Pine +resin, not "turpentine," is used for the purpose described, and the tips +of deers' horns are utilised for the barbs. The most remarkable fact +about the west coast of Vancouver Island whaling is its use of inflated +sealskins to impede the motion of the animal through the water. This is +an Eskimo contrivance in use by the Alaskans and other extreme northern +tribes, from whom the West Vancouverians seem to have borrowed it. In +Sproat's _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_, p. 226, there is an +excellent description of whaling as practised in that part of Vancouver +Island. The species pursued is usually finbacks, though a "black fish" +with good whalebone is occasionally captured. + +[83] The honour of using the harpoon is a hereditary privilege, enjoyed +by only a few men in a tribe, and previous to the whaling season the +crews have to practise all manner of ascetic practices in order to +ensure good luck in the venture. + +[84] This porpoise Dr. Gray considered, after examining a skull which I +brought to the British Museum in 1866, to differ little, if at all, from +the _Phocna communis_ of the Atlantic; but Dr. (afterwards Sir) W. H. +Flower (_List of the Specimens of Cetacea_, etc., 1885, p. 16) seems to +be of a different opinion. + +[85] This "sea-cow," of which Meares also speaks as an animal hunted by +the Nootka people, though rarely seen so far south, must, one might +think, be another name for the seal or "sea-calf," were not the latter +expressly referred to by name. The sea-cow, dugong, or manatee is not +found in these seas, and the _Rhytina Stelleri_, once so abundant on +Behring Island in Behring Strait, is generally considered to have been +exterminated in the interval between 1741-1768. This, however, is hardly +in accordance with fact, for, as evidence collected by Nordenskjld +proves, they were occasionally killed in 1780, while one was seen as +late as 1854. It is therefore by no means improbable that in 1803 a few +stragglers were still waiting their end on the shores of Vancouver +Island. The sea-lion (_Eumetopias Stelleri_) is a seal also verging on +extinction, the _Otaria ursinus_ being now the fur seal of commerce (and +politics) in that part of the North Pacific. + +[86] A species of cedar (_Thuja_) is the wood used. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MUSIC--MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--SLAVES--NEIGHBOURING TRIBES--TRADE WITH +THESE--ARMY + + +They have a number which they sing on various occasions--at war,[87] +whaling and fishing, at their marriages and feasts, and at public +festivals or solemnities. The language of the most of these appears to +be very different in many respects from that used in their common +conversation, which leads me to believe either that they have a +different mode of expressing themselves in poetry, or that they borrow +their songs from their neighbours; and what the more particularly +induces me to the latter opinion is, that whenever any of the +Newchemass, a people from the northward, and who speak a very different +language, arrived, they used to tell me that they expected a new song, +and were almost always sure to have one. + +Their tunes are generally soft and plaintive, and though not possessing +great variety, are not deficient in harmony. Their singing is generally +accompanied with several rude kinds of instrumental music, among the +most prominent of which is a kind of a drum. This is nothing more than +a long plank hollowed out on the under side and made quite thin, which +is beat upon by a stick of about a foot long, and renders a sound not +unlike beating on the head of an empty cask, but much louder. + +But the two most favourite instruments are the rattle and the pipe or +whistle; these are, however, only used by the king, the chiefs, or some +particular persons. The former is made of dried sealskin, so as to +represent a fish, and is filled with a number of small smooth pebbles; +it has a short handle, and is painted red. The whistle is made of bone, +generally the leg of a deer; it is short, but emits a very shrill sound. +They have likewise another kind of music, which they make use of in +dancing, in the manner of castanets. This is produced by a number of +mussel or cockle shells tied together and shaken to a kind of tune, +which is accompanied with the voice. + + * * * * * + +Their slaves, as I have observed, form their most valuable species of +property. These are of both sexes, being either captives taken by +themselves in war, or purchased from the neighbouring tribes, and who +reside in the same house, forming as it were a part of the family, are +usually kindly treated, eat of the same food, and live as well as their +masters. They are compelled, however, at times to labour severely, as +not only all the menial offices are performed by them, such as bringing +water, cutting wood, and a variety of others, but they are obliged to +make the canoes, to assist in building and repairing the houses, to +supply their masters with fish, and to attend them in war and to fight +for them. + +None but the king and chiefs have slaves, the common people being +prevented from holding them, either from their inability to purchase +them, or, as I am rather inclined to think, from its being considered as +the privilege of the former alone to have them,[88] especially as all +those made prisoners in war belong either to the king or the chiefs who +have captured them, each one holding such as have been taken by himself +or his slaves. There is probably, however, some little distinction in +favour of the king, who is always the commander of the expedition, as +Maquina had nearly fifty, male and female, in his house, a number +constituting about one half of its inhabitants, comprehending those +obtained by war and purchase; whereas none of the other chiefs had more +than twelve. The females are employed principally in manufacturing +cloth, in cooking, collecting berries, etc., and with regard to food and +living in general have not a much harder lot than their mistresses, the +principal difference consisting in these poor unfortunate creatures +being considered as free to any one, their masters prostituting them +whenever they think proper for the purpose of gain. In this way many of +them are brought on board the ships and offered to the crews, from +whence an opinion appears to have been formed by some of our navigators +injurious to the chastity of their females, than which nothing can be +more generally untrue, as perhaps in no part of the world is that virtue +more prized.[89] + +The houses at Nootka, as already stated, are about twenty, without +comprising those inhabited by the Klahars, a small tribe that has been +conquered and incorporated into that of Nootka, though they must be +considered as in a state of vassalage, as they are not permitted to have +any chiefs among them, and live by themselves in a cluster of small +houses at a little distance from the village. The Nootka tribe, which +consists of about five hundred warriors,[90] is not only more numerous +than almost any of the neighbouring tribes, but far exceeds them in the +strength and martial spirit of its people; and in fact there are but few +nations within a hundred miles either to the north or south but are +considered as tributary to them. + +In giving some account of the tribes that were accustomed to visit +Nootka, I shall commence at the southward with the Kla-iz-zarts, and the +Wickinninish, premising that in point of personal appearance there +prevails a wonderful diversity between the various tribes on the coast, +with the exception of the feet and legs, which are badly shaped in +almost all of them from their practice of sitting on them. + +The Kla-iz-zarts are a numerous and powerful tribe, living nearly three +hundred miles to the south, and are said to consist of more than a +thousand warriors.[91] They appear to be more civilised than any of the +others, being better and more neatly dressed, more mild and affable in +their manners, remarkable for their sprightliness and vivacity, and +celebrated for their singing and dancing. + +They exhibit also greater marks of improvement in whatever is wrought by +them; their canoes, though not superior to those of Nootka in point of +form and lightness, are more highly ornamented, and their weapons and +tools of every kind have a much higher finish and display more skill in +the workmanship. Their cast of countenance is very different from that +of the Nootkians, their faces being very broad, with a less prominent +nose and smaller eyes, and the top of the head flattened as if it had +been pressed down with a weight. Their complexion is also much fairer, +and their stature shorter, though they are well formed and strongly set. + +They have a custom which appears to be peculiar to them, as I never +observed it in any of the other tribes, which is to pluck out not only +their beards and the hair from their bodies, but also their eyebrows, so +as not to leave a vestige remaining. They were also in general more +skilful in painting and decorating themselves, and I have seen some of +them with no less than a dozen holes in each of their ears, to which +were suspended strings of small beads about two inches in length. Their +language is the same as spoken at Nootka, but their pronunciation is +much more hoarse and guttural. These people are not only very expert in +whaling, but are great hunters of the sea-otter and other animals, with +which their country is said to abound, and the metamelth, a large animal +of the deer kind, the skin of which I have already spoken of, another of +a light grey colour, with very fine hair, from which they manufacture a +handsome cloth, the beaver, and a species of large wild cat or tiger +cat. + +The Wickinninish,[92] their neighbours on the north, are about two +hundred miles from Nootka. They are a robust, strong, and warlike +people, but considered by the Nootkians as their inferiors in courage. +This tribe is more numerous than that of Nootka, amounting to between +six and seven hundred warriors. Though not so civilised as the +Kla-iz-zarts, and less skilful in their manufactures, like them they +employ themselves in hunting, as well as in whaling and fishing. Their +faces are broad, but less so than the Kla-iz-zarts, with a darker +complexion and a much less open and pleasing expression of countenance, +while their heads present a very different form, being pressed in at the +sides and lengthened towards the top somewhat in the shape of a sugar +loaf. These people are very frequent visitors at Nootka, a close +friendship subsisting between the two nations, Maquina's _Arcomah_ or +queen, _Y-ya-tintla-no_, being the daughter of the Wickinninish king. + +The Kla-oo-quates[93] adjoining them on the north are much less +numerous, their force not exceeding four hundred fighting men; they are +also behind them in the arts of life. These are a fierce, bold, and +enterprising people, and there were none that visited Nootka, whom +Maquina used to be more on his guard against, or viewed with so much +suspicion. The Eshquates[94] are about the same number; these are +considered as tributary to Maquina. Their coast abounds with rivers, +creeks, and marshes. + +[Illustration: UK-LULAC-AHT INDIAN.] + +To the north the nearest tribe of any importance is the Aitizzarts;[95] +these, however, do not exceed three hundred warriors. In appearance +they greatly resemble the people of Nootka, to whom they are considered +as tributary, their manners, dress, and style of living also being very +similar. They reside at about forty miles' distance up the Sound. A +considerable way farther to the northward are the Cayuquets;[96] these +are a much more numerous tribe than that of Nootka, but thought by the +latter to be deficient in courage and martial spirit, Maquina having +frequently told me that their hearts were a little like those of birds. + +There are also both at the north and south many other intervening +tribes, but in general small in number and insignificant, all of whom, +as well as the above-mentioned, speak the same language. But the +Newchemass, who come from a great way to the northward, and from some +distance inland, as I was told by Maquina, speak quite a different +language,[97] although it is well understood by those of Nootka. These +were the most savage-looking and ugly men that I ever saw, their +complexion being much darker, their stature shorter, and their hair +coarser, than that of the other nations, and their dress and appearance +dirty in an extreme. They wear their beards long like Jews, and have a +very morose and surly countenance. Their usual dress is a _kotsuk_ made +of wolf-skin, with a number of the tails attached to it, of which I have +seen no less than ten on one garment, hanging from the top to the +bottom; though they sometimes wear a similar mantle of bark cloth, of a +much coarser texture than that of Nootka, the original of which appears +to be the same, though from their very great filthiness it was almost +impossible to discover what it had been. + +Their mode of dressing the hair also varies essentially from that of the +other tribes, for they suffer that on the back of the head to hang +loose, and bind the other over their foreheads in the manner of a +fillet, with a strip of their country cloth, ornamented with small white +shells. Their weapons are the _cheetolth_, or war-club, which is made +from whalebone, daggers, bow and arrows, and a kind of spear pointed +with bone or copper.[98] They brought with them no furs for sale, +excepting a few wolf-skins, their merchandise consisting principally of +the black shining mineral called _pelpelth_, and the fine red paint, +which they carefully kept in close mat bags, some small dried salmon, +clams, and roes of fish, with occasionally a little coarse matting +cloth. They were accustomed to remain a much longer time at Nootka than +the other tribes, in order to recover from the fatigue of a long +journey, part of which was overland, and on these occasions taught their +songs to our savages. + +The trade of most of the other tribes with Nootka was principally +train-oil, seal or whale's blubber, fish fresh or dried, herring or +salmon spawn, clams and mussels, and the _yama_,[99] a species of fruit +which is pressed and dried, cloth, sea-otter skins, and slaves. From +the Aitizzarts and the Cayuquets, particularly the former, the best +Ife-whaw and in the greatest quantities was obtained. The Eshquates +furnished us with wild ducks and geese, particularly the latter. The +Wickinninish and Kla-iz-zarts brought to market many slaves, the best +sea-otter skins, great quantities of oil, whale sinew, and cakes of the +_yama_, highly ornamented canoes, some Ife-whaw, red ochre and pelpelth +of an inferior quality to that obtained from the Newchemass, but +particularly the so much valued metamelth, and an excellent root called +by the Kla-iz-zarts _Quawnoose_.[100] This is the size of a small onion, +but rather longer, being of a tapering form like a pear, and of a +brownish colour. It is cooked by steam, is always brought in baskets +ready prepared for eating, and is in truth a very fine vegetable, being +sweet, mealy, and of a most agreeable flavour. It was highly esteemed by +the natives, who used to eat it, as they did everything else, with +train-oil. From the Kla-iz-zarts was also received, though in no great +quantity, a cloth manufactured by them from the fur already spoken of, +which feels like wool and is of a grey colour. + +Many of the articles thus brought, particularly the provisions, were +considered as presents, or tributary offerings, but this must be viewed +as little more than a nominal acknowledgment of superiority, as they +rarely failed to get the full amount of the value of their presents. I +have known eighteen of the great tubs, in which they keep their +provisions, filled with spawn brought in this way. On these occasions a +great feast is always made, to which not only the strangers, but the +whole village, men, women, and children, are generally invited, and I +have seen five of the largest tubs employed at such time, in cooking at +the king's house. At these feasts they generally indulge in eating to an +excess, making up in this respect for their want of inebriating liquors, +which they know no method of preparing in any form, their only drink +being water. + +Whenever they came to visit or trade, it was their general custom to +stop a few miles distant, under the lee of some bluff or rock, and rig +themselves out in their best manner, by painting and dressing their +heads. On their first coming on shore, they were invited to eat by the +king, when they brought to him such articles as he wanted, after which +the rest of the inhabitants were permitted to purchase, the strangers +being careful to keep them in their canoes until sold, under strict +guard to prevent their being stolen, the disposition of these people for +thieving being so great, that it is necessary to keep a watchful eye +upon them. + +This was their usual mode of traffic, but whenever they wished to +purchase any particular object, as, for instance, a certain slave, or +some other thing of which they were very desirous, the canoe that came +for this purpose would lie off a little distance from the shore, and a +kind of ambassador or representative of the king or chief by whom it was +sent, dressed in their best manner, and with his head covered with the +white down, would rise, and, after making known the object of his +mission in a pompous speech, hold up specimens of such articles as he +was instructed to offer in payment, mentioning the number or quantity of +each, when, if the bargain was concluded, the exchange was immediately +made. + +On their visits of friendship or traffic, the chiefs alone used to sleep +on shore; this was generally at the house of the king or the head chief, +the others passing the night on board of their canoes, which was done +not only for the preservation of their property, but because they were +not permitted to remain on shore, lest they might excite some +disturbance or commit depredations. + +All these people generally go armed, the common class wearing only a +dagger suspended from their neck behind, with a string of metamelth, and +sometimes thrust in their girdles. The chiefs, in addition to the +dagger, carry the cheetolth, or war-club, suspended in the same manner +beneath their mantles; this, in the hands of a strong man, is a powerful +weapon, in the management of which some of the older chiefs are very +dexterous. It is made from the bone of a whale, and is very heavy. The +blade is about eighteen inches long and three broad, till it approaches +near the point, where it expands to the breadth of four inches. In the +middle, from whence it slopes off gradually to an edge on each side, it +is from one to two inches in thickness. This blade is usually covered +with figures of the sun and moon, a man's head, etc.; and the hilt, +which is made to represent the head of a man or some animal, is +curiously set with small white shells, and has a band of metamelth +fastened to it, in order to sling it over the shoulder. Some of the +tribes have also a kind of spear headed with copper or the bone of the +sting ray, which is a dangerous weapon; this is, however, not usual, and +only carried by the chiefs. The bow and arrow are still used by a few, +but since the introduction of firearms among them, this weapon has been +mostly laid aside. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[87] A specimen of one of their war-songs will be found at the end of +this work. + +[88] This was not the case. Any free-born native, provided he had the +means, could own a slave. + +[89] This is largely a tale of the past. + +[90] It is questionable if there are now as many people in the whole +tribe. Cook estimated the population of Friendly Cove at two thousand. + +[91] This is wrong. The Kla-iz-zarts (Klahosahts) live _north_ of Nootka +Sound. + +[92] In Meares's time (1788) Wickinninish was regarded as the most +powerful chief, next to Maquina or Maquilla, as he calls him. His +residence was usually at "Port Cox" (Clayoquat Sound), but his territory +extended as far south as Nettinaht, his subjects comprising thirteen +thousand people. Meares does not fall into Jewitt's blunder of +confounding the name of the chief with that of his tribe. But Meares +derived his information first hand, while Jewitt obtained it merely from +hearsay, never having visited any other part except the immediate +vicinity of Nootka Sound. + +[93] Klayoquahts. They have now barely two hundred warriors. + +[94] Hishquahts. If they have twenty men, that is all. Thirty years ago +they had only thirty adult males. + +[95] Ayhuttisahts. Thirty years ago they had thirty-six men fit to +fight. + +[96] Ky-yoh-quahts. In 1860 they numbered two hundred and thirty adult +men. + +[97] Namely, the Kwakiool spoken on the east and north coasts of +Vancouver Island from Comox northwards. + +[98] These implements have fallen out of use. + +[99] The salal (_Gaultheria Shallon_), which forms a carpet to the +ground, especially where the soil is poor. + +[100] The bulb of a pretty blue lily (_Gamassia esculenta_), well known +all over North-West America as the "gamass" or "kamass." The digging and +storing of it in summer form one of the most picturesque of Indian +occupations. The gamass camps are always lively, and the skill and +industry which a girl displays in this important part of her future +duties are carefully noted by the young men in search of wives. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SITUATION OF THE AUTHOR--REMOVAL TO TASHEES--FISHING PARTIES + + +But to return to our unhappy situation. Though my comrade and myself +fared as well, and even better than we could have expected among these +people, considering their customs and mode of living, yet our fears lest +no ship would come to our release, and that we should never more behold +a Christian country, were to us a source of constant pain. Our principal +consolation, in this gloomy state, was to go on Sundays, whenever the +weather would permit, to the borders of a freshwater pond about a mile +from the village, where, after bathing and putting on clean clothes, we +would seat ourselves under the shade of a beautiful pine, while I read +some chapters in the Bible, and the prayers appointed by our Church for +the day, ending our devotions with a fervent prayer to the Almighty, +that He would deign still to watch over and preserve our lives, rescue +us from the hands of the savages, and permit us once more to behold a +Christian land. + +In this manner were the greater part of our Sundays passed at Nootka; +and I felt gratified to Heaven that, amidst our other sufferings, we +were at least allowed the pleasure of offering up our devotions +unmolested, for Maquina, on my explaining to him as well as was in my +power the reason of our thus retiring at this time, far from objecting, +readily consented to it. + +The pond above mentioned was small, not more than a quarter of a mile in +breadth, and of no great length, the water being very clear, though not +of great depth, and bordered by a beautiful forest of pine, fir, +elm,[101] and beech,[101] free from bushes and underwood--a most +delightful retreat, which was rendered still more attractive by a great +number of birds that frequented it, particularly the humming-bird.[102] +Thither we used to go to wash our clothes, and felt secure from any +intrusion from the natives, as they rarely visited it, except for the +purpose of cleansing themselves of their paint. + +In July we at length thought that the hope of delivery we had so long +anxiously indulged was on the point of being gratified. A ship appeared +in the offing; but, alas! our fond hopes vanished almost as soon as +formed; for, instead of standing in for the shore, she passed to the +northward, and soon disappeared. I shall not attempt to describe our +disappointment--my heart sank within me, and I felt as though it was my +destiny never more to behold a Christian face. Four days after, there +occurred a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning, during which the +natives manifested great alarm and terror, the whole tribe hurrying to +Maquina's house, where, instead of keeping within, they seated +themselves on the roof, amid the severest of the tempest, drumming upon +the boards, and looking up to heaven, while the king beat the long +hollow plank, singing, and, as he afterwards told me, begging +_Quahootze_, the name they give to God, not to kill them, in which he +was accompanied by the whole tribe; this singing and drumming was +continued until the storm abated. + +As the summer drew near its close, we began to suffer from the frequent +want of food, which was principally owing to Maquina and the chiefs +being out whaling, in which he would not permit Thompson and myself to +join, lest we should make our escape to some of the neighbouring tribes. +At these times the women seldom or ever cook any provision, and we were +often hungry, but were sometimes fortunate enough to procure secretly a +piece of salmon, some other fish, spawn, or even blubber, which, by +boiling in salt water, with a few onions and turnips, the remains of the +Spanish garden, or young nettles or other herbs, furnished us a +delicious repast in private. + +In the meantime, we frequently received accounts from the tribes who +came to Nootka, both from the north and south, of there being vessels on +the coast, and were advised by their chiefs to make our escape, who also +promised us their aid, and to put us on board. These stories, however, +as I afterwards learned, were almost all of them without any foundation, +and merely invented by these people with a view to get us into their +power, in order to make slaves of us themselves, or to sell us to +others. + +But I was still more strongly solicited to leave Nootka by a woman. This +was a Wickinninish princess, a younger sister of Maquina's wife, who was +there on a visit. I had the good fortune, if it may be so called, to +become quite a favourite with her. She appeared much interested for me, +asked me many questions respecting my country, if I had a mother and +sister at home, and if they would not grieve for my absence. Her +complexion was fairer than that of the women in general, and her +features more regular, and she would have been quite handsome had it not +been for a defect in one of her eyes, the sight of which had been +injured by some accident; the reason, as Maquina told me, why she had +not been married, a defect of this kind being by these savages +considered as almost an insuperable objection. She urged me repeatedly +to return with her, telling me that the Wickinninish were much better +than the Nootkians; that her father would treat me more kindly than +Maquina, give me better food and clothes, and finally put me on board +one of my own country vessels. I felt, however, little disposed to +accompany her, considering my situation with Maquina full as eligible as +it would be with Wickinninish, if not better, notwithstanding all she +said to the contrary. + +On the 3rd of September the whole tribe quitted Nootka, according to +their constant practice, in order to pass the autumn and winter at +Tashees[103] and Cooptee, the latter lying about thirty miles up the +Sound, in a deep bay, the navigation of which is very dangerous, from +the great number of reefs and rocks with which it abounds. + +On these occasions everything is taken with them, even the planks of +their houses, in order to cover their new dwellings. To an European such +a removal exhibits a scene quite novel and strange; canoes piled up with +boards and boxes, and filled with men, women, and children, of all ranks +and sizes, making the air resound with their cries and songs. + +At these times, as well as when they have occasion to go some distance +from their houses, the infants are usually suspended across the mother's +shoulders, in a kind of cradle or hammock, formed of bark, of about six +inches in depth, and of the length of the child, by means of a leather +band inserted through loops on its edges; this they also keep them in +when at home, in order to preserve them in a straight position, and +prevent any distortion of the limbs, most probably a principal cause of +these people being so seldom deformed or crooked. + +The longboat of our ship having been repaired and furnished with a sail +by Thompson, Maquina gave us the direction of it, we being better +acquainted with managing it than his people, and, after loading her as +deep as she could swim, we proceeded in company with them to the north, +quitting Nootka with heavy hearts, as we could entertain no hopes of +release until our return, no ships ever coming to that part of the +coast. Passing Cooptee, which is situated on the southern bank, just +within the mouth of a small river flowing from the east in a narrow +valley at the foot of a mountain, we proceeded about fifteen miles up +this stream to Tashees, between a range of lofty hills on each side, +which extend a great distance inland, and are covered with the finest +forest trees of the country. Immediately on our arrival, we all went to +work very diligently in covering the houses with the planks we had +brought, the frames being ready erected, these people never pretending +to remove the timber. In a very short time the work was completed, and +we were established in our new residence. + +Tashees is pleasantly situated, and in a most secure position from the +winter storms, in a small vale or hollow on the south shore, at the foot +of a mountain. The spot on which it stands is level, and the soil very +fine, the country in its vicinity abounding with the most romantic +views, charmingly diversified, and fine streams of water falling in +beautiful cascades from the mountains. The river at this place is about +twenty rods in width, and, in its deepest part, from nine to twelve +feet. This village is the extreme point of navigation, as, immediately +beyond, the river becomes much more shallow, and is broken into falls +and rapids. The houses here are placed in a line like those at Nootka, +but closer together, the situation being more confined; they are also +smaller, in consequence of which we were much crowded, and incommoded +for room. + +The principal object in coming to this place is the facility it affords +these people of providing their winter stock of provisions, which +consists principally of salmon, and the spawn of that fish; to which may +be added herrings and sprats, and herring spawn. The latter, however, is +always procured by them at Nootka, previous to their quitting it. At the +seasons of spawning, which are early in spring and the last of August, +they collect a great quantity of pine branches, which they place in +different parts of the Cove at the depth of about ten feet, and secure +them by means of heavy stones. On these the herring deposit their spawn +in immense quantities; the bushes are then taken up, the spawn stripped +from the branches, and, after being washed and freed from the pine +leaves by the women, is dried and put up in baskets for use. It is +considered as their greatest delicacy, and eaten both cooked and raw; in +the former case, being boiled and eaten with train-oil, and in the +latter, mixed up with cold water alone. + +The salmon are taken at Tashees, principally in pots or wears. Their +method of taking them in wears is thus:--A pot of twenty feet in length, +and from four to five feet diameter at the mouth, is formed of a great +number of pine splinters, which are strongly secured, an inch and a half +from each other, by means of hoops made of flexible twigs, and placed +about eight inches apart. At the end it tapers almost to a point, near +which is a small wicker door for the purpose of taking out the fish. +This pot or wear is placed at the foot of a fall or rapid, where the +water is not very deep, and the fish, driven from above with long poles, +are intercepted and caught in the wear, from whence they are taken into +the canoes. In this manner I have seen more than seven hundred salmon +caught in the space of fifteen minutes.[104] I have also sometimes known +a few of the striped bass taken in this manner, but rarely. + +[Illustration: SALMON WEAR NEAR THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF QUAMICHAN, V. I.] + +At such times there is great feasting and merriment among them. The +women and female slaves being busily employed in cooking, or in curing +the fish for their winter stock, which is done by cutting off the heads +and tails, splitting them, taking out the back bone, and hanging them up +in their houses to dry. They also dry the halibut and cod, but these, +instead of curing whole, they cut up into small pieces for that purpose, +and expose to the sun. + +The spawn of the salmon, which is a principal article of their +provision, they take out, and, without any other preparation, throw it +into their tubs, where they leave it to stand and ferment, for, though +they frequently eat it fresh, they esteem it much more when it has +acquired a strong taste, and one of the greatest favours they can confer +on any person, is to invite him to eat _Quakamiss_, the name they give +this food, though scarcely anything can be more repugnant to an European +palate, than it is in this state; and whenever they took it out of these +large receptacles, which they are always careful to fill, such was the +stench which it exhaled, on being moved, that it was almost impossible +for me to abide it, even after habit had in a great degree dulled the +delicacy of my senses. When boiled it became less offensive, though it +still retained much of the putrid smell, and something of the taste. + +Such is the immense quantity of these fish, and they are taken with such +facility, that I have known upwards of twenty-five hundred brought into +Maquina's house at once; and at one of their great feasts, have seen +one hundred or more cooked in one of their largest tubs. + +I used frequently to go out with Maquina upon these fishing parties, and +was always sure to receive a handsome present of salmon, which I had the +privilege of calling mine; I also went with him several times in a +canoe, to strike the salmon, which I have attempted to do myself, but +could never succeed, it requiring a degree of adroitness that I did not +possess. I was also permitted to go out with a gun, and was several +times very successful in shooting wild ducks and teal, which are very +numerous here, though rather shy. These they cooked in their usual +manner, by boiling, without any farther dressing than skinning them. + +In many respects, however, our situation was less pleasant here than at +Nootka. We were more incommoded for room, the houses not being so +spacious, nor so well arranged, and as it was colder, we were compelled +to be much more within doors. We, however, did not neglect on Sundays, +when the weather would admit, to retire into the woods, and, by the side +of some stream, after bathing, return our thanks to God for preserving +us, and offer up to Him our customary devotions. + +I was, however, very apprehensive, soon after our arrival at this place, +that I should be deprived of the satisfaction of keeping my journal, as +Maquina one day, observing me writing, inquired of me what I was doing, +and when I endeavoured to explain it, by telling him that I was keeping +an account of the weather, he said it was not so, and that I was +speaking bad about him, and telling how he had taken our ship and killed +the crew, so as to inform my countrymen, and that if he ever saw me +writing in it again, he would throw it into the fire. I was much +rejoiced that he did no more than threaten, and became very cautious +afterwards not to let him see me write. + +Not long after, I finished some daggers for him, which I polished +highly; these pleased him much, and he gave me directions to make a +cheetolth, in which I succeeded so far to his satisfaction, that he gave +me a present of cloth sufficient to make me a complete suit of raiment, +besides other things. + +Thompson also, who had become rather more of a favourite than formerly, +since he had made a fine sail for his canoe, and some garments for him +out of European cloth, about this time completed another, which was +thought by the savages a most superb dress. This was a _kotsuk_ or +mantle, a fathom square, made entirely of European vest patterns of the +gayest colours. These were sewed together in a manner to make the best +show, and bound with a deep trimming of the finest otter-skin, with +which the arm-holes were also bordered; while the bottom was further +embellished with five or six rows of gilt buttons, placed as near as +possible to each other. + +Nothing could exceed the pride of Maquina when he first put on this +royal robe, decorated, like the coat of Joseph, with all the colours of +the rainbow, and glittering with the buttons, which as he strutted about +made a tinkling, while he repeatedly exclaimed, in a transport of +exultation, "_Klew shish Kotsuk--wick kum_ _atack Nootka_."[105]--"A +fine garment--Nootka can't make them." + +Maquina, who knew that the chiefs of the tribes who came to visit us had +endeavoured to persuade me to escape, frequently cautioned me not to +listen to them, saying that, should I make the attempt, and he were to +take me, he should certainly put me to death. While here, he gave me a +book, in which I found the names of seven persons belonging to the ship +_Manchester_, of Philadelphia, Captain Brian--viz. Daniel Smith, Lewis +Gillon, James Tom, Clark, Johnson, Ben, and Jack. These men, as Maquina +informed me, ran away from the ship and came to him, but that six of +them soon after went off in the night, with an intention to go to the +Wickinninish, but were stopped by the Eshquates, and sent back to him, +and that he ordered them to be put to death; and a most cruel death it +was, as I was told by one of the natives, four men holding one of them +on the ground, and forcing open his mouth, while they choked him by +ramming stones down his throat. + +As to Jack, the boy, who made no attempt to go off, Maquina afterwards +sold him to the Wickinninish. I was informed by the Princess Yuqua that +he was quite a small boy, who cried a great deal, being put to hard +labour beyond his strength by the natives, in cutting wood and bringing +water, and that when he heard of the murder of our crew, it had such an +effect on him, that he fell sick, and died shortly after. On learning +the melancholy fate of this unfortunate lad, it again awakened in my +bosom those feelings that I had experienced at the shocking death of my +poor comrades. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[101] These trees are not found in Vancouver Island. Possibly, though +they are not very like, Jewitt mistook them for the Oregon alder and the +American ash, both trees of that locality. + +[102] This is the migratory red-backed species (_Selasphorus rufus_, p. +19). + +[103] "Tashis Canal" of seamen--the Tashis River flows in at its head, +Coptee is at the mouth, Tashis farther up the stream. + +[104] Salmon used to be bought at Alberni at the rate of a cent apiece. +There have been times when the garden at Fort Rupert was manured with +fresh salmon. + +[105] This is a fair specimen of the kind of _lingua franca_ which even +then had begun to spring up in the intercourse of the early traders with +the Indians, and which by now takes the shape of the Chinook Jargon. +For, apart from the imperfectly pronounced Indian words, there is no +such term as Nootka in any language. It was a misconception of the first +visitors there. They probably mistook _Nootchee_, a mountain, for the +name of the country generally (p. 29). + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CONVERSATION WITH MAQUINA--FRUITS--RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES--VISIT TO +UPQUESTA + + +The king, finding that I was desirous of learning their language, was +much delighted, and took great pleasure in conversing with me. On one of +these occasions he explained to me his reasons for cutting off our ship, +saying that he bore no ill will to my countrymen, but that he had been +several times treated very ill by them. The first injury of which he had +cause to complain, was done him by a Captain Tawnington, who commanded a +schooner which passed a winter at Friendly Cove, where he was well +treated by the inhabitants. This man, taking advantage of Maquina's +absence, who had gone to the Wickinninish to procure a wife, armed +himself and crew, and entered the house, where there were none but +women, whom he threw into the greatest consternation, and, searching the +chests, took away all the skins, of which Maquina had no less than forty +of the best; and that about the same time, four of their chiefs were +barbarously killed by a Captain Martinez, a Spaniard.[106] + +That soon after, Captain Hanna, of the _Sea Otter_[107] in consequence +of one of the natives having stolen a chisel from the carpenter, fired +upon their canoes which were alongside, and killed upwards of twenty of +the natives, of whom several were _Tyees_ or chiefs; and that he +himself, being on board the vessel, in order to escape was obliged to +leap from the quarter-deck, and swim for a long way under water. + +These injuries had excited in the breast of Maquina an ardent desire of +revenge, the strongest passion of the savage heart, and though many +years had elapsed since their commission, still they were not forgotten, +and the want of a favourable opportunity alone prevented him from sooner +avenging them. Unfortunately for us, the long-wished-for opportunity at +length presented itself in our ship, which Maquina finding not guarded +with the usual vigilance of the North-West traders, and feeling his +desire of revenge rekindled by the insult offered him by Captain Salter, +formed a plan for attacking, and on his return called a council of his +chiefs, and communicated it to them, acquainting them with the manner in +which he had been treated. No less desirous of avenging this affront +offered their king than their former injuries, they readily agreed to +his proposal, which was to go on board without arms as usual, but under +different pretexts, in great numbers, and wait for his signal for the +moment of attacking their unsuspecting victims. The execution of this +scheme, as the reader knows, was unhappily too successful. + +And here I cannot but indulge a reflection that has frequently occurred +to me on the manner in which our people behave towards the natives. For, +though they are a thievish race, yet I have no doubt that many of the +melancholy disasters have principally arisen from the imprudent conduct +of some of the captains and crews of the ships employed in this trade, +in exasperating them by insulting, plundering, and even killing them on +slight grounds. This, as nothing is more sacred with a savage than the +principle of revenge, and no people are so impatient under insult, +induces them to wreak their vengeance upon the first vessel or boat's +crew that offers, making the innocent too frequently suffer for the +wrongs of the guilty, as few of them know how to discriminate between +persons of the same general appearance, more especially when speaking +the same language. And to this cause do I believe must principally be +ascribed the sanguinary disposition with which these people are +reproached, as Maquina repeatedly told me that it was not his wish to +hurt a white man, and that he never should have done it, though ever so +much in his power, had they not injured him. + +[Illustration: CALLICUM AND MAQUILLA, CHIEFS OF NOOTKA SOUND.] + +And were the commanders of our ships to treat the savages with rather +more civility than they sometimes do, I am inclined to think they would +find their account in it; not that I should recommend to them a +confidence in the good faith and friendly professions of these people, +so as in any degree to remit their vigilance, but, on the contrary, to +be strictly on their guard, and suffer but a very few of them to come on +board the ship, and admit not many of their canoes alongside at a time; +a precaution that would have been the means of preventing some of the +unfortunate events that have occurred, and if attended to, may in future +preserve many a valuable life. Such a regulation, too, from what I know +of their disposition and wants, would produce no serious difficulty in +trading with the savages, and they would soon become perfectly +reconciled to it. + +Among the provisions which the Indians procure at Tashees, I must not +omit mentioning a fruit that is very important, as forming a great +article of their food. This is what is called by them the _Yama_,[108] a +species of berry that grows in bunches like currants, upon a bush from +two to three feet high, with a large, round, and smooth leaf. This berry +is black, and about the size of a pistol shot, but of rather an oblong +shape, and open at the top like the blue whortleberry. The taste is +sweet, but a little acrid, and when first gathered, if eaten in any +great quantity, especially without oil, is apt to produce colics. To +procure it, large companies of women go out on the mountains, +accompanied by armed men to protect them against wild beasts, where they +frequently remain for several days, kindling a fire at night, and +sheltering themselves under sheds constructed of boughs. At these +parties they collect great quantities. I have known Maquina's queen and +her women return loaded, bringing with them upwards of twelve bushels. +In order to preserve it, it is pressed in the bunches between two +planks, and dried and put away in baskets for use. It is always eaten +with oil. + +Of berries of various kinds, such as strawberries, raspberries, +blackberries, etc., there are great quantities in the country, of which +the natives are very fond, gathering them in their seasons, and eating +them with oil, but the yama is the only one that they preserve. + +Fish is, however, their great article of food, as almost all the others, +excepting the yama, may be considered as accidental. They nevertheless +are far from disrelishing meat, for instance, venison and bear's flesh. +With regard to the latter, they have a most singular custom, which is, +that any one who eats of it is obliged to abstain from eating any kind +of fresh fish whatever for the term of two months, as they have a +superstitious belief that, should any of their people, after tasting +bear's flesh, eat of fresh salmon, cod, etc., the fish, though at ever +so great a distance off, would come to the knowledge of it, and be so +much offended thereat as not to allow themselves to be taken by any of +the inhabitants. This I had an opportunity of observing while at +Tashees, a bear having been killed early in December, of which not more +than ten of the natives would eat, being prevented by the prohibition +annexed to it, which also was the reason of my comrade and myself not +tasting it, on being told by Maquina the consequences. + +As there is something quite curious in their management of this animal, +when they have killed one, I shall give a description of it. After well +cleansing the bear from the dirt and blood with which it is generally +covered when killed, it is brought in and seated opposite the king in an +upright posture, with a chief's bonnet, wrought in figures, on its head, +and its fur powdered over with the white down. A tray of provision is +then set before it, and it is invited by words and gestures to eat. This +mock ceremony over, the reason of which I could never learn, the animal +is taken and skinned, and the flesh and entrails boiled up into a soup, +no part but the paunch being rejected.[109] + +This dressing the bear, as they call it, is an occasion of great +rejoicing throughout the village, all the inhabitants being invited to a +great feast at the king's house, though but few of them, in consequence +of the penalty, will venture to eat of the flesh, but generally content +themselves with their favourite dish of herring spawn and water. The +feast on this occasion was closed by a dance from Sat-sat-sok-sis, in +the manner I have already described, in the course of which he +repeatedly shifted his mask for another of a different form. + +A few days after, a second bear was taken, like the former, by means of +a trap. This I had the curiosity to go and see at the place where it was +caught, which was in the following manner:--On the edge of a small +stream of water in the mountains which the salmon ascend, and near the +spot where the bear is accustomed to watch for them, which is known by +its track, a trap or box about the height of a man's head is built of +posts and planks with a flat top, on which are laid a number of large +stones or rocks. The top and sides are then carefully covered with turf, +so as to resemble a little mound, and wholly to exclude the light, a +narrow entrance of the height of the building only being left, just +sufficient to admit the head and shoulders of the beast. On the inside, +to a large plank that covers the top is suspended by a strong cord a +salmon, the plank being left loose, so that a forcible pull will bring +it down. On coming to its usual haunt, the bear enters the trap, and, in +endeavouring to pull away the fish, brings down the whole covering with +its load of stones upon its head, and is almost always crushed to death +on the spot, or so wounded as to be unable to escape.[110] + +They are always careful to examine these traps every day, in order, if a +bear be caught, to bring it immediately, for it is not a little singular +that these people will eat no kind of meat that is in the least tainted, +or not perfectly fresh, while, on the contrary, it is hardly possible +for fish to be in too putrid a state for them, and I have frequently +known them, when a whale has been driven ashore, bring pieces of it home +with them in a state of offensiveness insupportable to anything but a +crow, and devour it with high relish, considering it as preferable to +that which is fresh. + +On the morning of the 13th of December, commenced what to us appeared a +most singular farce. Apparently without any previous notice, Maquina +discharged a pistol close to his son's ear, who immediately fell down as +if killed, upon which all the women of the house set up a most +lamentable cry, tearing handfuls of hair from their heads, and +exclaiming that the prince was dead. At the same time a great number of +the inhabitants rushed into the house, armed with their daggers, +muskets, etc., inquiring the cause of their outcry. These were +immediately followed by two others dressed in wolf-skins, with masks +over their faces representing the head of that animal; the latter came +in on their hands and feet in the manner of a beast, and, taking up the +prince, carried him off upon their backs, retiring in the same manner +they entered. We saw nothing more of the ceremony, as Maquina came to +us, and, giving us a quantity of dried provision, ordered us to quit the +house, and not return to the village before the expiration of seven +days, for that if we appeared within that period, he should kill us. + +At any other season of the year such an order would by us have been +considered as an indulgence, in enabling us to pass our time in whatever +way we wished; and even now, furnished as we were with sufficient +provision for that term, it was not very unpleasant to us, more +particularly Thompson, who was always desirous to keep as much as +possible out of the society and sight of the natives, whom he detested. +Taking with us our provisions, a bundle of clothes, and our axes, we +obeyed the directions of Maquina, and withdrew into the woods, where we +built ourselves a cabin to shelter us, with the branches of trees, and, +keeping up a good fire, secured ourselves pretty well from the cold. +Here we passed the prescribed period of our exile, with more content +than much of the time while with them, employing the day in reading and +praying for our release, or in rambling around and exploring the +country, the soil of which we found to be very good, and the face of it, +beautifully diversified with hills and valleys, refreshed with the +finest streams of water, and at night enjoyed comfortable repose upon a +bed of soft leaves, with our garments spread over us to protect us from +the cold. + +At the end of seven days we returned, and found several of the people of +Ai-tiz-zart with their king or chief at Tashees, who had been invited by +Maquina to attend the close of this performance, which I now learned was +a celebration, held by them annually, in honour of their god, whom they +call _Quahootze_,[111] to return him their thanks for his past, and +implore his future favours. It terminated on the 21st, the day after our +return, with a most extraordinary exhibition. Three men, each of whom +had two bayonets run through his sides, between the ribs, apparently +regardless of the pain, traversed the room, backwards and forwards, +singing war-songs, and exulting in this display of firmness. + +On the arrival of the 25th, we could not but call to mind that this, +being Christmas, was in our country a day of the greatest festivity, +when our fellow-countrymen, assembled in their churches, were +celebrating the goodness of God and the praises of the Saviour. What a +reverse did our situation offer!--captives in a savage land, and slaves +to a set of ignorant beings, unacquainted with religion or humanity, +hardly were we permitted to offer up our devotions by ourselves in the +woods, while we felt even grateful for this privilege. Thither, with the +king's permission, we withdrew, and, after reading the service appointed +for the day, sung the hymn of the Nativity, fervently praying that +Heaven in its goodness would permit us to celebrate the next festival of +this kind in some Christian land. + +On our return, in order to conform as much as was in our power to the +custom of our country, we were desirous of having a better supper than +usual. With this view, we bought from one of the natives some dried +clams and oil, and a root called _Kletsup_,[112] which we cooked by +steaming, and found it very palatable. This root consists of many +fibres, of about six inches long, and of the size of a crow quill. It is +sweet, of an agreeable taste, not unlike the _Quawnoose_, and it is +eaten with oil. The plant that produces it I have never seen. + +On the 31st all the tribe quitted Tashees for Cooptee, whither they go +to pass the remainder of the winter, and complete their fishing, taking +off everything with them in the same manner as at Nootka. We arrived in +a few hours at Cooptee, which is about fifteen miles, and immediately +set about covering the houses, which was soon completed. + +This place, which is their great herring and sprat fishery, stands just +within the mouth of the river, on the same side with Tashees, in a very +narrow valley at the foot of a high mountain. Though nearly as secure +as Tashees from the winter storms, it is by no means so pleasantly +situated, though to us it was a much more agreeable residence, as it +brought us nearer Nootka, where we were impatient to return, in hopes of +finding some vessel there, or hearing of the arrival of one near. + +The first snow that fell this season was the day after our arrival, on +New Year's Day; a day that, like Christmas, brought with it painful +recollections, but at the same time led us to indulge the hope of a more +fortunate year than the last. + +Early on the morning of the 7th of January, Maquina took me with him in +his canoe on a visit to Upquesta, chief of the Ai-tiz-zarts, who had +invited him to attend an exhibition at his village, similar to the one +with which he had been entertained at Tashees. This place is between +twenty and thirty miles distant up the Sound, and stands on the banks of +a small river about the size of that of Cooptee, just within its +entrance, in a valley of much greater extent than that of Tashees; it +consists of fourteen or fifteen houses, built and disposed in the manner +of those at Nootka. The tribe, which is considered as tributary to +Maquina, amounts to about three hundred warriors, and the inhabitants, +both men and women, are among the best-looking of any people on the +coast. + +On our arrival we were received at the shore by the inhabitants, a few +of whom were armed with muskets, which they fired, with loud shouts and +exclamations of _Wocash, wocash!_ + +We were welcomed by the chief's messenger, or master of ceremonies, +dressed in his best garments, with his hair powdered with white down, +and holding in his hand the cheetolth, the badge of his office. This man +preceded us to the chief's house, where he introduced and pointed out to +us our respective seats. On entering, the visitors took off their hats, +which they always wear on similar occasions, and Maquina his outer +robes, of which he has several on whenever he pays a visit, and seated +himself near the chief. + +As I was dressed in European clothes, I became quite an object of +curiosity to these people, very few of whom had ever seen a white man. +They crowded around me in numbers, taking hold of my clothes, examining +my face, hands, and feet, and even opening my mouth to see if I had a +tongue, for, notwithstanding I had by this time become well acquainted +with their language, I preserved the strictest silence, Maquina on our +first landing having enjoined me not to speak until he should direct. + +Having undergone this examination for some time, Maquina at length made +a sign to me to speak to them. On hearing me address them in their own +language, they were greatly astonished and delighted, and told Maquina +that they now perceived that I was a man like themselves, except that I +was white, and looked like a seal, alluding to my blue jacket and +trousers, which they wanted to persuade me to take off, as they did not +like their appearance. Maquina in the meantime gave an account to the +chief of the scheme he had formed for surprising our ship, and the +manner in which he and his people had carried it into execution, with +such particular and horrid details of that transaction as chilled the +blood in my veins. Trays of boiled herring spawn and train-oil were +soon after brought in and placed before us, neither the chief or any of +his people eating at the same time, it being contrary to the ideas of +hospitality entertained by these nations, to eat any part of the food +that is provided for strangers, always waiting until their visitors have +finished, before they have their own brought in. + +The following day closed their festival with an exhibition of a similar +kind to that which had been given at Tashees, but still more cruel; the +different tribes appearing on these occasions to endeavour to surpass +each other in their proofs of fortitude and endurance of pain. In the +morning, twenty men entered the chief's house, with each an arrow run +through the flesh of his sides and either arm, with a cord fastened to +the end, which, as the performers advanced, singing and boasting, was +forcibly drawn back by a person having hold of it. After this +performance was closed, we returned to Cooptee, which we reached at +midnight, our men keeping time with their songs to the stroke of their +paddles. + +The natives now began to take the herring and sprat in immense +quantities, with some salmon, and there was nothing but feasting from +morning till night. + +The following is the method they employ to take the herring. A stick of +about seven feet long, two inches broad, and half an inch thick, is +formed from some hard wood, one side of which is set with sharp teeth, +made from whalebone, at about half an inch apart. Provided with this +instrument, the fisherman seats himself in the prow of a canoe, which is +paddled by another, and whenever he comes to a shoal of herrings, which +cover the water in great quantities, he strikes it with both hands upon +them, and at the same moment, turning it up, brings it over the side of +the canoe, into which he lets those that are taken drop. It is +astonishing to see how many are caught by those who are dexterous at +this kind of fishing, as they seldom fail, when the shoals are numerous, +of taking as many as ten or twelve at a stroke, and in a very short time +will fill a canoe with them. Sprats are likewise caught in a similar +manner. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[106] This was probably Don Estevan Martinez, who, on the 6th of May +1789, arrived in the corvette _Princesa_, to take possession of the +country for his sovereign. He it was who landed materials and artillery, +and began to erect a fort on a small island at the entrance to Friendly +Cove. He seems to have been a most high-handed kind of Don, for he +seized the British vessels _Iphigenia_, _North-West America_, +_Argonaut_, and _Princess Royal_, then trading under the Portuguese +flag, and acted in so arbitrary a manner to the officers and crew, that +it was easy to believe he was not over scrupulous in his dealings with +the Indians. It was during his stay in Nootka Sound that Callicum, a +relation of Maquina's, and next to him in rank, was barbarously murdered +by an officer on board one of the Spanish ships, and his father refused +permission to dive for the body until he had handed over a number of +skins to the white savage. + +[107] Captain James Hanna was the second European to enter Nootka Sound +after Captain Cook had left it. The _Sea Otter_, a vessel under 70 tons, +was fitted out in China, and reached Nootka in August 1785; when +Maquina, presuming upon the inferior size of the craft and the small +number of the crew, made a desperate attack upon her. This was repulsed +by the courage of the ship's company, after which business proceeded on +such friendly terms that he procured five hundred and eighty-five +sea-otter skins in five weeks, which were sold in Canton for 20,600 +dollars. It was Hanna who discovered Fitzhugh Sound, Lance Island, Sea +Otter Harbour, and other now well-known spots on the North-West coast of +America. The incident related by Maquina is not to be found in the +records of the expedition which have descended to us. He made another +voyage in 1786, solely for commercial purposes. + +[108] _Gaultheria Shallon_ (see p. 137). + +[109] These observances are well worth noting in connection with the +others which attach to the bear among nearly all savage races. + +[110] These traps are still in common use. + +[111] _Quawteaht_, the supreme being of all the tribes speaking the +"Aht" language. + +[112] This seems the bracken fern root, which is eaten. But the name +usually applied to it is _Sheetla_. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +RETURN TO NOOTKA (FRIENDLY COVE)--DEATH OF MAQUINA'S NEPHEW--INSANITY OF +TOOTOOSCH--AN INDIAN MOUNTEBANK + + +About the beginning of February, Maquina gave a great feast, at which +were present not only all the inhabitants, but one hundred persons from +Ai-tiz-zart, and a number from Wickinninish who had been invited to +attend it. It is customary with them to give an annual entertainment of +this kind, and it is astonishing to see what a quantity of provision is +expended, or rather wasted, on such an occasion, when they always eat to +the greatest excess. It was at this feast that I saw upwards of an +hundred salmon cooked in one tub. The whole residence at Cooptee +presents an almost uninterrupted succession of feasting and +gormandising, and it would seem as if the principal object of these +people was to consume their whole stock of provision before leaving it, +trusting entirely to their success in fishing and whaling, for a supply +at Nootka. + +On the 25th of February we quitted Cooptee, and returned to Nootka. With +much joy did Thompson and myself again find ourselves in a place where, +notwithstanding the melancholy recollections which it excited, we hoped +before long to see some vessel arrive to our relief, and for this we +became the more solicitous, as of late we had become much more +apprehensive of our safety, in consequence of information brought +Maquina a few days before we left Cooptee, by some of the Cayuquets, +that there were twenty ships at the northward, preparing to come against +him, with an intent of destroying him and his whole tribe, for cutting +off the _Boston_. + +This story, which was wholly without foundation, and discovered +afterwards to have been invented by these people, for the purpose of +disquieting him, threw him into great alarm, and, notwithstanding all I +could say to convince him that it was an unfounded report, so great was +his jealousy of us, especially after it had been confirmed to him by +some others of the same nation, that he treated us with much harshness, +and kept a very suspicious eye upon us. + +Nothing, indeed, could be more unpleasant than our present situation, +when I reflected that our lives were altogether dependent on the will of +a savage, on whose caprice and suspicions no rational calculation could +be made. + + * * * * * + +Not long after our return, a son of Maquina's sister, a boy of eleven +years old, who had been for some time declining, died. Immediately on +his death, which was about midnight, all the men and women in the house +set up loud cries and shrieks, which, awakening Thompson and myself, so +disturbed us that we left the house. This lamentation was kept up during +the remainder of the night. In the morning, a great fire was kindled, +in which Maquina burned, in honour of the deceased, ten fathoms of +cloth, and buried with him ten fathoms more, eight of Ife-whaw, four +prime sea-otter skins, and two small trunks, containing our unfortunate +captain's clothes and watch. + +This boy was considered as a Tyee, or chief, being the only son of +Tootoosch, one of their principal chiefs, who had married Maquina's +sister, whence arose this ceremony on his interment: it being an +established custom with these people, that whenever a chief dies, his +most valuable property is burned or buried with him; it is, however, +wholly confined to the chiefs, and appears to be a mark of honour +appropriate to them.[113] In this instance, Maquina furnished the +articles, in order that his nephew might have the proper honours +rendered him. + +Tootoosch, his father, was esteemed the first warrior of the tribe, and +was one who had been particularly active in the destruction of our ship, +having killed two of our poor comrades, who were ashore, whose names +were Hall and Wood. About the time of our removal to Tashees, while in +the enjoyment of the highest health, he was suddenly seized with a fit +of delirium, in which he fancied that he saw the ghosts of those two men +constantly standing by him, and threatening him, so that he would take +no food, except what was forced into his mouth. + +A short time before this he had lost a daughter of about fifteen years +of age, which afflicted him greatly, and whether his insanity, a +disorder very uncommon amongst these savages, no instance of the kind +having occurred within the memory of the oldest man amongst them, +proceeded from this cause, or that it was the special interposition of +an all-merciful God in our favour, who by this means thought proper to +induce these barbarians still further to respect our lives, or that, for +hidden purposes, the Supreme Disposer of events sometimes permits the +spirits of the dead to revisit the world, and haunt the murderer, I know +not, but his mind, from this period until his death, which took place +but a few weeks after that of his son, was incessantly occupied with the +images of the men whom he had killed. + +This circumstance made much impression upon the tribe, particularly the +chiefs, whose uniform opposition to putting us to death, at the various +councils that were held on our account, I could not but in part +attribute to this cause; and Maquina used frequently, in speaking of +Tootoosch's sickness, to express much satisfaction that his hands had +not been stained with the blood of any of our men. + +When Maquina was first informed by his sister of the strange conduct of +her husband, he immediately went to his house, taking us with him; +suspecting that his disease had been caused by us, and that the ghosts +of our countrymen had been called thither by us, to torment him. We +found him raving about Hall and Wood, saying that they were _peshak_, +that is, bad. + +Maquina then placed some provision before him, to see if he would eat. +On perceiving it, he put forth his hand to take some, but instantly +withdrew it with signs of horror, saying that Hall and Wood were there, +and would not let him eat. Maquina then, pointing to us, asked if it was +not John and Thompson who troubled him. + +"_Wik_,"[114] he replied,--that is, no; "_John klushish--Thompson +klushish_"--John and Thompson are both good; then, turning to me, and +patting me on the shoulder, he made signs to me to eat. I tried to +persuade him that Hall and Wood were not there, and that none were near +him but ourselves; he said, "I know very well you do not see them, but I +do." + +At first Maquina endeavoured to convince him that he saw nothing, and to +laugh him out of his belief, but, finding that all was to no purpose, he +at length became serious, and asked me if I had ever seen anyone +affected in this manner, and what was the matter with him. I gave him to +understand, pointing to his head, that his brain was injured, and that +he did not see things as formerly. + +Being convinced by Tootoosch's conduct that we had no agency in his +indisposition, on our return home Maquina asked me what was done in my +country in similar cases. + +I told him that such persons were closely confined, and sometimes tied +up and whipped, in order to make them better.[115] + +After pondering for some time, he said that he should be glad to do +anything to relieve him, and that he should be whipped, and immediately +gave orders to some of his men to go to Tootoosch's house, bind him, and +bring him to his, in order to undergo the operation. + +Thompson was the person selected to administer this remedy, which he +undertook very readily, and for that purpose provided himself with a +good number of spruce branches, with which he whipped him most severely, +laying it on with the best will imaginable, while Tootoosch displayed +the greatest rage, kicking, spitting, and attempting to bite all who +came near him. This was too much for Maquina, who at length, unable to +endure it longer, ordered Thompson to desist and Tootoosch to be carried +back, saying that if there was no other way of curing him but by +whipping, he must remain mad. + +The application of the whip produced no beneficial effect on Tootoosch, +for he afterwards became still more deranged; in his fits of fury +sometimes seizing a club and beating his slaves in a most dreadful +manner, and striking and spitting at all who came near him, till at +length his wife, no longer daring to remain in the house with him, came +with her son to Maquina's. + + * * * * * + +The whaling season now commenced, and Maquina was out almost every day +in his canoe in pursuit of them, but for a considerable time with no +success, one day breaking the staff of his harpoon, another after having +been a long time fast to a whale, the weapon drawing, owing to the +breaking of the shell which formed its point, with several such like +accidents, arising from the imperfection of the instrument. + +At these times he always returned very morose and out of temper, +upbraiding his men with having violated their obligation to continence +preparatory to whaling. In this state of ill-humour he would give us +very little to eat, which, added to the women not cooking when the men +are away, reduced us to a very low fare. + +In consequence of the repeated occurrence of similar accidents, I +proposed to Maquina to make him a harpoon or foreganger of steel, which +would be less liable to fail him. The idea pleased him, and in a short +time I completed one for him, with which he was much delighted, and the +very next day went out to make a trial of it. + +He succeeded with it in taking a whale. Great was the joy throughout the +village as soon as it was known that the king had secured the whale, by +notice from a person stationed at the headland in the offing. All the +canoes were immediately launched, and, furnished with harpoons and +sealskin floats, hastened to assist in buoying it up and towing it in. + +The bringing in of this fish exhibited a scene of universal festivity. +As soon as the canoes appeared at the mouth of the Cove, those on board +of them singing a triumph to a slow air, to which they kept time with +their paddles, all who were on shore, men, women, and children, mounted +the roofs of their houses to congratulate the king on his success, +drumming most furiously on the planks, and exclaiming _Wocash--wocash, +Tyee!_ + +The whale, on being drawn on shore, was immediately cut up, and a great +feast of the blubber given at Maquina's house, to which all the village +were invited, who indemnified themselves for their Lent by eating as +usual to excess. I was highly praised for the goodness of my harpoon, +and a quantity of blubber given me, which I was permitted to cook as I +pleased; this I boiled in salt water with some young nettles and other +greens for Thompson and myself, and in this way we found it tolerable +food. + +Their method of procuring the oil, is to skim it from the water in which +the blubber is boiled, and when cool, put it up into whale bladders for +use; and of these I have seen them so large as, when filled, would +require no less than five or six men to carry. Several of the chiefs, +among whom were Maquina's brothers, who, after the king has caught the +first whale, are privileged to take them also, were very desirous, on +discovering the superiority of my harpoon, that I should make some for +them, but this Maquina would not permit, reserving for himself this +improved weapon. He, however, gave me directions to make a number more +for himself, which I executed, and also made him several lances, with +which he was greatly pleased. + + * * * * * + +As these people have some very singular observances preparatory to +whaling, an account of them will, I presume, not prove uninteresting, +especially as it may serve to give a better idea of their manners. A +short time before leaving Tashees, the king makes a point of passing a +day alone on the mountain, whither he goes very privately early in the +morning, and does not return till late in the evening.[116] This is +done, as I afterwards learned, for the purpose of singing and praying to +his God for success in whaling the ensuing season. At Cooptee the same +ceremony is performed, and at Nootka after the return thither, with +still greater solemnity, as for the next two days he appears very +thoughtful and gloomy, scarcely speaking to any one, and observes a most +rigid fast. On these occasions he has always a broad red fillet made of +bark bound around his head, in token of humiliation, with a large branch +of green spruce on the top, and his great rattle in his hand. + +In addition to this, for a week before commencing their whaling, both +himself and the crew of his canoe observe a fast, eating but very +little, and going into the water several times in the course of each day +to bathe, singing and rubbing their bodies, limbs, and faces with shells +and bushes, so that on their return I have seen them look as though they +had been severely torn with briers. They are likewise obliged to +abstain from any commerce with their women for the like period, the +latter restriction being considered as indispensable to their success. + + * * * * * + +Early in June, Tootoosch,[117] the crazy chief, died. On being +acquainted with his death, the whole village, men, women, and children, +set up a loud cry, with every testimony of the greatest grief, which +they continued for more than three hours. As soon as he was dead, the +body, according to their custom, was laid out on a plank, having the +head bound round with a red bark fillet, which is with them an emblem of +mourning and sorrow. After lying some time in this manner, he was +wrapped in an otter-skin robe, and, three fathoms of Ife-whaw being put +about his neck, he was placed in a large coffin or box of about three +feet deep, which was ornamented on the outside with two rows of the +small white shells. In this, the most valuable articles of his property +were placed with him, among which were no less than twenty-four prime +sea-otter skins. + +At night, which is their time for interring the dead, the coffin was +borne by eight men with two poles thrust through ropes passed around it, +to the place of burial, accompanied by his wife and family, with their +hair cut short in token of grief, all the inhabitants joining the +procession. + +The place of burial was a large cavern on the side of a hill at a little +distance from the village, in which, after depositing the coffin +carefully, all the attendants repaired to Maquina's house, where a +number of articles belonging to the deceased, consisting of blankets, +pieces of cloth, etc., were burned by a person appointed by Maquina for +that purpose, dressed and painted in the highest style, with his head +covered with white down, who, as he put in the several pieces one by +one, poured upon them a quantity of oil to increase the flame, in the +intervals between making a speech and playing off a variety of buffoon +tricks, and the whole closed with a feast, and a dance from +Sat-sat-sok-sis, the king's son. + +The man who performed the ceremony of burning on this occasion was a +very singular character named Kinneclimmets. He was held in high +estimation by the king, though only of the common class, probably from +his talent for mimicry and buffoonery, and might be considered as a kind +of king's jester, or rather, as combining in his person the character of +a buffoon with that of master of ceremonies and public orator to his +majesty, as he was the one who at feasts always regulated the places of +the guests, delivered speeches on receiving or returning visits, besides +amusing the company at all their entertainments, with a variety of +monkey pranks and antic gestures, which appeared to these savages the +height of wit and humour, but would be considered as extremely low by +the least polished people. + +Almost all the kings or head chiefs of the principal tribes were +accompanied by a similar character, who appeared to be attached to their +dignity, and are called in their language _Climmer-habbee_. + +This man Kinneclimmets was particularly odious to Thompson, who would +never join in the laugh at his tricks, but when he began, would almost +always quit the house with a very surly look, and an exclamation of +"Cursed fool!" which Maquina, who thought nothing could equal the +cleverness of his _Climmer-habbee_, used to remark with much +dissatisfaction, asking me why Thompson never laughed, observing that I +must have had a very good-tempered woman indeed for my mother, as my +father was so very ill-natured a man. + +Among those performances that gained him the greatest applause was his +talent of eating to excess, for I have known him devour at one meal no +less than seventy-five large herrings; and at another time, when a great +feast was given by Maquina, he undertook, after drinking three pints of +oil by way of a whet, to eat four dried salmon, and five quarts of +spawn, mixed up with a gallon of train-oil, and actually succeeded in +swallowing the greater part of this mess, until his stomach became so +overloaded as to discharge its contents in the dish. One of his +exhibitions, however, had nearly cost him his life; this was on the +occasion of Kla-quak-ee-na, one of the chiefs, having bought him a new +wife, in celebration of which he ran three times through a large fire, +and burned himself in such a manner that he was not able to stir for +more than four weeks. These feats of savage skill were much praised by +Maquina, who never failed to make him presents of cloth, muskets, etc., +on such occasions. + +The death of Tootoosch increased still more the disquietude which his +delirium had excited among the savages, and all those chiefs who had +killed our men became much alarmed lest they should be seized with the +same disorder and die like him; more particularly, as I had told Maquina +that I believed his insanity was a punishment inflicted on him by +Quahootze, for his cruelty in murdering two innocent men who had never +injured him. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[113] When an Indian dies, all of his property which has not been given +away, is either buried with him, or, in extreme cases, burned, not for +the purpose of accompanying him to the Spirit Land, but, so the people +have told me, to prevent any temptation to indulge in the bad luck of +mentioning his name. The only things that are exempted from this +practice are the dead man's best canoes, his house-planks, and fishing +and hunting implements, which, with any slaves he may possess, go to his +eldest son. I have known the deceased's house and all its contents to be +burned; but when this is not the case, then the materials are removed +elsewhere, and another building is erected. Around his grave--a box +raised from the ground on pillars, often quaintly carved, or a canoe, or +a box fixed up a tree--are placed various articles belonging to him (or +her). At one time they buried his money with him. But for obvious +reasons this custom has fallen into abeyance. + +[114] _Wik_ actually means "Not I." Good is _Klooceahatli_ or +_Klootakloosch_. + +[115] This, it must be remembered, was in the days before Connolly. +Maquina's remark that if an insane man could not be cured but by +whipping him, he must remain mad, proves that the savage chief was in +advance of his time. Insanity is, however, extremely rare among the +Indians. + +[116] He was, as the Indians say, "making his medicine," a term of very +elastic meaning. + +[117] "Tootoosch" is the Thunder Bird of "Aht" mythology. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WAR WITH THE A-Y-CHARTS--A NIGHT ATTACK--PROPOSALS TO PURCHASE THE +AUTHOR + + +Our situation had now become unpleasant in the extreme. The summer was +so far advanced that we nearly despaired of a ship arriving to our +relief, and with that expectation almost relinquished the hope of ever +having it in our power to quit this savage land. We were treated, too, +with less indulgence than before, both Thompson and myself being +obliged, in addition to our other employments, to perform the laborious +task of cutting and collecting fuel, which we had to bring on our +shoulders from nearly three miles' distance, as it consisted wholly of +dry leaves, all of which near the village had been consumed. + +To add to this, we suffered much abuse from the common people, who, when +Maquina or some of the chiefs were not present, would insult us, calling +us wretched slaves, asking us where was our Tyee or captain, making +gestures signifying that his head had been cut off, and that they would +do the like to us; though they generally took good care at such times to +keep well out of Thompson's reach, as they had more than once +experienced, to their cost, the strength of his fist. This conduct was +not only provoking and grating to our feelings in the highest degree, +but it convinced us of the ill disposition of these savages towards us, +and rendered us fearful lest they might at some time or other persuade +or force Maquina and the chiefs to put us to death. + +We were also often brought to great distress for the want of provisions, +so far as to be reduced to collect a scanty supply of mussels and +limpets from the rocks, and sometimes even compelled to part with some +of our most necessary articles of clothing in order to purchase food for +our subsistence. + +This was, however, principally owing to the inhabitants themselves +experiencing a great scarcity of provisions this season; there having +been, in the first place, but very few salmon caught at Friendly Cove, a +most unusual circumstance, as they generally abound there in the spring, +which was by the natives attributed to their having been driven away by +the blood of our men who had been thrown into the sea, which with true +savage inconsistency excited their murmurs against Maquina, who had +proposed cutting off our ship. Relying on this supply, they had in the +most inconsiderate manner squandered away their winter stock of +provisions, so that in a few days after their return it was entirely +expended. + +Nor were the king and chiefs much more fortunate in their whaling, even +after I had furnished Maquina with the improved weapon for that purpose; +but four whales having been taken during the season, which closes the +last of May, including one that had been struck by Maquina and escaped, +and was afterwards driven on shore about six miles from Nootka in +almost a state of putridity. + +These afforded but a short supply to a population, including all ages +and sexes, of no less than fifteen hundred persons, and of a character +so very improvident, that, after feasting most gluttonously whenever a +whale was caught, they were several times, for a week together, reduced +to the necessity of eating but once a day, and of collecting cockles and +mussels from the rocks for their food. + +And even after the cod and halibut fishing commenced, in June, in which +they met with tolerable success, such was the savage caprice of Maquina, +that he would often give us but little to eat, finally ordering us to +buy a canoe and fishing implements and go out ourselves and fish, or we +should have nothing. To do this we were compelled to part with our +greatcoats, which were not only important to us as garments, but of +which we made our beds, spreading them under us when we slept. From our +want of skill, however, in this new employ, we met with no success; on +discovering which, Maquina ordered us to remain at home. + +Another thing, which to me in particular proved an almost constant +source of vexation and disgust, and which living among them had not in +the least reconciled me to, was their extreme filthiness, not only in +eating fish, especially the whale, when in a state of offensive +putridity, but while at their meals, of making a practice of taking the +vermin from their heads or clothes and eating them, by turns thrusting +their fingers into their hair and into the dish, and spreading their +garments over the tubs in which the provision was cooking, in order to +set in motion their inhabitants.[118] + +Fortunately for Thompson, he regarded this much less than myself, and +when I used to point out to him any instance of their filthiness in this +respect, he would laugh and reply, "Never mind, John, the more good +things the better." I must, however, do Maquina the justice to state, +that he was much neater both in his person and eating than were the +others, as was likewise his queen, owing, no doubt, to his intercourse +with foreigners, which had given him ideas of cleanliness, for I never +saw either of them eat any of these animals, but, on the contrary, they +appeared not much to relish this taste in others. Their garments, also, +were much cleaner, Maquina having been accustomed to give his away when +they became soiled, till after he discovered that Thompson and myself +kept ours clean by washing them, when he used to make Thompson do the +same for him. + +Yet amidst this state of endurance and disappointment, in hearing +repeatedly of the arrival of ships at the north and south, most of which +proved to be idle reports, while expectation was almost wearied out in +looking for them, we did not wholly despond, relying on the mercy of the +Supreme Being, to offer up to whom our devotions on the days appointed +for His worship was our chief consolation and support, though we were +sometimes obliged, by our taskmasters, to infringe upon the Sabbath, +which was to me a source of much regret. + +We were, nevertheless, treated at times with much kindness by Maquina, +who would give us a plenty of the best that he had to eat, and +occasionally, some small present of cloth for a garment, promising me +that, if any ship should arrive within a hundred miles of Nootka, he +would send a canoe with a letter from me to the captain, so that he +might come to our release. These flattering promises and marks of +attention were, however, at those times when he thought himself in +personal danger from a mutinous spirit, which the scarcity of provisions +had excited among the natives, who, like true savages, imputed all their +public calamities, of whatever kind, to the misconduct of their chief, +or when he was apprehensive of an attack from some of the other tribes, +who were irritated with him for cutting off the _Boston_, as it had +prevented ships from coming to trade with them, and were constantly +alarming him with idle stories of vessels that were preparing to come +against him and exterminate both him and his people. + +At such times, he made us keep guard over him both night and day, armed +with cutlasses and pistols, being apparently afraid to trust any of his +own men. At one time, it was a general revolt of his people that he +apprehended; then three of his principal chiefs, among whom was his +elder brother, had conspired to take away his life; and at length he +fancied that a small party of Klaooquates, between whom and the +Nootkians little friendship subsisted, had come to Nootka, under a +pretence of trade, for the sole purpose of murdering him and his family, +telling us, probably to sharpen our vigilance, that their intention was +to kill us likewise; and so strongly were his fears excited on this +occasion, that he not only ordered us to keep near him armed by day, +whenever he went out, and to patrol at night before his house while they +remained, but to continue the same guard for three days after they were +gone, and to fire, at one and at four in the morning, one of the great +guns, to let them know, if, as he suspected, they were lurking in the +neighbourhood, that he was on his guard. + +While he was thus favourably disposed towards us, I took an opportunity +to inform him of the ill-treatment that we frequently received from his +people, and the insults that were offered us by some of the stranger +tribes in calling us white slaves, and loading us with other opprobrious +terms. He was much displeased, and said that his subjects should not be +allowed to treat us ill, and that if any of the strangers did it, he +wished us to punish the offenders with death, at the same time directing +us, for our security, to go constantly armed. + +This permission was soon improved by Thompson to the best advantage; for +a few days after, having gone to the pond to wash some of our clothes, +and a blanket for Maquina, several Wickinninish who were then at Nootka +came thither, and, seeing him washing the clothes, and the blanket +spread upon the grass to dry, they began, according to custom, to insult +him, and one of them, bolder than the others, walked over the blanket. +Thompson was highly incensed, and threatened the Indian with death if he +repeated the offence, but he, in contempt of the threat, trampled upon +the blanket, when, drawing his cutlass, without further ceremony, +Thompson cut off his head, on seeing which the others ran off at full +speed. Thompson then, gathering up the clothes and blanket, on which +were the marks of the Indian's dirty feet, and taking with him the head, +returned and informed the king of what had passed, who was much pleased, +and highly commended his conduct. This had a favourable effect for us, +not only on the stranger tribes but the inhabitants themselves, who +treated us afterwards with less disrespect. + +In the latter part of July, Maquina informed me that he was going to war +with the _A-y-charts_,[119] a tribe about fifty miles to the south, on +account of some controversy that had arisen the preceding summer, and +that I must make a number of daggers for his men, and cheetolths for his +chiefs, which having completed, he wished me to make for his own use a +weapon of quite a different form, in order to dispatch his enemy by one +blow on the head, it being the calculation of these nations, on going to +war, to surprise their adversaries while asleep. This was a steel +dagger, or more properly a spike, of about six inches long, made very +sharp, set at right angles in an iron handle of fifteen inches long, +terminating at the lower end in a crook or turn, so as to prevent its +being wrenched from the hand, and at the upper in a round knob or head, +from whence the spike protruded. This instrument I polished highly, and, +the more to please Maquina, formed on the back of the knob the +resemblance of a man's head, with the mouth open, substituting for eyes +black beads, which I fastened in with red sealing-wax. This pleased him +much, and was greatly admired by his chiefs, who wanted me to make +similar ones for them, but Maquina would not suffer it, reserving for +himself alone this weapon. + +When these people have finally determined on war, they make it an +invariable practice, for three or four weeks prior to the expedition, +to go into the water five or six times a day, when they wash and scrub +themselves from head to foot with bushes intermixed with briers, +so that their bodies and faces will often be entirely covered +with blood. During this severe exercise, they are continually +exclaiming, "_Wocash, Quahootze, Teechamme ah welth, wik-etish +tau-ilth--Kar sub-matemas--Wik-sish_ _to hauk matemas--I ya-ish +kah-shittle--As-smootish warich matemas_"; which signifies, "Good or +great God, let me live--Not be sick--Find the enemy--Not fear him--Find +him asleep, and kill a great many of them." + +During the whole of this period they have no intercourse with their +women, and for a week before setting out, abstain from feasting or any +kind of merriment, appearing thoughtful, gloomy, and morose, and for the +three last days are almost constantly in the water, both by day and +night, scrubbing and lacerating themselves in a terrible manner. +Maquina, having informed Thompson and myself that he should take us with +him, was very solicitous that we should bathe and scrub ourselves in the +same way with them, telling me that it would harden our skins, so that +the weapons of the enemy would not pierce them, but as we felt no great +inclination to amuse ourselves in this manner, we declined it. + +The expedition consisted of forty canoes, carrying from ten to twenty +men each. Thompson and myself armed ourselves with cutlasses and +pistols, but the natives, although they had a plenty of European arms, +took with them only their daggers and cheetolths, with a few bows and +arrows, the latter being about a yard in length, and pointed with +copper, mussel-shell, or bone; the bows are four feet and a half long, +with strings made of whale sinew. + +To go to A-y-chart, we ascended, from twenty to thirty miles,[120] a +river about the size of that of Tashees, the banks of which are high and +covered with wood. At midnight we came in sight of the village, which +was situated on the west bank near the shore, on a steep hill difficult +of access, and well calculated for defence. It consisted of fifteen or +sixteen houses, smaller than those at Nootka, and built in the same +style, but compactly placed. By Maquina's directions, the attack was +deferred until the first appearance of dawn, as he said that was the +time when men slept the soundest. + +At length, all being ready for the attack, we landed with the greatest +silence, and, going around so as to come upon the foe in the rear, +clambered up the hill, and while the natives, as is their custom, +entered the several huts creeping on all-fours, my comrade and myself +stationed ourselves without to intercept those who should attempt to +escape or come to the aid of their friends. I wished, if possible, not +to stain my hands in the blood of any fellow-creature; and though +Thompson would gladly have put to death all the savages in the country, +he was too brave to think of attacking a sleeping enemy. + +Having entered the houses, on the war-whoop being given by Maquina as he +seized the head of the chief and gave him the fatal blow, all proceeded +to the work of death. The A-y-charts, being thus surprised, were unable +to make resistance, and, with the exception of a very few who were so +fortunate as to make their escape, were all killed, or taken prisoners +on condition of becoming slaves to their captors. I had the good fortune +to take four captives, whom Maquina, as a favour, permitted me to +consider as mine, and occasionally employ them in fishing for me. As for +Thompson, who thirsted for revenge, he had no wish to take any +prisoners, but with his cutlass, the only weapon he would employ against +them, succeeded in killing seven stout fellows who came to attack him, +an act which obtained him great credit with Maquina and the chiefs, who +after this held him in much higher estimation, and gave him the +appellation of "Chehiel-suma-har," it being the name of a very +celebrated warrior of their nation in ancient times, whose exploits were +the constant theme of their praise. + +After having put to death all the old and infirm of either sex, as is +the barbarous practice of these people, and destroyed the buildings, we +re-embarked with our booty in our canoes for Nootka, where we were +received with great demonstrations of joy by the women and children, +accompanying our war-song with a most furious drumming on the houses. +The next day a great feast was given by Maquina in celebration of his +victory, which was terminated, as usual, with a dance by +Sat-sat-sok-sis.[121] + +Repeated applications had been made to Maquina by a number of kings or +chiefs to purchase me, especially after he had showed them the harpoon I +had made for him, which he took much pride in, but he constantly refused +to part with me on any terms. Among these, the king of the Wickinninish +was particularly solicitous to obtain me, having twice applied to +Maquina for that purpose, once in a very formal manner, by sending his +messenger with four canoes, who, as he approached the shore, decorated +in their highest style, with the white down on his head, etc., declared +that he came to buy "Tooteyoohannis," the name by which I was known to +them, for his master, and that he had brought for that purpose four +young male slaves, two highly ornamented canoes, such a number of the +skins of metamelth, and of the _quartlack_,[122] or sea-otter, and so +many fathoms of cloth and of Ife-whaw, while, as he mentioned the +different articles, they were pointed out or held up by his attendants; +but even this tempting offer had no influence on Maquina, who in the +latter part of the summer was again very strongly urged to sell me by +Ulatilla, or, as he is generally called, Machee Ulatilla, chief of the +Klaizzarts,[123] who had come to Nootka on a visit. + +This chief, who could speak tolerable English, had much more the +appearance of a civilised man than any of the savages that I saw. He +appeared to be about thirty, was rather small in his person, but +extremely well formed, with a skin almost as fair as that of an +European, good features, and a countenance expressive of candour and +amiableness, and which was almost always brightened with a smile. He was +much neater both in his dress and person than any of the other chiefs, +seldom wearing paint, except upon his eyebrows, which, after the custom +of his country, were plucked out, and a few strips of the pelpelth on +the lower part of his face. He always treated me with much kindness, was +fond of conversing with me in English and in his own language, asking me +many questions relative to my country, its manners, customs, etc., and +appeared to take a strong interest in my fate, telling me that if he +could persuade Maquina to part with me, he would put me on board the +first ship that came to his country, a promise which, from his +subsequent conduct, I have good reason to think he would have performed, +as my deliverance at length from captivity and suffering was, under the +favour of Divine Providence, wholly owing to him, the only letter that +ever reached an European or American vessel out of sixteen that I wrote +at different times and sent to various parts of the coast, having been +delivered by him in person. So much pleased was I with this man's +behaviour to me while at Nootka, that I made for him a cheetolth, which +I burnished highly, and engraved with figures. With this he was greatly +delighted. I also would have made for him a harpoon, would Maquina have +consented. + +With hearts full of dejection and almost lost to hope, no ship having +appeared off Nootka this season, did my companion and myself accompany +the tribe on their removal in September to Tashees, relinquishing in +consequence for six months even the remotest expectation of relief. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[118] This habit--unfortunately not peculiar to the Indians--is still +occasionally indulged in. The reason they give for it is, that when the +great flood covered the earth--a tradition that is found among other +North-West American Indians--they escaped in their canoes, and had to +eat lice for lack of any other food, and now practise it out of +gratitude. The superstitious observances of these tribes are so numerous +that the merest account of those known would fill a volume. One or two +interesting instances may be mentioned:--Thus, in sneezing, there is +good luck if the right nostril is alone affected. But if the left, then +evil fortune is at hand. When they pare their nails, which is not often, +they burn the parings, and if the smoke from them goes straight up, +their latter end will be good; if not, they will go to the place of +punishment. They used to regard--and perhaps still regard--the whites +not as human beings, but as a sort of demons. + +[119] The E-cha-chets are not at present recognised as a separate tribe. +But there is a large village in Clayoquat Sound on the south end of +Wakenninish Island which bears that name. Like many now all but extinct +tribes, who have become absorbed into greater ones, the E-cha-chets seem +in Jewitt's time to have been more numerous. In Meares's narrative, +"Lee-cha-ett" is mentioned as a village of Wakenninish, but this could +not have been the same place, for Maquina and Wakenninish were at this +period on good terms. The river which the expedition ascended to reach +the summer salmon fishing village of the tribe was probably either the +Bear or the Onamettis, both of which flow through some swampy ground +into the head of Bedwall Arm. But as usual Jewitt exaggerated the +distance up which the canoemen paddled. There is no river in Vancouver +Island navigable for twenty or thirty miles, and few, even when broken +by rapids and falls, quite that length. + +[120] This is an exaggerated estimate. + +[121] This is one of the best descriptions of West Coast warfare with +which I am acquainted. + +[122] "Quiaotluk," Jewitt, with innate cockneyism, inserting an _r_ +after _a_ wherever this is possible. No Indian can pronounce _r_, any +more than a Chinaman can. + +[123] Klahosahts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MARRIAGE OF THE AUTHOR--HIS ILLNESS--DISMISSES HIS WIFE--RELIGION OF THE +NATIVES--CLIMATE + + +Soon after our establishment there, Maquina informed me that he and his +chiefs had held council both before and after quitting Nootka, in which +they had determined that I must marry one of their women, urging as a +reason to induce me to consent, that, as there was now no probability of +a ship coming to Nootka to release me, that I must consider myself as +destined to pass the remainder of my life with them, that the sooner I +conformed to their customs the better, and that a wife and family would +render me more contented and satisfied with their mode of living. I +remonstrated against this decision, but to no purpose, for he told me +that, should I refuse, both Thompson and myself would be put to death; +telling me, however, that if there were none of the women of his tribe +that pleased me, he would go with me to some of the other tribes, where +he would purchase for me such a one as I should select. Reduced to this +sad extremity, with death on the one side and matrimony on the other, I +thought proper to choose what appeared to me the least of the two +evils, and consent to be married, on condition that, as I did not fancy +any of the Nootka women, I should be permitted to make choice of one +from some other tribe. + +This being settled, the next morning by daylight, Maquina, with about +fifty men in two canoes, set out with me for Ai-tiz-zart,[124] taking +with him a quantity of cloth, a number of muskets, sea-otter skins, +etc., for the purchase of my bride. With the aid of our paddles and +sails, being favoured with a fair breeze, we arrived some time before +sunset at the village. Our arrival excited a general alarm, and the men +hastened to the shore, armed with the weapons of their country, making +many warlike demonstrations, and displaying much zeal and activity. We, +in the meantime, remained quietly seated in our canoes, where we +remained for about half an hour, when the messenger of the chief, +dressed in their best manner, came to welcome us and invite us on shore +to eat.[125] We followed him in procession to the chief's house, Maquina +at our head, taking care to leave a sufficient number in the boats to +protect the property. When we came to the house, we were ushered in with +much ceremony, and our respective seats pointed out to us, mine being +next to Maquina by his request. + +After having been regaled with a feast of herring spawn and oil, Maquina +asked me if I saw any among the women who were present that I liked. I +immediately pointed out to a young girl of about seventeen, the +daughter of Upquesta, the chief, who was sitting near him by her mother. +On this, Maquina, making a sign to his men, arose, and, taking me by the +hand, walked into the middle of the room, and sent off two of his men to +bring the boxes containing the presents from the canoes. In the +meantime, Kinneclimmets, the master of ceremonies, whom I have already +spoken of, made himself ready for the part he was to act, by powdering +his hair with white down. When the chests were brought in, specimens of +the several articles were taken out, and showed by our men, one of whom +held up a musket, another a skin, a third a piece of cloth, etc. + +On this Kinneclimmets stepped forward, and, addressing the chief, +informed him that all these belonged to me, mentioning the number of +each kind, and that they were offered to him for the purchase of his +daughter Eu-stoch-ee-exqua, as a wife for me. As he said this, the men +who held up the various articles walked up to the chief, and with a very +stern and morose look, the complimentary one on these occasions, threw +them at his feet. Immediately on which, all the tribe, both men and +women, who were assembled on this occasion, set up a cry of +_Klack-ko-Tyee_,[126] that is, "Thank ye, chief." + +His men, after this ceremony, having returned to their places, Maquina +rose, and, in a speech of more than half an hour, said much in my praise +to the Ai-tiz-zart chief, telling him that I was as good a man as +themselves, differing from them only in being white, that I was besides +acquainted with many things of which they were ignorant; that I knew how +to make daggers, cheetolths, and harpoons, and was a very valuable +person, whom he was determined to keep always with him; praising me at +the same time for the goodness of my temper, and the manner in which I +had conducted myself since I had been with them, observing that all the +people of Nootka, and even the children, loved me. + +While Maquina was speaking, his master of ceremonies was continually +skipping about, making the most extravagant gestures, and exclaiming +"_Wocash!_" When he had ceased, the Ai-tiz-zart chief arose, amidst the +acclamations of his people, and began with setting forth the many good +qualities and accomplishments of his daughter; that he loved her +greatly, and as she was his only one, he could not think of parting with +her. He spoke in this manner for some time, but finally concluded by +consenting to the proposed union, requesting that she might be well used +and kindly treated by her husband. At the close of the speech, when the +chief began to manifest a disposition to consent to our union, +Kinneclimmets again began to call out as loud as he could bawl, +"_Wocash!_" cutting a thousand capers and spinning himself around on his +heel like a top. + +When Upquesta had finished his speech, he directed his people to carry +back the presents which Maquina had given him, to me, together with two +young male slaves to assist me in fishing. These, after having been +placed before me, were by Maquina's men taken on board the canoes. This +ceremony being over, we were invited by one of the principal chiefs to +a feast at his house, of _Klussamit_,[127] or dried herring, where, +after the eating was over, Kinneclimmets amused the company very highly +with his tricks, and the evening's entertainment was closed by a new +war-song from our men, and one in return from the Ai-tiz-zarts, +accompanied with expressive gestures, and wielding of their weapons. + +After this our company returned to lodge at Upquesta's, except a few who +were left on board the canoes to watch the property. In the morning I +received from the chief his daughter, with an earnest request that I +would use her well, which I promised him; when, taking leave of her +parents, she accompanied me with apparent satisfaction on board of the +canoe. + +The wind being ahead, the natives were obliged to have recourse to their +paddles, accompanying them with their songs, interspersed with the +witticisms and buffoonery of Kinneclimmets, who, in his capacity of +king's steersman, one of his functions which I forgot to enumerate, not +only guided the course of the canoe, but regulated the singing of the +boatmen. At about five in the morning we reached Tashees, where we found +all the inhabitants collected on the shore to receive us. + +We were welcomed with loud shouts of joy, and exclamations of +"_Wocash!_" and the women, taking my bride under their charge, conducted +her to Maquina's house, to be kept with them for ten days; it being an +universal custom, as Maquina informed me, that no intercourse should +take place between the new married pair during that period. At night +Maquina gave a great feast, which was succeeded by a dance, in which all +the women joined, and thus ended the festivities of my marriage.[128] + +The term of my probation being over, Maquina assigned me as an apartment +the space in the upper part of his house between him and his elder +brother, whose room was opposite. Here I established myself with my +family, consisting of myself and wife, Thompson, and the little +Sat-sat-sok-sis, who had always been strongly attached to me, and now +solicited his father to let him live with me, to which he consented. + +This boy was handsome, extremely well formed, amiable, and of a +pleasant, sprightly disposition. I used to take a pleasure in decorating +him with rings, bracelets, ear-jewels, etc., which I made for him of +copper, and ornamented and polished them in my best manner. I was also +very careful to keep him free from vermin of every kind, washing him and +combing his hair every day. These marks of attention were not only very +pleasing to the child, who delighted in being kept neat and clean, as +well as in being dressed off in his finery, but was highly gratifying +both to Maquina and his queen, who used to express much satisfaction at +my care of him. + +In making my domestic establishment, I determined, as far as possible, +to live in a more comfortable and cleanly manner than the others. For +this purpose I erected with planks a partition of about three feet high +between mine and the adjoining rooms, and made three bedsteads of the +same, which I covered with boards, for my family to sleep on, which I +found much more comfortable than sleeping on the floor amidst the dirt. + +Fortunately, I found my Indian princess both amiable and intelligent, +for one whose limited sphere of observation must necessarily give rise +to but a few ideas. She was extremely ready to agree to anything that I +proposed relative to our mode of living, was very attentive in keeping +her garments and person neat and clean, and appeared in every respect +solicitous to please me. + +She was, as I have said, about seventeen; her person was small but well +formed, as were her features; her complexion was, without exception, +fairer than any of the women, with considerable colour in her cheeks, +her hair long, black, and much softer than is usual with them, and her +teeth small, even, and of a dazzling whiteness; while the expression of +her countenance indicated sweetness of temper and modesty. She would +indeed have been considered as very pretty in any country, and, +excepting Maquina's queen, was by far the handsomest of any of their +women. + +With a partner possessing so many attractions, many may be apt to +conclude that I must have found myself happy,--at least, comparatively +so; but far otherwise was it with me. A compulsory marriage with the +most beautiful and accomplished person in the world can never prove a +source of real happiness; and, in my situation, I could not but view +this connection as a chain that was to bind me down to this savage land, +and prevent my ever again seeing a civilised country; especially when, +in a few days after, Maquina informed me that there had been a meeting +of his chiefs, in which it had been determined that, as I had married +one of their women, I must be considered as one of them, and conform to +their customs, and that in future neither myself nor Thompson should +wear our European clothes, but dress in kutsaks[129] like themselves. +This order was to me most painful, but I persuaded Maquina at length so +far to relax in it as to permit me to wear those I had at present, which +were almost worn out, and not to compel Thompson to change his dress, +observing that, as he was an old man, such a change would cause his +death. + +Their religious celebration, which the last year took place in December, +was in this commenced on the 15th of November, and continued for +fourteen days. As I was now considered as one of them, instead of being +ordered to the woods, Maquina directed Thompson and myself to remain and +pray with them to Quahootze to be good to them, and thank him for what +he had done. + +It was opened in much the same manner as the former. After which, all +the men and women in the village assembled at Maquina's house, in their +plainest dresses, and without any kind of ornaments about them, having +their heads bound around with the red fillet, a token of dejection and +humiliation, and their countenances expressive of seriousness and +melancholy. The performances during the continuance of this celebration +consisted almost wholly in singing a number of songs to mournful airs, +the king regulating the time by beating on his hollow plank or drum, +accompanied by one of his chiefs seated near him with the great rattle. +In the meantime they ate but seldom, and then very little, retiring to +sleep late, and rising at the first appearance of dawn, and even +interrupting this short period of repose by getting up at midnight and +singing. + +The ceremony was terminated by an exhibition of a similar character to +the one of the last year, but still more cruel. A boy of twelve years +old, with six bayonets run into his flesh, one through each arm and +thigh, and through each side close to the ribs, was carried around the +room suspended upon them, without manifesting any symptoms of pain. +Maquina, on my inquiring the reason of this display, informed me that it +was an ancient custom of his nation to sacrifice a man at the close of +this solemnity, in honour of their God, but that his father had +abolished it, and substituted this in its place.[130] The whole closed +on the evening of the 29th, with a great feast of salmon spawn and oil, +at which the natives, as usual, made up for their late abstinence. + +A few days after, a circumstance occurred, which, from its singularity, +I cannot forbear mentioning. I was sent for by my neighbour Yealthlower, +the king's elder brother, to file his teeth, which operation having been +performed, he informed me that a new wife, whom he had a little time +before purchased, having refused to sleep with him, it was his +intention, provided she persisted in her refusal, to bite off her nose. +I endeavoured to dissuade him from it, but he was determined, and, in +fact, performed his savage threat that very night, saying that since she +would not be his wife, she should not be that of any other, and in the +morning sent her back to her father. + +The inhuman act did not, however, proceed from any innate cruelty of +disposition or malice, as he was far from being of a barbarous temper; +but such is the despotism exercised by these savages over their women, +that he no doubt considered it as a just punishment for her offence, in +being so obstinate and perverse; as he afterwards told me, that in +similar cases the husband had a right with them to disfigure his wife in +this way or some other, to prevent her ever marrying again. + +About the middle of December, we left Tashees for Cooptee. As usual at +this season, we found the herrings in great plenty, and here the same +scene of riotous feasting that I witnessed last year was renewed by our +improvident natives, who, in addition to their usual fare, had a +plentiful supply of wild geese, which were brought us in great +quantities by the Eshquates. These, as Maquina informed me, were caught +with nets made from bark in the fresh waters of that country. Those who +take them make choice for that purpose of a dark and rainy night, and, +with their canoes stuck with lighted torches, proceed with as little +noise as possible to the place where the geese are collected, who, +dazzled by the light, suffer themselves to be approached very near, when +the net is thrown over them, and in this manner from fifty to sixty, or +even more, will sometimes be taken at one cast. + +On the 15th of January 1805, about midnight, I was thrown into +considerable alarm, in consequence of an eclipse of the moon, being +awakened from my sleep by a great outcry of the inhabitants. On going to +discover the cause of this tumult, I found them all out of their houses, +bearing lighted torches, singing and beating upon pieces of plank; and +when I asked them the reason of this proceeding, they pointed to the +moon, and said that a great cod-fish was endeavouring to swallow her, +and that they were driving him away. The origin of this superstition I +could not discover. + +[Illustration: INDIAN CHIEF'S GRAVE (TEMP. 1863).] + +Though, in some respects, my situation was rendered more comfortable +since my marriage, as I lived in a more cleanly manner, and had my food +better and more neatly cooked, of which, besides, I had always a plenty, +my slaves generally furnishing me, and Upquesta never failing to send me +an ample supply by the canoes that came from Ai-tiz-zart; still, from my +being obliged at this season of the year to change my accustomed +clothing, and to dress like the natives, with only a piece of cloth of +about two yards long thrown loosely around me, my European clothes +having been for some time entirely worn out, I suffered more than I can +express from the cold, especially as I was compelled to perform the +laborious task of cutting and bringing the firewood, which was rendered +still more oppressive to me, from my comrade, for a considerable part of +the winter, not having it in his power to lend me his aid, in +consequence of an attack of the rheumatism in one of his knees, with +which he suffered for more than four months, two or three weeks of which +he was so ill as to be under the necessity to leave the house. + +This state of suffering, with the little hope I now had of ever escaping +from the savages, began to render my life irksome to me; still, however, +I lost not my confidence in the aid of the Supreme Being, to whom, +whenever the weather and a suspension from the tasks imposed on me would +permit, I never failed regularly on Sundays to retire to the wood to +worship, taking Thompson with me when he was able to go. + +On the 20th of February, we returned to our summer quarters at Nootka, +but on my part, with far different sensations than the last spring, +being now almost in despair of any vessel arriving to release us, or our +being permitted to depart if there should. + +Soon after our return, as preparatory to the whaling season, Maquina +ordered me to make a good number of harpoons for himself and his chiefs, +several of which I had completed, with some lances, when, on the 16th of +March, I was taken very ill with a violent colic, caused, I presume, +from having suffered so much from the cold, in going without proper +clothing. For a number of hours I was in great pain, and expected to +die, and on its leaving me, I was so weak as scarcely to be able to +stand, while I had nothing comforting to take, nor anything to drink but +cold water. + +On the day following, a slave belonging to Maquina died, and was +immediately, as is their custom in such cases, tossed unceremoniously +out of doors, from whence he was taken by some others and thrown into +the water. The treatment of this poor creature made a melancholy +impression upon my mind, as I could not but think that such probably +would be my fate should I die among these heathens, and so far from +receiving a decent burial, that I should not even be allowed the common +privilege of having a little earth thrown over my remains. + +The feebleness in which the violent attack of my disorder had left me, +the dejection I felt at the almost hopelessness of my situation and the +want of warm clothing and proper nursing, though my Indian wife, as far +as she knew how, was always ready, even solicitous, to do everything for +me she could, still kept me very much indisposed, which Maquina +perceiving, he finally told me that if I did not like living with my +wife, and that was the cause of my being so sad, I might part with her. +This proposal I readily accepted, and the next day Maquina sent her back +to her father. + +On parting with me she discovered much emotion, begging me that I would +suffer her to remain till I had recovered, as there was no one who would +take so good care of me as herself. But when I told her she must go, for +that I did not think I should ever get well, which in truth I but little +expected, and that her father would take good care of her and treat her +much more kindly than Maquina, she took an affectionate leave, telling +me that she hoped I should soon get better, and left her two slaves to +take care of me. + +Though I rejoiced at her departure, I was greatly affected with the +simple expressions of her regard for me, and could not but feel strongly +interested for this poor girl, who in all her conduct towards me had +discovered so much mildness and attention to my wishes; and had it not +been that I considered her as an almost insuperable obstacle to my being +permitted to leave the country, I should no doubt have felt the +deprivation of her society a real loss. After her departure, I requested +Maquina that, as I had parted with my wife, he would permit me to resume +my European dress, as, otherwise, from not having been accustomed to +dress like them, I should certainly die. To this he consented, and I +once more became comfortably clad. + +Change of clothing, but, more than all, the hopes which I now began to +indulge that in the course of the summer I should be able to escape, in +a short time restored me to health, so far that I could again go to work +in making harpoons for Maquina, who probably, fearing that he should +have to part with me, determined to provide himself with a good stock. + +I shall not, however, long detain the reader with a detail of +occurrences that intervened between this period and that of my escape, +which, from that dull uniformity that marks the savage life, would be in +a measure but a repetition, nor dwell upon that mental torture I endured +from a constant conflict of hope and fear, when the former, almost +wearied out with repeated disappointment, offered to our sinking hearts +no prospect of release but death, to which we were constantly exposed +from the brutal ignorance and savage disposition of the common people, +who, in the various councils that were held this season to determine +what to do with us in case of the arrival of a ship, were almost always +for putting us to death, expecting by that means to conceal the murder +of our crew and to throw the blame of it on some other tribe. These +barbarous sentiments were, however, universally opposed by Maquina and +his chiefs, who would not consent to our being injured. But, as some of +their customs and traits of national character which I think deserving +of notice have not been mentioned, I shall proceed to give an account of +them. + + * * * * * + +The office of king or chief is, with those people, hereditary, and +descends to the eldest son, or, in failure of male issue, to the elder +brother, who in the regal line is considered as the second person in the +kingdom. At feasts, as I have observed, the king is always placed in the +highest or seat of honour, and the chiefs according to their respective +ranks, which appear in general to be determined by their affinity to the +royal family; they are also designated by the embellishments of their +mantles or kutsaks. The king, or head _Tyee_ is their leader in war, in +the management of which he is perfectly absolute. He is also president +of their councils, which are almost always regulated by his opinion. But +he has no kind of power over the property of his subjects, nor can he +require them to contribute to his wants, being in this respect no more +privileged than any other person. He has, in common with his chiefs, the +right of holding slaves, which is not enjoyed by private individuals, a +regulation probably arising from their having been originally captives +taken in battle, the spoils of war being understood as appertaining to +the king, who receives and apportions them among his several chiefs and +warriors according to their rank and deserts. + +In conformity with this idea, the plunder of the _Boston_ was all +deposited in Maquina's house, who distributed part of it among his +chiefs, according to their respective ranks or degree of favour with +him, giving to one three hundred muskets, to another one hundred and +fifty, with other things in like proportion. The king is, however, +obliged to support his dignity by making frequent entertainments, and +whenever he receives a large supply of provision, he must invite all the +men of his tribe to his house to eat it up, otherwise, as Maquina told +me, he would not be considered as conducting himself like a _Tyee_, and +would be no more thought of than a common man. + + * * * * * + +With regard to their religion.--They believe in the existence of a +Supreme Being, whom they call _Quahootze_, and who, to use Maquina's +expression, was one great _Tyee_ in the sky, who gave them their fish, +and could take them from them, and was the greatest of all kings. Their +usual place of worship appeared to be the water, for whenever they +bathed, they addressed some words in form of prayer to the God above, +entreating that he would preserve them in health, give them good success +in fishing, etc. These prayers were repeated with much more energy on +preparing for whaling or for war, as I have already mentioned. + +Some of them would sometimes go several miles to bathe, in order to do +it in secret; the reason for this I could never learn, though I am +induced to think it was in consequence of some family or private +quarrel, and that they did not wish what they said to be heard; while at +other times they would repair in the same secret manner to the woods to +pray. This was more particularly the case with the women, who might also +have been prompted by a sentiment of decency to retire for the purpose +of bathing, as they are remarkably modest. + +I once found one of our women more than two miles from the village on +her knees in the woods, with her eyes shut and her face turned towards +heaven, uttering words in a lamentable tone, amongst which I distinctly +heard, _Wocash Ah-welth_, meaning "good Lord," and which has nearly the +same signification with Quahootze. + +Though I came very near her, she appeared not to notice me, but +continued her devotions. And I have frequently seen the women go alone +into the woods, evidently for the purpose of addressing themselves to a +superior Being, and it was always very perceptible on their return when +they had been thus employed, from their silence and melancholy looks. + +They have no belief, however, in a state of future existence, as I +discovered in conversation with Maquina at Tootoosch's death, on my +attempting to convince him that he still existed, and that he would +again see him after his death; but he could comprehend nothing of it, +and, pointing to the ground, said that there was the end of him, and +that he was like that.[131] Nor do they believe in ghosts, +notwithstanding the case of Tootoosch would appear to contradict this +assertion, but that was a remarkable instance, and such a one as had +never been known to occur before; yet from the mummeries performed over +the sick, it is very apparent that they believe in the agency of +spirits, as they attribute diseases to some evil one that has entered +the body of the patient. Neither have they any priests, unless a kind of +conjurer[132] may be so considered who sings and prays over the sick to +drive away the evil spirit. + + * * * * * + +On the birth of twins, they have a most singular custom, which, I +presume, has its origin in some religious opinion, but what it is, I +could never satisfactorily learn. The father is prohibited for the space +of two years from eating any kind of meat, or fresh fish, during which +time he does no kind of labour whatever, being supplied with what he has +occasion for from the tribe. In the meantime, he and his wife, who is +also obliged to conform to the same abstinence, with their children, +live entirely separate from the others, a small hut being built for +their accommodation, and he is never invited to any of the feasts, +except such as consist wholly of dried provision, where he is treated +with great respect, and seated among the chiefs, though no more himself +than a private individual. + +Such births are very rare among them; an instance of the kind, however, +occurred while I was at Tashees the last time, but it was the only one +known since the reign of the former king. The father always appeared +very thoughtful and gloomy, never associated with the other +inhabitants, and was at none of the feasts, but such as were entirely of +dried provision, and of this he ate not to excess, and constantly +retired before the amusements commenced. His dress was very plain, and +he wore around his head the red fillet of bark, the symbol of mourning +and devotion. It was his daily practice to repair to the mountain, with +a chief's rattle in his hand, to sing and pray, as Maquina informed me, +for the fish to come into their waters. When not thus employed, he kept +continually at home, except when sent for to sing and perform his +ceremonies over the sick, being considered as a sacred character, and +one much in favour with their gods.[133] + +These people are remarkably healthful, and live to a very advanced age, +having quite a youthful appearance for their years.[134] They have +scarcely any disease but the colic, their remedy for which is friction, +a person rubbing the bowels of the sick violently, until the pain has +subsided, while the conjurer, or holy man, is employed, in the meantime, +in making his gestures, singing, and repeating certain words, and +blowing off the evil spirit, when the patient is wrapped up in a +bearskin, in order to produce perspiration. + +Their cure for the rheumatism, or similar pains, which I saw applied by +Maquina in the case of Thompson, to whom it gave relief, is by cutting +or scarifying the part affected. In dressing wounds, they simply wash +them with salt water, and bind them up with a strip of cloth, or the +bark of a tree. They are, however, very expert and successful in the +cure of fractured or dislocated limbs, reducing them very dexterously, +and, after binding them up with bark, supporting them with blocks of +wood, so as to preserve their position.[135] + +During the whole time I was among them, but five natural deaths +occurred, Tootoosch and his two infant children, an infant son of +Maquina, and the slave whom I have mentioned, a circumstance not a +little remarkable in a population of about fifteen hundred; and as +respects child-birth, so light do they make of it, that I have seen +their women, the day after, employed as usual, as if little or nothing +had happened. + +The Nootkians in their conduct towards each other are in general pacific +and inoffensive, and appear by no means an ill-tempered race, for I do +not recollect any instance of a violent quarrel between any of the men, +or the men and their wives, while I was with them, that of Yealthlower +excepted. But when they are in the least offended, they appear to be in +the most violent rage, acting like so many maniacs, foaming at the +mouth, kicking and spitting most furiously; but this is rather a fashion +with them than a demonstration of malignity, as in their public speeches +they use the same violence, and he is esteemed the greatest orator who +bawls the loudest, stamps, tosses himself about, foams, and spits the +most.[136] + +In speaking of their regulations, I have omitted mentioning that, on +attaining the age of seventeen, the eldest son of a chief is considered +as a chief himself, and that whenever the father makes a present, it is +always done in the name of his eldest son, or, if he has none, in that +of his daughter. The chiefs frequently purchase their wives at the age +of eight or ten, to prevent their being engaged by others, though they +do not take them from their parents until they are sixteen. + +With regard to climate, the greater part of the spring, summer, and +autumn is very pleasant, the weather being at no time oppressively hot, +and the winters uncommonly mild for so high a latitude, at least, as far +as my experience went. At Tashees and Cooptee, where we passed the +coldest part of the season, the winter did not set in till late in +December, nor have I ever yet known the ice, even on the freshwater +ponds, more than two or three inches in thickness, or a snow exceeding +four inches in depth; but what is wanting in snow, is amply made up in +rain, as I have frequently known it, during the winter months, rain +almost incessantly for five or six days in succession. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[124] Ayhuttisaht, also in Nootka Sound. + +[125] This is the custom if the visit of the strangers has not been +announced in advance. + +[126] _Ooshyuksomayts_ is another expression meaning much the same +thing. + +[127] _Kloosmit_ is "herring" (_Meletta crulea_) generally. _Klooshist_ +is dried salmon, a more common article of food. + +[128] Jewitt's marriage was less ceremonious than is usual with Indians +of any rank, and the ten days' probation was not according to modern +customs. + +[129] _Kutsak_, or _kotsack_, or _kootsick_, or _cotsack_, for all these +forms occur, was the blanket worn cloakwise, rendered familiar to +Europeans in so many pictures and sketches. + +[130] Human sacrifices are quite common among the Northern tribes. But +in Vancouver they were very rare in my time, and are now still less +frequent. In 1863 the burial of a chief was celebrated by the heads of +several tribesmen being fixed about his grave. These were not taken by +force, but surrendered by the trembling tribesmen, the victims being +most likely slaves. In 1788, Meares affirms, on what we believe to be +insufficient evidence, that Maquina (Moqulla) sacrificed a human being +every new moon, to gratify "his unnatural appetite" for human flesh. The +victim was a slave selected by the blindfolded chief catching him in a +house in which a number were assembled. Meares even declares that +Maquina acknowledged his weakness, and that though Callicum, another +chief, avoided cannibalism, he reposed on a pillow filled with human +skulls. If so, the practice has ceased. Yet cannibalism was undeniably +practised at times among the Indians of both the East and West coasts. +There were in 1866 Indians living in Koskeemo Sound, who still talked of +the delights of human flesh. Many years ago, the Bella-Bellas ate a +servant of the Hudson Bay Company, and the Nuchaltaws of Cape Mudge are +affirmed by old traders to have paid the same doubtful compliment to a +sailor who fell into their clutches. + +[131] This, in common with other statements of the kind, is more than +doubtful. The best account of their religion is by Mr. Sproat, but even +he acknowledges that, after two years devoted to the subject, and to the +questioning of others who had passed half a lifetime amongst the "Ahts," +he could discover very little about their faith which could be +pronounced indisputably accurate. Even the Indians themselves are by no +means at one on the subject, people without a written creed or sacred +books being apt to entertain very contradictory ideas on their +theological tenets. I endeavoured to fathom some of their beliefs, and I +had ample opportunities; but I confess to the difficulty of getting +behind these reserved folk, and I did not meet with sufficient success +to make the results worth recording. + +[132] What Jewitt calls a "conjurer" is more commonly known in these +times as a "medicine man," who was, more often than not, a combination +nine parts rogue and one part fool. + +[133] This is entirely different from the views that are entertained by +other tribes. The tribes speaking the language which prevails from Port +San Juan to Comox are so ashamed of twins, that one of the hapless two +is almost invariably killed. I do not remember having ever seen a case. +Most of the Indian birth notions are very curious. + +[134] They are apt to rapidly change from young-looking to old-looking +men, without any of that pleasant "Indian summer" so characteristic of +people in more civilised communities. But advanced years are not common. +In 1864 the oldest man in the little Opechesaht tribe, whose homes are +on the Kleecoot River (flowing out of Sproat Lake into the Alberni +Inlet), was only sixty, so far as he could make out. + +[135] Bilious complaints, constipation, dysentery, consumption, fevers +and acute inflammatory diseases, and (amongst some tribes, but not +amongst the Nootkians), ophthalmia, are common, though rheumatism and +paralysis are infrequent. The "diseases of civilisation," it may be +added, have been known for many years. + +[136] This is still true. When sober they indulge in high words, and are +fond of teasing the women until they get out of temper; but a blow is +rare. Even the children seldom fall out, the necessity of small +communities living together for mutual protection compelling the members +to establish a _modus vivendi_. However, when drunk--and in spite of the +laws against liquor being sold to them, this is by no means +uncommon--they are prone to seek close quarters and act like angry +termagants. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ARRIVAL OF THE BRIG "LYDIA"--STRATAGEM OF THE AUTHOR--ITS SUCCESS + + +It was now past midsummer, and the hopes we had indulged of our release +became daily more faint, for though we had heard of no less than seven +vessels on the coast, yet none appeared inclined to venture to Nootka. + +The destruction of the _Boston_, the largest, strongest, and best +equipped ship, with the most valuable cargo of any that had ever been +fitted for the North-West trade, had inspired the commanders of others +with a general dread of coming thither, lest they should share the same +fate; and though in the letters I wrote (imploring those who should +receive them to come to the relief of two unfortunate Christians who +were suffering among heathen), I stated the cause of the _Boston's_ +capture, and that there was not the least danger in coming to Nootka, +provided they would follow the directions I laid down, still I felt very +little encouragement that any of these letters would come to hand; when, +on the morning of the 19th of July, a day that will be ever held by me +in grateful remembrance of the mercies of God, while I was employed with +Thompson in forging daggers for the king, my ears were saluted with the +joyful sound of three cannon, and the cries of the inhabitants, +exclaiming "_Weena, weena--Mamethlee!_"--that is, "Strangers--White +men!" + +Soon after, several of our people came running into the house, to inform +me that a vessel under full sail was coming into the harbour. Though my +heart bounded with joy, I repressed my feelings, and, affecting to pay +no attention to what was said, told Thompson to be on his guard, and not +betray any joy, as our release, and perhaps our lives, depended on our +conducting ourselves so as to induce the natives to suppose we were not +very anxious to leave them. We continued our work as if nothing had +happened, when, in a few minutes after, Maquina came in, and, seeing us +at work, appeared much surprised, and asked me if did not know that a +vessel had come. + +I answered in a careless manner, that it was nothing to me. "How, John," +said he, "you no glad go board?" I replied that I cared very little +about it, as I had become reconciled to their manner of living, and had +no wish to go away. He then told me that he had called a council of his +people respecting us, and that we must leave off work and be present at +it. + +The men having assembled at Maquina's house, he asked them what was +their opinion should be done with Thompson and myself, now a vessel had +arrived, and whether he had not better go on board himself, to make a +trade, and procure such articles as were wanted. Each one of the tribe +who wished, gave his opinion. Some were for putting us to death, and +pretending to the strangers that a different nation had cut off the +_Boston_; while others, less barbarous, were for sending us fifteen or +twenty miles back into the country, until the departure of the vessel. + +These, however, were the sentiments of the common people, the chiefs +opposing our being put to death, or injured, and several of them, among +the most forward of whom were Yealthlower and the young chief +Toowinnakinnish, were for immediately releasing us; but this, if he +could avoid it, by no means appeared to accord with Maquina's wishes. + +Having mentioned Toowinnakinnish, I shall briefly observe that he was a +young man of about twenty-three years old, the only son of +Toopeeshottee, the oldest and most respected chief of the tribe. His son +had always been remarkably kind and friendly to me, and I had in return +frequently made for him daggers, cheetolths, and other things, in my +best manner. He was one of the handsomest men among them, very amiable, +and much milder in his manners than any of the others, as well as neater +both in his person and house, at least his apartment, without even +excepting Maquina. + +With regard, however, to Maquina's going on board the vessel, which he +discovered a strong inclination to do, there was but one opinion, all +remonstrating against it, telling him that the captain would kill him or +keep him prisoner, in consequence of his having destroyed our ship. When +Maquina had heard their opinions, he told them that he was not afraid of +being hurt from going on board the vessel, but that he would, however, +as it respected that, be guided by John, whom he had always found true. +He then turned to me, and asked me if I thought there would be any +danger in his going on board. I answered, that I was not surprised at +the advice his people had given him, unacquainted as they were with the +manners of the white men, and judging them by their own; but if they had +been with them as much as I had, or even himself, they would think very +different. That he had almost always experienced good and civil +treatment from them, nor had he any reason to fear the contrary now, as +they never attempted to harm those who did not injure them; and if he +wished to go on board, he might do it, in my opinion, with security. + +After reflecting a few moments, he said, with much apparent +satisfaction, that if I would write a letter to the captain, telling him +good of him, that he had treated Thompson and myself kindly since we had +been with him, and to use him well, he would go. + +It may easily be supposed that I felt much joy at this determination, +but, knowing that the least incaution might annihilate all my hopes of +escape, was careful not to manifest it, and to treat his going or +staying as a matter perfectly indifferent to me. I told him that, if he +wished me to write such a letter, I had no objection, as it was the +truth, otherwise I could not have done it. + +I then proceeded to write the recommendatory letter, which the reader +will naturally imagine was of a somewhat different tenor from the one he +had required; for if deception is in any case warrantable, it was +certainly so in a situation like ours, where the only chance of +regaining that freedom of which we had been so unjustly deprived, +depended upon it; and I trust that few, even of the most rigid, will +condemn me with severity for making use of it, on an occasion which +afforded me the only hope of ever more beholding a Christian country, +and preserving myself, if not from death, at least from a life of +continued suffering. + +The letter which I wrote was nearly in the following terms:-- + + TO CAPTAIN---- + OF THE BRIG---- + NOOTKA, _July_ 19, 1805. + + SIR,--The bearer of this letter is the Indian king by the name + of Maquina. He was the instigator of the capture of the ship + _Boston_, of Boston, in North America, John Salter, captain, and + of the murder of twenty-five men of her crew, the two only + survivors being now on shore--Wherefore I hope you will take + care to confine him according to his merits, putting in your + dead-lights, and keeping so good a watch over him, that he + cannot escape from you. By so doing, we shall be able to obtain + our release in the course of a few hours. + + JOHN R. JEWITT, _Armourer of the "Boston"_ + _for himself, and_ + JOHN THOMPSON, _Sail-maker of the said ship_. + + +I have been asked how I dared to write in this manner: my answer is, +that from my long residence among these people, I knew that I had little +to apprehend from their anger on hearing of their king being confined, +while they knew his life depended upon my release, and that they would +sooner have given up five hundred white men, than have had him injured. +This will serve to explain the little apprehension I felt at their +menaces afterwards, for otherwise, sweet as liberty was to me, I should +hardly have ventured on so hazardous an experiment. + +On my giving the letter to Maquina, he asked me to explain it to him. +This I did line by line, as he pointed them out with his finger, but in +a sense very different from the real, giving him to understand that I +had written to the captain that, as he had been kind to me since I had +been taken by him, that it was my wish that the captain should treat him +accordingly, and give him what molasses, biscuit, and rum he wanted. + +When I had finished, placing his finger in a significant manner on my +name at the bottom, and eyeing me with a look that seemed to read my +inmost thoughts, he said to me, "John, you no lie?" Never did I undergo +such a scrutiny, or ever experience greater apprehensions than I felt at +that moment, when my destiny was suspended on the slightest thread, and +the least mark of embarrassment on mine, or suspicion of treachery on +his part, would probably have rendered my life the sacrifice. + +Fortunately I was able to preserve my composure, and my being painted in +the Indian manner, which Maquina had since my marriage required of me, +prevented any change in my countenance from being noticed, and I replied +with considerable promptitude, looking at him in my turn, with all the +confidence I could muster,-- + +"Why do you ask me such a question, Tyee? Have you ever known me to +lie?" + +"No." + +"Then how can you suppose I should tell you a lie now, since I have +never done it?" As I was speaking, he still continued looking at me with +the same piercing eye, but, observing nothing to excite his suspicion, +he told me that he believed what I said was true, and that he would go +on board, and gave orders to get ready his canoe. His chiefs again +attempted to dissuade him, using every argument for that purpose, while +his wives crowded around him, begging him on their knees not to trust +himself with the white men. Fortunately for my companion and myself, so +strong was his wish of going on board the vessel, that he was deaf to +their solicitations, and, making no other reply to them than "John no +lie," left the house, taking four prime skins with him as a present to +the captain. + +Scarcely had the canoe put off, when he ordered his men to stop, and, +calling to me, asked me if I did not want to go on board with him. +Suspecting this as a question merely intended to ensnare me, I replied +that I had no wish to do it, not having any desire to leave them. + +On going on board the brig, Maquina immediately gave his present of +skins and my letter to the captain, who, on reading it, asked him into +the cabin, where he gave him some biscuit and a glass of rum, at the +same time privately directing his mate to go forward, and return with +five or six of the men armed. When they appeared, the captain told +Maquina that he was his prisoner, and should continue so, until the two +men, whom he knew to be on shore, were released, at the same time +ordering him to be put in irons, and the windows secured, which was +instantly done, and a couple of men placed as a guard over him. Maquina +was greatly surprised and terrified at this reception; he, however, made +no attempt to resist, but requested the captain to permit one of his men +to come and see him. One of them was accordingly called, and Maquina +said something to him which the captain did not understand, but supposed +to be an order to release us, when, the man returning to the canoe, it +was paddled off with the utmost expedition to the shore. + +As the canoe approached, the inhabitants, who had all collected upon the +beach, manifested some uneasiness at not seeing their king on board, but +when, on its arrival, they were told that the captain had made him a +prisoner, and that John had spoke bad about him in the letter, they all, +both men and women, set up a loud howl, and ran backwards and forwards +upon the shore like so many lunatics, scratching their faces, and +tearing the hair in handfuls from their heads. + +After they had beat about in this manner for some time, the men ran to +their huts for their weapons, as if preparing to attack an invading +enemy; while Maquina's wives and the rest of the women came around me, +and, throwing themselves on their knees, begged me with tears to spare +his life; and Sat-sat-sok-sis, who kept constantly with me, taking me by +the hand, wept bitterly, and joined his entreaties to theirs, that I +would not let the white men kill his father. I told them not to afflict +themselves, that Maquina's life was in no danger, nor would the least +harm be done to him. + +The men were, however, extremely exasperated with me, more particularly +the common people, who came running in the most furious manner towards +me, brandishing their weapons, and threatening to cut me in pieces no +bigger than their thumb-nails, while others declared they would burn me +alive over a slow fire suspended by my heels. All this fury, however, +caused me but little alarm, as I felt convinced they would not dare to +execute their threats while the king was on board the brig. + +The chiefs took no part in this violent conduct, but came to me, and +inquired the reason why Maquina had been thus treated, and if the +captain intended to kill him. I told them that if they would silence the +people, so that I could be heard, I would explain all to them. They +immediately put a stop to the noise, when I informed them that the +captain, in confining Maquina, had done it only in order to make them +release Thompson and myself, as he well knew we were with them; and if +they would do that, their king would receive no injury, but be well +treated, otherwise he would be kept a prisoner. + +As many of them did not appear to be satisfied with this, and began to +repeat their murderous threats--"Kill me," said I to them, "if it is +your wish," throwing open the bearskin which I wore. "Here is my breast. +I am only one among so many, and can make no resistance; but unless you +wish to see your king hanging by his neck to that pole," pointing to the +yard-arm of the brig, "and the sailors firing at him with bullets, you +will not do it." + +"Oh no," was the general cry, "that must never be; but what must we do?" +I told them that their best plan would be to send Thompson on board, to +desire the captain to use Maquina well till I was released, which would +be soon. This they were perfectly willing to do, and I directed Thompson +to go on board. But he objected, saying that he would not leave me alone +with the savages. I told him not to be under any fear for me, for that +if I could get him off, I could manage well enough for myself; and that +I wished him, immediately on getting on board the brig, to see the +captain, and request him to keep Maquina close till I was released, as I +was in no danger while he had him safe. + +When I saw Thompson off, I asked the natives what they intended to do +with me. They said I must talk to the captain again, in another letter, +and tell him to let his boat come on shore with Maquina, and that I +should be ready to jump into the boat at the same time Maquina should +jump on shore. I told them that the captain, who knew that they had +killed my shipmates, would never trust his men so near the shore, for +fear they could kill them too, as they were so much more numerous, but +that if they would select any three of their number to go with me in a +canoe, when we came within hail, I would desire the captain to send his +boat with Maquina, to receive me in exchange for him. + +This appeared to please them, and after some whispering among the +chiefs, who, from what words I over-heard, concluded that if the captain +should refuse to send his boat with Maquina, the three men would have no +difficulty in bringing me back with them, they agreed to my proposal, +and selected three of their stoutest men to convey me. Fortunately, +having been for some time accustomed to see me armed, and suspecting no +design on my part, they paid no attention to the pistols that I had +about me. + +As I was going into the canoe, little Sat-sat-sok-sis, who could not +bear to part with me, asked me, with an affecting simplicity, since I +was going away to leave him, if the white men would not let his father +come on shore, and not kill him. I told him not to be concerned, for +that no one should injure his father, when, taking an affectionate leave +of me, and again begging me not to let the white men hurt his father, he +ran to comfort his mother, who was at a little distance, with the +assurances I had given him. + +On entering the canoe, I seated myself in the prow facing the three men, +having determined, if it was practicable, from the moment I found +Maquina was secured, to get on board the vessel before he was released, +hoping by that means to be enabled to obtain the restoration of what +property belonging to the _Boston_ still remained in the possession of +the savages, which I thought, if it could be done, a duty that I owed to +the owners. With feelings of joy impossible to be described did I quit +the savage shore, confident now that nothing could thwart my escape, or +prevent the execution of the plan that I had formed, as the men +appointed to convey and guard me were armed with nothing but their +paddles. + +As we came within hail of the brig, they at once ceased paddling, when, +presenting my pistols at them, I ordered them instantly to go on, or I +would shoot the whole of them. A proceeding so wholly unexpected threw +them into great consternation, and, resuming their paddles, in a few +moments, to my inexpressible delight, I once more found myself alongside +of a Christian ship, a happiness which I had almost despaired of ever +again enjoying. All the crew crowded to the side to see me as the canoe +came up, and manifested much joy at my safety. I immediately leaped on +board, where I was welcomed by the captain, Samuel Hill, of the brig +_Lydia_ of Boston, who congratulated me on my escape, informing me that +he had received my letter off Kloiz-zart[137] from the chief Machee +Ulatilla, who came off himself in his canoe to deliver it to him, on +which he immediately proceeded hither to aid me. I returned him my +thanks in the best manner I could for his humanity, though I hardly knew +what I said, such was the agitated state of my feelings at that moment, +with joy for my escape, thankfulness to the Supreme Being who had so +mercifully preserved me, and gratitude to those whom He had rendered +instrumental in my delivery, that I have no doubt that, what with my +strange dress, being painted with red and black from head to foot, +having a bearskin wrapped around me, and my long hair, which I was not +allowed to cut, fastened on the top of my head in a large bunch, with a +sprig of green spruce, I must have appeared more like one deranged than +a rational creature, as Captain Hill afterwards told me that he never +saw anything in the form of man look so wild as I did when I first came +on board. + +The captain then asked me into the cabin, where I found Maquina in +irons, with a guard over him. He looked very melancholy, but on seeing +me his countenance brightened up, and he expressed his pleasure with the +welcome of "_Wocash_, John," when, taking him by the hand, I asked the +captain's permission to take off his irons, assuring him that, as I was +with him, there was no danger of his being in the least troublesome. He +accordingly consented, and I felt a sincere pleasure in freeing from +fetters a man who, though he had caused the death of my poor comrades, +had nevertheless always proved my friend and protector, and whom I had +requested to be thus treated, only with a view of securing my liberty. +Maquina smiled, and appeared much pleased at this mark of attention from +me. When I had freed the king from his irons, Captain Hill wished to +learn the particulars of our capture, observing that an account of the +destruction of the ship and her crew had been received at Boston before +he sailed, but that nothing more was known, except that two of the men +were living, for whose rescue the owners had offered a liberal reward, +and that he had been able to get nothing out of the old man, whom the +sailors had supplied so plentifully with grog as to bring him too much +by the head to give any information. + +I gave him a correct statement of the whole proceeding, together with +the manner in which my life and that of my comrade had been preserved. +On hearing my story, he was greatly irritated against Maquina, and said +he ought to be killed. I observed that, however ill he might have acted +in taking our ship, yet that it might perhaps be wrong to judge an +uninformed savage with the same severity as a civilised person, who had +the light of religion and the laws of society to guide him. That +Maquina's conduct in taking our ship arose from an insult that he +thought he had received from Captain Salter, and from the unjustifiable +conduct of some masters of vessels who had robbed him, and, without +provocation, killed a number of his people. Besides, that a regard for +the safety of others ought to prevent his being put to death, as I had +lived long enough with these people to know that revenge of an injury is +held sacred by them, and that they would not fail to retaliate, should +we kill their king, on the first vessel or boat's crew that should give +them an opportunity; and that, though he might consider executing him as +but an act of justice, it would probably cost the lives of many +Americans. + +The captain appeared to be convinced from what I said of the impolicy of +taking Maquina's life, and said that he would leave it wholly with me +whether to spare or kill him, as he was resolved to incur no censure in +either case. I replied that I most certainly should never take the life +of a man who had preserved mine, had I no other reason, but as there was +some of the _Boston's_ property still remaining on shore, I considered +it a duty that I owed to those who were interested in that ship, to try +to save it for them, and with that view I thought it would be well to +keep him on board till it was given up. He concurred in this proposal, +saying, if there was any of the property left, it most certainly ought +to be got. + +During this conversation Maquina was in great anxiety, as, from what +English he knew, he perfectly comprehended the subject of our +deliberation; constantly interrupting me to inquire what we had +determined to do with him, what the captain said, if his life would be +spared, and if I did not think that Thompson would kill him. I pacified +him as well as I was able, by telling him that he had nothing to fear +from the captain, that he would not be hurt, and that if Thompson +wished to kill him, he would not be allowed to do it. He would then +remind me that I was indebted to him for my life, and that I ought to do +by him as he had done by me. I assured him that such was my intention, +and I requested him to remain quiet, and not alarm himself, as no harm +was intended him. But I found it extremely difficult to convince him of +this, as it accorded so little with the ideas of revenge entertained by +them. I told him, however, that he must restore all the property still +in his possession belonging to the ship. This he was perfectly ready to +do, happy to escape on such terms. + +But as it was now past five, and too late for the articles to be +collected and brought off, I told him that he must content himself to +remain on board with me that night, and in the morning he should be set +on shore as soon as the things were delivered. To this he agreed, on +condition that I would remain with him in the cabin. I then went upon +deck, and the canoe that brought me having been sent back, I hailed the +inhabitants and told them that their king had agreed to stay on board +till the next day, when he would return, but that no canoes must attempt +to come near the vessel during the night, as they would be fired upon. +They answered, "_Woho, woho_"--"Very well, very well." + +I then returned to Maquina, but so great were his terrors, that he would +not allow me to sleep, constantly disturbing me with his questions, and +repeating, "John, you know, when you was alone, and more than five +hundred men were your enemies, I was your friend, and prevented them +from putting you and Thompson to death, and now I am in the power of +your friends, you ought to do the same by me." I assured him that he +would be detained on board no longer than whilst the property was +released, and that as soon as it was done, he would be set at liberty. + +At daybreak I hailed the natives, and told them that it was Maquina's +order that they should bring off the cannon and anchors, and whatever +remained with them of the cargo of the ship. This they set about doing +with the utmost expedition, transporting the cannon and anchors by +lashing together two of their largest canoes, and covering them with +planks, and in the course of two hours they delivered everything on +board that I could recollect, with Thompson's and my chest, containing +the papers of the ship, etc. + +When everything belonging to the ship had been restored, Maquina was +permitted to return in his canoe, which had been sent for him, with a +present of what skins he had collected, which were about sixty, for the +captain, in acknowledgment of his having spared his life, and allowed +him to depart unhurt. + +Such was also the transport he felt when Captain Hill came into the +cabin, and told him that he was at liberty to go, that he threw off his +mantle, which consisted of four of the very best skins, and gave it to +him as a mark of his gratitude; in return for which the captain +presented him with a new greatcoat and hat, with which he appeared much +delighted. The captain then desired me to inform him that he should +return to that part of the coast in November, and that he wished him to +keep what skins he should get, which he would buy of him. This Maquina +promised, saying to me at the same time, "John, you know I shall be then +at Tashees, but when you come, make _pow_," which means, fire a gun, "to +let me know, and I will come down." When he came to the side of the +brig, he shook me cordially by the hand, and told me that he hoped I +would come to see him again in a big ship, and bring much plenty of +blankets, biscuit, molasses, and rum, for him and his son, who loved me +a great deal; and that he would keep all the furs he got for me, +observing at the same time, that he should never more take a letter of +recommendation from any one, or ever trust himself on board a vessel +unless I was there. Then, grasping both my hands with much emotion, +while the tears trickled down his cheeks, he bade me farewell, and stept +into the canoe, which immediately paddled him on shore. + +Notwithstanding my joy at my deliverance, and the pleasing anticipation +I felt of once more beholding a civilised country, and again being +permitted to offer up my devotions in a Christian church, I could not +avoid experiencing a painful sensation on parting with the savage chief, +who had preserved my life, and in general treated me with kindness, and, +considering their ideas and manners, much better than could have been +expected. + +My pleasure was also greatly damped by an unfortunate accident that +occurred to Toowinnakinnish. That interesting young chief had come on +board in the first canoe in the morning, anxious to see and comfort his +king. He was received with much kindness by Captain Hill, from the +favourable account I gave of him, and invited to remain on board. As the +muskets were delivered, he was in the cabin with Maquina, where was +also the captain, who, on receiving them, snapped a number in order to +try the locks; unluckily one of them happened to be loaded with swan +shot, and, going off, discharged its contents into the body of poor +Toowinnakinnish, who was sitting opposite. On hearing the report, I +instantly ran into the cabin, where I found him weltering in his blood, +with the captain, who was greatly shocked at the accident, endeavouring +to assist him. + +We raised him up, and did everything in our power to aid and comfort +him, telling him that we felt much grieved at his misfortune, and that +it was wholly unintentional; this he told me he was perfectly satisfied +of, and while we dressed and bound up his wounds, in the best manner we +could, he bore the pain with great calmness, and, bidding me farewell, +was put on board one of the canoes and taken on shore, where, after +languishing a few days, he expired. To me his misfortune was a source of +much affliction, as he had no share in the massacre of our crew, was of +a most amiable character, and had always treated me with the greatest +kindness and hospitality. + +The brig being under weigh, immediately on Maquina's quitting us, we +proceeded to the northward, constantly keeping the shore in sight, and +touching at various places for the purpose of trading. + +Having already exceeded the bounds I had prescribed myself, I shall not +attempt any account of our voyage upon the coast, or a description of +the various nations we met with in the course of it, among whom were a +people of a very singular appearance, called by the sailors the +_Wooden-lips_.[138] They have many skins, and the trade is principally +managed by their women, who are not only expert in making a bargain, but +as dexterous in the management of their canoes as the men are elsewhere. + +After a period of nearly four months from our leaving Nootka, we +returned from the northward to Columbia River, for the purpose of +procuring masts, etc., for our brig, which had suffered considerably in +her spars during a gale of wind. We proceeded about ten miles up the +river to a small Indian village, where we heard from the inhabitants +that Captains Clark and Lewis, from the United States of America, had +been there about a fortnight before, on their journey overland, and had +left several medals with them, which they showed us.[139] The river at +this place is of considerable breadth, and both sides of it from its +entrance covered with forests of the very finest pine timber, fir, and +spruce, interspersed with Indian settlements. + +From this place, after providing ourselves with spars, we sailed for +Nootka, where we arrived in the latter part of November.[140] The tribe +being absent, the agreed signal was given, by firing a cannon, and in a +few hours after a canoe appeared, which landed at the village, and, +putting the king on shore, came off to the brig. Inquiry was immediately +made by Kinneclimmets, who was one of the three men in the canoe, if +John was there, as the king had some skins to sell them if he was. I +then went forward and invited them on board, with which they readily +complied, telling me that Maquina had a number of skins with him, but +that he would not come on board unless I would go on shore for him. This +I agreed to, provided they would remain in the brig in the meantime. To +this they consented, and the captain, taking them into the cabin, +treated them with bread and molasses. I then went on shore in the canoe, +notwithstanding the remonstrances of Thompson and the captain, who, +though he wanted the skins, advised me by no means to put myself in +Maquina's power; but I assured him that I had no fear as long as those +men were on board. + +As I landed, Maquina came up and welcomed me with much joy: on inquiring +for the men, I told him that they were to remain till my return. "Ah, +John," said he, "I see you are afraid to trust me, but if they had come +with you, I should not have hurt you, though I should have taken good +care not to let you go on board of another vessel." He then took his +chest of skins, and, stepping into the canoe, I paddled him alongside +the brig, where he was received and treated by Captain Hill with the +greatest cordiality, who bought of him his skins. He left us much +pleased with his reception, inquiring of me how many moons it would be +before I should come back again to see him and his son; saying that he +would keep all his furs for me, and that as soon as my son, who was then +about five months old, was of a suitable age to take from his mother, he +would send for him, and take care of him as his own.[141] + +As soon as Maquina had quitted us, we got under weigh, and stood again +to the northward. We continued on the coast until the 11th of August, +1806,[142] when, having completed our trade, we sailed for China, to the +great joy of all our crew, and particularly so to me. With a degree of +satisfaction that I can ill express, did I quit a coast to which I was +resolved nothing should again tempt me to return, and as the tops of the +mountains sank in the blue waves of the ocean, I seemed to feel my heart +lightened of an oppressive load. + +We had a prosperous passage to China, arriving at Macao in December, +from whence the brig proceeded to Canton. There I had the good fortune +to meet a townsman and an old acquaintance in the mate of an English +East Indiaman, named John Hill, whose father, a wealthy merchant in Hull +in the Baltic trade, was a next-door neighbour to mine. Shortly after +our arrival, the captain being on board of an English ship, and +mentioning his having had the good fortune to liberate two men of the +_Boston's_ crew from the savages, and that one of them was named Jewitt, +my former acquaintance immediately came on board the brig to see me. + +Words can ill express my feelings on seeing him. Circumstanced as I was, +among persons who were entire strangers to me, to meet thus in a foreign +land with one between whom and myself a considerable intimacy had +subsisted, was a pleasure that those alone who have been in a similar +situation can properly estimate. He appeared on his part no less happy +to see me, whom he supposed to be dead, as the account of our capture +had been received in England some time before his sailing, and all my +friends supposed me to have been murdered. From this young man I +received every attention and aid that a feeling heart interested in the +fate of another could confer. He supplied me with a new suit of clothes +and a hat, a small sum of money for my necessary expenses, and a number +of little articles for sea stores on my voyage to America. I also gave +him a letter for my father, in which I mentioned my wonderful +preservation and escape through the humanity of Captain Hill, with whom +I should return to Boston. This letter he enclosed to his father by a +ship that was just sailing, in consequence of which it was received much +earlier than it otherwise would have been. + +We left China in February 1807, and, after a pleasant voyage of one +hundred and fourteen days, arrived at Boston. My feelings on once more +finding myself in a Christian country, among a people speaking the same +language with myself, may be more readily conceived than expressed. In +the post office in that place I found a letter for me from my mother, +acknowledging the receipt of mine from China, expressing the great joy +of my family on hearing of my being alive and well, whom they had for a +long time given up for dead, and requesting me to write to them on +receiving her letter, which I accordingly did. While in Boston I was +treated with much kindness and hospitality by the owners of the ship +_Boston_, Messrs. Francis and Thomas Amory of that place, to whom I feel +myself under great obligations for their goodness to me, and the +assistance which they so readily afforded a stranger in distress. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[137] This seems another variant of Klaosaht. + +[138] These are doubtless the Hydahs and their kindred, the women of +whom insert a wooden or ivory trough in their lower lip. + +[139] Lewis and Clark reached the mouth of Columbia River on the 15th of +November 1805, and wintered at "Fort Clatsop," as they called their +dwelling among the then numerous Clatsop Indians, until the 23rd of +March 1806, when they began the return journey. The Indians have long +ago vanished from the lower Columbia, the remnant of the Clatsops, and +the Chinooks on the opposite side, now wearing out the tribal existence +in inland Reservations. But it is still possible to come across one of +the medals which the explorers distributed amongst them. + +[140] It is clear, therefore, from this statement that Lewis and Clark +had left Fort Clatsop much more than a fortnight before the vessel in +which Jewitt was arrived there; for it is impossible to suppose that the +latter took from April to November to get at spars and make the return +voyage to Nootka. But the journal of Lewis and Clark was not published +until 1814, so that, when Jewitt wrote, he had no ready means of +checking the Indians' statement, though neither he nor his editor seems +to have troubled books much. + +[141] The cavalier manner in which Jewitt abandons his family is quite +in the fur-trader's fashion. It does not seem that he even asked to see +his Indian "princess!" + +[142] If Jewitt's information about the departure of Lewis and Clark +from the Columbia River is even approximately accurate, the date must be +wrong by a year, and the subsequent one quite as far out of the due +reckoning. 1806 may be a misprint for 1807. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +I. THE "BOSTON'S" CREW + + Names of the Crew of the Ship _Boston_, belonging to Boston in + Massachusetts, owned by Messrs. F. and T. Amory, Merchants of + that place--All of whom, excepting two, were on the 22nd of + March, 1803, barbarously murdered by the savages of Nootka. + + John Salter, of Boston, Captain. + B. Delouisa, Ditto, Chief Mate. + William Ingraham, of New York, Second Mate. + Edward Thompson, of Blyth (England), Boatswain. + Adam Siddle, of Hull, ditto, Carpenter. + Philip Brown, of Cambridge (Mass.), Joiner. + John Dorthy, of Situate, ditto, Blacksmith. + Abraham Waters, of Philadelphia, Steward. + Francis Duffield, of Penton (England), Tailor. + John Wilson (blackman), of Virginia, Cook. + William Caldwell, of Boston, Seaman. + Joseph Miner, of Newport, Ditto. + William Robinson, of Leigh[143] (Scotland), Ditto. + Thomas Wilson, of Air,[144] ditto, Ditto. + Andrew Kelly, Ditto, ditto, Ditto. + Robert Burton, of the Isle of Man, Ditto. + James M'Clay, of Dublin, Ditto. + Thomas Platten, of Blackney, Norfolk, Eng. Ditto. + Thomas Newton, of Hull, " Ditto. + Charles Bates, of St. James Deeping, " Ditto. + John Hall, of Newcastle, " Ditto. + Samuel Wood, of Glasgow (Scotland), Ditto. + Peter Alstrom, Norwegian, Ditto. + Francis Marten, Portuguese, Ditto. + Jupiter Senegal (blackman) Ditto. + John Thompson, Philadelphia, Sail Maker, + who escaped--since dead. + John R. Jewitt, of Hull (England), Armourer, + +the writer of the Journal from whence this Narrative is taken, and who +at present, March 1815, resides in Middletown, in the State of +Connecticut. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[143] Leith. + +[144] Ayr. + + + + +II. WAR-SONG OF THE NOOTKA TRIBE + +_Commencing with a Chorus repeated at the end of each line._ + + Hah-yee hah yar har, he yar hah. + Hah-yah hee yar har--he yar hah. + Iye ie ee yah har--ee yie hah. + Ie yar ee yar hah--ee yar yah. + Ie yar ee I yar yar hah--Ie yar ee yee yah! + + Ie-yee ma hi-chill at-sish Kla-ha--Hah-ye-hah. + Que nok ar parts arsh waw--Ie yie-yar. + Waw-hoo naks sar hasch--Yar-hah. I-yar hee I-yar. + Waw hoo naks ar hasch yak-queets sish ni-ese, + Waw har. Hie yee ah-hah. + +Repeated over and over, with gestures and brandishing of weapons. + + +_Note._ + +_Ie-yee ma hi-chill_ signifies, "Ye do not know." It appears to be a +poetical mode of expression, the common one for "You do not know" being +_Wik-kum-atash_; from this, it would seem that they have two languages, +one for their songs and another for common use. The general meaning of +this first stanza appears to be, "Ye little know, ye men of Klahar, what +valiant warriors we are. Poorly can our foes contend with us, when we +come on with our daggers," etc. + +The Nootkians have no songs of an historical nature, nor do they appear +to have any tradition respecting their origin.[145] + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[145] That is not quite true. They have several of a vague order: one, +for example, is that all the Indians are sprung from Quawteaht and the +Thunder Birds. Another is that all the tribes on the West Coast come +from the west; the different tribes having sprung from the canoes full +of migrants stranded by a storm here and there, and so forth. + + + + +III. A LIST OF WORDS + +_In the Nootkian Language, the most in use._[146] + + + Check-up, Man. + Kloots-mah, Woman. + Noowexa, Father. + Hooma-hexa, Mother. + Tanassis, Child. + Katlahtik, Brother. + Kloot-chem-up, Sister. + Tanassis-check-up, Son. + Tanassis-kloots-mah, Daughter. + Tau-hat-se-tee, Head. + Kassee, Eye. + Hap-se-up, Hair. + Neetsa, Nose. + Parpee, Ears. + Chee-chee, Teeth. + Choop, Tongue. + Kook-a-nik-sa, Hands. + Klish-klin, Feet. + Oop-helth, Sun or Moon. + Tar-toose, Stars. + Sie-yah, Sky. + Toop-elth, Sea. + Cha-hak, Fresh water. + Meet-la, Rain. + Queece, Snow. + Noot-chee, Mountain or hill. + Kla-tur-miss, Earth. + Een-nuk-see, Fire or fuel. + Mook-see, Rock. + Muk-ka-tee, House. + Wik, No. + He-ho, Yes. + Kak-koelth, Slave. + Mah-hack, Whale. + Klack-e-miss, Oil. + Quart-lak, Sea-otter. + Coo-coo-ho-sa, Seal. + Moo-watch, Bear. + So-har, Salmon. + Toosch-qua, Cod. + Pow-ee, Halibut. + Kloos-a-mit, Herring. + Chap-atz, Canoe. + Oo-wha-pa, Paddle. + Chee-me-na, Fish-hook. + Chee-men, Fish-hooks. + Sick-a-minny, Iron. + Toophelth, Cloth. + Cham-mass, Fruit. + Cham-mas-sish, Sweet or pleasant to the taste. + Moot-sus, Powder. + Chee-pokes, Copper. + Hah-welks, Hungry. + Nee-sim-mer-hise, Enough. + Chat-ta-yek, Knife or dagger. + Klick-er-yek, Rings. + Quish-ar, Smoke. + Mar-met-ta, Goose or duck. + Pook-shit-tle, To blow. + Een-a-qui-shit-tle, To kindle a fire. + Ar-teese, To bathe. + Ma-mook-su-mah, To go to fish. + Smootish-check-up, Warrior. + Cha-alt-see klat-tur wah, Go off, or go away. + Ma-kook, To sell. + Kah-ah-pah-chilt, Give me something. + Oo-nah, How many. + Iy ah-ish, Much. + Ko-mme-tak, I understand. + I-yee ma hak, I do not understand. + Em-ma-chap, To play. + Kle-whar, To laugh. + Mac-kam-mah-sish, Do you want to buy. + Kah-ah-coh, Bring it. + Sah-wauk, One. + Att-la, Two. + Kat-sa, Three. + Mooh, Four. + Soo-chah, Five. + Noo-poo, Six. + At-tle-poo, Seven. + At-lah-quelth, Eight. + Saw-wauk-quelth, Nine. + Hy-o, Ten. + Sak-aitz, Twenty. + Soo-jewk, One hundred. + Hy-e-oak, One thousand. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[146] Most of the words in this vocabulary are given with reasonable +correctness, though the transliteration is somewhat primitive. A fuller +and more accurate one may be found in the Appendix to Sproat's _Scenes +and Studies of Savage Life_ (1868), pp. 295-309, so that it is not +necessary to annotate the present one. Those in Cook's _Voyage_ and in +Dawson and Tolmie's _Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of +British Columbia_ (1884), are short and imperfect. I have a much fuller +one in manuscript. + + + + +INDEX + + + PAGE + +Aht Indians, The, 19 +---- The various tribes of, 23 + +A-y-chart, Journey to, 193 +---- Natives, conflict with, 194 + + +Bear, Capture of the, 164 +---- Management of the, 163 + +Boston, Arrival at, 244 +---- Reception at, by friends, 245 + +_Boston_, The-- + Burning of, 83 + Capture of, 32, 64 + List of crew of, 247 + Murder of crew of, 68 + + +Canoes, Description of, 124 + +Cayuquets, The, 136 + +China, Arrival at, 244 + +Celebration, A religious, 205 + +Climate, 221 + +Cook and Vancouver, 38 + +Cooptee, Town of, 145, 168 + + +Death, Indian customs observed at, 173 + + +Feast, An Indian, 80 + +Fruit, Various kinds of, 162 + + +Geese, Mode of capture of, 208 + + +Herring, Mode of capture of, 171 + +Hull, Leave-taking at, 51 + + +Klaizzarts, The, 132 + +Kla-oo-quates, The, 134 + +Kletsup Root, Description of, 167 + + +Ife-waw, Method of securing, 116 + + +Jewitt-- + Birth of, 43 + Domestic management, 204 + Early life of, 44 + Illness of, 212 + Marriage of, 201 + Parentage of, 43 + Proposal to release, 232 + Proposal to murder, 214 + Reception of, by savages, 70 + Received by Captain Hill, 235 + Sufferings from cold, 211 + Suspicions of, by Maquina, 228 + Termination of captivity, 234 + +Journal, Jewitt's, Commencement of, 89 + + +King, Privileges of the, 215 + + +Language, Commencement to learn, 93 + +_Lydia_, The, Arrival of, 224 +----Departure of, 241 +----Letter to captain of, 227 + + +_Manchester_, The, 154 + +Maquina--, 59, 188 + Capture and Imprisonment of, 229 + Council concerning, 236 + Release of, 238 + Visit of, to the _Lydia_, 243 + +Mooachats, The, 38 + +Moon, Eclipse of the, in 1805, 208 + + +Newchemass, The, 136 + +Native, Indecent burial of a, 212 + +Natives, Intercourse with, 58 + +Nettinahts, The, 21 + +Nootka Sound, 28, 95 +---- ---- Return to, 72 +---- ---- Voyage to, 53 + +Nootkians, The-- + Complexion and physique, 113 + Diseases of, 220 + Dress of, 105 + Filthiness of, 187 + Food of, 110 + General conduct of, 225 + Houses of, 97 + Mode of living of, 108 + Musical instruments of, 129 + Ornaments and decorations of, 115, 117 + Personal appearance of, 112 + Religion of, 216 + Slaves of, 130 + Sports of, 120 + Superstitions of, 217 + War-song of, 248 + +Nootkian language, List of words, 249 + + +Porpoises, Sea, Capture of, 56 + + +Quahootze, The celebration of, 165 + + +Salmon, Method of capture of the, 121, 148 + +Salter, Captain John, 48, 55 + +Savages, Treatment of, by English Commanders, 156, 161 + +Savagedom in Western Vancouver, 16 + +Sea-otter, Description of the, 120 + +Sundays at Nootka, 142 + + +Tashees, 147 + +Thompson-- + Escape by stratagem of, 74 + Escape from death of, 90 + Reception of, by crew of the _Lydia_, 232 + +Tootoosch-- + Description of, 174 + Death of, 181 + Funeral of, 182 + Singular Derangement of, 176 + +Toowinnakinnish, 235, 240 + +Trade, Articles of, 137 + +Tribes, Arrival of neighbouring, 77 + +Twins, Custom at birth of, 218 + + +Ulatilla, 198 + +Upquesta, Town of, 168 +----Reception at, 169 + + +War, Preparations for, with the A-y-charts, 192 + +Whale, Method of capture of, 122, 178 + +Whale-oil, Method of procuring, 179 + +Whaling, Observances preparatory to, 180 + +Wickinninish Native, Insult of, 191 + +Wife, Departure of Jewitt's, 213 + +Wooden-lips, The, 241 + + +Yama fruit, Species of, 161 + +Yealthlower, Cruelty of, 207 + + +MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + _CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS._ + + The Investors' Review. + EDITED BY A. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Adventures of John Jewitt</p> +<p> Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island</p> +<p>Author: John Rodgers Jewitt</p> +<p>Editor: Robert Brown</p> +<p>Release Date: November 14, 2011 [eBook #38010]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by Moti Ben-Ari<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org">http://www.archive.org</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/adventuresofjohn00jewiuoft"> + http://www.archive.org/details/adventuresofjohn00jewiuoft</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span><br /></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> +<a href="images/i002.jpg"><img src="images/i002-t.jpg" width="250" height="300" alt="Portrait of Dr. Robert Brown" title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />Portrait of Dr. Robert Brown</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT</h1> + +<div class="center"> +ONLY SURVIVOR OF THE CREW OF THE SHIP<br /> +<i>BOSTON</i><br /> +DURING A CAPTIVITY OF NEARLY THREE YEARS<br /> +AMONG THE<br /> +INDIANS OF NOOTKA SOUND<br /> +IN VANCOUVER ISLAND +<br /><br /> +EDITED<br /> +<i>WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES</i><br /> +BY +</div> + +<h2>ROBERT BROWN, Ph.D., M.A., F.L.S.</h2> +<div class="center"> +COMMANDER OF THE FIRST VANCOUVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION<br /> +<br /> +WITH THIRTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS<br /> +<br /><br /><br /> +CLEMENT WILSON<br /> +<span class="smcap">29 Paternoster Row, London, E.C.</span><br /> +1896<br /> +<br /> +[<i>All Rights Reserved</i>] +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> +<div class="center"> +MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> +<h2>IN MEMORY</h2> + + +<p>A sad interest attaches to this little book. Although +published after his death, and therefore deprived of his +final revision, it was not the last work which Dr. Robert +Brown did. His manuscript was actually completed +many months ago, but at his own request it was returned +to him to receive a last careful overhaul at his +hands. This revision had been practically finished, +and the MS. lay ready uppermost among the papers in +his desk, where it was found after his death. Dr. Brown +died on the morning of the 26th of October, 1895, working +almost to his last hour. Before the leader he had +written for the <i>Standard</i> on the evening of the 25th had +come under the eyes of its readers, the hand that had +penned it was cold in death. Between the evening and +the morning he went home. He was only fifty-three, +but "a righteous man, though he die before his time, +shall be at rest."</p> + +<p>And in one sense Dr. Brown needed rest—ay, even +this last and sweetest rest of all. His life had been one +of unremitting work—work well done, which the busy, +hurrying world mostly heeded not, knowing naught of +the hand that did it. Some twenty years ago, when I +first knew him, he was a fair, stalwart Northerner, full of +vigour, mirthful also, and apparently looking out on the +voyage of life with the confident, joyous eye of one who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +felt he had strength within him to conquer. His latter +days were saddened by incessant toil, performed in +weakness of body and jadedness of brain, and by the +feeling that his best work, the work into which he put +his rich stores of knowledge, was neither recognised nor +requited as it should have been.</p> + +<p>To a sensitive man the daily wear and tear of a +journalist's life in London is often murderous, always +exhausting—and Dr. Brown was very sensitive. Beneath +the genial exterior, which seemed to indicate a careless, +light-hearted spirit, lay great depths of feeling, +and a tenderness that shrank from expressing itself. +The man was too proud and self-restrained to betray +these depths even to those nearest and dearest to +him. This was at once a nobility in him and a weakness. +Had he opened his heart more, he would have +chafed and fretted less, little annoyances would not +have become mountain loads of care. But the truth +is, Dr. Brown was not cut out for the life of an everyday +journalist, either by training, habits, or disposition. +The ideal post for him would have been that of a +professor at some great university, where he could have +had abundant leisure to pursue his favourite studies, +where young men would have surrounded him and +listened with delight to the outpouring of the wealth of +lore with which his capacious intellect was stored. His +lot was otherwise cast, and he accepted it manfully, +battling with his destiny to his last hours, grimly and in +silence of soul, intent only on one thing, to lift his +children clear above the necessity for treading the same +rough road upon which he had worn himself out.</p> + +<p>Other and worthier hands than mine may trace, it is +to be hoped, the story of his life, his expeditions in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +America and Greenland, and his many literary labours not +only in popularising scientific subjects, with a thoroughness +and attractiveness too little recognised, but in walks +apart where the multitude could not judge him. My +dominant feeling about him for many years has been one +of regret that he should be wearing his life away so fast. +He never learned to play; to be completely idle for a day +even became, latterly, irksome, almost irritating, to him. +His fingers itched to hold the pen, to handle a book. +Although in earlier times he could enjoy a brief holiday, +he ever mixed work with his pleasure; could, indeed, +accept no pleasure which did not imply work somewhere +close to his hand. Thus his various journeys to Morocco, +ostensibly taken, at any rate the earlier of them, to +escape from all kinds of work, and from the sight of the +day's newspaper, ended in his becoming the foremost +authority in Great Britain upon the literature, present +social condition, and probable future of that perishing +country. The acquisition of this knowledge was all in +his day's enjoyment.</p> + +<p>The testimony of the introduction and notes to this +little book is enough to prove how thoroughly and +conscientiously everything that Dr. Brown undertook +was done. The question of payment rarely entered +into his calculations. Some of his very best work was +done for nothing, because he loved to do it. Witness +his edition of <i>Leo Africanus</i>, prepared for the Hakluyt +Society, and his innumerable memoirs to the various +learned Societies of which he was a member.</p> + +<p>Few of Dr. Brown's London friends were aware that +his attainments as a scientific botanist were of the +highest order. Yet in this department of science alone +he had written thirty papers and reports, besides an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +advanced text-book of Botany (published by William +Blackwood and Sons), before the summer of 1872, when +he was only thirty years of age. These were entirely +outside his contributions to general literature on that +and other subjects, already at that date numerous; +and if we add to the list the various reports, essays, +memoranda contributed by him to the Royal Physical +Society of Edinburgh, of which he was President, to the +Royal Geographical Society, of whose Council he was a +member at his death, and to numerous other bodies, as +well as to scientific and popular journals, on geographical, +geological, and zoological subjects, from first to last the +total mounts to several hundreds. In these branches +of science his heart lay always, but he laboured for his +daily bread and to give to him that needed.</p> + +<p>The portrait forming the frontispiece to this volume is +from a photograph of Dr. Brown taken in 1870, just after +his return from his last expedition to Greenland, and +represents him much as he looked when, some years later, +he first came to London, after failing to obtain the chair of +Botany in Edinburgh University. That was a disappointment +which he cannot be said ever to have entirely surmounted. +The memory of it to some extent kept him +aloof from his fellow-labourers in the world of journalism. +What work he had to do he did loyally, manfully, and +with the most scrupulous care; but he lived a man apart, +more or less, from his first coming among us to the end. +In his family circle, and where he was really known, +his loss has brought a great sorrow.</p> + +<div class="right"> +A. J. W. +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">London</span>, <i>February 16, 1896</i>.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">INTRODUCTION. <span class="smcap">By Dr. Robert Brown</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER I</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Birth, Parentage, and Early Life of the Author</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER II</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Voyage to Nootka Sound</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER III</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Intercourse with the Natives—Maquina—Seizure of the</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Vessel and Murder of the Crew</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER IV</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Reception of Jewitt by the Savages—Escape of Thompson—Arrival</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">of Neighbouring Tribes—An Indian Feast</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER V</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Burning of the Vessel—Commencement of Jewitt's Journal</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER VI</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Description of Nootka Sound—Manner of Building</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Houses—Furniture—Dresses</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER VII</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Appearance of the Natives—Ornaments—Otter-Hunting—Fishing—Canoes</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER VIII</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Music—Musical Instruments—Slaves—Neighbouring</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Tribes—Trade with these—Army</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER IX</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Situation of the Author—Removal to Tashees—Fishing Parties</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER X</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Conversation with Maquina—Fruits—Religious Ceremonies—Visit</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">to Upquesta</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XI</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Return to Nootka (Friendly Cove)—Death of Maquina's</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nephew—Insanity of Tootoosch—An Indian Mountebank</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XII</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">War with the A-y-Charts—A Night Attack—Proposals to</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Purchase the Author</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XIII</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Marriage of the Author—His Illness—Dismisses his</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wife—Religion of the Natives—Climate</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">CHAPTER XIV</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Arrival of the Brig "Lydia"—Stratagem of the Author—Its Success</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">APPENDIX</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">I. <span class="smcap">The "Boston's" Crew</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_247">247</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">II. <span class="smcap">War-Song of the Nootka Tribe</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">III. <span class="smcap">A List of Words</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">INDEX</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Portrait of Dr. Robert Brown</span> (1870)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dr. Brown's "Boy"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Port San Juan Indians</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Ohyaht Indian</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Indian Encampment near the Landing-stage, Esquimault</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Habitations in Nootka Sound (Temp. 1803)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Interior of a Habitation in Nootka Sound</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nootka Sound Indians</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Indian Canoes, Victoria, V. I. (Temp. 1863)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Uk-Lulac-Aht Indian</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Salmon Wear near the Indian Village of Quamichan, V. I.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Callicum and Maquilla, Chiefs of Nootka Sound (Temp. 1803)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Indian Chief's Grave (Temp. 1863)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span><br /></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> + +<h2>ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT.</h2> + +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> + +<p>Many years ago—when America was in the midst of +war, when railways across the continent were but the +dream of sanguine men, and when the Pacific was a faraway +sea—the writer of these lines passed part of a +pleasant summer in cruising along the western shores +of Vancouver Island. Our ship's company was not +distinguished, for it consisted of two fur-traders and +an Indian "boy," and the sloop in which the crew and +passengers sailed was so small, that, when the wind failed, +and the brown folk ashore looked less amiable and the +shore more rugged than was desirable, we put her and +ourselves beyond hail by the aid of what seamen know +as a "white ash breeze." Out of one fjord we went, only +to enter another so like it that there was often a difficulty +in deciding by the mere appearance of the shore +which was which. Everywhere the dense forest of Douglas +fir and Menzies spruce covered the country from the +water's edge to the summit of the rounded hills which +here and there caught the eye in the still little known, +but at that date almost entirely unexplored interior. +Wherever a tree could obtain a foothold, there a tree<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +grew, until in places their roots were at times laved by +the spray. Beneath this thick clothing of heavy timber +flourished an almost equally dense undergrowth of +shrubs, which until +then were only +known to us from +the specimens introduced +from North-West +America into +the European gardens. +Gay were the +thickets of thimbleberry<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +and salmonberry<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +wherever the +soil was rich, and +for miles the ground +was carpeted with +the salal,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> while the +huckleberry,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> the +crab-apple,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> and the +flowering currant<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +varied the monotony +of the gloomy +woods. In places +the ginseng, or, as +the woodmen call +it, the "devil's +walking-stick,"<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> with its long prickly stem and palm-like +head of great leaves, imparted an almost tropical aspect +to scenery which, seen from the deck of our little craft, +looked so like that of Southern Norway, that I have +never seen the latter without recalling the outer limits +of British Columbia. On the few flat spits where the +sun reached, the gigantic cedars<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> and broad-leaved +maples<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> lighted up the scene, while the dogwood,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> with +its large white flowers reflected in the water of some +river which, after a turbulent course, had reached the sea +through a placid mouth, or a Menzies arbutus,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> whose +glossy leaves and brown bark presented a more +southern facies to the sombre jungles, afforded here +and there a relief to the never-ending fir and pine and +spruce.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 174px;"> +<a href="images/i014.jpg"><img src="images/i014-t.jpg" width="174" height="287" alt="DR. BROWN'S "BOY."" title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />DR. BROWN'S "BOY."</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p><p>A more solitary shore, so far as white men are +concerned, it would be hard to imagine. From the day +we left until the day we returned, we sighted only one +sail; and from Port San Juan, where an Indian trader +lived a lonely life in an often-beleaguered blockhouse, +to Koskeemo Sound, where another of these voluntary +exiles passed his years among the savages, there was +not a christened man, with the exception of the little +settlement of lumbermen at the head of the Alberni +Canal. For months at a time no keel ever ploughed +this sea, and then too frequently it was a warship sent +from Victoria to chastise the tribesmen for some outrage +committed on wayfaring men such as we. The floating +fur-trader with whom we exchanged the courtesies of +the wilderness had indeed been despitefully used. For +had he not taken to himself some savage woman, who +had levanted to her tribe with those miscellaneous +effects which he termed "iktas"? And the Klayoquahts +had stolen his boat, +and the Kaoquahts +his beans and his +vermilion and his +rice, and threatened +to scuttle his +schooner and stick +his head on its +masthead. And, +moreover, to complete +this tale of +public pillage and +private wrong, a +certain chief, to +whom he applied +many ornate epithets, +had declared +that he cared not +a salal-berry for all +of "King George's +warships." So that +the conclusion of +this merchant of +the wilds was that, +until "half the Indians were hanged, and the other half +badly licked, there would be no peace on the coast for +honest men such as he." Then, under a cloud of playful +blasphemy, our friend sailed away.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p><div class="figleft" style="width: 193px;"> +<a href="images/i016.jpg"><img src="images/i016-t.jpg" width="193" height="300" alt="PORT SAN JUAN INDIANS." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />PORT SAN JUAN INDIANS.</span> +</div> + +<p>For if civilisation was scarce in the Western Vancouver<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +of '63, savagedom was all-abounding. Not many hours +passed without our having dealings with the lords of +the soil. It was indeed our business—or, at least, the +business of the two men and the Indian "boy"—to +meet with and make profit out of the barbarous folk. +Hence it was seldom that we went to sleep without +the din of a board village in our ears, or woke +without the ancient and most fish-like smell of one +being the first odour which greeted our nostrils. In +almost every cove, creek, or inlet there was one of +these camps, and every few miles we entered the +territory of a new tribe, ruled by a rival chief, rarely +on terms with his neighbour, and as often as not at +war with him. More than once we had occasion +to witness the gruesome evidence of this state of +matters. A war party returning from a raid on a +distant hamlet would be met with, all painted in hideous +colours, and with the bleeding heads of their decapitated +enemies fastened to the bows of their cedar canoes, and +the cowering captives, doomed to slavery, bound among +the fighting men. Or, casting anchor in front of a +village, we would be shown with pride a row of festering +skulls stuck on poles, as proof of the military prowess +of our shifty hosts.</p> + +<p>These were, however, unusually unpleasant incidents. +More frequently we saw little except the more lightsome +traits of what was then a very primitive savage life, and +the barbarous folk treated us kindly. A marriage feast +might be in progress, or a great "potlatch," or merrymaking, +at which the giving away of property was the +principal feature (p. 82), might be in full blaze at the very +moment we steered round the wooded point. Halibut<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +and dog-fish were being caught in vast quantities—the +one for slicing and drying for winter use; the other for +the sake of the oil extracted from the liver, then as +now an important article of barter, being in ready +demand by the Puget Sound saw-mills. Now and then +a fur-seal or, better still, a sea-otter would be killed. +But this is not the land of choice furs. Even the marten +and the mink were indifferent. Beaver—which in those +days, after having been almost hunted to death, were +again getting numerous, owing to the low prices which +the pelts brought having slackened the trappers' zeal—would +often be brought on board, and a few hides of +the wapiti, the "elk" of the Western hunter, and the +black-tailed deer which swarm in the Vancouver woods, +generally appeared at every village. The natives are, +however, essentially fish-eaters, and though in every tribe +there is generally a hunter or two, the majority of them +seldom wander far afield, the interior being in their +mythology a land of evil things, of which wise men +would do well to keep clear. Even the black bear, +which in autumn was often a common feature of the +country, where it ranged the crab-apple thickets, was +not at this season an object of the chase. Like the deer +and the wolves, it was shunning the heat and the flies +by summering near the snow which we could notice +still capping some of the inland hills, rising to heights +of from five thousand to seven thousand feet, and feasting +on the countless salmon which were descending every +stream, until, with the receding waters, they were left +stranded in the upland pools. So cheap were salmon, +that at times they could be bought for a cent's +worth of "trade goods," and deer in winter for a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +charges of powder and shot. A whale-hunt, in which +the behemoth was attacked by harpoons with attached +inflated sealskins, after a fashion with which I had +become familiar when a resident among the Eskimo +of Baffin Bay, was a more curious sight. Yet dog-fish +oil was the staple of the unpicturesque traffic in which +my companions engaged; while I, a hunter after less +considered trifles, landed to roam the woods and shores +for days at a time, gathering the few flowers which +bloomed under these umbrageous forests, though in +number sufficient to tempt the red-beaked humming-bird<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> +to migrate from Mexico to these northern regions, +its tiny nest being frequently noticed on the tops of +low bushes.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Aht Indians.</div> + +<p>But, after all, the most interesting sight on the shore +was the people who inhabited it. They +were the "Indians," whom my friend Gilbert +Sproat afterwards described as the "Ahts,"<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> for this +syllable terminates the name of each of the many +little tribes into which they are divided. Yet, with +a disregard of the laws of nomenclature, the Ethnological +Bureau at Washington has only recently +announced its intention of knowing them officially by +the meaningless title of "Wakashan." They are a +people by themselves, speaking a language which +was confined to Vancouver Island, with the exception +of Cape Flattery, the western tip of Washington, where +the Makkahs speak it. In Vancouver Island, a region +about the size of Ireland, three, if not four distinct +aboriginal tongues are in use, in addition to Chinook +Jargon, a sort of <i>lingua franca</i> employed by the Indians +in their intercourse with the whites or with tribes +whose speech they do not understand. The Kawitshen +(Cowitchan) with its various dialects, the chief of which is +the Tsongersth (Songer) of the people near Victoria, +prevails from Sooke in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, +northwards to Comox. From that point to the northern +end of the island various dialects of the Kwakiool +(Cogwohl of the traders) are the medium in which the +tribesmen do not conceal their thoughts. The people of +Quatseno and Koskeemo Sounds, owing to their frequent +intercourse with Fort Rupert on the other side of the +island, which at this point is at its narrowest, understand +and frequently speak the Kwakiool. But after +passing several days entirely alone among these people, I +can vouch for the fact that this dialect is so peculiar that +it almost amounts to a separate language. However, +from this part, or properly, from Woody Point southwards +to Port San Juan, the Aht language is entirely +different.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p><p>The latter locality,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> nearly opposite Cape Flattery, +on the other side of Juan de Fuca Strait, the most +southern part, and the only one on the mainland where +it is spoken, is the special territory of the Pachenahts. +When I knew them, they were, like all of their race, a +dwindling people. A few years earlier, Grant had +estimated them to number a hundred men. In 1863 +there were not more than a fifth of that number fit to +manage a canoe, and the total number of the tribe did +not exceed sixty. War with the Sclallans and Makkahs +on the opposite shore, and smallpox, which is more +powerful than gunpowder, had so decimated them that, +no longer able to hold their own, they had leagued with +the Nettinahts, old allies of theirs, for mutual defence. +Quixto, the chief, I find described in my notes as a stout +fellow, terrible at a bargain, very well disposed towards +the whites, as are all his tribe, the husband of four wives, +an extraordinary number for the Indians of the coast, +and reputed to be rich in blankets and the other +gear which constitutes wealth among the aborigines +of this part of the British Empire. In their palmy +days they had made way as far north as Clayoquat +Sound and the Ky-yoh-quaht-cutz in one direction, and +with the Tsongersth to the eastward, though that now +pusillanimous tribe had generally the best of them. +Their eastern border is, however, the Jordan River, but +they have a fishing station at the Sombria (Cockles), +and several miles up both the Pandora and Jordan Rivers +flowing into their bay. Karleit is their western limit.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> +<p>The Nettinahts<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> are a more powerful tribe; indeed, +at the period when the writer of this book was a prisoner +in Nootka Sound, they were among the strongest of all +the Aht people. Even then, they had four hundred<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> +fighting men, and were a people with whom it did not +do to be off your guard. They have—or had—many +villages, from Pachena Bay<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> to the west and Karleit to +the east, besides three villages in Nettinaht Inlet,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> eleven +fishing stations on the Nettinaht River, three stations +on the Cowitchan Lake, and one at Sguitz on the +Cowitchan River itself, while they sometimes descend as +far as Tsanena to plant potatoes. They have thus the +widest borders of any Indian tribe in Vancouver Island, +and have a high reputation as hunters, whale-fishers, +and warriors. Moqulla was then the head chief, but +every winter a sub-tribe hunted and fished on the +Cowitchan Lake, a sheet of water which I was among +the first to visit, and the very first to "lay down" +with approximate accuracy. Though nowadays—<i>Eheu +fugaces, Postume, Postume, labuntur anni!</i>—there is a +waggon road to the lake, and, I am told, "a sort of +hotel" on the spot where eight-and-twenty years ago +we encamped on extremely short rations, though with +the soothing knowledge that if only the Fates were +kindly and the wind favourable, there were plenty of +trout in the water, and a dinner at large in the woods +around. In those days most of the Nettinaht villages +were fortified with wooden pickets to prevent any +night attack, and from its situation, Whyack, the +principal one (built on a cliff, stockaded on the seaward +side, and reached only by a narrow entrance where +the surf breaks continuously), is impregnable to hostile +canoemen. This people accordingly carried themselves +with a high hand, and bore a name correspondingly +bad.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p><p>Barclay—or Berkeley Sound—is the home of various +petty tribes—Ohyahts, Howchuklisahts, Yu-clul-ahts, +Toquahts, Seshahts, and Opechesahts. The two with +whom I was best acquainted were the last named. +The Seshahts lived at the top of the Alberni—a +Canal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +long narrow fjord or cleft in the island—and on the +Seshaht Islands in the Sound. During the summer +months they came for salmon-fishing to Sa ha, or the +first rapids on the Kleekort or Saman River,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> their +chief being Ia-pou-noul, who had just succeeded to this +office owing to the abdication of his father, though the +entire fighting force of the tribe did not number over +fifty men. As late as 1859 the Seshahts seized an +American ship, the <i>Swiss Boy</i>. The Opechesahts, of +whom I have very kindly memories, as I encamped +with their chief for many days, and explored Sproat +Lake in his company, were an offshoot of the Seshahts, +and had their home on the Kleekort River, but, +owing to a massacre by the now extinct Quallehum +(Qualicom) Indians from the opposite coast, who caught +them on an island in Sproat Lake, they were reduced +to seventeen men, most of them, however, tall, handsome +fellows, and good hunters. Chieftainship in +that part of the world goes by inheritance. Hence +there may be many of these hereditary aristocrats +in a very small tribe. Accordingly, few though the +Opechesaht warriors were, three men, Quatgenam, +Kalooish or Kanash, and Quassoon, a shaggy, thick-set, +and tremendously strong individual who crossed the +island with me in 1865, were entitled to that rank; and +it may be added that the women of this, the most freshwater +of all the Vancouver tribes, were noted for a +more than usual share of good looks.</p> + +<p>The Howchuklisahts, whose chief was Maz-o-wennis, +numbered forty-five people, including twenty-eight +men. They lived in Ouchucklesit<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> Harbour, off +the Alberni Canal; they had also a fishing camp on +Henderson Lake, and two or three lodges on the rapid +or stream flowing out of that sheet of water, which was +discovered and named by me. But they were "bad +to deal with."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> +<div class="figleft" style="width: 201px;"> +<a href="images/i024.jpg"><img src="images/i024-t.jpg" width="201" height="300" alt="OHYAHT INDIAN." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />OHYAHT INDIAN.</span> +</div> + +<p>The You-clul-ahts +of Ucluelt Inlet, ruled +by Ia-pou-noul, a +wealthy man in blankets +and other Indian +wealth, numbered +about one hundred. +The chief of the Toquahts +in Pipestem +Inlet was Sow-wa-wenes, +a middle-aged +man, who had an easy +task, as his lieges +numbered only +eleven, so that they +were thirty years ago +on the eve of extinction. +The Ohyahts +of Grappler Creek +were estimated in 1863 +to be about one hundred and seventy-five in fighting +strength—which, multiplied by four for women and +children, would make them, for that region, an unusually +strong community. These figures are probably +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +correct, since the man who made the statement was, +after living for years amongst them, eventually murdered +by the savages,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> whom he had trusted too implicitly. +Kleesheens, a notorious scoundrel, was their chief. In +Clayoquat Sound were the Klahoquahts, Kellsmahts, +Ahousahts, Heshquahts, and Mamosahts—the last a +little tribe numbering only five men. Indeed, with the +exception of the Klahoquahts (who numbered one +hundred and sixty men) and the Ahousahts (who +claimed two hundred and fifty), these little septs, all +devoured by mutual hatred, and frequently at war with +each other, were even then dwindling to nothingness. +But the Opetsahts, though marked on the Admiralty +Chart<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> as a separate tribe, are—or were—only a village +of the Ahousahts.</p> + +<p>In Nootka Sound, the Muchlahts and Mooachahts +lived. In Esperanza Inlet were the villages of two +tribes—the Noochahlahts and Ayattisahts, numbering +forty and twenty-two men respectively, and chiefed at +that time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> by two worthies of the names of Mala-koi-Kennis, +and Quak-ate-Komisa, whom we left in the +delectable condition of each expecting the other round +to cut his and his tribesmen's throats.</p> + +<p>North of this inlet were Ky-yoh-quahts, of the Sound +of that name (Kaioquat), numbering two hundred and +fifty men. To us they were exceedingly friendly, though +a trader whom we met had a different tale to tell of their +treatment of him. Kanemat, a young man of about +twenty-two, was their chief, though the tribe was virtually +governed by his mother, a notable lady named Shipally, +and at times by his pretty squaw, Wick-anes, and his +lively son and heir, Klahe-ek-enes. The Chaykisahts, +the Klahosahts, and the Neshahts of Woody Point are +the other Aht tribes, though the latter is not included +among them by Mr. Sproat. But they speak their +language, of which their chief village is its most northern +limit.</p> + +<p>Everywhere their tribes showed such evident signs +of decadence that by this time some of them must be +all but extinct. Still, as the whites had not come much +in contact with them—though all of them asked us for +"lum" (rum), but did not get it, it is clear enough what +had been the traders' staple—the "diseases of civilisation" +could not be blamed for their decay. Even then +the practical extermination of two tribes was so recent +that the facts were still fresh in their neighbours' memory. +These were the Ekkalahts, who lived at the top of the +Alberni Canal, but were all but killed off in the same +massacre by which the Opechesahts were decimated. +The only survivor was a man named Keekeon, who +lived with the Seshahts, most of whom had forgotten<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +even the name of this vanquished little nationality. +The other tribe was the Koapinahts (or Koapin-ah), +who at that time numbered sixty or seventy people, +but at the period to which I refer they were reduced +to two adults—a man and a woman—all the rest having +been slaughtered a few years earlier by the Kwakiools +from the other side of the island, in conjunction with +the Neshahts of Woody Point. In after days I learned +to know these tribes very familiarly, crossing and recrossing +the island with or to them, hunting and canoeing +with them, in the woods, up the rivers, or on the lakes, +and gathering from their lips</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"This fair report of them who dwell<br /> +In that retirement."<br /> +</div> + +<p>At first sight these "tinkler loons and siclike companie" +were by no means attractive. They were frowsy, +and, undeniably, they were not clean. But it was only +after penetrating their inner ways, after learning the +wealth of custom and folk-lore of which they, all +unconscious of their riches, were the jealous custodians, +that one began to appreciate these primitive folk from +a scientific point of view. Even yet, as the writer +recalls the days when he was prone to find men more +romantic than is possible in "middle life forlorn," it is +difficult not to associate the most prosaic of savages +with something of the picturesqueness which, in novels +at least, used to cling to all their race. For, as the +charm of such existence as theirs unfolded itself to the +lover of woods and prairies, and lakes and virgin +streams, the neglect of soap and of sanitation was +forgotten. As Mr. Leland has remarked about the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +gipsies: "When their lives and legends are known, the +ethnologist is apt to think of Tieck's elves, and of the +Shang Valley, which was so grim and repulsive from +without, but which, once entered, was the gay forecourt +of Goblin-land."</p> + +<p>In those days little was known—and little cared—about +any of the Western tribes, except by the +"schooner-men," as the Indians called the roving +traders. Their very names were strange to the majority +of the Victoria people, and I am told that very few of +the colonists of to-day are any better informed. It +has therefore been thought fitting that I should go +somewhat minutely into the condition of the Indians, at +a period when they were more primitive than now, as a +slight contribution to the meagre chronicles of a dying +race. For if not preserved here, it is likely to perish +with almost the last survivor of a little band with whom, +during the last two decades, death has been busy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Nootka Sound +and its +memories.</div> + +<p>Among the many inlets which we entered on the cruise +which has enabled me to edit this narrative +of a less fortunate predecessor, was Nootka +Sound. No portion of North-West America +was more famous than this spot, for once upon a time +it was the former centre of the fur trade, and a locality +which more than once figured prominently in diplomatic +correspondence. Indeed, so associated was it as the +type of this part of the western continent, that in many +works the heterogeneous group of savages who inhabit +the entire coast between the Columbia River and the +end of Vancouver Island was described as the "Nootka-Columbians." +More than one species of plant and animal +attest the fact of this Sound having been the locality +at which the naturalist first broke ground in North-West +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +America. There are, for instance, a <i>Haliotis +Nutkaensis</i> (an ear shell), a <i>Rubus Nutkanus</i> (a raspberry); +and a yellow cypress, which, however, attained its +chief development on the mainland much farther north, +bears among its synonyms that of <i>Chamccyparis +Nutkaensis</i>. For though it is undeniable that Ensign +Juan Perez discovered it as early as 1779, and named it +Port San Lorenzo, after the saint on whose day it was +first seen, this fact was unknown or forgotten, when, four +years later, Cook entered, and called it King George +Sound, though he tells us it was afterwards found that +it was called Nootka by the natives. Hence arose +the title it has ever since borne, though this was an +entire mistake on the great navigator's part, since there +is no word in the Aht language at all corresponding to +Nootka, unless indeed it is "Nootche," a mountain, which +not unlikely Cook mistook for that of the inlet generally. +The proofs of the presence of earlier visitors were iron and +other tools, familiarity with ships, and two silver spoons of +Spanish manufacture, which, we may take it, had been +stolen from Perez's ship. The next vessel to enter the +Sound was the <i>Sea Otter</i>, under the command of Captain +James Hanna, who made such a haul in the shape of +sea-otter skins that for many years Nootka was the +great rendezvous of the fur-traders who cruised as far +north as Russian America—now Alaska—and, like Portlock, +Dixon, and Meares, charted and named many of +the most familiar parts of the British Columbian coast. +Meares built the <i>North-West America</i> by the aid of +Chinese carpenters in Nootka Sound in the winter of +1788-89, this little sloop being the first vessel, except<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +a canoe, ever constructed in the country north of +California.</p> + +<p>The lucrative trade done by the English and +American traders, some of whom, disposing of their +furs in China, sailed under the Portuguese flag and fitted +out at Macao as the port most readily open to +them, determined the Spaniards to assert their rights +to the original discovery. This was done by Don +Estevan Martinez "taking possession" of the Sound, +seizing the vessels there, and erecting a fort to maintain +the territory against all comers. A hot diplomatic +warfare ensued, the result of which was the Convention +of Nootka, by which the Sound was made +over to Great Britain; and it was while engaged on +this mission of receiving the Sound that Vancouver, +conjointly with Quadra, the Spanish commander, discovered +that the region it intersects is an island, which +for a time bore their joint names, but by general +consent has that of Vancouver only attached to it +nowadays.</p> + +<p>This was in the year 1795. Being now indisputably +British territory, Nootka and the coasts north and +south of it became more and more frequented by fur-traders, +who found, in spite of the increasing scarcity of +pelts, and the higher prices which keener competition +brought about, an ample profit in buying tolerably cheap +on the American coast and selling very dear to the +Chinese, whose love for the sea-otter continues unabated. +Many of these adventurers were Americans—hailing, for +the most part, from Boston. Hence to this day an +American is universally known among the North-Western +Indians as a "Boston-man," while an Englishman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +is quite as generally termed a "Kintshautsh man" +(King George man), it being during the long reign of +George III. that they first became acquainted with our +countrymen. Their barter was carried on in knives, +copper plates, copper kettles, muskets, brass-hilted swords, +soldiers' coats and buttons, pistols, tomahawks, and +blankets, which soon superseded the more costly +"Kotsaks" of sea-otter until then the principal garment, +though the women wore, as they do still at times (or did +when I knew the shore), blankets woven out of pine-tree +bark. Rum also seemed to have been freely disposed +of, and no doubt many of the outrages which early began +to mark the intercourse of the brown men and their +white visitors were not a little due to this, and to the +customs, ever more free than welcome, in which it is the +habit of the mariner to indulge when he and the savage +forgather. At all events, the natives and their foreign +visitors seem to have come very soon into collision. +Indeed, it was seldom that a voyage was completed +without some outrage on one or both sides, followed by +reprisals from the party supposed to have been wronged. +Thus part of the crew of the <i>Imperial Eagle</i>, under the +command of Captain Barclay,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> who discovered and named +in his own honour the Sound so called, were murdered +at "Queenhythe,"<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> south of Juan de Fuca Strait, which +Barclay was amongst the first to explore, or rather to +rediscover. At a later date, namely, in 1805, the +<i>Atahualpa</i> of Rhode Island was attacked in Millbank +Sound, and her captain, mate, and six seamen were killed. +In 1811 the <i>Tonquin</i>, belonging to John Jacob Astor's +romantic fur-trading adventure, which is so well known +from Washington Irving's <i>Astoria</i>, was seized by the +savages on this coast, and then blown up by M'Kay, the +chief trader, with the entire crew and their assailants. +The scene of the catastrophe has been stated to be +Nootka, but other commentators have fixed upon Barclay +Sound, and as late as 1863 an intelligent trader informed +me that some ship's timbers, half buried in the sand +there, were attributed by the Indians to some disastrous +event, which he believed to have been the one in question.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> +I am, however, now inclined to think that in crediting +Nahwitti, at the northern end of Vancouver Island, +with this notable event in the early history of North-West +America,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> Dr. George Dawson has arrived at the +truth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +To this day—or until very recently—the Indians of +the North-West coast are not accounted very trustworthy, +and at the period when I knew them they were +suspected of killing several traders and of looting more +than one small vessel, acts which earned for them +frequent visits from the gunboats at Esquimault, and +in several instances the undesirable distinction of +having their villages shelled when they refused to give +up the offenders—generally a difficult operation, since +it meant pretty well the entire village.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a href="images/i033.jpg"><img src="images/i033-t.jpg" width="400" height="276" alt="INDIAN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE LANDING-STAGE, ESQUIMAULT." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />INDIAN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE LANDING-STAGE, ESQUIMAULT.</span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +</div> + +<div class="sidenote">John Jewitt +and the capture +of the "Boston" +in 1803.</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>But the most famous of all the piracies of the Western +Indians is that of which an account is contained +in John Jewitt's Narrative. The +ostensible author of this work was a Hull +blacksmith, the armourer of the <i>Boston</i>, an +American ship which was seized while lying in Nootka +Sound, and the entire crew massacred, with the exception +of Jewitt, who was spared owing to his skill as +a mechanic being valuable to the Indians, and John +Thompson, the sail-maker, who, though left for dead, +recovered, and was saved by the tact of Jewitt in representing +him to be his father. This happened in March +1803, and from that date until the 20th of July 1805, +these two men were kept in slavery to the chief +Maquenna or Moqulla, when they were freed by the +arrival of the brig <i>Lydia</i> of Boston, Samuel Hill master. +During this servitude, Jewitt, who seems to have been +a man of some education, kept a journal and acquired +the Aht language, though the style in which his book +is written shows that in preparing it for the press he had +obtained the assistance of a more practised writer than +himself. Still, his work is a valuable contribution to +ethnology. For, omitting the brief but excellent accounts +by Cook and Meares, it is the earliest, and, with the +exception of Mr. Sproat's lecture, the fullest description +of these Indians. It is indeed the only one treating +specially on the Nootka people, with whom alone he +had any minute acquaintance. Some of the habits +he pictures are now obsolete, or greatly modified, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +others—it may be said the greater number—are exactly +as he notes them to have been eighty-six years ago. +Besides the internal evidences of its authenticity, the +truth of the adventures described was vouched for at +the time by Jewitt's companion in slavery; and though +there is no absolute proof of its credibility, it may not be +uninteresting to state that, thirty years ago, I conversed +with an American sea captain, who, as a boy, distinctly +remembered Jewitt working as a blacksmith in the town +of Middleton in Connecticut. When the book was first +published, in the year 1815, several editions appeared +in America, and at least two reprints were called for in +England, so that the Narrative enjoyed considerable +popularity in the first two decades of the century. +Writing in 1840, Robert Green Low, Librarian to the +Department of State at Washington, characterises it as +"a simple and unpretending narrative, which will, no +doubt, in after centuries, be read with interest by the +enlightened people of North-West America." Again, +in 1845, the same industrious, though not always +impartial, historian remarks that "this little book has +been frequently reprinted, and, though seldom found +in libraries, is much read by boys and seamen in the +United States." As copies are now seldom met with, +this is no longer the case, though on our cruise in 1863 +it was one of the well-thumbed little library of the +traders, one of whom had inherited it from William +Edy Banfield, whose name has already been mentioned +(p. 25). This trader, for many years a well-known man +on the out-of-the-way parts of the coast, furnished a +curious link between Jewitt's time and our own. For +an old Indian told him that he had, as a boy, served in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +the family of a chief of Nootka, called Klan-nin-itth, at +the time when Jewitt and Thompson were in slavery; +and that he often assisted Jewitt in making spears, +arrows, and other weapons required for hostile expeditions. +He said, further, that the white slave generally +accompanied his owner on visits which he paid to the +Ayhuttisaht, Ahousaht, and Klahoquaht chiefs. This +old man especially remembered Jewitt, who was a +good-humoured fellow, often reciting and singing in +his own language for the amusement of the tribesmen. +He was described as a tall, well-made youth, with a +mirthful countenance, whose dress latterly consisted of +nothing but a mantle of cedar bark. Mr. Sproat, who +obtained his information from the same quarter that +I did, adds that there was a long story of Jewitt's +courting, and finally abducting, the daughter of Waughclagh, +the Ahousaht chief. This incident in his career +is not recorded by our author, who, however, was +married to a daughter of Upquesta, an Ayhuttisaht +Indian.</p> + +<p>Apart, however, from Jewitt not caring to enlighten +the decent-living puritans of Connecticut too minutely +regarding his youthful escapades, it is not unlikely that +Mr. Banfield's informant mixed up some half-forgotten +legends regarding another white man, who, seventeen +years before Jewitt's captivity, had voluntarily remained +among these Nootka Indians. This was a scapegrace +named John M'Kay,<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> an Irishman, who, after being in +the East India Company's Service in some minor +medical capacity, shipped in 1785 on board the <i>Captain +Cook</i> as surgeon's mate, and was left behind in Nootka +Sound, in the hope that he would so ingratiate himself +with the natives, as to induce them to refuse furs to any +other traders except those with whom he was connected. +This man seems to have been an ignorant, untruthful +braggart, who contradicted himself in many important +particulars. But entire credence may be given to his +statement that in a short time he sank into barbarism, +becoming as filthy as the dirtiest of his savage companions. +For when Captain Hanna saw him in August +1786, the natives had stripped him of his clothes, and +obliged him to adopt their dress and habits. He even +refused to leave, declaring that he had begun to relish +dried fish and whale oil—though, owing to a famine in +the Sound, he got little of either—and was well satisfied to +stay for another year. After making various excursions +in the country about Nootka Sound, during which he +came to the conclusion that it was not a part of the +American continent, but a chain of detached islands, he +gladly deserted his Indian wife, and left with Captain +Berkeley in 1787. To "preach, fight, and mend a musket" +seems to have been too much for this medical pluralist. +His further history I am unable to trace, though, for +the sake of historical roundness, it would have been +interesting to believe that he was the same M'Kay who +twenty-four years later ended his career so terribly by +blowing up the <i>Tonquin</i>, with whose son I was well +acquainted.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> +<p>In all of these transactions the head chief of Nootka, +or at least of the Mooachahts, figures prominently. This +was Maquenna or Moqulla (Jewitt's Maquina), who, with +his relative Wikananish, ruled over most of the tribes +from here to Nettinaht Inlet. He was a shifty savage,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +endowed with no small mental ability, and, though at +times capable of acts which were almost generous, +untrustworthy like most of his race, and when offended +ready for any act of vindictiveness. Wikananish was on +a visit to Maquenna when the <i>Discovery</i> and <i>Resolution</i> +entered the Sound, and among the relics which +Maquenna kept for many years were a brass mortar +left by Cook, which in Meares's day was borne before the +chief as a portion of his regalia, and three "pieces of a +brassy metal formed like cricket bats," on which were the +remains of the name and arms of Sir Joseph Banks, and +the date 1775—Banks, it may be remembered, being +the scientific companion of Cook. In every subsequent +voyage Maquenna figures, and not a few of the outrages +committed on that coast were due either to him or to +his instigation. Some, like his attempt to seize Hanna's +vessel in 1785, are known from extraneous sources, and +others were boasted of by him to Jewitt. The last of +his proceedings of which history has left any record, +is the murder of the crew of the <i>Boston</i> and the enslavement +of Thompson and Jewitt, and in the narrative +of the latter we are afforded a final glimpse of this +notorious "King."<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">Changes since +Jewitt's time.</div> + +<p>When I visited Nootka Sound in 1863, fifty-eight +years had passed since the captivity of +the author of this book. In the interval +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +many things had happened. But though the Indians +had altered in some respects, they were perhaps less +changed than almost any other savages in America since +the whites came in contact with them. Eighty-five +years had passed since Cook had careened his ships in +Resolution Cove, and seventy since Vancouver entered +the Sound on his almost more notable voyage. Yet the +bricks from the blacksmith's forge, fresh and vitrified as +if they had been in contact with the fire only yesterday, +were at times dug up from among the rank herbage. +The village in Friendly Cove—a spot which not a few +mariners found to be very unfriendly—differed in no +way from the picture in Cook's <i>Voyage</i>; and though +some curio-hunting captain had no doubt long ago +carried off the mortar and emblazoned brasses, the +natives still spoke traditionally of Cook and Vancouver, +and were ready to point out the spots where in 1788 +Meares built the <i>North-West America</i> and the white +men had cultivated. Memories of Martinez and Quadra +existed in the shape of many legends, of Indians with +Iberian features, and of several old people who by +tradition (though some of them were old enough to +have remembered these navigators), could still repeat +the Spanish numerals. And the head chief of the +Mooachahts in Friendly Cove—vastly smaller though +his tribe was, and much abridged his power—was a +grandson of Maquenna, called by the same name, and +had many of his worst characteristics. This fact +I am likely to remember. For he had been accused +of having murdered, in the previous January, Captain +Stev of the <i>Trader</i>, and since that time no whites +had ventured near him. He, however, assured us +that the report was simply a scandal raised by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +neighbouring tribes, who had long hated him and his +people, and would like to see them punished by the +arrival of a gunboat, and that in reality the vessel was +wrecked, and the white men were drowned. At the same +time, among the voices heard that night at the council +held in Maquenna's great lodge, supported by the huge +beams described by Jewitt, were some in favour of killing +his latest visitors, on the principle that dead men tell no +tales. But that the Noes had it, the present narrative +is the best proof.</p> + +<p>So far as their habits were concerned, they were in a +condition as primitive as at almost any period since the +whites had visited them. Many of the old people were +covered only with a mantle of woven pine bark, and +beyond a shirt, in most cases made out of a flour sack, +a blanket was the sole garment of the majority of the +tribesmen. At times when they wanted to receive any +goods, they simply pulled off the blanket, wrapped up +the articles in it, and went ashore stark naked, with +the exception of a piece of skin round the loins. The +women wore for the most part no other dress except the +blanket and a curious apron made of a fringe of bark +strings. All of them painted hideously, the women +adding a streak of vermilion down the middle division +of the hair, and on high occasions the glittering mica +sand, spoken of by Jewitt, was called into requisition. +Their customs—and I had plenty of opportunities to +study them in the course of the years which followed—were +in no way different from what they were +in Cook's time. No missionary seemed ever to have +visited them, and their religious observances were accordingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +still the most unadulterated of paganism. Jewitt's +narrative is, however, as might have been expected, very +vague on such matters; and, curiously enough, he makes +no mention of their characteristic trait of compressing +the foreheads of the children, the tribes in Koskeemo +Sound squeezing it, while the bones are still cartilaginous, +in a conical shape—though the brain is not +thereby permanently injured: it is simply displaced.</p> + +<p>Since that day, the tribesmen of the west coast of +Vancouver Island have grown fewer and fewer. Some +of the smaller septs have indeed become extinct, and +others must be fast on the wane. They have, however, +eaten of the tree of knowledge, and the gunboats have +now little occasion to visit them for punitive purposes. +Missionaries have even attempted to teach them better +manners. The Alberni saw-mills have long been +deserted, though other settlers have taken possession of +the ground, and several have squatted in Koskeemo +Sound, in the hope that the coal-seams there might +induce the Pacific steamers to make that remote region +their headquarters. Finally, an effort is being made to +induce fishermen from the West of Scotland to settle +on that coast. There is plenty of work for them, +and the Indians nowadays are very little to be feared. +Indeed, so far from the successors of Moqulla and +Wikananish menacing Donald and Sandy, they will +be ready to help them for a consideration; though a +great deal of tact and forbearance will be necessary +before people so conservative as the hot-tempered Celts +work smoothly with a race quite as fiery and quite as +wedded to old ways, as the Ahts among whom John +Jewitt passed the early years of this century.</p> + +<p> +R. B.<br /> +</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>Rubus Nutkanus.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>Rubus spectabilis.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>Gaultheria Shallon.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>Vaccinium ovatum.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <i>Pyrus rivularis.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>Ribes sanguineum</i>, now a common shrub in our ornamental grounds.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>Echinopanax horridum.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>Thuja gigantea</i>, a tree which to the Indian is what the bamboo is to +the Chinese.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>Acer macrophyllum.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>Cornus Nuttallii.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>Arbutus Menziesii.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> <i>Selasphorus rufus.</i> It is one of one hundred and fifty-three birds which +I catalogued from Vancouver Island (<i>Ibis</i>, Nov. 1868).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>Scenes and Studies of Savage Life</i> (1868), by the Hon. G. M. +Sproat, late Commissioner of Indian Affairs for British Columbia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> "Pachena" of the Indians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Or, as they call themselves in their dialect of the Aht, "Dittinahts." +Nettinaht is a white man's corruption.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> A few years earlier they were estimated at a thousand.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> "Klootis" of the Indians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Known to them as "Etlo."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> They were not permitted this privilege until the whites came to +Alberni in August 1860.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Though the orthography of these names is often incorrect, and not +even phonetically accurate, I have, in order to avoid the mischief of a +confusion of nomenclature, kept to that of the Admiralty Chart.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> This was the Banfield who acted as Indian agent in Barclay Sound. +He was drowned by Kleetsak, a slave of Kleesheens, capsizing the canoe +in which he was sailing, in revenge for a slight passed upon the chief. I +went ashore at the Ohyaht village in the same canoe, and was asked +whether I was not afraid, "for Banipe was killed in it." There was also +a story that the capsize was an accident.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> It may be proper to state in this place that the interior details of that +chart are, with very few exceptions, from my explorations. But the map +on which they were laid down by me has been so often copied by +societies, governments, and private individuals without permission (and +without acknowledgment), that the author of it has long ceased to claim a +property so generally pillaged. The original, however, appeared, with a +memoir on the interior—"Das Innere der Vancouver Insel"—which has not +yet been translated, in Petermann's <i>Geographische Mittheilungen</i>, 1869.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Or Berkeley—for the name is spelt both ways.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Destruction Island, in lat. 47 35'. This was almost the same spot as +that in which the Spaniards of Bodega's crew were massacred in 1775, and +for this reason they named it Isla de Dolores—the "Island of Sorrows." It +is in what is now the State of Washington, U.S.A.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Green Low will even blame Wikananish, who figures in Jewitt's narrative, +as the instigator of the outrage.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"> +<span class="label">[26]</span></a> The Nahwitti Indians. +Compare the Tlā-tlī-sī—Kwela and Nekum-ke-līsla +septs of the Kwakiool people. They now inhabit a village +named Meloopa, on the south-east side of Hope Island. But their original +hamlet was situated on a small rocky peninsula on the east side of Cape +Commerell, which forms the north point of Vancouver Island. Here +remains of old houses are still to be seen, at a place known to the Indians as +Nahwitti. It was close to this place that the <i>Tonquin</i> was blown up.—<i>Science</i>, +vol. ix. p. 341.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> "Maccay" (Meares); "M'Key" (Dixon).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> There is a portrait of him, apparently authentic, in Meares's <i>Voyages</i>, +vol. ii. (1791). That in the original edition of Jewitt's Narrative, like the +plate of the capture of the <i>Boston</i>, appears to have been drawn from description, +though there is a certain resemblance in it to Meares's sketch +made fourteen or fifteen years earlier. But the scenery, the canoes, the +people, and, above all, the palm trees in Nootka Sound, are purely +imaginary.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> +<h2>JOHN JEWITT'S NARRATIVE</h2> + +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p>BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE OF THE AUTHOR</p> + +<p>I was born in Boston, a considerable borough town in +Lincolnshire, in Great Britain, on the 21st of May, 1783. +My father, Edward Jewitt, was by trade a blacksmith, +and esteemed among the first in his line of business in +that place. At the age of three years I had the misfortune +to lose my mother, a most excellent woman, +who died in childbed, leaving an infant daughter, who, +with myself, and an elder brother by a former marriage +of my father, constituted the whole of our family. My +father, who considered a good education as the greatest +blessing he could bestow on his children, was very particular +in paying every attention to us in that respect, +always exhorting us to behave well, and endeavouring +to impress on our minds the principles of virtue and +morality, and no expense in his power was spared to +have us instructed in whatever might render us useful +and respectable in society. My brother, who was four +years older than myself and of a more hardy constitution, +he destined for his own trade, but to me he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +resolved to give an education superior to that which is +to be obtained in a common school, it being his intention +that I should adopt one of the learned professions. +Accordingly, at the age of twelve he took me from the +school in which I had been taught the first rudiments of +learning, and placed me under the care of Mr. Moses, a +celebrated teacher of an academy at Donnington, about +eleven miles from Boston, in order to be instructed in +the Latin language, and in some of the higher branches +of the mathematics. I there made considerable proficiency +in writing, reading, and arithmetic, and obtained +a pretty good knowledge of navigation and of surveying; +but my progress in Latin was slow, not only owing to +the little inclination I felt for learning that language, +but to a natural impediment in my speech, which +rendered it extremely difficult for me to pronounce it, +so that in a short time, with my father's consent, I +wholly relinquished the study.</p> + +<p>The period of my stay at this place was the most +happy of my life. My preceptor, Mr. Moses, was not +only a learned, but a virtuous, benevolent, and amiable +man, universally beloved by his pupils, who took delight +in his instruction, and to whom he allowed every +proper amusement that consisted with attention to +their studies.</p> + +<p>One of the principal pleasures I enjoyed was in +attending the fair, which is regularly held twice a year +at Donnington, in the spring and in the fall,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> the second +day being wholly devoted to selling horses, a prodigious +number of which are brought thither for that purpose. +As the scholars on these occasions were always indulged +with a holiday, I cannot express with what +eagerness of youthful expectation I used to anticipate +these fairs, nor what delight I felt at the various shows, +exhibitions of wild beasts, and other entertainments that +they presented; I was frequently visited by my father, +who always discovered much joy on seeing me, praised +me for my acquirements, and usually left me a small +sum for my pocket expenses.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> +<p>Among the scholars at this academy, there was one +named Charles Rice, with whom I formed a particular +intimacy, which continued during the whole of my stay. +He was my class and room mate, and as the town he +came from, Ashby, was more than sixty miles off, +instead of returning home, he used frequently during +the vacation to go with me to Boston, where he always +met with a cordial welcome from my father, who +received me on these occasions with the greatest +affection, apparently taking much pride in me. My +friend in return used to take me with him to an uncle of +his in Donnington, a very wealthy man, who, having no +children of his own, was very fond of his nephew, and +on his account I was always a welcome visitor at the +house. I had a good voice, and an ear for music, to +which I was always passionately attached, though +my father endeavoured to discourage this propensity, +considering it (as is too frequently the case) but an +introduction to a life of idleness and dissipation; and, +having been remarked for my singing at church, which +was regularly attended on Sundays and festival days by +the scholars, Mr. Morthrop, my friend Rice's uncle, used +frequently to request me to sing; he was always pleased<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +with my exhibitions of this kind, and it was no doubt +one of the means that secured me so gracious a reception +at his house. A number of other gentlemen in the +place would sometimes send for me to sing at their +houses, and as I was not a little vain of my vocal powers, +I was much gratified on receiving these invitations, and +accepted them with the greatest pleasure.</p> + +<p>Thus passed away the two happiest years of my life, +when my father, thinking that I had received a sufficient +education for the profession he intended me for, took +me from school at Donnington in order to apprentice +me to Doctor Mason, a surgeon of eminence at Reasby, +in the neighbourhood of the celebrated Sir Joseph Banks.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> +With regret did I part from my school acquaintance, +particularly my friend Rice, and returned home with my +father, on a short visit to my family, preparatory to my +intended apprenticeship. The disinclination I ever had +felt for the profession my father wished me to pursue, +was still further increased on my return. When a child +I was always fond of being in the shop, among the +workmen, endeavouring to imitate what I saw them do; +this disposition so far increased after my leaving the +academy, that I could not bear to hear the least mention +made of my being apprenticed to a surgeon, and I used +so many entreaties with my father to persuade him to +give up this plan and learn me his own trade, that he +at last consented.</p> + +<p>More fortunate would it probably have been for me, +had I gratified the wishes of this affectionate parent, +in adopting the profession he had chosen for me, +than thus to have induced him to sacrifice them to +mine. However it might have been, I was at length +introduced into the shop, and my natural turn of mind +corresponding with the employment, I became in a short +time uncommonly expert at the work to which I was +set. I now felt myself well contented, pleased with my +occupation, and treated with much affection by my +father, and kindness by my step-mother, my father +having once more entered the state of matrimony, with +a widow much younger than himself, who had been +brought up in a superior manner, and was an amiable +and sensible woman.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> +<p>About a year after I had commenced this apprenticeship, +my father, finding that he could carry on his +business to more advantage in Hull, removed thither +with his family. An event of no little importance to +me, as it in a great measure influenced my future +destiny. Hull being one of the best ports in England, +and a place of great trade, my father had there full +employment for his numerous workmen, particularly in +vessel work. This naturally leading me to an acquaintance +with the sailors on board some of the ships: the +many remarkable stories they told me of their voyages +and adventures, and of the manners and customs of the +nations they had seen, excited a strong wish in me to +visit foreign countries, which was increased by my +reading the voyages of Captain Cook, and some other +celebrated navigators.</p> + +<p>Thus passed the four years that I lived at Hull, where +my father was esteemed by all who knew him, as a +worthy, industrious, and thriving man. At this period +a circumstance occurred which afforded me the opportunity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +I had for some time wished, of gratifying my +inclination of going abroad.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Among our principal customers at Hull were the +Americans who frequented that port, and from whose +conversation my father as well as myself formed the +most favourable opinion of that country, as affording an +excellent field for the exertions of industry, and a flattering +prospect for the establishment of a young man in +life. In the summer of the year 1802, during the peace +between England and France, the ship <i>Boston</i>, belonging +to Boston, in Massachusetts, and commanded by +Captain John Salter, arrived at Hull, whither she came +to take on board a cargo of such goods as were wanted +for the trade with the Indians, on the North-West +coast of America, from whence, after having taken in a +lading of furs and skins, she was to proceed to China, +and from thence home to America. The ship having +occasion for many repairs and alterations, necessary for +so long a voyage, the captain applied to my father to +do the smith's work, which was very considerable. +That gentleman, who was of a social turn, used often +to call at my father's house, where he passed many +of his evenings, with his chief and second mates, +Mr. B. Delouisa and Mr. William Ingraham,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> the +latter a fine young man of about twenty, of a most +amiable temper, and of such affable manners, as gained +him the love and attachment of the whole crew. +These gentlemen used occasionally to take me with +them to the theatre, an amusement which I was very +fond of, and which my father rather encouraged than +objected to, as he thought it a good means of preventing +young men, who are naturally inclined to +seek for something to amuse them, from frequenting +taverns, ale-houses, and places of bad resort, equally +destructive of the health and morals, while the stage +frequently furnishes excellent lessons of morality and +good conduct.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> +<p>In the evenings that he passed at my father's, Captain +Salter, who had for a great number of years been at sea, +and seen almost all parts of the world, used sometimes +to speak of his voyages, and, observing me listen with +much attention to his relations, he one day, when I had +brought him some work, said to me in rather a jocose +manner, "John, how should you like to go with me?" +I answered, that it would give me great pleasure, that +I had for a long time wished to visit foreign countries, +particularly America, which I had been told so many +fine stories of, and that if my father would give his +consent, and he was willing to take me with him, I +would go.</p> + +<p>"I shall be very glad to do it," said he, "if your father +can be prevailed on to let you go; and as I want an +expert smith for an armourer, the one I have shipped +for that purpose not being sufficiently master of his +trade, I have no doubt that you will answer my turn +well, as I perceive you are both active and ingenious, +and on my return to America I shall probably be able +to do something much better for you in Boston. I will +take the first opportunity of speaking to your father +about it, and try to persuade him to consent." He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +accordingly, the next evening that he called at our +house, introduced the subject: my father at first would +not listen to the proposal. That best of parents, though +anxious for my advantageous establishment in life, could +not bear to think of parting with me, but on Captain +Salter's telling him of what benefit it would be to me to +go the voyage with him, and that it was a pity to keep +a promising and ingenious young fellow like myself +confined to a small shop in England, when if I had +tolerable success I might do so much better in America, +where wages were much higher and living cheaper, he at +length gave up his objections, and consented that I +should ship on board the <i>Boston</i> as an armourer, at the +rate of thirty dollars per month, with an agreement that +the amount due to me, together with a certain sum of +money, which my father gave Captain Salter for that +purpose, should be laid out by him on the North-West +coast in the purchase of furs for my account, to be disposed +of in China for such goods as would yield a profit +on the return of the ship; my father being solicitous to +give me every advantage in his power of well establishing +myself in my trade in Boston, or some other maritime +town of America. Such were the flattering +expectations which this good man indulged respecting +me. Alas! the fatal disaster that befell us, not +only blasted all these hopes, but involved me in +extreme distress and wretchedness for a long period +after.</p> + +<p>The ship, having undergone a thorough repair and +been well coppered, proceeded to take on board her +cargo, which consisted of English cloths, Dutch blankets, +looking-glasses, beads, knives, razors, etc., which were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +received from Holland, some sugar and molasses, about +twenty hogsheads of rum, including stores for the +ship, a great quantity of ammunition, cutlasses, pistols, +and three thousand muskets and fowling-pieces. The +ship being loaded and ready for sea, as I was preparing +for my departure, my father came to me, and, taking me +aside, said to me with much emotion, "John, I am now +going to part with you, and Heaven only knows if we +shall ever again meet. But in whatever part of the +world you are, always bear it in mind, that on your own +conduct will depend your success in life. Be honest, +industrious, frugal, and temperate, and you will not fail, +in whatsoever country it may be your lot to be placed, +to gain yourself friends. Let the Bible be your guide, +and your reliance in any fortune that may befall you, +that Almighty Being, who knows how to bring forth +good from evil, and who never deserts those who put +their trust in Him." He repeated his exhortations to me +to lead an honest and Christian life, and to recollect +that I had a father, a mother, a brother, and sister, who +could not but feel a strong interest in my welfare, enjoining +me to write him by the first opportunity that +should offer to England, from whatever part of the +world I might be in, more particularly on my arrival in +Boston. This I promised to do, but long unhappily +was it before I was able to fulfil this promise. I then +took an affectionate leave of my worthy parent, whose +feelings would hardly permit him to speak, and, bidding +an affectionate farewell to my brother, sister, and step-mother, +who expressed the greatest solicitude for my +future fortune, went on board the ship, which proceeded +to the Downs, to be ready for the first favourable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +wind. I found myself well accommodated on board as +regarded my work, an iron forge having been erected +on deck; this my father had made for the ship on a +new plan, for which he afterwards obtained a patent; +while a corner of the steerage was appropriated to +my vice-bench, so that in bad weather I could work +below.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> These fairs are still held, though the dates are now May 26th, +September 4th, and October 27th.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The companion of Cook, and for many years President of the Royal +Society.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> This William Ingraham must not be confounded with Joseph Ingraham, +who also visited Nootka Sound, and played a considerable part in +the exploration of the North-West American coast.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p>VOYAGE TO NOOTKA SOUND</p> + + +<p>On the third day of September, 1802, we sailed from +the Downs with a fair wind, in company with twenty-four +sail of American vessels, most of which were bound +home.</p> + +<p>I was sea-sick for a few of the first days, but it was +of short continuance, and on my recovery I found myself +in uncommonly fine health and spirits, and went to +work with alacrity at my forge, in putting in order some +of the muskets, and making daggers, knives, and small +hatchets for the Indian trade, while in wet and stormy +weather I was occupied below in filing and polishing +them. This was my employment, having but little to +do with sailing the vessel, though I used occasionally to +lend a hand in assisting the seamen in taking in and +making sail.</p> + +<p>As I had never before been out of sight of land, I +cannot describe my sensations, after I had recovered +from the distressing effects of sea-sickness, on viewing +the mighty ocean by which I was surrounded, bound +only by the sky, while its waves, rising in mountains, +seemed every moment to threaten our ruin. +Manifest as is the hand of Providence in preserving its +creatures from destruction, in no instance is it more so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +than on the great deep; for whether we consider in its +tumultuary motions the watery deluge that each moment +menaces to overwhelm us, the immense violence of +its shocks, the little that interposes between us and +death, a single plank forming our only security, which, +should it unfortunately be loosened, would plunge us +at once into the abyss, our gratitude ought strongly to +be excited towards that superintending Deity who in +so wonderful a manner sustains our lives amid the +waves.</p> + +<p>We had a pleasant and favourable passage of twenty-nine +days to the Island of St. Catherine,<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> on the coast of +Brazils, where the captain had determined to stop for a +few days to wood and water. This place belongs to the +Portuguese. On entering the harbour, we were saluted +by the fort, which we returned. The next day the +governor of the island came on board of us with his +suite; Captain Salter received him with much respect, +and invited him to dine with him, which he accepted. +The ship remained at St. Catherine's four days, during +which time we were busily employed in taking in wood, +water, and fresh provisions, Captain Salter thinking it +best to furnish himself here with a full supply for his +voyage to the North-West coast, so as not to be obliged +to stop at the Sandwich Islands. St. Catherine's is a +very commodious place for vessels to stop at that are +bound round Cape Horn, as it abounds with springs +of fine water, with excellent oranges, plantains, and +bananas.</p> + +<p>Having completed our stores, we put to sea, and on +the twenty-fifth of December, at length passed Cape +Horn, which we had made no less than thirty-six days +before, but were repeatedly forced back by contrary +winds, experiencing very rough and tempestuous +weather in doubling it.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> +<p>Immediately after passing Cape Horn, all our dangers +and difficulties seemed to be at an end; the weather +became fine, and so little labour was necessary on board +the ship, that the men soon recovered from their fatigue +and were in excellent spirits. A few days after we fell +in with an English South Sea whaling ship homeward +bound,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> which was the only vessel we spoke with on our +voyage. We now took the trade wind or monsoon, +during which we enjoyed the finest weather possible, so +that for the space of a fortnight we were not obliged to +reeve a topsail or to make a tack, and so light was the +duty and easy the life of the sailors during this time, +that they appeared the happiest of any people in the +world.</p> + +<p>Captain Salter, who had been for many years in the +East India trade, was a most excellent seaman, and preserved +the strictest order and discipline on board his +ship, though he was a man of mild temper and conciliating +manners, and disposed to allow every indulgence +to his men, not inconsistent with their duty. We had +on board a fine band of music, with which on Saturday +nights, when the weather was pleasant, we were accustomed +to be regaled, the captain ordering them to +play for several hours for the amusement of the crew. +This to me was most delightful, especially during the +serene evenings we experienced in traversing the +Southern Ocean. As for myself, during the day I was +constantly occupied at my forge, in refitting or repairing +some of the ironwork of the vessel, but principally in +making tomahawks, daggers, etc., for the North-West +coast.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> +<p>During the first part of our voyage we saw scarcely +any fish, excepting some whales, a few sharks, and flying +fish; but after weathering Cape Horn we met with +numerous shoals of sea porpoises, several of whom we +caught, and as we had been for some time without fresh +provisions, I found it not only a palatable, but really a +very excellent food. To one who has never before seen +them, a shoal of these fish<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> presents a very striking and +singular appearance; beheld at a distance coming towards +a vessel, they look not unlike a great number of +small black waves rolling over one another in a confused +manner, and approaching with great swiftness. As soon +as a shoal is seen, all is bustle and activity on board the +ship, the grains and the harpoons are immediately got +ready, and those who are best skilled in throwing them take +their stand at the bow and along the gunwale, anxiously +awaiting the welcome troop as they come, gambolling +and blowing around the vessel, in search of food. When +pierced with the harpoon and drawn on board, unless +the fish is instantly killed by the stroke, which rarely +happens, it utters most pitiful cries, greatly resembling +those of an infant. The flesh, cut into steaks and +broiled, is not unlike very coarse beef, and the harslet +in appearance and taste is so much like that of a hog, +that it would be no easy matter to distinguish the one +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +from the other; from this circumstance the sailors have +given the name of the herring hog<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> to this fish. I was +told by some of the crew, that if one of them happens to +free itself from the grains or harpoons, when struck, +all the others, attracted by the blood, immediately quit +the ship and give chase to the wounded one, and as soon +as they overtake it, immediately tear it in pieces. We +also caught a large shark, which had followed the ship +for several days, with a hook which I made for the purpose, +and although the flesh was by no means equal to +that of the herring hog, yet to those destitute as we were +of anything fresh, I found it eat very well. After passing +the Cape, when the sea had become calm, we saw +great numbers of albatrosses, a large brown and white +bird of the goose kind, one of which Captain Salter shot, +whose wings measured from their extremities fifteen +feet. One thing, however, I must not omit mentioning, +as it struck me in a most singular and extraordinary +manner. This was, that on passing Cape Horn in +December, which was midsummer in that climate, the +nights were so light, without any moon, that we found +no difficulty whatever in reading small print, which we +frequently did during our watches.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Santa Catharina.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> This is now, so far as Great Britain is concerned, a reminiscence of a +vanished trade: the South Sea whaling is extinct.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> The zoological reader does not require to be told that the porpoise, a +very general term applied by sailors to many small species of cetaceans, is +not a "fish."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <i>Porc poisson</i> of the French, of which porpoise is simply a corruption.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p>INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES—MAQUINA—SEIZURE +OF THE VESSEL AND MURDER OF THE +CREW</p> + + +<p>In this manner, with a fair wind and easy weather from +the 28th of December, the period of our passing Cape +Horn, we pursued our voyage to the northward until +the 12th of March, 1803, when we made Woody Point +in Nootka Sound, on the North-West coast of America. +We immediately stood up the Sound for Nootka, where<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> +Captain Salter had determined to stop, in order to supply +the ship with wood and water before proceeding up the +coast to trade. But in order to avoid the risk of any +molestation or interruption to his men from the Indians +while thus employed, he proceeded with the ship about +five miles to the northward of the village, which is +situated on Friendly Cove, and sent out his chief mate +with several of the crew in the boat to find a good +place for anchoring her. After sounding for some time, +they returned with information that they had discovered +a secure place for anchorage, on the western side of an +inlet or small bay, at about half a mile from the coast, +near a small island which protected it from the sea, and +where there was plenty of wood and excellent water. +The ship accordingly came to anchor in this place, at +twelve o'clock at night, in twelve fathom water, muddy +bottom, and so near the shore that to prevent the ship +from winding we secured her by a hawser to the trees.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> +<p>On the morning of the next day, the 13th, several of +the natives came on board in a canoe from the village of +Nootka, with their king, called Maquina, who appeared +much pleased on seeing us, and with great seeming +cordiality welcomed Captain Salter and his officers to his +country. As I had never before beheld a savage of any +nation, it may readily be supposed that the novelty of +their appearance, so different from any people that I had +hitherto seen, excited in me strong feelings of surprise +and curiosity. I was, however, particularly struck with +the looks of their king, who was a man of a dignified +aspect, about six feet in height and extremely straight +and well proportioned; his features were in general good, +and his face was rendered remarkable by a large Roman +nose, a very uncommon form of feature among these +people; his complexion was of a dark copper hue, +though his face, legs, and arms were, on this occasion, +so covered with red paint, that their natural colour +could scarcely be perceived; his eyebrows were painted +black in two broad stripes like a new moon, and his +long black hair, which shone with oil, was fastened in a +bunch on the top of his head and strewed or powdered +all over with white down, which gave him a most curious +and extraordinary appearance. He was dressed in a +large mantle or cloak of the black sea-otter skin, which +reached to his knees, and was fastened around his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +middle by a broad belt of the cloth of the country, +wrought or painted with figures of several colours; this +dress was by no means unbecoming, but, on the contrary, +had an air of savage magnificence. His men were +habited in mantles of the same cloth, which is made from +the bark of a tree,<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> and has some resemblance to straw +matting; these are nearly square, and have two holes in +the upper part large enough to admit the arms; they +reach as low as the knees, and are fastened round their +bodies with a belt about four inches broad of the same +cloth.</p> + +<p>From his having frequently visited the English and +American ships that traded to the coast, Maquina had +learned the signification of a number of English words, and +in general could make himself pretty well understood +by us in our own language. He was always the first to +go on board such ships as came to Nootka, which he was +much pleased in visiting, even when he had no trade to +offer, as he always received some small present, and was +in general extremely well treated by the commanders. +He remained on board of us for some time, during which +the captain took him into the cabin and treated him with +a glass of rum—these people being very fond of distilled +spirits—and some biscuit and molasses, which they prefer +to any kind of food that we can offer them.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p><p>As there are seldom many furs to be purchased at +this place, and it was not fully the season, Captain Salter +had put in here not so much with an expectation of +trading, as to procure an ample stock of wood and water +for the supply of the ship on the coast, thinking it more +prudent to take it on board at Nootka, from the +generally friendly disposition of the people, than to +endanger the safety of his men in sending them on +shore for that purpose among the more ferocious natives +of the north.</p> + +<p>With this view, we immediately set about getting +our water-casks in readiness, and the next and two +succeeding days, part of the crew were sent on shore to +cut pine timber, and assist the carpenter in making it +into yards and spars for the ship, while those on board +were employed in refitting the rigging, repairing the +sails, etc., when we proceeded to take in our wood and +water as expeditiously as possible, during which time I +kept myself busily employed in repairing the muskets, +making knives, tomaxes,<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> etc., and doing such ironwork +as was wanted for the ship.</p> + +<p>Meantime more or less of the natives came on board +of us daily, bringing with them fresh salmon, with which +they supplied us in great plenty, receiving in return some +trifling articles. Captain Salter was always very particular, +before admitting these people on board, to see +that they had no arms about them, by obliging them +indiscriminately to throw off their garments, so that he +felt perfectly secure from any attack.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> +<p>On the 15th the king came on board with several of +his chiefs; he was dressed as before in his magnificent +otter-skin robe, having his face highly painted, and his +hair tossed with the white down, which looked like +snow. His chiefs were dressed in mantles of the country +cloth of its natural colour, which is a pale yellow; these +were ornamented with a broad border, painted or +wrought in figures of several colours, representing men's +heads, various animals, etc., and secured around them by +a belt like that of the king, from which it was distinguished +only by being narrower: the dress of the +common people is of the same fashion, and differs from +that of the chiefs in being of a coarser texture, and +painted red, of one uniform colour.</p> + +<p>Captain Salter invited Maquina and his chiefs to dine +with him, and it was curious to see how these people +(when they eat) seat themselves (in their country fashion, +upon our chairs) with their feet under them crossed like +Turks. They cannot endure the taste of salt, and the +only thing they would eat with us was the ship bread, +which they were very fond of, especially when dipped in +molasses; they had also a great liking for tea and coffee +when well sweetened. As iron weapons and tools of +almost every kind are in much request among them, +whenever they came on board they were always very +attentive to me, crowding around me at the forge, as if +to see in what manner I did my work, and in this way +became quite familiar, a circumstance, as will be seen in +the end, of great importance to me. The salmon which +they brought us furnished a most delicious treat to men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +who for a long time had lived wholly on salt provisions, +excepting such few sea fish as we had the good fortune +occasionally to take. We indeed feasted most luxuriously, +and flattered ourselves that we should not +want while on the coast for plenty of fresh provisions, +little imagining the fate that awaited us, and that this +dainty food was to prove the unfortunate lure to our +destruction!</p> + +<p>On the 19th the king came again on board, and was +invited by the captain to dine with him. He had much +conversation with Captain Salter, and informed him +that there were plenty of wild ducks and geese near +Friendly Cove, on which the captain made him a present +of a double-barrelled fowling-piece, with which he +appeared to be greatly pleased, and soon after went on +shore.</p> + +<p>On the 20th we were nearly ready for our departure, +having taken in what wood and water we were in +want of.</p> + +<p>The next day Maquina came on board with nine pair +of wild ducks, as a present; at the same time he brought +with him the gun, one of the locks of which he had +broken, telling the captain that it was <i>peshak</i>,<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> that is, +bad. Captain Salter was very much offended at this +observation, and, considering it as a mark of contempt +for his present, he called the king a liar, adding other +opprobrious terms, and, taking the gun from him, tossed +it indignantly into the cabin, and, calling me to him, said, +"John, this fellow has broken this beautiful fowling-piece, +see if you can mend it." On examining it, I told +him that it could be done. As I have already observed, +Maquina knew a number of English words, and unfortunately +understood but too well the meaning of the +reproachful terms that the captain addressed to him. +He said not a word in reply, but his countenance +sufficiently expressed the rage he felt, though he +exerted himself to suppress it, and I observed him, +while the captain was speaking, repeatedly put his hand +to his throat, and rub it upon his bosom, which he +afterwards told me was to keep down his heart, which +was rising into his throat and choking him. He soon +after went on shore with his men, evidently much +discomposed.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> +<p>On the morning of the 22nd the natives came off to +us as usual with salmon, and remained on board; when +about noon Maquina came alongside, with a considerable +number of his chiefs and men in their canoes, who, +after going through the customary examination, were +admitted into the ship. He had a whistle in his hand, +and over his face a very ugly mask of wood, representing +the head of some wild beast, appeared to be remarkably +good-humoured and gay, and whilst his people sang and +capered about the deck, entertaining us with a variety +of antic trick and gestures, he blew his whistle to a kind +of tune which seemed to regulate their motions. As +Captain Salter was walking on the quarter-deck, amusing +himself with their dancing, the king came up to him +and inquired when he intended to go to sea? He +answered, "To-morrow." Maquina then said, "You love +salmon—much in Friendly Cove, why not go there and +catch some?" The captain thought that it would be +very desirable to have a good supply of these fish for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +the voyage, and, on consulting with Mr. Delouisa, it was +agreed to send part of the crew on shore after dinner +with the seine, in order to procure a quantity. Maquina +and his chiefs stayed and dined on board, and after +dinner the chief mate went off with nine men in the +jolly-boat and yawl, to fish at Friendly Cove, having set +the steward on shore at our watering place, to wash the +captain's clothes.</p> + +<p>Shortly after the departure of the boats, I went down +to my vice-bench in the steerage, where I was employed +in cleaning muskets. I had not been there +more than an hour, when I heard the men hoisting +in the longboat, which, in a few minutes after, was +succeeded by a great bustle and confusion on deck. I +immediately ran up the steerage stairs, but scarcely was +my head above deck, when I was caught by the hair by +one of the savages, and lifted from my feet; fortunately +for me, my hair being short, and the ribbon with which +it was tied slipping, I fell from his hold into the steerage. +As I was falling he struck at me with an axe, which cut +a deep gash in my forehead, and penetrated the skull, +but in consequence of his losing his hold I luckily +escaped the full force of the blow, which otherwise +would have cleft my head in two. I fell, stunned and +senseless, upon the floor; how long I continued in this +situation I know not, but on recovering my senses, the +first thing that I did was to try to get up, but so weak +was I, from the loss of blood, that I fainted and fell. I +was, however, soon recalled to my recollection by three +loud shouts or yells from the savages, which convinced +me that they had got possession of the ship. It is impossible +for me to describe my feelings at this terrific<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +sound. Some faint idea may be formed of them by +those who have known what it is to half waken from a +hideous dream and still think it real. Never, no, never +shall I lose from my mind the impression of that dreadful +moment. I expected every instant to share the +wretched fate of my unfortunate companions, and when +I heard the song of triumph, by which these infernal +yells was succeeded, my blood ran cold in my veins.</p> + +<p>Having at length sufficiently recovered my senses to +look around me, after wiping the blood from my eyes, I +saw that the hatch of the steerage was shut. This was +done, as I afterwards discovered, by order of Maquina, +who, on seeing the savage strike at me with the axe, told +him not to hurt me, for that I was the armourer, and +would be useful to them in repairing their arms; while +at the same time, to prevent any of his men from injuring +me, he had the hatch closed. But to me this circumstance +wore a very different appearance, for I thought +that these barbarians had only prolonged my life in +order to deprive me of it by the most cruel tortures.</p> + +<p>I remained in this horrid state of suspense for a very +long time, when at length the hatch was opened, and +Maquina, calling me by name, ordered me to come up. +I groped my way up as well as I was able, being almost +blinded with the blood that flowed from my wound, and +so weak as with difficulty to walk. The king, on perceiving +my situation, ordered one of his men to bring a pot +of water to wash the blood from my face, which having +done, I was able to see distinctly with one of my eyes, +but the other was so swollen from my wound, that it +was closed. But what a terrific spectacle met my eyes: +six naked savages, standing in a circle around me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +covered with the blood of my murdered comrades, with +their daggers uplifted in their hands, prepared to strike. +I now thought my last moment had come, and recommended +my soul to my Maker.</p> + +<p>The king, who, as I have already observed, knew +enough of English to make himself understood, entered +the circle, and, placing himself before me, addressed me +nearly in the following words: "John—I speak—you no +say no; You say no—daggers come!" He then asked +me if I would be his slave during my life—if I would +fight for him in his battles, if I would repair his +muskets and make daggers and knives for him—with +several other questions, to all of which I was +careful to answer, yes. He then told me that he would +spare my life, and ordered me to kiss his hands and feet +to show my submission to him, which I did. In the +meantime his people were very clamorous to have me put +to death, so that there should be none of us left to tell our +story to our countrymen, and prevent them from coming +to trade with them; but the king in the most determined +manner opposed their wishes, and to his favour am +I wholly indebted for my being yet among the living.</p> + +<p>As I was busy at work at the time of the attack, I +was without my coat, and what with the coldness of the +weather, my feebleness from loss of blood, the pain of +my wound, and the extreme agitation and terror that I +still felt, I shook like a leaf, which the king observing, +went into the cabin, and, bringing up a greatcoat that +belonged to the captain, threw it over my shoulders, +telling me to drink some rum from a bottle which he +handed me, at the same time giving me to understand +that it would be good for me, and keep me from trembling +as I did. I took a draught of it, after which, taking +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +me by the hand, he led me to the quarter-deck, where +the most horrid sight presented itself that ever my eyes +witnessed. The heads of our unfortunate captain and his +crew, to the number of twenty-five, were all arranged +in a line,<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> and Maquina, ordering one of his people to +bring a head, asked me whose it was: I answered, the +captain's. In like manner the others were showed me, +and I told him the names, excepting a few that were so +horribly mangled that I was not able to recognise them.</p> + +<p>I now discovered that all our unfortunate crew had +been massacred, and learned that, after getting possession +of the ship, the savages had broke open the arm-chest +and magazine, and, supplying themselves with ammunition +and arms, sent a party on shore to attack our men, +who had gone thither to fish, and, being joined by +numbers from the village, without difficulty overpowered +and murdered them, and, cutting off their heads, brought +them on board, after throwing their bodies into the sea. +On looking upon the deck, I saw it entirely covered +with the blood of my poor comrades, whose throats had +been cut with their own jack-knives, the savages having +seized the opportunity, while they were busy in hoisting +in the boat, to grapple with them, and overpower them +by their numbers; in the scuffle the captain was thrown +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +overboard, and despatched by those in the canoes, who +immediately cut off his head. What I felt on this occasion, +may be more readily conceived than expressed.</p> + +<p>After I had answered his questions, Maquina took my +silk handkerchief from my neck and bound it around +my head, placing over the wound a leaf of tobacco, of +which we had a quantity on board. This was done at +my desire, as I had often found, from personal experience, +the benefit of this application to cuts.</p> + +<p>Maquina then ordered me to get the ship under weigh +for Friendly Cove. This I did by cutting the cables, +and sending some of the natives aloft to loose the sails, +which they performed in a very bungling manner. But +they succeeded so far in loosing the jib and top-sails, +that, with the advantage of fair wind, I succeeded in +getting the ship into the Cove, where, by order of the +king, I ran her ashore on a sandy beach, at eight o'clock +at night.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> By "Nootka," Friendly Cove, or "Yucuaht," is meant; there is no +special place of that name; the word, indeed, is unknown to the natives. +Woody Point, or Cape Cook, is in lat. 50 6' 31" N.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> The white pine (<i>Pinus monticola</i>). This is employed for making +blankets trimmed with sea-otter fur, but the mats used in their canoes are +made of cedar bark (<i>Thuja gigantea</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> This is still true. Many years ago, when there was a threat of Indian +trouble at Victoria, Sir James Douglas, famous as the first governor of +British Columbia, and still more celebrated as a factor of the Hudson Bay +Company, immediately allayed the rising storm by ordering a keg of treacle +and a box of biscuit to be opened. Instantly the knives and muskets +were tossed aside, and the irate savages fell to these homely dainties with +the best of goodwill to all concerned. "Dear me! dear me! there is +nothing like a little molasses," was the sage governor's remark. At the +Alberni saw-mills, on the West coast, the invariable midday meal of the +Indians loading lumber was coarse ship's biscuit dipped in a tin basin of +the cheapest treacle, around which the mollified tribesmen squatted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Tomahawks (little hatchets) in more familiar language.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <i>Pesh-shuak, Wikoo</i>, or <i>Chuuk</i> is also used in the same sense, but the +first word is most frequently employed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> The Indians of the North-West coast and the wooded region protected +by the great rivers always take heads as trophies. The heads are subsequently +fixed on poles in front of their cedar-board lodges. The prairie +Indians and the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains generally take, and +always took, scalps alone, owing, perhaps, to the difficulty of carrying +heads. This is no obstacle to fighting men travelling in canoes, on the +bows of which they are often fastened while the warriors are returning from +hostile expeditions.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p>RECEPTION OF JEWITT BY THE SAVAGES—ESCAPE OF +THOMPSON—ARRIVAL OF NEIGHBOURING TRIBES—AN +INDIAN FEAST</p> + + +<p>We were received by the inhabitants of the village, +men, women, and children, with loud shouts of joy, and +a most horrible drumming with sticks upon the roofs +and sides of their houses,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> in which they had also stuck +a great number of lighted pine torches, to welcome their +king's return, and congratulate him on the success of his +enterprise.</p> + +<p>Maquina then took me on shore to his house, which +was very large, and filled with people—where I was +received with much kindness by the women, particularly +those belonging to the king, who had no less than nine +wives, all of whom came around me, expressing much +sympathy for my misfortune, gently stroking and patting +my head in an encouraging and soothing manner, +with words expressive of condolence. How sweet is +compassion even from savages! Those who have been +in a similar situation, can alone truly appreciate its +value.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> +<p>In the meantime all the warriors of the tribe, to the +number of five hundred,<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> had assembled at the king's +house, to rejoice for their success. They exulted greatly +in having taken our ship, and each one boasted of his +own particular exploits in killing our men, but they +were in general much dissatisfied with my having been +suffered to live, and were very urgent with Maquina to +deliver me to them, to be put to death, which he +obstinately refused to do, telling them that he had +promised me my life, and would not break his word; +and that, besides, I knew how to repair and to make +arms, and should be of great use to them.</p> + +<p>The king then seated me by him, and ordered his +women to bring him something to eat, when they set +before him some dried clams and train-oil, of which he +ate very heartily, and encouraged me to follow his +example, telling me to eat much, and take a great deal +of oil, which would make me strong and fat. Notwithstanding +his praise of this new kind of food, I felt no +disposition to indulge in it, both the smell and taste +being loathsome to me; and had it been otherwise, such +was the pain I endured, the agitation of my mind, and +the gloominess of my reflections, that I should have felt +very little inclination for eating.</p> + +<p>Not satisfied with his first refusal to deliver me up to +them, the people again became clamorous that Maquina +should consent to my being killed, saying that not one +of us ought to be left alive to give information to others +of our countrymen, and prevent them from coming to +trade, or induce them to revenge the destruction of our +ship, and they at length became so boisterous, that he +caught up a large club in a passion, and drove them all +out of the house. During this scene, a son of the king, +about eleven years old, attracted no doubt by the +singularity of my appearance, came up to me: I +caressed him; he returned my attentions with much +apparent pleasure, and considering this as a fortunate +opportunity to gain the good will of the father, I took +the child on my knee, and, cutting the metal buttons +from off the coat I had on, I tied them around his neck. +At this he was highly delighted, and became so much +attached to me, that he would not quit me.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> +<p>The king appeared much pleased with my attention +to his son, and, telling me that it was time to go to sleep, +directed me to lie with his son next to him, as he was +afraid lest some of his people would come while he was +asleep and kill me with their daggers. I lay down as +he ordered me, but neither the state of my mind nor the +pain I felt would allow me to sleep.</p> + +<p>About midnight I was greatly alarmed by the +approach of one of the natives, who came to give +information to the king that there was one of the white +men alive, who had knocked him down as he went on +board the ship at night. This Maquina communicated +to me, giving me to understand that as soon as the sun +rose he should kill him. I endeavoured to persuade +him to spare his life, but he bade me be silent and go to +sleep. I said nothing more, but lay revolving in my +mind what method I could devise to save the life of this +man. What a consolation, thought I, what a happiness +would it prove to me in my forlorn state among these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +heathens, to have a Christian and one of my own +countrymen for a companion, and how greatly would it +alleviate and lighten the burden of my slavery.</p> + +<p>As I was thinking of some plan for his preservation, +it all at once came into my mind that this man was +probably the sail-maker of the ship, named Thompson, +as I had not seen his head among those on deck, and +knew that he was below at work upon sails not long +before the attack. The more I thought of it, the more +probable it appeared to me, and as Thompson was a +man nearly forty years of age, and had an old look, I +conceived it would be easy to make him pass for my +father, and by this means prevail on Maquina to spare +his life. Towards morning I fell into a dose, but was +awakened with the first beams of the sun by the king, +who told me he was going to kill the man who was on +board the ship, and ordered me to accompany him. I +rose and followed him, leading with me the young +prince, his son.</p> + +<p>On coming to the beach, I found all the men of the +tribe assembled. The king addressed them, saying +that one of the white men had been found alive on board +the ship, and requested their opinion as to saving his life +or putting him to death. They were unanimously for +the latter. This determination he made known to me. +Having arranged my plan, I asked him, pointing to the +boy, whom I still held by the hand, if he loved his son. +He answered that he did. I then asked the child if he +loved his father, and on his replying in the affirmative, I +said, "And I also love mine." I then threw myself on +my knees at Maquina's feet, and implored him, with +tears in my eyes, to spare my father's life, if the man on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +board should prove to be him, telling him that if he +killed my father, it was my wish that he should kill me +too, and that if he did not, I would kill myself—and +that he would thus lose my services; whereas, by sparing +my father's life, he would preserve mine, which +would be of great advantage to him, by my repairing +and making arms for him.</p> + +<p>Maquina appeared moved by my entreaties, and +promised not to put the man to death if he should be +my father. He then explained to his people what I +had said, and ordered me to go on board and tell the +man to come on shore. To my unspeakable joy, on +going into the hold, I found that my conjecture was +true. Thompson was there. He had escaped without +any injury, excepting a slight wound in the nose, given +him by one of the savages with a knife, as he attempted +to come on deck, during the scuffle. Finding the +savages in possession of the ship, as he afterwards +informed me, he secreted himself in the hold, hoping for +some chance to make his escape; but that, the Indian +who came on board in the night approaching the place +where he was, he supposed himself discovered, and, +being determined to sell his life as dearly as possible, as +soon as he came within his reach, he knocked him down, +but the Indian, immediately springing up, ran off at full +speed.</p> + +<p>I informed him, in a few words, that all our men +had been killed; that the king had preserved my life, +and had consented to spare his on the supposition +that he was my father, an opinion which he must be +careful not to undeceive them in, as it was his only +safety. After giving him his cue, I went on shore with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +him, and presented him to Maquina, who immediately +knew him to be the sail-maker, and was much pleased, +observing that he could make sails for his canoe. He +then took us to his house, and ordered something for us +to eat.</p> + +<p>On the 24th and 25th, the natives were busily +employed in taking the cargo out of the ship, stripping +her of her sails and rigging, cutting away the spars and +masts, and, in short, rendering her as complete a wreck +as possible, the muskets, ammunition, cloth, and all the +principal articles taken from her, being deposited in the +king's house.</p> + +<p>While they were thus occupied, each one taking what +he liked, my companion and myself being obliged to +aid them, I thought it best to secure the accounts and +papers of the ship, in hopes that on some future day I +might have it in my power to restore them to the +owners. With this view I took possession of the +captain's writing-desk, which contained the most of +them, together with some paper and implements for +writing. I had also the good fortune to find a blank +account-book, in which I resolved, should it be permitted +me, to write an account of our capture, and the most +remarkable occurrences that I should meet with during +my stay among these people, fondly indulging the hope +that it would not be long before some vessel would +arrive to release us. I likewise found in the cabin a +small volume of sermons, a Bible, and a Common Prayer-book +of the Church of England, which furnished me and +my comrade great consolation in the midst of our +mournful servitude, and enabled me, under the favour of +Divine Providence, to support with firmness the miseries<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +of a life which I might otherwise have found beyond +my strength to endure.</p> + +<p>As these people set no value upon things of this kind, +I found no difficulty in appropriating them to myself, +by putting them in my chest, which, though it had been +broken open and rifled by the savages, as I still had the +key, I without much difficulty secured. In this I also +put some small tools belonging to the ship, with several +other articles, particularly a journal kept by the second +mate, Mr. Ingraham, and a collection of drawings and +views of places taken by him, which I had the good +fortune to preserve, and on my arrival at Boston, +I gave them to a connection of his, the Honourable +Judge Dawes, who sent them to his family in New +York.</p> + +<p>On the 26th, two ships were seen standing in for +Friendly Cove. At their first appearance the inhabitants +were thrown into great confusion, but, soon collecting a +number of muskets and blunderbusses, ran to the shore, +from whence they kept up so brisk a fire at them, that +they were evidently afraid to approach nearer, and, after +firing a few rounds of grape-shot, which did no harm to +any one, they wore ship and stood out to sea. These +ships, as I afterwards learned, were the <i>Mary</i> and +<i>Juno</i> of Boston.</p> + +<p>They were scarcely out of sight when Maquina +expressed much regret that he had permitted his people +to fire at them, being apprehensive that they would give +information to others in what manner they had been +received, and prevent them from coming to trade with +him.</p> + +<p>A few days after hearing of the capture of the ship,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +there arrived at Nootka a great number of canoes filled +with savages from no less than twenty tribes to the +north and south. Among those from the north were +the Ai-tiz-zarts,<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> Schoo-mad-its,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> Neu-wit-ties,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> Savin-nars,<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> +Ah-owz-arts,<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> Mo-watch-its,<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> Suth-setts,<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> Neu-chad-lits,<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> +Mich-la-its,<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> and Cay-u-quets,<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> the most of +whom were considered as tributary to Nootka. From +the south, the Aytch-arts<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> and Esqui-ates,<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> also tributary, +with the Kla-oo-quates,<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> and the Wickannish, a +large and powerful tribe about two hundred miles +distant.</p> + +<p>These last were better clad than most of the others, +and their canoes wrought with much greater skill; +they are furnished with sails as well as paddles, and, +with the advantage of a fair breeze, are usually but +twenty-four hours on their passage.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p><p>Maquina, who was very proud of his new acquisition, +was desirous of welcoming these visitors in the European +manner. He accordingly ordered his men, as the canoes +approached, to assemble on the beach with loaded +muskets and blunderbusses, placing Thompson at the +cannon, which had been brought from the ship and laid +upon two long sticks of timber in front of the village; +then, taking a speaking trumpet in his hand, he +ascended with me the roof of his house, and began +drumming or beating upon the boards with a stick +most violently.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be more ludicrous than the appearance +of this motley group of savages collected on the shore, +dressed as they were with their ill-gotten finery in the +most fantastic manner, some in women's smocks, taken +from our cargo, others in <i>Kotsacks</i><a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> (or cloaks) of blue, +red, or yellow broadcloth, with stockings drawn over +their heads, and their necks hung round with numbers +of powder-horns, shot-bags, and cartouch-boxes, some +of them having no less than ten muskets apiece on their +shoulders, and five or six daggers in their girdles. +Diverting indeed was it to see them all squatted upon +the beach, holding their muskets perpendicularly with +the butt pressed upon the sand, instead of against +their shoulders, and in this position awaiting the order +to fire.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> +<p>Maquina, at last, called to them with his trumpet to fire, +which they did in the most awkward and timid manner, +with their muskets hard pressed upon the ground as +above-mentioned. At the same moment the cannon +was fired by Thompson, immediately on which they +threw themselves back and began to roll and tumble +over the sand as if they had been shot, when, suddenly +springing up, they began a song of triumph, and, running +backward and forward upon the shore, with the wildest +gesticulations, boasted of their exploits, and exhibited as +trophies what they had taken from us. Notwithstanding +the unpleasantness of my situation, and the feelings +that this display of our spoils excited, I could not avoid +laughing at the strange appearance of these savages, +their awkward movements, and the singular contrast of +their dress and arms.</p> + +<p>When the ceremony was concluded, Maquina invited +the strangers to a feast at his house, consisting of whale-blubber, +smoked herring spawn, and dried fish and train-oil, +of which they ate most plentifully. The feast being +over, the trays out of which they ate, and other things, +were immediately removed to make room for the dance, +which was to close the entertainment. This was performed +by Maquina's son, the young prince Sat-sat-sok-sis, +whom I have already spoken of, in the following +manner:—</p> + +<p>Three of the principal chiefs, drest in their otter-skin +mantles, which they wear only on extraordinary occasions +and at festivals, having their heads covered over with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +white down and their faces highly painted, came forward +into the middle of the room, each furnished with a bag +filled with white down, which they scattered around in +such a manner as to represent a fall of snow. These +were followed by the young prince, who was dressed in a +long piece of yellow cloth, wrapped loosely around him, +and decorated with small bells, with a cap on his head to +which was fastened a curious mask in imitation of a wolf's +head, while the rear was brought up by the king himself +in his robe of sea-otter skin, with a small whistle in his +mouth and a rattle in his hand, with which he kept time +to a sort of tune on his whistle. After passing very rapidly +in this order around the house, each of them seated +himself, except the prince, who immediately began his +dance, which principally consisted in springing up into +the air in a squat posture, and constantly turning +around on his heels with great swiftness in a very +narrow circle.</p> + +<p>This dance, with a few intervals of rest, was continued +for about two hours, during which the chiefs kept up a +constant drumming with sticks of about a foot in length +on a long hollow plank, which was, though a very noisy, +a most doleful kind of music. This they accompanied +with songs, the king himself acting as chorister, while +the women applauded each feat of activity in the dancer, +by repeating the words, <i>Wocash! Wocash Tyee!</i><a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> that +is, Good! very good, Prince!</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> +<p>As soon as the dance was finished, Maquina began +to give presents to the strangers, in the name of his son +Sat-sat-sok-sis. These were pieces of European cloth, +generally of a fathom in length, muskets, powder, shot, etc. +Whenever he gave them anything, they had a peculiar +manner of snatching it from him with a very stern +and surly look, repeating each time the words, <i>Wocash +Tyee</i>. This I understood to be their custom, and was +considered as a compliment, which, if omitted, would +be supposed as a mark of disregard for the present. +On this occasion Maquina gave away no less than one +hundred muskets, the same number of looking-glasses, +four hundred yards of cloth, and twenty casks of +powder, besides other things.</p> + +<p>After receiving these presents, the strangers retired +on board their canoes, for so numerous were they that +Maquina would not suffer any but the chiefs to sleep +in the houses; and, in order to prevent the property +from being pillaged by them, he ordered Thompson and +myself to keep guard during the night, armed with +cutlasses and pistols.</p> + +<p>In this manner tribes of savages from various parts +of the coast continued coming for several days, bringing +with them blubber, oil, herring spawn, dried fish, and +clams, for which they received in return presents of +cloth, etc., after which they in general immediately +returned home. I observed that very few, if any, of +them, except the chiefs, had arms, which, I afterwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +learned, is the custom with these people, whenever they +come upon a friendly visit or to trade, in order to show, +on their approach, that their intentions are pacific.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> A common mode of expressing joy. During dancing and singing +this goes on continually.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> In 1863, when I made a special inquiry, the whole number of adult +males in the Mooachaht tribe (the so-called Nootkans) was one hundred +and fifty.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Ayhuttisahts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> This name is unknown to me.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Nahwittis, or Flatlashekwill, an almost vanished tribe, join the north +end of Vancouver Island (Goletas Channel, Galliano Island, and west-ward +to Cape Scott).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> The name of some village, not a tribe.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Ahousahts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Mooachahts. The "Nootkans" proper of Friendly Cove.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Seshahts, but they are to the south (Alberni Canal) and Barclay +Sound.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Noochahlahts (lat. 49 47' 20" N.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Muchlahts, or Quaquina arm.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Ky-yoh-quahts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> This is probably another spelling of the E-cha-chahts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Hishquayahts (lat. 49 27' 31" N., long. 126 25' 27" W.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Klahoquahts. This and the other tribes mentioned in the text are no +longer tributary to the Mooachahts, and there is no "Wickannish" tribe. +As we have already seen (p. 38), it is the name of an individual—probably +the chief of the Klahoquahts. It is a common name. The Nettinahts +and the Klahoquahts are still renowned in canoe-making. They chisel +them out of the great cedar (<i>Thuja gigantea</i>) trees in this district, for +sale to other tribes. But Jewitt, who had no personal knowledge of the +homes of these tribes, makes sad havoc of their names and the direction +from which they came.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <i>Kootsik</i>, the "cotsack" of Meares. <i>Kootsik-poom</i> is the pin by which +the Indian blanket cloak is fastened. In Meares's time the people dressed +in kootsiks of sea-otter skin. But even then they were getting so fond of +blankets, that without "woollens" among the barter, trade was difficult. +In fifteen years they learned a better use for sea-otters worth 20 apiece +than to make cloaks of them.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> The words were really <i>Waw-kash</i> (a word of salutation) and <i>Tyee</i>. +This is in most common use in Nootka Sound. The order of salutation +to a man is <i>Quaache-is</i>, to a woman <i>Ch-is</i>, and at parting <i>Klach-she</i>. A +married woman is <i>Klootsnah</i>; a young girl <i>Hah-quatl-is</i>; an unmarried +woman (whether old or young) <i>Hah-quatl</i>—distinctions which Jewitt does +not make in his brief vocabulary. The Indians have many words to +express varieties of the same action. Thus <i>pttēs</i> means to wash. But +<i>pttēē</i> is to wash all over; <i>tsont-soomik</i>, to wash the hands; <i>tsocuks</i>, to +wash a pan, etc. <i>Haouwith</i>, or <i>Hawilth</i>, is the original word for chief, +though <i>Tyee</i> is commonly used.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> This is one of the earliest—if not the first—account of these periodical +givings away of property so characteristic of the North-Western coast +Indians, and known to the whites as "Potlatches." An Indian accumulates +blankets and other portable property simply to give away at such feasts. +Then if a poor, he becomes a great man, and even a kind of minor chief—a +Life Peer, as it were. But those who have received much are expected +to return the compliment by also giving a "potlatch," to which guests +come from far and near. I have described one of these in <i>The Races of +Mankind</i> (the first edition of <i>The Peoples of the World</i>), vol. i. pp. 75-90.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p>BURNING OF THE VESSEL—COMMENCEMENT OF +JEWITT'S JOURNAL</p> + + +<p>Early on the morning of the 19th the ship was discovered +to be on fire. This was owing to one of the +savages having gone on board with a firebrand at night +for the purpose of plunder, some sparks from which fell +into the hold, and, communicating with some combustibles, +soon enveloped the whole in flames. The +natives regretted the loss of the ship the more as a +great part of her cargo still remained on board. To my +companion and myself it was a most melancholy sight, +for with her disappeared from our eyes every trace of a +civilised country; but the disappointment we experienced +was still more severely felt, for we had calculated +on having the provision to ourselves, which would have +furnished us with a stock for years, as whatever is cured +with salt, together with most of our other articles of +food, are never eaten by these people. I had luckily +saved all my tools, excepting the anvil and the bellows, +which was attached to the forge, and from their weight +had not been brought on shore. We had also the good +fortune, in looking over what had been taken from the +ship, to discover a box of chocolate and a case of port +wine, which, as the Indians were not fond of it, proved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +a great comfort to us for some time; and from one of +the natives I obtained a Nautical Almanack which had +belonged to the captain, and which was of great use to +me in determining the time.</p> + +<p>About two days after, on examining their booty, the +savages found a tierce of rum, with which they were +highly delighted, as they have become very fond +of spirituous liquors since their intercourse with the +whites.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> This was towards evening, and Maquina, having +assembled all the men at his house, gave a feast, at +which they drank so freely of the rum, that in a short +time they became so extremely wild and frantic that +Thompson and myself, apprehensive for our safety, +thought it prudent to retire privately into the woods, +where we continued till past midnight.</p> + +<p>On our return we found the women gone, who are +always very temperate, drinking nothing but water, +having quitted the house and gone to the other huts to +sleep, so terrified were they at the conduct of the men, +who lay all stretched out on the floor in a state of complete +intoxication. How easy in this situation would +it have been for us to have dispatched or made ourselves +masters of our enemies had there been any ship near to +which we could have escaped, but as we were situated +the attempt would have been madness. The wish of +revenge was, however, less strongly impressed on my +mind than what appeared to be so evident an interposition +of Divine Providence in our favour. How little can +man penetrate its designs, and how frequently is that +intended as a blessing which he views as a curse. The +burning of our ship, which we had lamented so much, +as depriving us of so many comforts, now appeared to +us in a very different light, for, had the savages got +possession of the rum, of which there were nearly twenty +puncheons on board,<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> we must inevitably have fallen a +sacrifice to their fury in some of their moments of intoxication. +This cask, fortunately, and a case of gin, +was all the spirits they obtained from the ship. To +prevent the recurrence of similar danger, I examined the +cask, and, finding still a considerable quantity remaining, +I bored a small hole in the bottom with a gimblet, +which before morning, to my great joy, completely +emptied it.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> +<p>By this time the wound in my head began to be +much better, so that I could enjoy some sleep, which I +had been almost deprived of by the pain, and though I +was still feeble from the loss of blood and my sufferings, +I found myself sufficiently well to go to work at +my trade, in making for the king and his wives bracelets +and other small ornaments of copper or steel, and in +repairing the arms, making use of a large square stone +for the anvil, and heating my metal in a common wood +fire. This was very gratifying to Maquina, and his +women particularly, and secured me their goodwill.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, great numbers from the other tribes +kept continually flocking to Nootka, bringing with them, +in exchange for the ship's plunder, such quantities of +provision, that, notwithstanding the little success that +Maquina met with in whaling this season, and their +gluttonous waste, always eating to excess when they +have it, regardless of the morrow, seldom did the natives +experience any want of food during the summer. As +to myself and companion, we fared as they did, never +wanting for such provision as they had, though we were +obliged to eat it cooked in their manner, and with train-oil +as a sauce, a circumstance not a little unpleasant, +both from their uncleanly mode of cooking and many +of the articles of their food, which to a European are +very disgusting; but, as the saying is, hunger will break +through stone walls, and we found, at times, in the +blubber of sea animals and the flesh of the dog-fish, +loathsome as it generally was, a very acceptable repast.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p><p>But much oftener would poor Thompson, who was no +favourite with them, have suffered from hunger had it +not been for my furnishing him with provision. This I +was enabled to do from my work, Maquina allowing me +the privilege, when not employed for him, to work for +myself in making bracelets and other ornaments of +copper, fish-hooks, daggers, etc., either to sell to the +tribes who visited us or for our own chiefs, who on these +occasions, besides supplying me with as much as I +wished to eat, and a sufficiency for Thompson, almost +always made me a present of a European garment, +taken from the ship, or some fathoms of cloth, which +were made up by my comrade, and enabled us to go +comfortably clad for some time; or small bundles of +penknives, razors, scissors, etc., for one of which we +could almost always procure from the natives two or +three fresh salmon, cod, or halibut; or dried fish, clams, +and herring spawn from the stranger tribes; and had +we only been permitted to cook them after our own +way, as we had pots and other utensils belonging to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +the ship, we should not have had much cause of complaint +in this respect; but so tenacious are these people +of their customs, particularly in the article of food and +cooking, that the king always obliged me to give whatever +provision I bought to the women to cook. And +one day, finding Thompson and myself on the shore +employed in boiling down sea-water into salt, on being +told what it was he was very much displeased, and, taking +the little we had procured, threw it into the sea. In +one instance alone, as a particular favour, he allowed +me to boil some salmon in my own way, when I invited +him and his queen to eat with me; they tasted it, but +did not like it, and made their meal of some of it that +I had cooked in their country fashion.</p> + +<p>In May the weather became uncommonly mild and +pleasant, and so forward was vegetation, that I picked +plenty of strawberries<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> by the middle of the month. Of +this fruit there are great quantities on this coast, and I +found them a most delicious treat.</p> + +<p>My health now had become almost re-established, +my wound being so far healed that it gave me no +further trouble. I had never failed to wash it regularly +once a day in sea water, and to dress it with a fresh leaf +of tobacco, which I obtained from the natives, who had +taken it from the ship, but made no use of it. This was +all the dressing I gave it, except applying to it two or +three times a little loaf sugar, which Maquina gave me, +in order to remove some proud flesh, which prevented +it from closing.</p> + +<p>My cure would doubtless have been much sooner +effected had I have been in a civilised country, where I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>could have had it dressed by a surgeon and properly +attended to. But alas! I had no good Samaritan, with +oil and wine, to bind up my wounds, and fortunate +might I even esteem myself that I was permitted to dress +it myself, for the utmost that I could expect from the +natives was compassion for my misfortunes, which I +indeed experienced from the women, particularly the +queen, or favourite wife of Maquina, the mother of Sat-sat-sok-sis, +who used frequently to point to my head, +and manifest much kindness and solicitude for me. I +must do Maquina the justice to acknowledge, that he +always appeared desirous of sparing me any labour +which he believed might be hurtful to me, frequently +inquiring in an affectionate manner if my head pained +me. As for the others, some of the chiefs excepted, +they cared little what became of me, and probably would +have been gratified with my death.</p> + +<p>My health being at length re-established and my +wound healed, Thompson became very importunate for +me to begin my journal, and as I had no ink, proposed +to cut his finger to supply me with blood for the purpose +whenever I should want it. On the 1st of June I +accordingly commenced a regular diary, but had no +occasion to make use of the expedient suggested by my +comrade, having found a much better substitute in the +expressed juice of a certain plant, which furnished me +with a bright green colour, and, after making a number +of trials, I at length succeeded in obtaining a very +tolerable ink, by boiling the juice of the blackberry with +a mixture of finely powdered charcoal, and filtering it +through a cloth. This I afterwards preserved in bottles, +and found it answer very well, so true is it that "necessity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +is the mother of invention." As for quills, I found no +difficulty in procuring them whenever I wanted, from +the crows and ravens with which the beach was almost +always covered, attracted by the offal of whales, seals, +etc., and which were so tame that I could easily kill them +with stones, while a large clam-shell furnished me with +an inkstand.</p> + +<p>The extreme solicitude of Thompson that I should +begin my journal might be considered as singular in a +man who neither knew how to read or write, a circumstance, +by the way, very uncommon in an American, +were we less acquainted with the force of habit, he +having been for many years at sea, and accustomed to +consider the keeping of a journal as a thing indispensable. +This man was born in Philadelphia, and at eight +years old ran away from his friends and entered as a +cabin boy on board a ship bound to London. On his +arrival there, finding himself in distress, he engaged as +an apprentice to the captain of a collier, from whence +he was impressed on board an English man-of-war, and +continued in the British naval service about twenty-seven +years, during which he was present at the engagement +under Lord Howe with the French fleet in June +1794, and when peace was made between England +and France, was discharged. He was a very strong +and powerful man, an expert boxer, and perfectly +fearless; indeed, so little was his dread of danger, +that when irritated he was wholly regardless of his +life. Of this the following will furnish a sufficient +proof:—</p> + +<p>One evening about the middle of April, as I was at +the house of one of the chiefs, where I had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +employed on some work for him, word was brought +me that Maquina was going to kill Thompson. I +immediately hurried home, where I found the king in +the act of presenting a loaded musket at Thompson, +who was standing before him with his breast bared +and calling on him to fire. I instantly stepped up to +Maquina, who was foaming with rage, and, addressing +him in soothing words, begged him for my sake +not to kill my father, and at length succeeded in +taking the musket from him and persuading him to sit +down.</p> + +<p>On inquiring into the cause of his anger, I learned +that, while Thompson was lighting the lamps in the +king's room, Maquina having substituted ours for their +pine torches, some of the boys began to tease him, +running around him and pulling him by the trousers, +among the most forward of whom was the young prince. +This caused Thompson to spill the oil, which threw him +into such a passion, that, without caring what he did, +he struck the prince so violent a blow in his face with +his fist as to knock him down. The sensation excited +among the savages by an act which was considered as +the highest indignity, and a profanation of the sacred +person of majesty, may be easily conceived. The king +was immediately acquainted with it, who, on coming in +and seeing his son's face covered with blood, seized a +musket and began to load it, determined to take instant +revenge of the audacious offender, and had I arrived a +few moments later than I did, my companion would +certainly have paid with his life for his rash and violent +conduct. I found the utmost difficulty in pacifying +Maquina, who for a long time after could not forgive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +Thompson, but would repeatedly say, "John, <i>you</i> die—Thompson +kill."</p> + +<p>But to appease the king was not all that was necessary. +In consequence of the insult offered to their prince, the +whole tribe held a council, in which it was unanimously +resolved that Thompson should be put to death in the +most cruel manner. I however interceded so strenuously +with Maquina for his life, telling him that if my father +was killed, I was determined not to survive him, that he +refused to deliver him up to the vengeance of his people, +saying, that for John's sake they must consent to let +him live. The prince, who, after I had succeeded in +calming his father, gave me an account of what had +happened, told me that it was wholly out of regard to +me, as Thompson was my father, that his life had been +spared, for that if any one of the tribe should dare to +lift a hand against him in anger, he would most certainly +be put to death.</p> + +<p>Yet even this narrow escape produced not much effect +on Thompson, or induced him to restrain the violence of +his temper. For, not many weeks after, he was guilty of +a similar indiscretion, in striking the eldest son of a chief, +who was about eighteen years old, and, according to +their custom, was considered as a Tyee, or chief, himself, +in consequence of his having provoked him by calling +him a white slave. This affair caused great commotion +in the village, and the tribe was very clamorous for his +death, but Maquina would not consent.</p> + +<p>I used frequently to remonstrate with him on the +imprudence of his conduct, and beg him to govern his +temper better, telling him that it was our duty, since our +lives were in the power of these savages, to do nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +to exasperate them. But all I could say on this point +availed little, for so bitter was the hate he felt for them, +which he was no way backward in manifesting both by +his looks and actions, that he declared he never would +submit to their insults, and that he had much rather be +killed than be obliged to live among them; adding that +he only wished he had a good vessel and some guns, +and he would destroy the whole of the cursed race; for +to a brave sailor like him, who had fought the French +and Spaniards with glory, it was a punishment worse +than death to be a slave to such a poor, ignorant, +despicable set of beings.</p> + +<p>As for myself, I thought very differently. After returning +thanks to that merciful Being who had in so +wonderful a manner softened the hearts of the savages +in my favour, I had determined from the first of my +capture to adopt a conciliating conduct towards them, +and conform myself, as far as was in my power, to their +customs and mode of thinking, trusting that the same +divine goodness that had rescued me from death, would +not always suffer me to languish in captivity among +these heathens.</p> + +<p>With this view, I sought to gain their goodwill by +always endeavouring to assume a cheerful countenance, +appearing pleased with their sports and buffoon tricks, +making little ornaments for the wives and children +of their chiefs, by which means I became quite a +favourite with them, and fish-hooks, daggers, etc., for +themselves.</p> + +<p>As a further recommendation to their favour, and +what might eventually prove of the utmost importance +to us, I resolved to learn their language, which in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +course of a few months' residence I so far succeeded in +acquiring, as to be able in general to make myself well +understood.</p> + +<p>I likewise tried to persuade Thompson to learn it, as +what might prove necessary to him. But he refused, +saying that he hated both them and their cursed lingo, +and would have nothing to do with it.</p> + +<p>By pursuing this conciliatory plan, so far did I gain +the goodwill of these savages, particularly the chiefs, +that I scarcely ever failed experiencing kind treatment +from them, and was received with a smile of welcome at +their houses, where I was always sure of having something +given me to eat, whenever they had it, and many +a good meal have I had from them, when they themselves +were short of provisions and suffering for the +want of them.</p> + +<p>And it was a common practice with me, when we +had nothing to eat at home, which happened not +unfrequently during my stay among them, to go +around the village, and on noticing a smoke from any +of the houses, which denoted that they were cooking, +enter in without ceremony, and ask them for something, +which I was never refused.</p> + +<p>Few nations, indeed, are there so very rude and +unfeeling, whom constant mild treatment, and an +attention to please, will not mollify and obtain from +some return of kind attention. This the treatment I +received from these people may exemplify, for not +numerous, even among those calling themselves civilised, +are there instances to be found of persons depriving +themselves of food to give it to a stranger, whatever +may be his merits. +</p> + +<p>It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> may perhaps be as well in this place to give a +description of Nootka; some accounts of the tribes +who were accustomed to visit us; and the manners +and customs of the people, as far as I hitherto had +an opportunity of observing them.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> It was about this date that Long, an Indian trader, described rum as +the <i>unum necessarium</i> for traffic with the savages. It is still eagerly +asked for, though its sale or gift is illegal.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> For sale, of course, to the Indians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Chiefly <i>Fragaria chilensis</i>.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p>DESCRIPTION OF NOOTKA SOUND—MANNER OF BUILDING +HOUSES—FURNITURE—DRESSES</p> + + +<p>The village of Nootka is situated in between 49 and +50 deg. N. lat.,<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> at the bottom of Friendly Cove, on the +west or north-west side. It consists of about twenty +houses or huts, on a small hill, which rises with a gentle +ascent from the shore. Friendly Cove, which affords +good and secure anchorage for ships close in with the +shore, is a small harbour of not more than a quarter or +half a mile in length, and about half a mile or three-quarters +broad, formed by the line of coast on the east +and a long point or headland, which extends as much +as three leagues into the Sound, in nearly a westerly +direction.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> This, as well as I can judge from what I +have seen of it, is in general from one to two miles in +breadth, and mostly a rocky and unproductive soil, with +but few trees. The eastern and western shores of this +harbour are steep and in many parts rocky, the trees +growing quite to the water's edge, but the bottom to the +north and north-west is a fine sandy beach of half a +mile or more in extent.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p><p>From the village to the north and north-east extends +a plain, the soil of which is very excellent, and with +proper cultivation may be made to produce almost any +of our European vegetables; this is but little more than +half a mile in breadth, and is terminated by the seacoast, +which in this place is lined with rocks and reefs, +and cannot be approached by ships. The coast in the +neighbourhood of Nootka is in general low, and but +little broken into hills and valleys. The soil is good, +well covered with fine forests of pine, spruce, beech, +and other trees, and abounds with streams of the finest +water, the general appearance being the same for many +miles around.</p> + +<p>The village is situated on the ground occupied by the +Spaniards, when they kept a garrison here; the foundations +of the church and the governor's house are yet +visible, and a few European plants are still to be found, +which continue to be self-propagated, such as onions, +peas, and turnips, but the two last are quite small, particularly +the turnips, which afforded us nothing but +the tops for eating. Their former village stood on the +same spot, but the Spaniards, finding it a commodious +situation, demolished the houses, and forced the inhabitants +to retire five or six miles into the country.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> With +great sorrow, as Maquina told me, did they find themselves +compelled to quit their ancient place of residence, +but with equal joy did they repossess themselves of +it when the Spanish garrison was expelled by the +English.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> +<a href="images/i097.jpg"><img src="images/i097-t.jpg" width="350" height="240" alt="HABITATIONS IN NOOTKA SOUND." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />HABITATIONS IN NOOTKA SOUND.</span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +</div> + +<p>The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> houses, as I have observed, are above twenty in +number, built nearly in a line. These are of different +sizes, according to the rank or quality of the <i>Tyee</i>, or +chief, who lives in them, each having one, of which he is +considered as the lord. They vary not much in width, +being usually from thirty-six to forty feet wide, but are +of very different lengths, that of the king, which is much +the longest, being about one hundred and fifty feet, +while the smallest, which contain only two families, do +not exceed forty feet in length; the house of the king is +also distinguished from the others by being higher.</p> + +<p>Their method of building is as follows: they erect in +the ground two very large posts, at such a distance apart +as is intended for the length of the house. On these, +which are of equal height, and hollowed out at the upper +end, they lay a large spar for the ridge-pole of the building, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>or, if the length of the house requires it, two or more, +supporting their ends by similar upright posts; these +spars are sometimes of an almost incredible size, +having myself measured one in Maquina's house, which +I found to be one hundred feet long and eight feet four +inches in circumference. At equal distances from these +two posts, two others are placed on each side, to form +the width of the building; these are rather shorter than +the first, and on them are laid in like manner spars, but +of a smaller size, having the upper part hewed flat, with +a narrow ridge on the outer side to support the ends of +the planks.</p> + +<p>The roof is formed of pine planks with a broad feather +edge, so as to lap well over each other, which are laid +lengthwise from the ridge-pole in the centre, to the +beams at the sides, after which the top is covered with +planks of eight feet broad, which form a kind of coving +projecting so far over the ends of the planks that form +the roof, as completely to exclude the rain. On these +they lay large stones to prevent their being displaced +by the wind. The ends of the planks are not secured +to the beams on which they are laid by any fastening, +so that in a high storm I have often known all the men +obliged to turn out and go upon the roof to prevent +them from being blown off, carrying large stones and +pieces of rock with them to secure the boards, always +stripping themselves naked on these occasions, whatever +may be the severity of the weather, to prevent their +garments from being wet and muddied, as these storms +are almost always accompanied with heavy rains. The +sides of their houses are much more open and exposed +to the weather; this proceeds from their not being so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +easily made close as the roof, being built with planks of +about ten feet long and four or five wide, which they +place between stancheons or small posts of the height +of the roof; of these there are four to each range of +boards, two at each end, and so near each other as to +leave space enough for admitting a plank. The planks +or boards which they make use of for building their +houses, and for other uses, they procure of different +lengths as occasion requires, by splitting them out +with hard wooden wedges from pine logs, and afterwards +dubbing them down with their chisels, with much +patience, to the thickness wanted, rendering them quite +smooth.</p> + +<p>There is but one entrance; this is placed usually at +the end, though sometimes in the middle, as was that of +Maquina's. Through the middle of the building, from +one end to the other, runs a passage of about eight or +nine feet broad, on each side of which the several +families that occupy it live, each having its particular +fireplace, but without any kind of wall or separation to +mark their respective limits; the chief having his apartment +at the upper end, and the next in rank opposite +on the other side. They have no other floor than the +ground; the fireplace or hearth consists of a number of +stones loosely put together, but they are wholly without +a chimney, nor is there any opening left in the roof, but +whenever a fire is made, the plank immediately over it +is thrust aside, by means of a pole, to give vent to the +smoke.</p> + +<p>The height of the houses in general, from the ground +to the centre of the roof, does not exceed ten feet, that of +Maquina's was not far from fourteen; the spar forming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +the ridge-pole of the latter was painted in red and black +circles alternately, by way of ornament, and the large +posts that supported it had their tops curiously wrought +or carved, so as to represent human heads of a monstrous +size, which were painted in their manner. These were +not, however, considered as objects of adoration, but +merely as ornaments.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> + +<p>The furniture of these people is very simple, and consists +only of boxes, in which they put their clothes, furs, +and such things as they hold most valuable; tubs for +keeping their provisions of spawn and blubber in; trays +from which they eat; baskets for their dried fish and +other purposes, and bags made of bark matting, of which +they also make their beds, spreading a piece of it upon +the ground when they lie down, and using no other bed +covering than their garments. The boxes are of pine, +with a top that shuts over, and instead of nails or pegs, +are fastened with flexible twigs; they are extremely +smooth and high polished, and sometimes ornamented +with rows of very small white shells. The tubs are of a +square form, secured in the like manner, and of various +sizes, some being extremely large, having seen them +that were six feet long by four broad and five deep. +The trays are hollowed out with their chisels from a +solid block of wood, and the baskets and mats are made +from the bark of trees.</p> + +<p>From bark they likewise make the cloth for their +garments, in the following manner:—A quantity of this +bark is taken and put into fresh water, where it is +kept for a fortnight, to give it time to completely soften; +it is then taken out and beaten upon a plank, with an +instrument made of bone, or some very hard wood, +having grooves or hollows on one side of it, care being +taken to keep the mass constantly moistened with +water, in order to separate, with more ease, the hard +and woody from the soft and fibrous parts, which, +when completed, they parcel out into skeins, like thread. +These they lay in the air to bleach, and afterwards dye +them black or red, as suits their fancies, their natural +colour being a pale yellow. In order to form the +cloth, the women, by whom the whole of this process +is performed, take a certain number of these skeins +and twist them together, by rolling them with their +hands upon their knees into hard rolls, which are afterwards +connected by means of a strong thread, made for +the purpose.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> +<a href="images/i103.jpg"><img src="images/i103-t.jpg" width="350" height="239" alt="INTERIOR OF A HABITATION IN NOOTKA SOUND." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />INTERIOR OF A HABITATION IN NOOTKA SOUND.</span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +</div> + +<p>Their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> dress usually consists of but a single garment, +which is a loose cloak or mantle (called <i>kutsack</i>) in one +piece, reaching nearly to the feet. This is tied loosely +over the right or left shoulder, so as to leave the arms +at full liberty.</p> + +<p>Those of the common people are painted red with +ochre the better to keep out the rain, but the chiefs +wear them of their native colour, which is a pale yellow, +ornamenting them with borders of the sea-otter skin, +a kind of grey cloth made of the hair of some animal<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> +which they procure from the tribes to the south, or +their own cloth wrought or painted with various figures +in red or black, representing men's heads, the sun and +moon, fish and animals, which are frequently executed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>with much skill. They have also a girdle of the same +kind for securing this mantle or <i>kutsack</i> around them, +which is in general still more highly ornamented, and +serves them to wear their daggers and knives in. In +winter, however, they sometimes make use of an +additional garment, which is a kind of hood, with a hole +in it for the purpose of admitting the head, and falls +over the breast and back, as low as the shoulders; this +is bordered both at top and bottom with fur, and is +never worn except when they go out.</p> + +<p>The garments of the women vary not essentially from +those of the men, the mantle having holes in it for the +purpose of admitting the arms, and being tied close +under the chin instead of over the shoulder. The chiefs +have also mantles of the sea-otter skin, but these are +only put on upon extraordinary occasions; and one +that is made from the skin of a certain large animal, +which is brought from the south by the Wickanninish<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> +and Kla-iz-zarts.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> This they prepare by dressing it in +warm water, scraping off the hair and what flesh adheres +to it carefully with sharp mussel-shells, and spreading +it out in the sun to dry on a wooden frame, so as to +preserve the shape. When dressed in this manner it +becomes perfectly white, and as pliable as the best +deer's leather, but almost as thick again. They then +paint it in different figures with such paints as they +usually employ in decorating their persons; these +figures mostly represent human heads, canoes employed +in catching whales, etc.</p> + +<p>This skin is called metamelth, and is probably got +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>from an animal of the moose kind; it is highly prized by +these people, is their great war dress, and only worn +when they wish to make the best possible display of +themselves. Strips or bands of it, painted as above, are +also sometimes used by them for girdles or the bordering +of their cloaks, and also for bracelets and ankle +ornaments by some of the inferior class.</p> + +<p>On their heads, when they go out upon any excursion, +particularly whaling or fishing, they wear a kind of cap +or bonnet in form not unlike a large sugar loaf with the +top cut off. This is made of the same materials with +their cloth,<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> but is in general of a closer texture, and +by way of tassel has a long strip of the skin of the +metamelth<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> attached to it, covered with rows of small +white shells or beads. Those worn by the common +people are painted entirely red, the chiefs having theirs +of different colours. The one worn by the king, and +which serves to designate him from all the others, is +longer and broader at the bottom; the top, instead of +being flat, having upon it an ornament in the figure +of a small urn. It is also of a much finer texture +than the others, and plaited or wrought in black and +white stripes, with the representation in front of a canoe +in pursuit of a whale, with the harpooner standing in +the prow prepared to strike. This bonnet is called +<i>Seeya-poks</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p><p>Their mode of living is very simple—their food +consisting almost wholly of fish, or fish spawn fresh or +dried, the blubber of the whale, seal, or sea-cow, mussels, +clams, and berries of various kinds; all of which are +eaten with a profusion of train-oil for sauce, not excepting +even the most delicate fruit, as strawberries and +raspberries.</p> + +<p>With so little variety in their food, no great secret +can be expected in their cookery. Of this, indeed, they +may be said to know but two methods, viz. by boiling +and steaming, and even the latter is not very frequently +practised by them. Their mode of boiling is as +follows:—Into one of their tubs they pour water +sufficient to cook the quantity of provision wanted. A +number of heated stones are then put in to make it boil, +when the salmon or other fish are put in without any +other preparation than sometimes cutting off the heads, +tails, and fins, the boiling in the meantime being kept +up by the application of the hot stones, after which it +is left to cook until the whole is nearly reduced to one +mass. It is then taken out and distributed in the trays. +In a similar manner they cook their blubber and spawn, +smoked or dried fish, and, in fine, almost everything +they eat, nothing going down with them like broth.</p> + +<p>When they cook their fish by steam, which are +usually the heads, tails, and fins of the salmon, cod, and +halibut, a large fire is kindled, upon which they place a +bed of stones, which, when the wood is burnt down, +becomes perfectly heated. Layers of green leaves or +pine boughs are then placed upon the stones, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +fish, clams, etc., being laid upon them, water is poured +over them, and the whole closely covered with mats to +keep in the steam. This is much the best mode of +cooking, and clams and mussels done in this manner +are really excellent.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> These, as I have said, may be +considered as their only kinds of cookery; though I +have, in a very few instances, known them dress the roe +or spawn of the salmon and the herring, when first +taken, in a different manner; this was by roasting them, +the former being supported between two split pieces of +pine, and the other having a sharp stick run through it, +with one end fixed in the ground; sprats are also +roasted by them in this way, a number being spitted +upon one stick; and this kind of food, with a little salt, +would be found no contemptible eating even to an +European.</p> + +<p>At their meals they seat themselves upon the +ground, with their feet curled up under them, around +their trays, which are generally about three feet long +by one broad, and from six to eight inches deep. In +eating they make use of nothing but their fingers, +except for the soup or oil, which they lade out with +clam-shells.</p> + +<p>Around one of these trays from four to six persons +will seat themselves, constantly dipping in their fingers +or clam-shells one after the other. The king and chiefs +alone have separate trays, from which no one is permitted +to eat with them except the queen, or principal +wife of the chief; and whenever the king or one of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>chiefs wishes to distinguish any of his people with a +special mark of favour on these occasions, he calls him +and gives him some of the choice bits from his tray. +The slaves eat at the same time, and of the same provisions, +faring in this respect as well as their masters, +being seated with the family, and only feeding from +separate trays.</p> + +<p>Whenever a feast is given by the king or any of +the chiefs, there is a person who acts as a master of +ceremonies, and whose business it is to receive the +guests as they enter the house, and point out to them +their respective seats, which is regulated with great +punctiliousness as regards rank; the king occupying +the highest or the seat of honour, his son or brother +sitting next him, and so on with the chiefs according to +their quality; the private persons belonging to the same +family being always placed together, to prevent any +confusion. The women are seldom invited to their +feasts, and only at those times when a general invitation +is given to the village.<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> + +<p>As, whenever they cook, they always calculate to +have an abundance for all the guests, a profusion in +this respect being considered as the highest luxury, +much more is usually set before them than they can eat. +That which is left in the king's tray, he sends to his +house for his family by one of his slaves, as do the +chiefs theirs; while those who eat from the same tray, +and who generally belong to the same family, take it +home as common stock, or each one receives his portion, +which is distributed on the spot. This custom appeared +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>very singular to my companion and myself, and it was +a most awkward thing for us, at first, to have to lug +home with us, in our hands or arms, the blubber of fish +that we received at these times, but we soon became +reconciled to it, and were very glad of an opportunity +to do it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<a href="images/i111.jpg"><img src="images/i111-t.jpg" width="300" height="181" alt="NOOTKA SOUND INDIANS." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />NOOTKA SOUND INDIANS.</span><br /><br /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> The exact position of the village is lat. 49 35' 31" N.; long. 126 +37' 32" W.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> According to the Admiralty Sailing Directions, the Cove is about two +cables in extent, and sheltered from the sea by a small rocky high-water +island on its east side. It affords anchorage in the middle for only one +vessel of moderate size, though several small vessels might find shelter. +When Vancouver visited it in 1792, no less than eight ships were in it, +most of them small, and secured to the shore by hawsers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> This means farther up the Sound; for there are villages in the interior +of Vancouver Island. The Admiralty Sailing Directions declare that not +a trace of the Spanish settlement now exists. This is scarcely correct, +for an indistinct ridge shows the site of houses, and here and there a few +bricks half hidden in the ground may be detected. I have seen a cannon +ball and a Mexican dollar found there. Many of the Nootka Indians have +large moustaches and whiskers, which may possibly be due to their +Spanish blood, and others were decidedly Chinese-looking, a fact which +may be traced to the presence of Meares's Chinese carpenters in 1778-79. +Some of them can, or could, thirty years ago, by tradition, count ten +in Spanish; and there is a legend in the Sound to the effect that the +white men had begun to cultivate the ground, and to erect a stockade and +fort; when one day a ship came with papers for the head man, who was +observed to cry, and all the foreigners became sad. The next day they +began moving their goods to the ship. But, as Mr. Sproat suggests, this +might have reference to Meares's settlement.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> This is a good description of the house of Maquina's grandson, as I +saw it fifty-eight years after Jewitt's time.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Dog's hair. A tribe on Fraser River used to keep flocks of these curs, +which they periodically clipped like sheep.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Probably the Klayoquahts (see p. 77).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Klahosahts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> The outside is made of cedar bark, the inside of white-hair bark.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> I have more than once discussed the identity of this animal with +Indian traders. None of them recognised it, nor, indeed, were acquainted +with the animal by the name Jewitt applies to it. It is, however, not +unlikely the North-Western marmot (<i>Arctomys pruinosus</i>), specimens +of which are now and then—though, it must be admitted, rarely—seen in +Vancouver Island; but it is more common farther south. The Alberni +Indians (Seshahts and Opechesahts) used to talk of a beast called <i>Sit-si-tehl</i>, +which we took to be the marmot, and Mr. Sproat saw one; I was +not so fortunate.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> In the opinion of the judicious Jewitt, every one who has eaten food—especially +salmon and shell-fish—cooked after this fashion will coincide. +<i>Experto crede.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Or to one or more of the neighbouring tribes, such feasts being known +as <i>Wawkoahs</i>.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p>APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES—ORNAMENTS—OTTER-HUNTING—FISHING—CANOES</p> + + +<p>In point of personal appearance the people of Nootka +are among the best-looking of any of the tribes that I +have seen. The men are in general from about five feet +six to five feet eight inches in height; remarkably straight, +of a good form, robust and strong, with their limbs in +general well turned and proportioned, excepting the +legs and feet, which are clumsy and ill formed, owing, +no doubt, to their practice of sitting on them, though +I have seen instances in which they were very well +shaped; this defect is more particularly apparent in the +women, who are for the most part of the time within +doors, and constantly sitting while employed in their +cooking and other occupations.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> The only instance of +deformity that I saw amongst them was a man of +dwarfish stature; he was thirty years old, and but three +feet three inches high; he had, however, no other +defect than his diminutive size, being well made, and +as strong and able to bear fatigue as what they were in +general.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> +<p>Their complexion, when freed from the paint and oil +with which their skins are generally covered, is a brown, +somewhat inclining to a copper cast. The shape of the +face is oval; the features are tolerably regular, the lips +being thin and the teeth very white and even; their +eyes are black but rather small, and the nose pretty well +formed, being neither flat nor very prominent; their +hair is black, long, and coarse, but they have no +beard, completely extirpating it, as well as the hair +from their bodies, Maquina being the only exception, +who suffered his beard to grow on his upper lip in the +manner of mustachios, which was considered as a +mark of dignity.</p> + +<p>As to the women, they are much whiter, many of +them not being darker than those in some of the +southern parts of Europe. They are in general very +well-looking, and some quite handsome. Maquina's +favourite wife in particular, who was a Wickinninish +princess, would be considered as a beautiful woman in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>any country. She was uncommonly well formed, tall, +and of a majestic appearance; her skin remarkably fair +for one of these people, with considerable colour, her +features handsome, and her eyes black, soft, and languishing; +her hair was very long, thick, and black, +as is that of the females in general, which is much +softer than that of the men; in this they take much +pride, frequently oiling and plaiting it carefully into +two broad plaits, tying the ends with a strip of the +cloth of the country, and letting it hang down before +on each side of the face.</p> + +<p>The women keep their garments much neater and +cleaner than the men, and are extremely modest in their +deportment and dress; their mantle, or <i>kutsack</i>, which +is longer than that of the men, reaching quite to their +feet and completely enveloping them, being tied close +under the chin, and bound with a girdle of the same +cloth or of sea-otter skin around their waists; it has also +loose sleeves, which reach to the elbows. Though fond +of ornamenting their persons, they are by no means so +partial to paint as the men, merely colouring their eyebrows +black and drawing a bright red stripe from each +corner of the mouth towards the ear. Their ornaments +consist chiefly of ear-rings, necklaces, bracelets, rings +for the fingers and ankles, and small nose-jewels (the +latter are, however, wholly confined to the wives of +the king or chiefs); these are principally made out of +copper or brass, highly polished and of various forms +and sizes; the nose-jewel is usually a small white shell<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> +or bead suspended to a thread.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> +<p>The wives of the common people frequently wear for +bracelets and ankle rings strips of the country cloth or +skin of the metamelth painted in figures, and those of +the king or principal chiefs, bracelets and necklaces +consisting of a number of strings of <i>Ife-waw</i>, an article +much prized by them, and which makes a very handsome +appearance. This <i>Ife-waw</i>, as they term it, is a kind of +shell of a dazzling whiteness and as smooth as ivory; it +is of a cylindrical form, in a slight degree curved, about +the size of a goose quill, hollow, three inches in length +and gradually tapering to a point, which is broken off +by the natives as it is taken from the water; this they +afterwards string upon threads of bark and sell it by the +fathom; it forms a kind of circulating medium among +these nations, five fathoms being considered as the price +of a slave, their most valuable species of property. It is +principally obtained from the Aitizzarts, a people living +about thirty or forty miles to the northward, who collect +it from the reefs and sunken rocks with which their +coast abounds, though it is also brought in considerable +quantity from the south.<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> +<p>Their mode of taking it has been thus described to +me:—To one end of a pole is fastened a piece of plank, +in which a considerable number of pine pegs are inserted, +made sharp at the ends; above the plank, in order to +sink it, a stone or some weight is tied, and the other end +of the pole suspended to a long rope; this is let down +perpendicularly by the <i>Ife-waw</i> fishers in those places +where that substance is found, which are usually from +fifty to sixty fathoms deep. On finding the bottom, +they raise the pole up a few feet and let it fall; this they +repeat a number of times, as if sounding, when they draw +it up and take off the <i>Ife-waw</i> which is found adhering +to the points. This method of procuring it is very +laborious and fatiguing, especially as they seldom take +more than two or three of these shells at a time, and +frequently none.</p> + +<p>Though the women, as I have said, make but little use +of paint, the very reverse is the case with the men. In +decorating their heads and faces they place their +principal pride, and none of our most fashionable beaus +when preparing for a grand ball can be more particular; +for I have known Maquina, after having been employed +more than an hour in painting his face, rub the whole off, +and recommence the operation anew, when it did not +entirely please him.</p> + +<p>The manner in which they paint themselves frequently +varies, according to the occasion, but it oftener +is the mere dictate of whim. The most usual method +is to paint the eyebrows black in form of a half-moon +and the face red in small squares, with the arms and +legs and part of the body red; sometimes one half of +the face is painted red in squares and the other black;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +at others dotted with spots of red and black instead +of squares, with a variety of other devices, such as +painting one half of the face and body red and the +other black.</p> + +<p>But a method of painting which they sometimes +employed, and which they were much more particular +in, was by laying on the face a quantity of bear's grease +of about one-eighth of an inch thick; this they raised +up into ridges resembling a small bead in joiner's work +with a stick prepared for the purpose, and then painted +them red, which gave the face a very singular appearance.</p> + +<p>On extraordinary occasions the king and principal +chiefs used to strew over their faces, after painting, a fine +black shining powder procured from some mineral, as +Maquina told me it was got from the rocks. This they +call <i>pelpelth</i>,<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> and value it highly, as, in their opinion, it +serves to set off their looks to great advantage, glittering +especially in the sun like silver. This article is brought +them in bags by the <i>Newchemass</i>,<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> a very savage nation +who live a long way to the north, from whom they likewise +receive a superior kind of red paint, a species of +very fine and rich ochre, which they hold in much +estimation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p><p>Notwithstanding this custom of painting themselves, +they make it an invariable practice, both in summer and +winter, to bathe once a day, and sometimes oftener; but +as the paint is put on with oil, it is not much discomposed +thereby, and whenever they wish to wash it off, they +repair to some piece of fresh water and scour themselves +with sand or rushes.</p> + +<p>In dressing their heads on occasion of a festival or a +visit, they are full as particular and almost as long as in +painting. The hair, after being well oiled, is carefully +gathered upon the top of the head and secured by a +piece of pine or spruce bough with the green leaves +upon it. After having it properly fixed in this manner, +the king and principal chiefs used to strew all over it +the white down obtained from a species of large brown +eagle which abounds on this coast, and which they are +very particular in arranging so as not to have a single +feather out of place, occasionally wetting the hair to +make it adhere. This, together with the bough, which +is sometimes of considerable size and stuck over with +feathers by means of turpentine, gives them a very +singular and grotesque appearance, which they, however, +think very becoming, and the first thing they do, on +learning the arrival of strangers, is to go and decorate +themselves in this manner.</p> + +<p>The men also wear bracelets of painted leather or +copper and large ear-rings of the latter, but the ornament +on which they appear to set the most value is the nose-jewel, +if such an appellation may be given to the wooden +stick which some of them employ for this purpose. The +king and chiefs, however, wear them of a different form, +being either small pieces of polished copper or brass, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +which I made many for them in the shape of hearts and +diamonds, or a twisted conical shell about half an inch +in length, of a bluish colour and very bright, which is +brought from the south. These are suspended by a +small wire or string to the hole in the gristle of the +nose, which is formed in infancy by boring it with a +pin, the hole being afterwards enlarged by the repeated +insertion of wooden pegs of an increased size, until +it becomes about the diameter of a pipe-stem, though +some have them of a size nearly sufficient to admit the +little finger.</p> + +<p>The common class, who cannot readily procure the +more expensive jewels that I have mentioned, substitute +for them, usually, a smooth, round stick, some of which +are of an almost incredible length, for I have seen them +projecting not less than eight or nine inches beyond +the face on each side; this is made fast or secured in +its place by little wedges on each side of it. These +"sprit-sail-yard fellows," as my messmate used to call +them, when rigged out in this manner, made quite a +strange show, and it was his delight, whenever he saw +one of them coming towards us with an air of consequence +proportioned to the length of his stick, to put +up his hand suddenly as he was passing him, so as to +strike the stick, in order, as he said, to brace him up +sharp to the wind; this used to make them very angry, +but nothing was more remote from Thompson's ideas +than a wish to cultivate their favour.</p> + +<p>The natives of Nootka appear to have but little +inclination for the chase, though some of them were +expert marksmen, and used sometimes to shoot ducks +and geese; but the seal and the sea-otter form the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +principal objects of their hunting, particularly the +latter.</p> + +<p>Of this animal, so much noted for its valuable skin, +the following description may not be uninteresting:—The +sea-otter<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> is nearly five feet in length, exclusive of +the tail, which is about twelve inches, and is very thick +and broad where it joins the body, but gradually tapers +to the end, which is tipped with white. The colour of +the rest is a shining, silky black, with the exception of a +broad white stripe on the top of the head. Nothing +can be more beautiful than one of these animals when +seen swimming, especially when on the look-out for +any object. At such times it raises its head quite +above the surface, and the contrast between the shining +black and the white, together with its sharp ears and +a long tuft of hair rising from the middle of its forehead, +which looks like three small horns, render it quite a +novel and attractive object. They are in general very +tame, and will permit a canoe or boat to approach very +near before they dive. I was told, however, that they +are become much more shy since they have been accustomed +to shoot them with muskets, than when they +used only arrows.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> + +<p>The skin is held in great estimation in China, more +especially that of the tail, the fur of which is finer and +closer set than that on the body. This is always cut +off and sold separately by the natives. The value of +a skin is determined by its size, that being considered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>as a prime skin which will reach, in length, from a +man's chin to his feet. The food of the sea-otter is +fish, which he is very dexterous in taking, being an +excellent swimmer, with feet webbed like those of a +goose. They appear to be wholly confined to the seacoast, +at least to the salt water. They have usually +three or four young at a time, but I know not how often +they breed, nor in what place they deposit their young, +though I have frequently seen them swimming around +the mother when no larger than rats. The flesh is +eaten by the natives, cooked in their usual mode by +boiling, and is far preferable to that of the seal, of which +they make much account.</p> + +<p>But if not great hunters, there are few people more +expert in fishing. Their lines are generally, made from +the sinew of the whale, and are extremely strong. For +the hook, they usually make use of a straight piece of +hard wood, in the lower part of which is inserted, and +well secured with thread or whale sinew, a bit of bone +made very sharp at the point and bearded; but I used +to make for them hooks from iron, which they preferred, +not only as being less liable to break, but more certain +of securing the fish. Cod, halibut, and other sea fish +were not only caught by them with hooks, but even +salmon.</p> + +<p>To take this latter fish, they practise the following +method:—One person seats himself in a small canoe, +and, baiting his hook with a sprat, which they are always +careful to procure as fresh as possible, fastens his line +to the handle of the paddle; this, as he plies it in the +water, keeps the fish in constant motion, so as to give +it the appearance of life, which the salmon seeing, leaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +at it and is instantly hooked, and, by a sudden and +dexterous motion of the paddle, drawn on board. I +have known some of the natives take no less than eight +or ten salmon of a morning, in this manner, and have +seen from twenty to thirty canoes at a time in Friendly +Cove thus employed.</p> + +<p>They are likewise little less skilful in taking the +whale. This they kill with a kind of javelin or harpoon +thus constructed and fitted: the barbs are formed of +bone, which are sharpened on the outer side, and +hollowed within, for the purpose of forming a socket +for the staff; these are then secured firmly together +with a whale sinew, the point being fitted so as to +receive a piece of mussel-shell, which is ground to a +very sharp edge, and secured in its place by means of +turpentine.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> To this head or prong is fastened a +strong line of whale sinew about nine feet in length, +to the end of which is tied a bark rope from fifty to +sixty fathoms long, having from twenty to thirty sealskin +floats or buoys attached to it at certain intervals, +in order to check the motion of the whale and obstruct +his diving. In the socket of the harpoon a staff or +pole of about ten feet long, gradually tapering from +the middle to each end, is placed; this the harpooner +holds in his hand, in order to strike the whale, +and immediately detaches it as soon as the fish is +struck.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> +<p>The whale is considered as the king's fish, and no +other person, when he is present, is permitted to touch +him until the royal harpoon has first drawn his blood, +however near he may approach; and it would be considered +almost a sacrilege for any of the common people +to strike a whale before he is killed, particularly if any +of the chiefs should be present.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> They also kill the +porpoise<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> and sea-cow<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> with harpoons, but this inferior +game is not interdicted the lower class.</p> + +<p>With regard to their canoes, some of the handsomest +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>to be found on the whole coast are made at Nootka, +though very fine ones are brought by the Wickinninish +and the Kla-iz-zarts, who have them more highly ornamented. +They are of all sizes, from such as are capable +of holding only one person to their largest war canoes, +which will carry forty men, and are extremely light. +Of these, the largest of any that I ever saw was one +belonging to Maquina, which I measured, and found +to be forty-two feet six inches in length at the bottom, +and forty-six feet from stem to stern. These are +made of pine,<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> hollowed out from a tree with their +chisels solely, which are about three inches broad +and six in length, and set into a handle of very hard +wood.</p> + +<p>This instrument was formerly made of flint, or some +hard stone ground down to as sharp an edge as possible, +but since they have learned the use of iron, they have +almost all of them of that metal. Instead of a mallet +for striking this chisel, they make use of a smooth +round stone, which they hold in the palm of the hand. +With this same awkward instrument they not only +excavate their canoes and trays and smooth their +planks, but cut down such trees as they want, either for +building, fuel, or other purposes, a labour which is +mostly done by their slaves.</p> + +<p>The felling of trees, as practised by them, is a slow +and most tedious process, three of them being generally +from two to three days in cutting down a large one; yet +so attached were they to their own method, that notwithstanding +they saw Thompson frequently, with one +of our axes, of which there was a number saved, fell a +tree in less time than they could have gone round it +with their chisels, still they could not be persuaded to +make use of them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> +<a href="images/i125.jpg"><img src="images/i125-t.jpg" width="350" height="237" alt="INDIAN CANOES, VICTORIA, V. I. (TEMP. 1863)." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />INDIAN CANOES, VICTORIA, V. I. (TEMP. 1863).</span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +</div> + +<p>After<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> hollowing out their canoes, which they do very +neatly, they fashion the outside, and slightly burn it, for +the purpose of removing any splinters or small points +that might obstruct its passage through the water, after +which they rub it over thoroughly with rushes or coarse +mats, in order to smooth it, which not only renders it +almost as smooth as glass, but forms a better security +for it from the weather; this operation of burning and +rubbing down the bottoms of their canoes is practised +as often as they acquire any considerable degree of +roughness from use. The outside by this means +becomes quite black, and to complete their work they +paint the inside of a bright red, with ochre or some +other similar substance; the prows and sterns are almost +always ornamented with figures of ducks or some other +kind of bird, the former being so fashioned as to represent +the head, and the latter the tail; these are separate pieces +from the canoe, and are fastened to it with small flexible +twigs or bark cord.</p> + +<p>Some of these canoes, particularly those employed in +whaling, which will hold about ten men, are ornamented +within about two inches below the gunwale with two +parallel lines on each side of very small white shells, +running fore and aft, which has a very pretty effect. +Their war canoes have no ornament of this kind, but +are painted on the outside with figures in white chalk, +representing eagles, whales, human heads, etc. They +are very dexterous in the use of their paddles, which are +very neatly wrought, and are five feet long, with a short<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +handle and a blade seven inches broad in the middle, +tapering to a sharp point. With these they will make +a canoe skim very swiftly on the water, with scarcely +any noise, while they keep time to the stroke of the +paddle with their songs.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Yet they are by no means weak in the legs, a coast Indian being +capable of long travel in the bush without tiring. The Hydahs of Queen +Charlotte Island, and the Tlinkets and Kaloshes of the neighbouring +mainland, are splendid specimens of men, tall, comparatively fair, large-headed, +regularly-featured, and endowed with courage and intelligence, +though their morals leave much to be desired. All the canoe Indians +are very strong-handed, owing to the constant use of the paddle. In a +scuffle with one of them, it does not do to let him get a grip; better +prevent him from coming to close quarters, for in this case the white man +has little chance. The Klahoquahts are the finest-looking of the Vancouver +west coast tribes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> I have rarely seen a corpulent Indian, and not one idiot, or a cripple +so deformed that he was incapable of earning his livelihood. It is seldom +that they are deformed from birth, and when they are, they generally +disappear, so as not to be a burden on the tribe. As a facetious old +savage remarked to me, when discussing that curious immunity from +helplessness in his tribe, "The climate doesn't agree with them." The +brother of Quisto, chief of the Pachenahts in 1865 (San Juan Harbour), +was much deformed in the legs, but he was an excellent canoeman.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Commonly the flattish nacreous portion of the Abelone, or Ear-shell +(<i>Haliotis Kamschatkiana</i>), known as <i>Apats-em</i>, which is pawned or sold +in times of scarcity. By constant removal and insertion, the septum of the +nose, through which it is fastened, becomes in time so large that it will +admit almost any kind of moderately-sized ornament. Feathers are +frequently inserted, and more than once I have seen an Indian, clad in a +blanket alone, denude himself of his single garment to hold biscuits or other +goods, and dispose of his pipe by sticking it in the hole through his nasal +septum, which, had times been better, would have been occupied with a +piece of shell, either square, oblong, or of a horseshoe shape.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> This is the well-known <i>Dentalium pretiosum</i>, or Tooth-shell, generally +known as the <i>Hioqua</i>. It is procured chiefly from Cape Flattery, on the +southern side of Juan de Fuca Strait, and from Koskeemo Sound on the +north. The "Aitizzarts" (Ayhuttisahts) probably obtained it by barter +with the tribes on that part of the coast. It is not much used nowadays.—<i>The +Peoples of the World</i>, vol. i. p. 60.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> This is powdered mica of the black variety. It is obtained in various +places, from veins exposed, for the most part in the beds of streams.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> These seem to be the Nimpkish, from the Nimpkish River, south of Fort +Rupert, on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, who still frequently cross +the island by a chain of rivers and lakes to Nootka Sound. This is confirmed +by Jewitt writing in another place that they lived somewhat in the +interior. It is doubtful whether he knew that the country in which he +lived was an island. At all events, he never mentions it by that name. +This route I have described in "Das Innere der Vancouver Insel" (Petermann, +<i>Geographische Mittheilungen</i>, 1869).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> <i>Enhydra lutris</i>, or "Quiaotluck," now so rapidly decreasing in numbers +that it can scarcely escape the fate of Steller's Rhytina.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> For an account of the habits and history of these valued animals, the +reader is referred to <i>The Countries of the World</i>, vol. i. p. 304.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> The harpoon is at present a little different in construction. Pine resin, +not "turpentine," is used for the purpose described, and the tips of +deers' horns are utilised for the barbs. The most remarkable fact about +the west coast of Vancouver Island whaling is its use of inflated sealskins +to impede the motion of the animal through the water. This is an +Eskimo contrivance in use by the Alaskans and other extreme northern +tribes, from whom the West Vancouverians seem to have borrowed it. +In Sproat's <i>Scenes and Studies of Savage Life</i>, p. 226, there is an +excellent description of whaling as practised in that part of Vancouver +Island. The species pursued is usually finbacks, though a "black fish" +with good whalebone is occasionally captured.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> The honour of using the harpoon is a hereditary privilege, enjoyed by +only a few men in a tribe, and previous to the whaling season the crews +have to practise all manner of ascetic practices in order to ensure good +luck in the venture.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> This porpoise Dr. Gray considered, after examining a skull which I +brought to the British Museum in 1866, to differ little, if at all, from the +<i>Phocna communis</i> of the Atlantic; but Dr. (afterwards Sir) W. H. +Flower (<i>List of the Specimens of Cetacea</i>, etc., 1885, p. 16) seems to be of +a different opinion.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> This "sea-cow," of which Meares also speaks as an animal hunted by +the Nootka people, though rarely seen so far south, must, one might +think, be another name for the seal or "sea-calf," were not the latter +expressly referred to by name. The sea-cow, dugong, or manatee is not +found in these seas, and the <i>Rhytina Stelleri</i>, once so abundant on Behring +Island in Behring Strait, is generally considered to have been exterminated +in the interval between 1741-1768. This, however, is hardly in accordance +with fact, for, as evidence collected by Nordenskjld proves, they +were occasionally killed in 1780, while one was seen as late as 1854. It +is therefore by no means improbable that in 1803 a few stragglers were +still waiting their end on the shores of Vancouver Island. The sea-lion +(<i>Eumetopias Stelleri</i>) is a seal also verging on extinction, the <i>Otaria +ursinus</i> being now the fur seal of commerce (and politics) in that part of +the North Pacific.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> A species of cedar (<i>Thuja</i>) is the wood used.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p>MUSIC—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS—SLAVES—NEIGHBOURING +TRIBES—TRADE WITH THESE—ARMY</p> + + +<p>They have a number which they sing on various occasions—at +war,<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> whaling and fishing, at their marriages +and feasts, and at public festivals or solemnities. The +language of the most of these appears to be very +different in many respects from that used in their +common conversation, which leads me to believe either +that they have a different mode of expressing themselves +in poetry, or that they borrow their songs from +their neighbours; and what the more particularly induces +me to the latter opinion is, that whenever any of the +Newchemass, a people from the northward, and who +speak a very different language, arrived, they used to +tell me that they expected a new song, and were almost +always sure to have one.</p> + +<p>Their tunes are generally soft and plaintive, and +though not possessing great variety, are not deficient in +harmony. Their singing is generally accompanied with +several rude kinds of instrumental music, among the +most prominent of which is a kind of a drum. This is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>nothing more than a long plank hollowed out on the +under side and made quite thin, which is beat upon by +a stick of about a foot long, and renders a sound not +unlike beating on the head of an empty cask, but much +louder.</p> + +<p>But the two most favourite instruments are the rattle +and the pipe or whistle; these are, however, only used +by the king, the chiefs, or some particular persons. The +former is made of dried sealskin, so as to represent a +fish, and is filled with a number of small smooth pebbles; +it has a short handle, and is painted red. The whistle is +made of bone, generally the leg of a deer; it is short, +but emits a very shrill sound. They have likewise +another kind of music, which they make use of in +dancing, in the manner of castanets. This is produced +by a number of mussel or cockle shells tied together +and shaken to a kind of tune, which is accompanied +with the voice.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Their slaves, as I have observed, form their most +valuable species of property. These are of both sexes, +being either captives taken by themselves in war, or +purchased from the neighbouring tribes, and who reside +in the same house, forming as it were a part of the +family, are usually kindly treated, eat of the same food, +and live as well as their masters. They are compelled, +however, at times to labour severely, as not only all the +menial offices are performed by them, such as bringing +water, cutting wood, and a variety of others, but they are +obliged to make the canoes, to assist in building and +repairing the houses, to supply their masters with fish, +and to attend them in war and to fight for them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> + +<p>None but the king and chiefs have slaves, the common +people being prevented from holding them, either from +their inability to purchase them, or, as I am rather inclined +to think, from its being considered as the privilege +of the former alone to have them,<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> especially as all those +made prisoners in war belong either to the king or the +chiefs who have captured them, each one holding such +as have been taken by himself or his slaves. There is +probably, however, some little distinction in favour of +the king, who is always the commander of the expedition, +as Maquina had nearly fifty, male and female, in +his house, a number constituting about one half of its +inhabitants, comprehending those obtained by war and +purchase; whereas none of the other chiefs had more +than twelve. The females are employed principally in +manufacturing cloth, in cooking, collecting berries, etc., +and with regard to food and living in general have not a +much harder lot than their mistresses, the principal difference +consisting in these poor unfortunate creatures being +considered as free to any one, their masters prostituting +them whenever they think proper for the purpose of +gain. In this way many of them are brought on board +the ships and offered to the crews, from whence an +opinion appears to have been formed by some of our +navigators injurious to the chastity of their females, +than which nothing can be more generally untrue, as +perhaps in no part of the world is that virtue more +prized.<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></p> + +<p>The houses at Nootka, as already stated, are about +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>twenty, without comprising those inhabited by the +Klahars, a small tribe that has been conquered and +incorporated into that of Nootka, though they must be +considered as in a state of vassalage, as they are not +permitted to have any chiefs among them, and live by +themselves in a cluster of small houses at a little distance +from the village. The Nootka tribe, which +consists of about five hundred warriors,<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> is not only +more numerous than almost any of the neighbouring +tribes, but far exceeds them in the strength and martial +spirit of its people; and in fact there are but few nations +within a hundred miles either to the north or south but +are considered as tributary to them.</p> + +<p>In giving some account of the tribes that were accustomed +to visit Nootka, I shall commence at the southward +with the Kla-iz-zarts, and the Wickinninish, +premising that in point of personal appearance there +prevails a wonderful diversity between the various tribes +on the coast, with the exception of the feet and legs, +which are badly shaped in almost all of them from their +practice of sitting on them.</p> + +<p>The Kla-iz-zarts are a numerous and powerful tribe, +living nearly three hundred miles to the south, and are +said to consist of more than a thousand warriors.<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> They +appear to be more civilised than any of the others, being +better and more neatly dressed, more mild and affable +in their manners, remarkable for their sprightliness and +vivacity, and celebrated for their singing and dancing.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> +<p>They exhibit also greater marks of improvement in +whatever is wrought by them; their canoes, though not +superior to those of Nootka in point of form and lightness, +are more highly ornamented, and their weapons +and tools of every kind have a much higher finish and +display more skill in the workmanship. Their cast of +countenance is very different from that of the Nootkians, +their faces being very broad, with a less prominent +nose and smaller eyes, and the top of the head +flattened as if it had been pressed down with a weight. +Their complexion is also much fairer, and their +stature shorter, though they are well formed and +strongly set.</p> + +<p>They have a custom which appears to be peculiar to +them, as I never observed it in any of the other tribes, +which is to pluck out not only their beards and the hair +from their bodies, but also their eyebrows, so as not to +leave a vestige remaining. They were also in general +more skilful in painting and decorating themselves, and +I have seen some of them with no less than a dozen +holes in each of their ears, to which were suspended +strings of small beads about two inches in length. +Their language is the same as spoken at Nootka, but +their pronunciation is much more hoarse and guttural. +These people are not only very expert in whaling, but +are great hunters of the sea-otter and other animals, +with which their country is said to abound, and the +metamelth, a large animal of the deer kind, the skin of +which I have already spoken of, another of a light grey +colour, with very fine hair, from which they manufacture +a handsome cloth, the beaver, and a species of large wild +cat or tiger cat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Wickinninish,<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> their neighbours on the north, are +about two hundred miles from Nootka. They are a +robust, strong, and warlike people, but considered by the +Nootkians as their inferiors in courage. This tribe is +more numerous than that of Nootka, amounting to +between six and seven hundred warriors. Though not +so civilised as the Kla-iz-zarts, and less skilful in their +manufactures, like them they employ themselves in +hunting, as well as in whaling and fishing. Their faces +are broad, but less so than the Kla-iz-zarts, with a +darker complexion and a much less open and pleasing +expression of countenance, while their heads present a +very different form, being pressed in at the sides and +lengthened towards the top somewhat in the shape of a +sugar loaf. These people are very frequent visitors at +Nootka, a close friendship subsisting between the two +nations, Maquina's <i>Arcomah</i> or queen, <i>Y-ya-tintla-no</i>, +being the daughter of the Wickinninish king.</p> + +<p>The Kla-oo-quates<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> adjoining them on the north are +much less numerous, their force not exceeding four +hundred fighting men; they are also behind them in the +arts of life. These are a fierce, bold, and enterprising +people, and there were none that visited Nootka, whom +Maquina used to be more on his guard against, or viewed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>with so much suspicion. The Eshquates<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> are about +the same number; these are considered as tributary +to Maquina. Their coast abounds with rivers, creeks, +and marshes.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 192px;"> +<a href="images/i135.jpg"><img src="images/i135-t.jpg" width="192" height="300" alt="UK-LULAC-AHT INDIAN." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />UK-LULAC-AHT INDIAN.</span> +</div> + +<p>To the north the nearest tribe of any importance is +the Aitizzarts;<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> these, however, do not exceed three +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>hundred warriors. In appearance they greatly resemble +the people of Nootka, to whom they are considered +as tributary, their manners, dress, and style of living +also being very similar. They reside at about forty +miles' distance up the Sound. A considerable way +farther to the northward are the Cayuquets;<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> these +are a much more numerous tribe than that of +Nootka, but thought by the latter to be deficient in +courage and martial spirit, Maquina having frequently +told me that their hearts were a little like those of +birds.</p> + +<p>There are also both at the north and south many +other intervening tribes, but in general small in number +and insignificant, all of whom, as well as the above-mentioned, +speak the same language. But the Newchemass, +who come from a great way to the northward, and +from some distance inland, as I was told by Maquina, +speak quite a different language,<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> although it is well +understood by those of Nootka. These were the most +savage-looking and ugly men that I ever saw, their +complexion being much darker, their stature shorter, +and their hair coarser, than that of the other nations, +and their dress and appearance dirty in an extreme. +They wear their beards long like Jews, and have a very +morose and surly countenance. Their usual dress is a +<i>kotsuk</i> made of wolf-skin, with a number of the tails +attached to it, of which I have seen no less than ten on +one garment, hanging from the top to the bottom; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>though they sometimes wear a similar mantle of bark +cloth, of a much coarser texture than that of Nootka, +the original of which appears to be the same, though +from their very great filthiness it was almost impossible +to discover what it had been.</p> + +<p>Their mode of dressing the hair also varies essentially +from that of the other tribes, for they suffer that on +the back of the head to hang loose, and bind the other +over their foreheads in the manner of a fillet, with a +strip of their country cloth, ornamented with small +white shells. Their weapons are the <i>cheetolth</i>, or +war-club, which is made from whalebone, daggers, bow +and arrows, and a kind of spear pointed with bone +or copper.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> They brought with them no furs for sale, +excepting a few wolf-skins, their merchandise consisting +principally of the black shining mineral called <i>pelpelth</i>, +and the fine red paint, which they carefully kept in close +mat bags, some small dried salmon, clams, and roes of +fish, with occasionally a little coarse matting cloth. +They were accustomed to remain a much longer time +at Nootka than the other tribes, in order to recover from +the fatigue of a long journey, part of which was overland, +and on these occasions taught their songs to our +savages.</p> + +<p>The trade of most of the other tribes with Nootka +was principally train-oil, seal or whale's blubber, fish +fresh or dried, herring or salmon spawn, clams and +mussels, and the <i>yama</i>,<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> a species of fruit which is +pressed and dried, cloth, sea-otter skins, and slaves. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>From the Aitizzarts and the Cayuquets, particularly the +former, the best Ife-whaw and in the greatest quantities +was obtained. The Eshquates furnished us with wild +ducks and geese, particularly the latter. The Wickinninish +and Kla-iz-zarts brought to market many slaves, the +best sea-otter skins, great quantities of oil, whale sinew, +and cakes of the <i>yama</i>, highly ornamented canoes, some +Ife-whaw, red ochre and pelpelth of an inferior quality to +that obtained from the Newchemass, but particularly +the so much valued metamelth, and an excellent root +called by the Kla-iz-zarts <i>Quawnoose</i>.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> This is the size +of a small onion, but rather longer, being of a tapering +form like a pear, and of a brownish colour. It is cooked +by steam, is always brought in baskets ready prepared +for eating, and is in truth a very fine vegetable, being +sweet, mealy, and of a most agreeable flavour. It was +highly esteemed by the natives, who used to eat it, as +they did everything else, with train-oil. From the +Kla-iz-zarts was also received, though in no great +quantity, a cloth manufactured by them from the fur +already spoken of, which feels like wool and is of a grey +colour.</p> + +<p>Many of the articles thus brought, particularly the +provisions, were considered as presents, or tributary +offerings, but this must be viewed as little more than a +nominal acknowledgment of superiority, as they rarely +failed to get the full amount of the value of their presents. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>I have known eighteen of the great tubs, in which they +keep their provisions, filled with spawn brought in this +way. On these occasions a great feast is always made, +to which not only the strangers, but the whole village, +men, women, and children, are generally invited, and I +have seen five of the largest tubs employed at such +time, in cooking at the king's house. At these feasts +they generally indulge in eating to an excess, making +up in this respect for their want of inebriating liquors, +which they know no method of preparing in any form, +their only drink being water.</p> + +<p>Whenever they came to visit or trade, it was their +general custom to stop a few miles distant, under the +lee of some bluff or rock, and rig themselves out in their +best manner, by painting and dressing their heads. On +their first coming on shore, they were invited to eat by +the king, when they brought to him such articles as he +wanted, after which the rest of the inhabitants were +permitted to purchase, the strangers being careful to +keep them in their canoes until sold, under strict guard +to prevent their being stolen, the disposition of these +people for thieving being so great, that it is necessary to +keep a watchful eye upon them.</p> + +<p>This was their usual mode of traffic, but whenever +they wished to purchase any particular object, as, for +instance, a certain slave, or some other thing of which +they were very desirous, the canoe that came for this +purpose would lie off a little distance from the shore, +and a kind of ambassador or representative of the king +or chief by whom it was sent, dressed in their best +manner, and with his head covered with the white down, +would rise, and, after making known the object of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +mission in a pompous speech, hold up specimens of such +articles as he was instructed to offer in payment, mentioning +the number or quantity of each, when, if the +bargain was concluded, the exchange was immediately +made.</p> + +<p>On their visits of friendship or traffic, the chiefs alone +used to sleep on shore; this was generally at the house +of the king or the head chief, the others passing the +night on board of their canoes, which was done not +only for the preservation of their property, but because +they were not permitted to remain on shore, lest they +might excite some disturbance or commit depredations.</p> + +<p>All these people generally go armed, the common +class wearing only a dagger suspended from their neck +behind, with a string of metamelth, and sometimes +thrust in their girdles. The chiefs, in addition to the +dagger, carry the cheetolth, or war-club, suspended in +the same manner beneath their mantles; this, in the +hands of a strong man, is a powerful weapon, in the +management of which some of the older chiefs are very +dexterous. It is made from the bone of a whale, and is +very heavy. The blade is about eighteen inches long +and three broad, till it approaches near the point, where +it expands to the breadth of four inches. In the middle, +from whence it slopes off gradually to an edge on each +side, it is from one to two inches in thickness. This +blade is usually covered with figures of the sun and +moon, a man's head, etc.; and the hilt, which is made +to represent the head of a man or some animal, is +curiously set with small white shells, and has a band of +metamelth fastened to it, in order to sling it over the +shoulder. Some of the tribes have also a kind of spear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +headed with copper or the bone of the sting ray, which +is a dangerous weapon; this is, however, not usual, and +only carried by the chiefs. The bow and arrow are still +used by a few, but since the introduction of firearms +among them, this weapon has been mostly laid aside.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> A specimen of one of their war-songs will be found at the end of this +work.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> This was not the case. Any free-born native, provided he had the +means, could own a slave.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> This is largely a tale of the past.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> It is questionable if there are now as many people in the whole tribe. +Cook estimated the population of Friendly Cove at two thousand.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> This is wrong. The Kla-iz-zarts (Klahosahts) live <i>north</i> of Nootka +Sound.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> In Meares's time (1788) Wickinninish was regarded as the most powerful +chief, next to Maquina or Maquilla, as he calls him. His residence +was usually at "Port Cox" (Clayoquat Sound), but his territory extended +as far south as Nettinaht, his subjects comprising thirteen thousand +people. Meares does not fall into Jewitt's blunder of confounding the +name of the chief with that of his tribe. But Meares derived his information +first hand, while Jewitt obtained it merely from hearsay, never +having visited any other part except the immediate vicinity of Nootka +Sound.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Klayoquahts. They have now barely two hundred warriors.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> Hishquahts. If they have twenty men, that is all. Thirty years ago +they had only thirty adult males.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Ayhuttisahts. Thirty years ago they had thirty-six men fit to fight.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Ky-yoh-quahts. In 1860 they numbered two hundred and thirty adult +men.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Namely, the Kwakiool spoken on the east and north coasts of Vancouver +Island from Comox northwards.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> These implements have fallen out of use.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> The salal (<i>Gaultheria Shallon</i>), which forms a carpet to the ground, +especially where the soil is poor.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> The bulb of a pretty blue lily (<i>Gamassia esculenta</i>), well known all over +North-West America as the "gamass" or "kamass." The digging and +storing of it in summer form one of the most picturesque of Indian +occupations. The gamass camps are always lively, and the skill and +industry which a girl displays in this important part of her future duties +are carefully noted by the young men in search of wives.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p>SITUATION OF THE AUTHOR—REMOVAL TO TASHEES—FISHING +PARTIES</p> + + +<p>But to return to our unhappy situation. Though my +comrade and myself fared as well, and even better than +we could have expected among these people, considering +their customs and mode of living, yet our fears lest no +ship would come to our release, and that we should never +more behold a Christian country, were to us a source of +constant pain. Our principal consolation, in this gloomy +state, was to go on Sundays, whenever the weather +would permit, to the borders of a freshwater pond about +a mile from the village, where, after bathing and putting +on clean clothes, we would seat ourselves under the +shade of a beautiful pine, while I read some chapters in +the Bible, and the prayers appointed by our Church for +the day, ending our devotions with a fervent prayer to +the Almighty, that He would deign still to watch over +and preserve our lives, rescue us from the hands of the +savages, and permit us once more to behold a Christian +land.</p> + +<p>In this manner were the greater part of our Sundays +passed at Nootka; and I felt gratified to Heaven that, +amidst our other sufferings, we were at least allowed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +pleasure of offering up our devotions unmolested, for +Maquina, on my explaining to him as well as was in my +power the reason of our thus retiring at this time, far +from objecting, readily consented to it.</p> + +<p>The pond above mentioned was small, not more +than a quarter of a mile in breadth, and of no great +length, the water being very clear, though not of great +depth, and bordered by a beautiful forest of pine, fir, +elm,[101] and beech,<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> free from bushes and underwood—a +most delightful retreat, which was rendered still more +attractive by a great number of birds that frequented +it, particularly the humming-bird.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> Thither we used +to go to wash our clothes, and felt secure from any +intrusion from the natives, as they rarely visited it, +except for the purpose of cleansing themselves of their +paint.</p> + +<p>In July we at length thought that the hope of delivery +we had so long anxiously indulged was on the point of +being gratified. A ship appeared in the offing; but, +alas! our fond hopes vanished almost as soon as formed; +for, instead of standing in for the shore, she passed to +the northward, and soon disappeared. I shall not +attempt to describe our disappointment—my heart sank +within me, and I felt as though it was my destiny never +more to behold a Christian face. Four days after, there +occurred a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning, +during which the natives manifested great alarm and +terror, the whole tribe hurrying to Maquina's house, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>where, instead of keeping within, they seated themselves +on the roof, amid the severest of the tempest, +drumming upon the boards, and looking up to heaven, +while the king beat the long hollow plank, singing, +and, as he afterwards told me, begging <i>Quahootze</i>, +the name they give to God, not to kill them, in +which he was accompanied by the whole tribe; this +singing and drumming was continued until the storm +abated.</p> + +<p>As the summer drew near its close, we began to suffer +from the frequent want of food, which was principally +owing to Maquina and the chiefs being out whaling, in +which he would not permit Thompson and myself to join, +lest we should make our escape to some of the neighbouring +tribes. At these times the women seldom or +ever cook any provision, and we were often hungry, but +were sometimes fortunate enough to procure secretly a +piece of salmon, some other fish, spawn, or even blubber, +which, by boiling in salt water, with a few onions and +turnips, the remains of the Spanish garden, or young +nettles or other herbs, furnished us a delicious repast in +private.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, we frequently received accounts +from the tribes who came to Nootka, both from the +north and south, of there being vessels on the coast, +and were advised by their chiefs to make our escape, +who also promised us their aid, and to put us on board. +These stories, however, as I afterwards learned, were +almost all of them without any foundation, and merely +invented by these people with a view to get us into their +power, in order to make slaves of us themselves, or to sell +us to others.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + +<p>But I was still more strongly solicited to leave +Nootka by a woman. This was a Wickinninish princess, +a younger sister of Maquina's wife, who was there on +a visit. I had the good fortune, if it may be so called, +to become quite a favourite with her. She appeared +much interested for me, asked me many questions +respecting my country, if I had a mother and sister at +home, and if they would not grieve for my absence. +Her complexion was fairer than that of the women in +general, and her features more regular, and she would +have been quite handsome had it not been for a defect +in one of her eyes, the sight of which had been injured +by some accident; the reason, as Maquina told me, +why she had not been married, a defect of this kind +being by these savages considered as almost an insuperable +objection. She urged me repeatedly to return +with her, telling me that the Wickinninish were much +better than the Nootkians; that her father would +treat me more kindly than Maquina, give me better +food and clothes, and finally put me on board one of +my own country vessels. I felt, however, little disposed +to accompany her, considering my situation with +Maquina full as eligible as it would be with Wickinninish, +if not better, notwithstanding all she said to the +contrary.</p> + +<p>On the 3rd of September the whole tribe quitted +Nootka, according to their constant practice, in order to +pass the autumn and winter at Tashees<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> and Cooptee, +the latter lying about thirty miles up the Sound, in a +deep bay, the navigation of which is very dangerous, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>from the great number of reefs and rocks with which it +abounds.</p> + +<p>On these occasions everything is taken with them, +even the planks of their houses, in order to cover +their new dwellings. To an European such a removal +exhibits a scene quite novel and strange; canoes piled +up with boards and boxes, and filled with men, women, +and children, of all ranks and sizes, making the air +resound with their cries and songs.</p> + +<p>At these times, as well as when they have occasion +to go some distance from their houses, the infants +are usually suspended across the mother's shoulders, +in a kind of cradle or hammock, formed of bark, of +about six inches in depth, and of the length of the child, +by means of a leather band inserted through loops on +its edges; this they also keep them in when at home, +in order to preserve them in a straight position, and +prevent any distortion of the limbs, most probably a +principal cause of these people being so seldom +deformed or crooked.</p> + +<p>The longboat of our ship having been repaired and +furnished with a sail by Thompson, Maquina gave us +the direction of it, we being better acquainted with +managing it than his people, and, after loading her as +deep as she could swim, we proceeded in company with +them to the north, quitting Nootka with heavy hearts, +as we could entertain no hopes of release until our +return, no ships ever coming to that part of the coast. +Passing Cooptee, which is situated on the southern bank, +just within the mouth of a small river flowing from the +east in a narrow valley at the foot of a mountain, we +proceeded about fifteen miles up this stream to Tashees,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +between a range of lofty hills on each side, which extend +a great distance inland, and are covered with the finest +forest trees of the country. Immediately on our arrival, +we all went to work very diligently in covering the +houses with the planks we had brought, the frames +being ready erected, these people never pretending to +remove the timber. In a very short time the work +was completed, and we were established in our new +residence.</p> + +<p>Tashees is pleasantly situated, and in a most secure +position from the winter storms, in a small vale or +hollow on the south shore, at the foot of a mountain. +The spot on which it stands is level, and the soil very +fine, the country in its vicinity abounding with the most +romantic views, charmingly diversified, and fine streams +of water falling in beautiful cascades from the mountains. +The river at this place is about twenty rods in width, +and, in its deepest part, from nine to twelve feet. +This village is the extreme point of navigation, as, +immediately beyond, the river becomes much more +shallow, and is broken into falls and rapids. The +houses here are placed in a line like those at Nootka, +but closer together, the situation being more confined; +they are also smaller, in consequence of which we were +much crowded, and incommoded for room.</p> + +<p>The principal object in coming to this place is the +facility it affords these people of providing their winter +stock of provisions, which consists principally of salmon, +and the spawn of that fish; to which may be added +herrings and sprats, and herring spawn. The latter, +however, is always procured by them at Nootka, previous +to their quitting it. At the seasons of spawning, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +are early in spring and the last of August, they collect a +great quantity of pine branches, which they place in +different parts of the Cove at the depth of about ten +feet, and secure them by means of heavy stones. On +these the herring deposit their spawn in immense +quantities; the bushes are then taken up, the spawn +stripped from the branches, and, after being washed +and freed from the pine leaves by the women, is +dried and put up in baskets for use. It is considered +as their greatest delicacy, and eaten both cooked and +raw; in the former case, being boiled and eaten with +train-oil, and in the latter, mixed up with cold water +alone.</p> + +<p>The salmon are taken at Tashees, principally in pots +or wears. Their method of taking them in wears is +thus:—A pot of twenty feet in length, and from four to +five feet diameter at the mouth, is formed of a great +number of pine splinters, which are strongly secured, an +inch and a half from each other, by means of hoops +made of flexible twigs, and placed about eight inches +apart. At the end it tapers almost to a point, near +which is a small wicker door for the purpose of taking +out the fish. This pot or wear is placed at the foot +of a fall or rapid, where the water is not very deep, +and the fish, driven from above with long poles, are +intercepted and caught in the wear, from whence +they are taken into the canoes. In this manner I +have seen more than seven hundred salmon caught +in the space of fifteen minutes.<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> I have also sometimes +known a few of the striped bass taken in this manner, +but rarely.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> +<a href="images/i149.jpg"><img src="images/i149-t.jpg" width="350" height="238" alt="SALMON WEAR NEAR THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF QUAMICHAN, V. I." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />SALMON WEAR NEAR THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF QUAMICHAN, V. I.</span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +</div> + +<p>At<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> such times there is great feasting and merriment +among them. The women and female slaves being +busily employed in cooking, or in curing the fish for +their winter stock, which is done by cutting off the heads +and tails, splitting them, taking out the back bone, and +hanging them up in their houses to dry. They also dry +the halibut and cod, but these, instead of curing whole, +they cut up into small pieces for that purpose, and expose +to the sun.</p> + +<p>The spawn of the salmon, which is a principal article +of their provision, they take out, and, without any +other preparation, throw it into their tubs, where +they leave it to stand and ferment, for, though they +frequently eat it fresh, they esteem it much more +when it has acquired a strong taste, and one of the +greatest favours they can confer on any person, is to +invite him to eat <i>Quakamiss</i>, the name they give this +food, though scarcely anything can be more repugnant +to an European palate, than it is in this state; and +whenever they took it out of these large receptacles, +which they are always careful to fill, such was the stench +which it exhaled, on being moved, that it was almost +impossible for me to abide it, even after habit had +in a great degree dulled the delicacy of my senses. +When boiled it became less offensive, though it still +retained much of the putrid smell, and something of +the taste.</p> + +<p>Such is the immense quantity of these fish, and +they are taken with such facility, that I have known +upwards of twenty-five hundred brought into Maquina's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +house at once; and at one of their great feasts, have +seen one hundred or more cooked in one of their +largest tubs.</p> + +<p>I used frequently to go out with Maquina upon these +fishing parties, and was always sure to receive a handsome +present of salmon, which I had the privilege of +calling mine; I also went with him several times in a +canoe, to strike the salmon, which I have attempted +to do myself, but could never succeed, it requiring +a degree of adroitness that I did not possess. I was +also permitted to go out with a gun, and was several +times very successful in shooting wild ducks and +teal, which are very numerous here, though rather +shy. These they cooked in their usual manner, by +boiling, without any farther dressing than skinning +them.</p> + +<p>In many respects, however, our situation was less +pleasant here than at Nootka. We were more incommoded +for room, the houses not being so spacious, nor +so well arranged, and as it was colder, we were compelled +to be much more within doors. We, however, +did not neglect on Sundays, when the weather would +admit, to retire into the woods, and, by the side of some +stream, after bathing, return our thanks to God for +preserving us, and offer up to Him our customary +devotions.</p> + +<p>I was, however, very apprehensive, soon after our +arrival at this place, that I should be deprived of the +satisfaction of keeping my journal, as Maquina one day, +observing me writing, inquired of me what I was doing, +and when I endeavoured to explain it, by telling him +that I was keeping an account of the weather, he said it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +was not so, and that I was speaking bad about him, and +telling how he had taken our ship and killed the crew, +so as to inform my countrymen, and that if he ever saw +me writing in it again, he would throw it into the fire. +I was much rejoiced that he did no more than threaten, +and became very cautious afterwards not to let him see +me write.</p> + +<p>Not long after, I finished some daggers for him, which +I polished highly; these pleased him much, and he gave +me directions to make a cheetolth, in which I succeeded +so far to his satisfaction, that he gave me a present of +cloth sufficient to make me a complete suit of raiment, +besides other things.</p> + +<p>Thompson also, who had become rather more of a +favourite than formerly, since he had made a fine sail +for his canoe, and some garments for him out of +European cloth, about this time completed another, +which was thought by the savages a most superb +dress. This was a <i>kotsuk</i> or mantle, a fathom square, +made entirely of European vest patterns of the gayest +colours. These were sewed together in a manner to +make the best show, and bound with a deep trimming +of the finest otter-skin, with which the arm-holes were +also bordered; while the bottom was further embellished +with five or six rows of gilt buttons, placed as near as +possible to each other.</p> + +<p>Nothing could exceed the pride of Maquina when +he first put on this royal robe, decorated, like the coat +of Joseph, with all the colours of the rainbow, and +glittering with the buttons, which as he strutted about +made a tinkling, while he repeatedly exclaimed, in a +transport of exultation, "<i>Klew shish Kotsuk—wick kum +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +atack Nootka</i>."<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a>—"A fine garment—Nootka can't make +them."</p> + +<p>Maquina, who knew that the chiefs of the tribes who +came to visit us had endeavoured to persuade me to +escape, frequently cautioned me not to listen to them, +saying that, should I make the attempt, and he were to +take me, he should certainly put me to death. While +here, he gave me a book, in which I found the names of +seven persons belonging to the ship <i>Manchester</i>, of +Philadelphia, Captain Brian—viz. Daniel Smith, Lewis +Gillon, James Tom, Clark, Johnson, Ben, and Jack. +These men, as Maquina informed me, ran away from +the ship and came to him, but that six of them soon +after went off in the night, with an intention to go to +the Wickinninish, but were stopped by the Eshquates, +and sent back to him, and that he ordered them to +be put to death; and a most cruel death it was, as I +was told by one of the natives, four men holding +one of them on the ground, and forcing open his +mouth, while they choked him by ramming stones down +his throat.</p> + +<p>As to Jack, the boy, who made no attempt to go off, +Maquina afterwards sold him to the Wickinninish. I +was informed by the Princess Yuqua that he was quite +a small boy, who cried a great deal, being put to hard +labour beyond his strength by the natives, in cutting +wood and bringing water, and that when he heard of +the murder of our crew,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> it had such an effect on him, +that he fell sick, and died shortly after. On learning +the melancholy fate of this unfortunate lad, it again +awakened in my bosom those feelings that I had +experienced at the shocking death of my poor comrades.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> These trees are not found in Vancouver Island. Possibly, though +they are not very like, Jewitt mistook them for the Oregon alder and the +American ash, both trees of that locality.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> This is the migratory red-backed species (<i>Selasphorus rufus</i>, p. 19).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> "Tashis Canal" of seamen—the Tashis River flows in at its head, +Coptee is at the mouth, Tashis farther up the stream.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Salmon used to be bought at Alberni at the rate of a cent apiece. +There have been times when the garden at Fort Rupert was manured with +fresh salmon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> This is a fair specimen of the kind of <i>lingua franca</i> which even then +had begun to spring up in the intercourse of the early traders with the +Indians, and which by now takes the shape of the Chinook Jargon. For, +apart from the imperfectly pronounced Indian words, there is no such +term as Nootka in any language. It was a misconception of the first +visitors there. They probably mistook <i>Nootchee</i>, a mountain, for the name +of the country generally (p. 29).</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p>CONVERSATION WITH MAQUINA—FRUITS—RELIGIOUS +CEREMONIES—VISIT TO UPQUESTA</p> + + +<p>The king, finding that I was desirous of learning their +language, was much delighted, and took great pleasure +in conversing with me. On one of these occasions he +explained to me his reasons for cutting off our ship, +saying that he bore no ill will to my countrymen, but +that he had been several times treated very ill by them. +The first injury of which he had cause to complain, was +done him by a Captain Tawnington, who commanded a +schooner which passed a winter at Friendly Cove, where +he was well treated by the inhabitants. This man, +taking advantage of Maquina's absence, who had gone +to the Wickinninish to procure a wife, armed himself +and crew, and entered the house, where there were none +but women, whom he threw into the greatest consternation, +and, searching the chests, took away all the skins, +of which Maquina had no less than forty of the best; +and that about the same time, four of their chiefs were +barbarously killed by a Captain Martinez, a Spaniard.<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> +<p>That soon after, Captain Hanna, of the <i>Sea Otter</i><a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> in +consequence of one of the natives having stolen a chisel +from the carpenter, fired upon their canoes which were +alongside, and killed upwards of twenty of the natives, +of whom several were <i>Tyees</i> or chiefs; and that he himself, +being on board the vessel, in order to escape was +obliged to leap from the quarter-deck, and swim for a +long way under water.</p> + +<p>These injuries had excited in the breast of Maquina +an ardent desire of revenge, the strongest passion of the +savage heart, and though many years had elapsed since +their commission, still they were not forgotten, and the +want of a favourable opportunity alone prevented him +from sooner avenging them. Unfortunately for us, the +long-wished-for opportunity at length presented itself in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>our ship, which Maquina finding not guarded with the +usual vigilance of the North-West traders, and feeling +his desire of revenge rekindled by the insult offered him +by Captain Salter, formed a plan for attacking, and on +his return called a council of his chiefs, and communicated +it to them, acquainting them with the manner in +which he had been treated. No less desirous of avenging +this affront offered their king than their former +injuries, they readily agreed to his proposal, which was +to go on board without arms as usual, but under +different pretexts, in great numbers, and wait for his +signal for the moment of attacking their unsuspecting +victims. The execution of this scheme, as the reader +knows, was unhappily too successful.</p> + +<p>And here I cannot but indulge a reflection that has +frequently occurred to me on the manner in which our +people behave towards the natives. For, though they +are a thievish race, yet I have no doubt that many of +the melancholy disasters have principally arisen from +the imprudent conduct of some of the captains and +crews of the ships employed in this trade, in exasperating +them by insulting, plundering, and even killing +them on slight grounds. This, as nothing is more +sacred with a savage than the principle of revenge, and +no people are so impatient under insult, induces them +to wreak their vengeance upon the first vessel or boat's +crew that offers, making the innocent too frequently +suffer for the wrongs of the guilty, as few of them know +how to discriminate between persons of the same general +appearance, more especially when speaking the same +language. And to this cause do I believe must principally +be ascribed the sanguinary disposition with +which these people are reproached, as Maquina repeatedly +told me that it was not his wish to hurt a +white man, and that he never should have done it, +though ever so much in his power, had they not +injured him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 271px;"> +<a href="images/i159.jpg"><img src="images/i159-t.jpg" width="271" height="350" alt="CALLICUM AND MAQUILLA, CHIEFS OF NOOTKA SOUND." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />CALLICUM AND MAQUILLA, CHIEFS OF NOOTKA SOUND.</span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +</div> + +<p>And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> were the commanders of our ships to treat the +savages with rather more civility than they sometimes +do, I am inclined to think they would find their account +in it; not that I should recommend to them a confidence +in the good faith and friendly professions of these +people, so as in any degree to remit their vigilance, but, +on the contrary, to be strictly on their guard, and suffer +but a very few of them to come on board the ship, and +admit not many of their canoes alongside at a time; a +precaution that would have been the means of preventing +some of the unfortunate events that have occurred, +and if attended to, may in future preserve many a +valuable life. Such a regulation, too, from what I know +of their disposition and wants, would produce no serious +difficulty in trading with the savages, and they would +soon become perfectly reconciled to it.</p> + +<p>Among the provisions which the Indians procure at +Tashees, I must not omit mentioning a fruit that is very +important, as forming a great article of their food. This +is what is called by them the <i>Yama</i>,<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> a species of berry +that grows in bunches like currants, upon a bush from +two to three feet high, with a large, round, and smooth +leaf. This berry is black, and about the size of a pistol +shot, but of rather an oblong shape, and open at the top +like the blue whortleberry. The taste is sweet, but a +little acrid, and when first gathered, if eaten in any great +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>quantity, especially without oil, is apt to produce colics. +To procure it, large companies of women go out on the +mountains, accompanied by armed men to protect them +against wild beasts, where they frequently remain for +several days, kindling a fire at night, and sheltering +themselves under sheds constructed of boughs. At +these parties they collect great quantities. I have +known Maquina's queen and her women return loaded, +bringing with them upwards of twelve bushels. In +order to preserve it, it is pressed in the bunches between +two planks, and dried and put away in baskets for use. +It is always eaten with oil.</p> + +<p>Of berries of various kinds, such as strawberries, +raspberries, blackberries, etc., there are great quantities +in the country, of which the natives are very fond, +gathering them in their seasons, and eating them +with oil, but the yama is the only one that they +preserve.</p> + +<p>Fish is, however, their great article of food, as almost +all the others, excepting the yama, may be considered +as accidental. They nevertheless are far from disrelishing +meat, for instance, venison and bear's flesh. +With regard to the latter, they have a most singular +custom, which is, that any one who eats of it is obliged +to abstain from eating any kind of fresh fish whatever +for the term of two months, as they have a superstitious +belief that, should any of their people, after tasting bear's +flesh, eat of fresh salmon, cod, etc., the fish, though at +ever so great a distance off, would come to the knowledge +of it, and be so much offended thereat as not +to allow themselves to be taken by any of the inhabitants. +This I had an opportunity of observing while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +at Tashees, a bear having been killed early in +December, of which not more than ten of the natives +would eat, being prevented by the prohibition annexed +to it, which also was the reason of my comrade and +myself not tasting it, on being told by Maquina the +consequences.</p> + +<p>As there is something quite curious in their management +of this animal, when they have killed one, I shall +give a description of it. After well cleansing the bear +from the dirt and blood with which it is generally +covered when killed, it is brought in and seated opposite +the king in an upright posture, with a chief's bonnet, +wrought in figures, on its head, and its fur powdered +over with the white down. A tray of provision is then +set before it, and it is invited by words and gestures to +eat. This mock ceremony over, the reason of which I +could never learn, the animal is taken and skinned, and +the flesh and entrails boiled up into a soup, no part but +the paunch being rejected.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p> + +<p>This dressing the bear, as they call it, is an occasion +of great rejoicing throughout the village, all the inhabitants +being invited to a great feast at the king's +house, though but few of them, in consequence of the +penalty, will venture to eat of the flesh, but generally +content themselves with their favourite dish of herring +spawn and water. The feast on this occasion was +closed by a dance from Sat-sat-sok-sis, in the manner I +have already described, in the course of which he +repeatedly shifted his mask for another of a different +form.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> +<p>A few days after, a second bear was taken, like the +former, by means of a trap. This I had the curiosity to +go and see at the place where it was caught, which was +in the following manner:—On the edge of a small +stream of water in the mountains which the salmon +ascend, and near the spot where the bear is accustomed +to watch for them, which is known by its track, a trap +or box about the height of a man's head is built of posts +and planks with a flat top, on which are laid a number +of large stones or rocks. The top and sides are then +carefully covered with turf, so as to resemble a little +mound, and wholly to exclude the light, a narrow +entrance of the height of the building only being left, +just sufficient to admit the head and shoulders of the +beast. On the inside, to a large plank that covers the +top is suspended by a strong cord a salmon, the plank +being left loose, so that a forcible pull will bring it down. +On coming to its usual haunt, the bear enters the trap, +and, in endeavouring to pull away the fish, brings down +the whole covering with its load of stones upon its head, +and is almost always crushed to death on the spot, or +so wounded as to be unable to escape.<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p> + +<p>They are always careful to examine these traps every +day, in order, if a bear be caught, to bring it immediately, +for it is not a little singular that these people will eat +no kind of meat that is in the least tainted, or not +perfectly fresh, while, on the contrary, it is hardly +possible for fish to be in too putrid a state for them, and +I have frequently known them, when a whale has been +driven ashore, bring pieces of it home with them in a +state of offensiveness insupportable to anything but a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>crow, and devour it with high relish, considering it as +preferable to that which is fresh.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 13th of December, commenced +what to us appeared a most singular farce. Apparently +without any previous notice, Maquina discharged a +pistol close to his son's ear, who immediately fell down +as if killed, upon which all the women of the house set +up a most lamentable cry, tearing handfuls of hair from +their heads, and exclaiming that the prince was dead. At +the same time a great number of the inhabitants rushed +into the house, armed with their daggers, muskets, etc., +inquiring the cause of their outcry. These were immediately +followed by two others dressed in wolf-skins, with masks +over their faces representing the head of that animal; +the latter came in on their hands and feet in the manner +of a beast, and, taking up the prince, carried him off upon +their backs, retiring in the same manner they entered. +We saw nothing more of the ceremony, as Maquina +came to us, and, giving us a quantity of dried provision, +ordered us to quit the house, and not return to the village +before the expiration of seven days, for that if we +appeared within that period, he should kill us.</p> + +<p>At any other season of the year such an order would +by us have been considered as an indulgence, in enabling +us to pass our time in whatever way we wished; and even +now, furnished as we were with sufficient provision for +that term, it was not very unpleasant to us, more particularly +Thompson, who was always desirous to keep +as much as possible out of the society and sight of the +natives, whom he detested. Taking with us our provisions, +a bundle of clothes, and our axes, we obeyed the +directions of Maquina, and withdrew into the woods,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +where we built ourselves a cabin to shelter us, with the +branches of trees, and, keeping up a good fire, secured +ourselves pretty well from the cold. Here we passed +the prescribed period of our exile, with more content +than much of the time while with them, employing the +day in reading and praying for our release, or in rambling +around and exploring the country, the soil of which we +found to be very good, and the face of it, beautifully +diversified with hills and valleys, refreshed with the finest +streams of water, and at night enjoyed comfortable +repose upon a bed of soft leaves, with our garments +spread over us to protect us from the cold.</p> + +<p>At the end of seven days we returned, and found +several of the people of Ai-tiz-zart with their king or +chief at Tashees, who had been invited by Maquina to +attend the close of this performance, which I now learned +was a celebration, held by them annually, in honour of +their god, whom they call <i>Quahootze</i>,<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> to return him their +thanks for his past, and implore his future favours. It +terminated on the 21st, the day after our return, with +a most extraordinary exhibition. Three men, each of +whom had two bayonets run through his sides, between +the ribs, apparently regardless of the pain, traversed the +room, backwards and forwards, singing war-songs, and +exulting in this display of firmness.</p> + +<p>On the arrival of the 25th, we could not but call to +mind that this, being Christmas, was in our country a +day of the greatest festivity, when our fellow-countrymen, +assembled in their churches, were celebrating the goodness +of God and the praises of the Saviour. What a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>reverse did our situation offer!—captives in a savage land, +and slaves to a set of ignorant beings, unacquainted with +religion or humanity, hardly were we permitted to offer +up our devotions by ourselves in the woods, while we +felt even grateful for this privilege. Thither, with the +king's permission, we withdrew, and, after reading the +service appointed for the day, sung the hymn of the +Nativity, fervently praying that Heaven in its goodness +would permit us to celebrate the next festival of this kind +in some Christian land.</p> + +<p>On our return, in order to conform as much as was in +our power to the custom of our country, we were desirous +of having a better supper than usual. With this view, +we bought from one of the natives some dried clams +and oil, and a root called <i>Kletsup</i>,<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> which we cooked by +steaming, and found it very palatable. This root consists +of many fibres, of about six inches long, and of the size +of a crow quill. It is sweet, of an agreeable taste, not +unlike the <i>Quawnoose</i>, and it is eaten with oil. The plant +that produces it I have never seen.</p> + +<p>On the 31st all the tribe quitted Tashees for Cooptee, +whither they go to pass the remainder of the winter, and +complete their fishing, taking off everything with them +in the same manner as at Nootka. We arrived in a few +hours at Cooptee, which is about fifteen miles, and +immediately set about covering the houses, which was +soon completed.</p> + +<p>This place, which is their great herring and sprat +fishery, stands just within the mouth of the river, on the +same side with Tashees, in a very narrow valley at the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>foot of a high mountain. Though nearly as secure as +Tashees from the winter storms, it is by no means so +pleasantly situated, though to us it was a much more +agreeable residence, as it brought us nearer Nootka, +where we were impatient to return, in hopes of finding +some vessel there, or hearing of the arrival of one +near.</p> + +<p>The first snow that fell this season was the day after +our arrival, on New Year's Day; a day that, like Christmas, +brought with it painful recollections, but at the same +time led us to indulge the hope of a more fortunate year +than the last.</p> + +<p>Early on the morning of the 7th of January, Maquina +took me with him in his canoe on a visit to Upquesta, +chief of the Ai-tiz-zarts, who had invited him to attend +an exhibition at his village, similar to the one with which +he had been entertained at Tashees. This place is +between twenty and thirty miles distant up the Sound, +and stands on the banks of a small river about the size +of that of Cooptee, just within its entrance, in a valley +of much greater extent than that of Tashees; it consists +of fourteen or fifteen houses, built and disposed in the +manner of those at Nootka. The tribe, which is considered +as tributary to Maquina, amounts to about three +hundred warriors, and the inhabitants, both men and +women, are among the best-looking of any people on +the coast.</p> + +<p>On our arrival we were received at the shore by the +inhabitants, a few of whom were armed with muskets, +which they fired, with loud shouts and exclamations of +<i>Wocash, wocash!</i></p> + +<p>We were welcomed by the chief's messenger, or master<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +of ceremonies, dressed in his best garments, with his hair +powdered with white down, and holding in his hand the +cheetolth, the badge of his office. This man preceded +us to the chief's house, where he introduced and pointed +out to us our respective seats. On entering, the visitors +took off their hats, which they always wear on similar +occasions, and Maquina his outer robes, of which he has +several on whenever he pays a visit, and seated himself +near the chief.</p> + +<p>As I was dressed in European clothes, I became quite +an object of curiosity to these people, very few of whom +had ever seen a white man. They crowded around me +in numbers, taking hold of my clothes, examining my +face, hands, and feet, and even opening my mouth to see if +I had a tongue, for, notwithstanding I had by this time +become well acquainted with their language, I preserved +the strictest silence, Maquina on our first landing having +enjoined me not to speak until he should direct.</p> + +<p>Having undergone this examination for some time, +Maquina at length made a sign to me to speak to them. +On hearing me address them in their own language, +they were greatly astonished and delighted, and told +Maquina that they now perceived that I was a +man like themselves, except that I was white, and +looked like a seal, alluding to my blue jacket and +trousers, which they wanted to persuade me to take off, +as they did not like their appearance. Maquina in the +meantime gave an account to the chief of the scheme +he had formed for surprising our ship, and the manner +in which he and his people had carried it into execution, +with such particular and horrid details of that transaction +as chilled the blood in my veins. Trays of boiled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +herring spawn and train-oil were soon after brought in +and placed before us, neither the chief or any of his +people eating at the same time, it being contrary to the +ideas of hospitality entertained by these nations, to eat +any part of the food that is provided for strangers, always +waiting until their visitors have finished, before they +have their own brought in.</p> + +<p>The following day closed their festival with an +exhibition of a similar kind to that which had been +given at Tashees, but still more cruel; the different +tribes appearing on these occasions to endeavour to +surpass each other in their proofs of fortitude and +endurance of pain. In the morning, twenty men entered +the chief's house, with each an arrow run through the +flesh of his sides and either arm, with a cord fastened to +the end, which, as the performers advanced, singing and +boasting, was forcibly drawn back by a person having +hold of it. After this performance was closed, we +returned to Cooptee, which we reached at midnight, our +men keeping time with their songs to the stroke of their +paddles.</p> + +<p>The natives now began to take the herring and sprat +in immense quantities, with some salmon, and there was +nothing but feasting from morning till night.</p> + +<p>The following is the method they employ to take the +herring. A stick of about seven feet long, two inches +broad, and half an inch thick, is formed from some hard +wood, one side of which is set with sharp teeth, made +from whalebone, at about half an inch apart. Provided +with this instrument, the fisherman seats himself in +the prow of a canoe, which is paddled by another, and +whenever he comes to a shoal of herrings, which cover<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +the water in great quantities, he strikes it with both +hands upon them, and at the same moment, turning it +up, brings it over the side of the canoe, into which he +lets those that are taken drop. It is astonishing to see +how many are caught by those who are dexterous at +this kind of fishing, as they seldom fail, when the shoals +are numerous, of taking as many as ten or twelve at a +stroke, and in a very short time will fill a canoe with +them. Sprats are likewise caught in a similar manner.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> This was probably Don Estevan Martinez, who, on the 6th of May +1789, arrived in the corvette <i>Princesa</i>, to take possession of the country for +his sovereign. He it was who landed materials and artillery, and began to +erect a fort on a small island at the entrance to Friendly Cove. He seems +to have been a most high-handed kind of Don, for he seized the British +vessels <i>Iphigenia</i>, <i>North-West America</i>, <i>Argonaut</i>, and <i>Princess Royal</i>, +then trading under the Portuguese flag, and acted in so arbitrary a manner +to the officers and crew, that it was easy to believe he was not over scrupulous +in his dealings with the Indians. It was during his stay in Nootka +Sound that Callicum, a relation of Maquina's, and next to him in rank, was +barbarously murdered by an officer on board one of the Spanish ships, and +his father refused permission to dive for the body until he had handed +over a number of skins to the white savage.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> Captain James Hanna was the second European to enter Nootka +Sound after Captain Cook had left it. The <i>Sea Otter</i>, a vessel under 70 +tons, was fitted out in China, and reached Nootka in August 1785; when +Maquina, presuming upon the inferior size of the craft and the small +number of the crew, made a desperate attack upon her. This was repulsed +by the courage of the ship's company, after which business proceeded +on such friendly terms that he procured five hundred and eighty-five sea-otter +skins in five weeks, which were sold in Canton for 20,600 dollars. It +was Hanna who discovered Fitzhugh Sound, Lance Island, Sea Otter +Harbour, and other now well-known spots on the North-West coast of +America. The incident related by Maquina is not to be found in the +records of the expedition which have descended to us. He made another +voyage in 1786, solely for commercial purposes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> <i>Gaultheria Shallon</i> (see p. 137).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> These observances are well worth noting in connection with the others +which attach to the bear among nearly all savage races.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> These traps are still in common use.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> <i>Quawteaht</i>, the supreme being of all the tribes speaking the "Aht" +language.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> This seems the bracken fern root, which is eaten. But the name usually +applied to it is <i>Sheetla</i>.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p>RETURN TO NOOTKA (FRIENDLY COVE)—DEATH OF +MAQUINA'S NEPHEW—INSANITY OF TOOTOOSCH—AN +INDIAN MOUNTEBANK</p> + + +<p>About the beginning of February, Maquina gave a +great feast, at which were present not only all the +inhabitants, but one hundred persons from Ai-tiz-zart, +and a number from Wickinninish who had been invited +to attend it. It is customary with them to give an +annual entertainment of this kind, and it is astonishing +to see what a quantity of provision is expended, or +rather wasted, on such an occasion, when they always eat +to the greatest excess. It was at this feast that I saw +upwards of an hundred salmon cooked in one tub. +The whole residence at Cooptee presents an almost +uninterrupted succession of feasting and gormandising, +and it would seem as if the principal object +of these people was to consume their whole stock +of provision before leaving it, trusting entirely to +their success in fishing and whaling, for a supply at +Nootka.</p> + +<p>On the 25th of February we quitted Cooptee, and +returned to Nootka. With much joy did Thompson +and myself again find ourselves in a place where, notwithstanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +the melancholy recollections which it +excited, we hoped before long to see some vessel arrive +to our relief, and for this we became the more solicitous, +as of late we had become much more apprehensive of +our safety, in consequence of information brought +Maquina a few days before we left Cooptee, by some of +the Cayuquets, that there were twenty ships at the +northward, preparing to come against him, with an +intent of destroying him and his whole tribe, for cutting +off the <i>Boston</i>.</p> + +<p>This story, which was wholly without foundation, and +discovered afterwards to have been invented by these +people, for the purpose of disquieting him, threw him +into great alarm, and, notwithstanding all I could say to +convince him that it was an unfounded report, so great +was his jealousy of us, especially after it had been confirmed +to him by some others of the same nation, that +he treated us with much harshness, and kept a very +suspicious eye upon us.</p> + +<p>Nothing, indeed, could be more unpleasant than our +present situation, when I reflected that our lives were +altogether dependent on the will of a savage, on whose +caprice and suspicions no rational calculation could +be made.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Not long after our return, a son of Maquina's sister, +a boy of eleven years old, who had been for some time +declining, died. Immediately on his death, which was +about midnight, all the men and women in the house +set up loud cries and shrieks, which, awakening +Thompson and myself, so disturbed us that we left the +house. This lamentation was kept up during the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +remainder of the night. In the morning, a great fire +was kindled, in which Maquina burned, in honour of the +deceased, ten fathoms of cloth, and buried with him ten +fathoms more, eight of Ife-whaw, four prime sea-otter +skins, and two small trunks, containing our unfortunate +captain's clothes and watch.</p> + +<p>This boy was considered as a Tyee, or chief, being +the only son of Tootoosch, one of their principal chiefs, +who had married Maquina's sister, whence arose this +ceremony on his interment: it being an established +custom with these people, that whenever a chief dies, +his most valuable property is burned or buried with him; +it is, however, wholly confined to the chiefs, and appears +to be a mark of honour appropriate to them.<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> In this +instance, Maquina furnished the articles, in order that +his nephew might have the proper honours rendered +him.</p> + +<p>Tootoosch, his father, was esteemed the first warrior +of the tribe, and was one who had been particularly +active in the destruction of our ship, having killed two of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>our poor comrades, who were ashore, whose names were +Hall and Wood. About the time of our removal to +Tashees, while in the enjoyment of the highest health, +he was suddenly seized with a fit of delirium, in which +he fancied that he saw the ghosts of those two men +constantly standing by him, and threatening him, so that +he would take no food, except what was forced into his +mouth.</p> + +<p>A short time before this he had lost a daughter of +about fifteen years of age, which afflicted him greatly, +and whether his insanity, a disorder very uncommon +amongst these savages, no instance of the kind having +occurred within the memory of the oldest man amongst +them, proceeded from this cause, or that it was the +special interposition of an all-merciful God in our favour, +who by this means thought proper to induce these +barbarians still further to respect our lives, or that, +for hidden purposes, the Supreme Disposer of events +sometimes permits the spirits of the dead to revisit +the world, and haunt the murderer, I know not, but his +mind, from this period until his death, which took place +but a few weeks after that of his son, was incessantly +occupied with the images of the men whom he had +killed.</p> + +<p>This circumstance made much impression upon the +tribe, particularly the chiefs, whose uniform opposition +to putting us to death, at the various councils that were +held on our account, I could not but in part attribute to +this cause; and Maquina used frequently, in speaking of +Tootoosch's sickness, to express much satisfaction that +his hands had not been stained with the blood of any of +our men.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> + +<p>When Maquina was first informed by his sister of +the strange conduct of her husband, he immediately +went to his house, taking us with him; suspecting +that his disease had been caused by us, and that the +ghosts of our countrymen had been called thither by +us, to torment him. We found him raving about +Hall and Wood, saying that they were <i>peshak</i>, that +is, bad.</p> + +<p>Maquina then placed some provision before him, to see +if he would eat. On perceiving it, he put forth his hand +to take some, but instantly withdrew it with signs of +horror, saying that Hall and Wood were there, and +would not let him eat. Maquina then, pointing to us, +asked if it was not John and Thompson who troubled +him.</p> + +<p>"<i>Wik</i>,"<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> he replied,—that is, no; "<i>John klushish—Thompson +klushish</i>"—John and Thompson are both good; +then, turning to me, and patting me on the shoulder, he +made signs to me to eat. I tried to persuade him that +Hall and Wood were not there, and that none were near +him but ourselves; he said, "I know very well you do not +see them, but I do."</p> + +<p>At first Maquina endeavoured to convince him that +he saw nothing, and to laugh him out of his belief, but, +finding that all was to no purpose, he at length became +serious, and asked me if I had ever seen anyone affected +in this manner, and what was the matter with him. I +gave him to understand, pointing to his head, that his +brain was injured, and that he did not see things as +formerly.</p> + +<p>Being convinced by Tootoosch's conduct that we had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>no agency in his indisposition, on our return home +Maquina asked me what was done in my country in +similar cases.</p> + +<p>I told him that such persons were closely confined, +and sometimes tied up and whipped, in order to make +them better.<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></p> + +<p>After pondering for some time, he said that he +should be glad to do anything to relieve him, and that +he should be whipped, and immediately gave orders +to some of his men to go to Tootoosch's house, bind +him, and bring him to his, in order to undergo the +operation.</p> + +<p>Thompson was the person selected to administer +this remedy, which he undertook very readily, and +for that purpose provided himself with a good number +of spruce branches, with which he whipped him most +severely, laying it on with the best will imaginable, +while Tootoosch displayed the greatest rage, kicking, +spitting, and attempting to bite all who came near +him. This was too much for Maquina, who at length, +unable to endure it longer, ordered Thompson to desist +and Tootoosch to be carried back, saying that if there +was no other way of curing him but by whipping, he +must remain mad.</p> + +<p>The application of the whip produced no beneficial +effect on Tootoosch, for he afterwards became still more +deranged; in his fits of fury sometimes seizing a club +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>and beating his slaves in a most dreadful manner, and +striking and spitting at all who came near him, till at +length his wife, no longer daring to remain in the house +with him, came with her son to Maquina's.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The whaling season now commenced, and Maquina +was out almost every day in his canoe in pursuit of +them, but for a considerable time with no success, one +day breaking the staff of his harpoon, another after +having been a long time fast to a whale, the weapon +drawing, owing to the breaking of the shell which formed +its point, with several such like accidents, arising from +the imperfection of the instrument.</p> + +<p>At these times he always returned very morose +and out of temper, upbraiding his men with having +violated their obligation to continence preparatory to +whaling. In this state of ill-humour he would give +us very little to eat, which, added to the women not +cooking when the men are away, reduced us to a very +low fare.</p> + +<p>In consequence of the repeated occurrence of similar +accidents, I proposed to Maquina to make him a +harpoon or foreganger of steel, which would be less +liable to fail him. The idea pleased him, and in a +short time I completed one for him, with which he was +much delighted, and the very next day went out to +make a trial of it.</p> + +<p>He succeeded with it in taking a whale. Great was the +joy throughout the village as soon as it was known that +the king had secured the whale, by notice from a person +stationed at the headland in the offing. All the canoes +were immediately launched, and, furnished with harpoons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +and sealskin floats, hastened to assist in buoying it up +and towing it in.</p> + +<p>The bringing in of this fish exhibited a scene of +universal festivity. As soon as the canoes appeared at +the mouth of the Cove, those on board of them singing +a triumph to a slow air, to which they kept time with +their paddles, all who were on shore, men, women, and +children, mounted the roofs of their houses to congratulate +the king on his success, drumming most +furiously on the planks, and exclaiming <i>Wocash—wocash, +Tyee!</i></p> + +<p>The whale, on being drawn on shore, was immediately +cut up, and a great feast of the blubber given at +Maquina's house, to which all the village were invited, +who indemnified themselves for their Lent by eating as +usual to excess. I was highly praised for the goodness +of my harpoon, and a quantity of blubber given me, +which I was permitted to cook as I pleased; this I boiled +in salt water with some young nettles and other greens +for Thompson and myself, and in this way we found it +tolerable food.</p> + +<p>Their method of procuring the oil, is to skim it from +the water in which the blubber is boiled, and when cool, +put it up into whale bladders for use; and of these +I have seen them so large as, when filled, would require +no less than five or six men to carry. Several of the +chiefs, among whom were Maquina's brothers, who, +after the king has caught the first whale, are privileged +to take them also, were very desirous, on discovering +the superiority of my harpoon, that I should make +some for them, but this Maquina would not permit, +reserving for himself this improved weapon. He, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +gave me directions to make a number more for +himself, which I executed, and also made him several +lances, with which he was greatly pleased.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>As these people have some very singular observances +preparatory to whaling, an account of them will, I +presume, not prove uninteresting, especially as it may +serve to give a better idea of their manners. A short +time before leaving Tashees, the king makes a point of +passing a day alone on the mountain, whither he goes +very privately early in the morning, and does not +return till late in the evening.<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> This is done, as I afterwards +learned, for the purpose of singing and praying +to his God for success in whaling the ensuing season. +At Cooptee the same ceremony is performed, and at +Nootka after the return thither, with still greater +solemnity, as for the next two days he appears very +thoughtful and gloomy, scarcely speaking to any one, +and observes a most rigid fast. On these occasions he +has always a broad red fillet made of bark bound +around his head, in token of humiliation, with a large +branch of green spruce on the top, and his great rattle +in his hand.</p> + +<p>In addition to this, for a week before commencing +their whaling, both himself and the crew of his canoe +observe a fast, eating but very little, and going into +the water several times in the course of each day to +bathe, singing and rubbing their bodies, limbs, and +faces with shells and bushes, so that on their return I +have seen them look as though they had been severely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>torn with briers. They are likewise obliged to abstain +from any commerce with their women for the like +period, the latter restriction being considered as indispensable +to their success.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Early in June, Tootoosch,<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> the crazy chief, died. On +being acquainted with his death, the whole village, men, +women, and children, set up a loud cry, with every +testimony of the greatest grief, which they continued for +more than three hours. As soon as he was dead, the +body, according to their custom, was laid out on a +plank, having the head bound round with a red bark +fillet, which is with them an emblem of mourning and +sorrow. After lying some time in this manner, he +was wrapped in an otter-skin robe, and, three fathoms +of Ife-whaw being put about his neck, he was placed in +a large coffin or box of about three feet deep, which was +ornamented on the outside with two rows of the small +white shells. In this, the most valuable articles of his +property were placed with him, among which were no +less than twenty-four prime sea-otter skins.</p> + +<p>At night, which is their time for interring the dead, +the coffin was borne by eight men with two poles thrust +through ropes passed around it, to the place of burial, +accompanied by his wife and family, with their hair cut +short in token of grief, all the inhabitants joining the +procession.</p> + +<p>The place of burial was a large cavern on the side +of a hill at a little distance from the village, in which, +after depositing the coffin carefully, all the attendants +repaired to Maquina's house, where a number of articles +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>belonging to the deceased, consisting of blankets, pieces +of cloth, etc., were burned by a person appointed +by Maquina for that purpose, dressed and painted +in the highest style, with his head covered with white +down, who, as he put in the several pieces one by one, +poured upon them a quantity of oil to increase the +flame, in the intervals between making a speech and +playing off a variety of buffoon tricks, and the whole +closed with a feast, and a dance from Sat-sat-sok-sis, +the king's son.</p> + +<p>The man who performed the ceremony of burning +on this occasion was a very singular character named +Kinneclimmets. He was held in high estimation by +the king, though only of the common class, probably +from his talent for mimicry and buffoonery, and might be +considered as a kind of king's jester, or rather, as combining +in his person the character of a buffoon with +that of master of ceremonies and public orator to his +majesty, as he was the one who at feasts always +regulated the places of the guests, delivered speeches +on receiving or returning visits, besides amusing the +company at all their entertainments, with a variety of +monkey pranks and antic gestures, which appeared to +these savages the height of wit and humour, but would +be considered as extremely low by the least polished +people.</p> + +<p>Almost all the kings or head chiefs of the principal +tribes were accompanied by a similar character, who +appeared to be attached to their dignity, and are called +in their language <i>Climmer-habbee</i>.</p> + +<p>This man Kinneclimmets was particularly odious to +Thompson, who would never join in the laugh at his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +tricks, but when he began, would almost always quit +the house with a very surly look, and an exclamation +of "Cursed fool!" which Maquina, who thought +nothing could equal the cleverness of his <i>Climmer-habbee</i>, +used to remark with much dissatisfaction, asking +me why Thompson never laughed, observing that I +must have had a very good-tempered woman indeed +for my mother, as my father was so very ill-natured a +man.</p> + +<p>Among those performances that gained him the +greatest applause was his talent of eating to excess, +for I have known him devour at one meal no less than +seventy-five large herrings; and at another time, when +a great feast was given by Maquina, he undertook, after +drinking three pints of oil by way of a whet, to eat four +dried salmon, and five quarts of spawn, mixed up with +a gallon of train-oil, and actually succeeded in swallowing +the greater part of this mess, until his stomach +became so overloaded as to discharge its contents in +the dish. One of his exhibitions, however, had nearly +cost him his life; this was on the occasion of Kla-quak-ee-na, +one of the chiefs, having bought him a new wife, +in celebration of which he ran three times through a +large fire, and burned himself in such a manner that he +was not able to stir for more than four weeks. These +feats of savage skill were much praised by Maquina, +who never failed to make him presents of cloth, muskets, +etc., on such occasions.</p> + +<p>The death of Tootoosch increased still more the +disquietude which his delirium had excited among the +savages, and all those chiefs who had killed our men +became much alarmed lest they should be seized with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +the same disorder and die like him; more particularly, +as I had told Maquina that I believed his insanity was +a punishment inflicted on him by Quahootze, for his +cruelty in murdering two innocent men who had never +injured him.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> When an Indian dies, all of his property which has not been given +away, is either buried with him, or, in extreme cases, burned, not for the +purpose of accompanying him to the Spirit Land, but, so the people have +told me, to prevent any temptation to indulge in the bad luck of mentioning +his name. The only things that are exempted from this practice are +the dead man's best canoes, his house-planks, and fishing and hunting +implements, which, with any slaves he may possess, go to his eldest son. +I have known the deceased's house and all its contents to be burned; but +when this is not the case, then the materials are removed elsewhere, and +another building is erected. Around his grave—a box raised from the +ground on pillars, often quaintly carved, or a canoe, or a box fixed up a +tree—are placed various articles belonging to him (or her). At one time +they buried his money with him. But for obvious reasons this custom +has fallen into abeyance.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> <i>Wik</i> actually means "Not I." Good is <i>Klooceahatli</i> or <i>Klootakloosch</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> This, it must be remembered, was in the days before Connolly. +Maquina's remark that if an insane man could not be cured but by +whipping him, he must remain mad, proves that the savage chief was +in advance of his time. Insanity is, however, extremely rare among the +Indians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> He was, as the Indians say, "making his medicine," a term of very +elastic meaning.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> "Tootoosch" is the Thunder Bird of "Aht" mythology.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p>WAR WITH THE A-Y-CHARTS—A NIGHT ATTACK—PROPOSALS +TO PURCHASE THE AUTHOR</p> + + +<p>Our situation had now become unpleasant in the extreme. +The summer was so far advanced that we +nearly despaired of a ship arriving to our relief, and +with that expectation almost relinquished the hope of +ever having it in our power to quit this savage land. +We were treated, too, with less indulgence than before, +both Thompson and myself being obliged, in addition +to our other employments, to perform the laborious +task of cutting and collecting fuel, which we had to +bring on our shoulders from nearly three miles' distance, +as it consisted wholly of dry leaves, all of which near the +village had been consumed.</p> + +<p>To add to this, we suffered much abuse from the +common people, who, when Maquina or some of the +chiefs were not present, would insult us, calling us +wretched slaves, asking us where was our Tyee or +captain, making gestures signifying that his head had +been cut off, and that they would do the like to us; +though they generally took good care at such times to +keep well out of Thompson's reach, as they had more +than once experienced, to their cost, the strength of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +his fist. This conduct was not only provoking and +grating to our feelings in the highest degree, but it convinced +us of the ill disposition of these savages towards +us, and rendered us fearful lest they might at some time +or other persuade or force Maquina and the chiefs to +put us to death.</p> + +<p>We were also often brought to great distress for the +want of provisions, so far as to be reduced to collect a +scanty supply of mussels and limpets from the rocks, +and sometimes even compelled to part with some of +our most necessary articles of clothing in order to +purchase food for our subsistence.</p> + +<p>This was, however, principally owing to the inhabitants +themselves experiencing a great scarcity of +provisions this season; there having been, in the first +place, but very few salmon caught at Friendly Cove, a +most unusual circumstance, as they generally abound +there in the spring, which was by the natives attributed +to their having been driven away by the blood of our +men who had been thrown into the sea, which with +true savage inconsistency excited their murmurs against +Maquina, who had proposed cutting off our ship. Relying +on this supply, they had in the most inconsiderate +manner squandered away their winter stock of provisions, +so that in a few days after their return it was +entirely expended.</p> + +<p>Nor were the king and chiefs much more fortunate +in their whaling, even after I had furnished Maquina +with the improved weapon for that purpose; but four +whales having been taken during the season, which +closes the last of May, including one that had been +struck by Maquina and escaped, and was afterwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +driven on shore about six miles from Nootka in almost +a state of putridity.</p> + +<p>These afforded but a short supply to a population, +including all ages and sexes, of no less than fifteen +hundred persons, and of a character so very improvident, +that, after feasting most gluttonously whenever a +whale was caught, they were several times, for a week +together, reduced to the necessity of eating but once +a day, and of collecting cockles and mussels from the +rocks for their food.</p> + +<p>And even after the cod and halibut fishing commenced, +in June, in which they met with tolerable +success, such was the savage caprice of Maquina, that +he would often give us but little to eat, finally ordering +us to buy a canoe and fishing implements and +go out ourselves and fish, or we should have nothing. +To do this we were compelled to part with our greatcoats, +which were not only important to us as garments, +but of which we made our beds, spreading them +under us when we slept. From our want of skill, +however, in this new employ, we met with no success; +on discovering which, Maquina ordered us to remain at +home.</p> + +<p>Another thing, which to me in particular proved +an almost constant source of vexation and disgust, +and which living among them had not in the least +reconciled me to, was their extreme filthiness, not +only in eating fish, especially the whale, when in a +state of offensive putridity, but while at their meals, +of making a practice of taking the vermin from their +heads or clothes and eating them, by turns thrusting +their fingers into their hair and into the dish, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +spreading their garments over the tubs in which the +provision was cooking, in order to set in motion their +inhabitants.<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></p> + +<p>Fortunately for Thompson, he regarded this much less +than myself, and when I used to point out to him any +instance of their filthiness in this respect, he would +laugh and reply, "Never mind, John, the more good +things the better." I must, however, do Maquina the +justice to state, that he was much neater both in his +person and eating than were the others, as was likewise +his queen, owing, no doubt, to his intercourse with +foreigners, which had given him ideas of cleanliness, +for I never saw either of them eat any of these animals, +but, on the contrary, they appeared not much to relish +this taste in others. Their garments, also, were much +cleaner, Maquina having been accustomed to give his +away when they became soiled, till after he discovered +that Thompson and myself kept ours clean by washing +them, when he used to make Thompson do the same for +him.</p> + +<p>Yet amidst this state of endurance and disappointment, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>in hearing repeatedly of the arrival of ships at +the north and south, most of which proved to be idle +reports, while expectation was almost wearied out in +looking for them, we did not wholly despond, relying +on the mercy of the Supreme Being, to offer up to +whom our devotions on the days appointed for His +worship was our chief consolation and support, though +we were sometimes obliged, by our taskmasters, to +infringe upon the Sabbath, which was to me a source +of much regret.</p> + +<p>We were, nevertheless, treated at times with much +kindness by Maquina, who would give us a plenty of +the best that he had to eat, and occasionally, some +small present of cloth for a garment, promising me that, +if any ship should arrive within a hundred miles of +Nootka, he would send a canoe with a letter from me +to the captain, so that he might come to our release. +These flattering promises and marks of attention +were, however, at those times when he thought himself +in personal danger from a mutinous spirit, which the +scarcity of provisions had excited among the natives, +who, like true savages, imputed all their public calamities, +of whatever kind, to the misconduct of their chief, +or when he was apprehensive of an attack from some +of the other tribes, who were irritated with him for +cutting off the <i>Boston</i>, as it had prevented ships from +coming to trade with them, and were constantly alarming +him with idle stories of vessels that were preparing +to come against him and exterminate both him and +his people.</p> + +<p>At such times, he made us keep guard over him both +night and day, armed with cutlasses and pistols, being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +apparently afraid to trust any of his own men. At one +time, it was a general revolt of his people that he +apprehended; then three of his principal chiefs, +among whom was his elder brother, had conspired to +take away his life; and at length he fancied that a +small party of Klaooquates, between whom and the +Nootkians little friendship subsisted, had come to +Nootka, under a pretence of trade, for the sole purpose +of murdering him and his family, telling us, probably to +sharpen our vigilance, that their intention was to kill us +likewise; and so strongly were his fears excited on this +occasion, that he not only ordered us to keep near him +armed by day, whenever he went out, and to patrol +at night before his house while they remained, but to +continue the same guard for three days after they were +gone, and to fire, at one and at four in the morning, one +of the great guns, to let them know, if, as he suspected, +they were lurking in the neighbourhood, that he was on +his guard.</p> + +<p>While he was thus favourably disposed towards us, I +took an opportunity to inform him of the ill-treatment +that we frequently received from his people, and the +insults that were offered us by some of the stranger +tribes in calling us white slaves, and loading us with +other opprobrious terms. He was much displeased, +and said that his subjects should not be allowed to +treat us ill, and that if any of the strangers did it, he +wished us to punish the offenders with death, at the +same time directing us, for our security, to go constantly +armed.</p> + +<p>This permission was soon improved by Thompson to +the best advantage; for a few days after, having gone to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> +the pond to wash some of our clothes, and a blanket for +Maquina, several Wickinninish who were then at Nootka +came thither, and, seeing him washing the clothes, and +the blanket spread upon the grass to dry, they began, +according to custom, to insult him, and one of them, +bolder than the others, walked over the blanket. Thompson +was highly incensed, and threatened the Indian with +death if he repeated the offence, but he, in contempt of +the threat, trampled upon the blanket, when, drawing +his cutlass, without further ceremony, Thompson cut off +his head, on seeing which the others ran off at full speed. +Thompson then, gathering up the clothes and blanket, +on which were the marks of the Indian's dirty feet, and +taking with him the head, returned and informed the +king of what had passed, who was much pleased, and +highly commended his conduct. This had a favourable +effect for us, not only on the stranger tribes but the +inhabitants themselves, who treated us afterwards with +less disrespect.</p> + +<p>In the latter part of July, Maquina informed me that +he was going to war with the <i>A-y-charts</i>,<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> a tribe about +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>fifty miles to the south, on account of some controversy +that had arisen the preceding summer, and that I must +make a number of daggers for his men, and cheetolths +for his chiefs, which having completed, he wished me +to make for his own use a weapon of quite a different +form, in order to dispatch his enemy by one blow on +the head, it being the calculation of these nations, on +going to war, to surprise their adversaries while asleep. +This was a steel dagger, or more properly a spike, +of about six inches long, made very sharp, set at right +angles in an iron handle of fifteen inches long, terminating +at the lower end in a crook or turn, so as to +prevent its being wrenched from the hand, and at the +upper in a round knob or head, from whence the +spike protruded. This instrument I polished highly, +and, the more to please Maquina, formed on the back +of the knob the resemblance of a man's head, with +the mouth open, substituting for eyes black beads, +which I fastened in with red sealing-wax. This pleased +him much, and was greatly admired by his chiefs, who +wanted me to make similar ones for them, but Maquina +would not suffer it, reserving for himself alone this +weapon.</p> + +<p>When these people have finally determined on war, +they make it an invariable practice, for three or four +weeks prior to the expedition, to go into the water five +or six times a day, when they wash and scrub themselves +from head to foot with bushes intermixed with +briers, so that their bodies and faces will often be entirely +covered with blood. During this severe exercise, +they are continually exclaiming, "<i>Wocash, Quahootze, +Teechamme ah welth, wik-etish tau-ilth—Kar sub-matemas—Wik-sish</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +<i>to hauk matemas—I ya-ish kah-shittle—As-smootish +warich matemas</i>"; which signifies, +"Good or great God, let me live—Not be sick—Find the +enemy—Not fear him—Find him asleep, and kill a great +many of them."</p> + +<p>During the whole of this period they have no intercourse +with their women, and for a week before setting +out, abstain from feasting or any kind of merriment, +appearing thoughtful, gloomy, and morose, and for the +three last days are almost constantly in the water, both +by day and night, scrubbing and lacerating themselves +in a terrible manner. Maquina, having informed +Thompson and myself that he should take us with him, +was very solicitous that we should bathe and scrub ourselves +in the same way with them, telling me that it +would harden our skins, so that the weapons of the +enemy would not pierce them, but as we felt no great +inclination to amuse ourselves in this manner, we +declined it.</p> + +<p>The expedition consisted of forty canoes, carrying +from ten to twenty men each. Thompson and myself +armed ourselves with cutlasses and pistols, but the +natives, although they had a plenty of European arms, +took with them only their daggers and cheetolths, with +a few bows and arrows, the latter being about a yard in +length, and pointed with copper, mussel-shell, or bone; +the bows are four feet and a half long, with strings +made of whale sinew.</p> + +<p>To go to A-y-chart, we ascended, from twenty to +thirty miles,<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> a river about the size of that of Tashees, +the banks of which are high and covered with wood. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>At midnight we came in sight of the village, which was +situated on the west bank near the shore, on a steep hill +difficult of access, and well calculated for defence. It +consisted of fifteen or sixteen houses, smaller than those +at Nootka, and built in the same style, but compactly +placed. By Maquina's directions, the attack was +deferred until the first appearance of dawn, as he said +that was the time when men slept the soundest.</p> + +<p>At length, all being ready for the attack, we landed +with the greatest silence, and, going around so as to +come upon the foe in the rear, clambered up the hill, +and while the natives, as is their custom, entered the +several huts creeping on all-fours, my comrade and +myself stationed ourselves without to intercept those +who should attempt to escape or come to the aid of +their friends. I wished, if possible, not to stain my +hands in the blood of any fellow-creature; and though +Thompson would gladly have put to death all the +savages in the country, he was too brave to think of +attacking a sleeping enemy.</p> + +<p>Having entered the houses, on the war-whoop being +given by Maquina as he seized the head of the chief and +gave him the fatal blow, all proceeded to the work of +death. The A-y-charts, being thus surprised, were +unable to make resistance, and, with the exception of a +very few who were so fortunate as to make their escape, +were all killed, or taken prisoners on condition of +becoming slaves to their captors. I had the good +fortune to take four captives, whom Maquina, as a +favour, permitted me to consider as mine, and occasionally +employ them in fishing for me. As for Thompson, +who thirsted for revenge, he had no wish to take any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +prisoners, but with his cutlass, the only weapon he +would employ against them, succeeded in killing seven +stout fellows who came to attack him, an act which +obtained him great credit with Maquina and the chiefs, +who after this held him in much higher estimation, and +gave him the appellation of "Chehiel-suma-har," it being +the name of a very celebrated warrior of their nation in +ancient times, whose exploits were the constant theme +of their praise.</p> + +<p>After having put to death all the old and infirm of +either sex, as is the barbarous practice of these people, +and destroyed the buildings, we re-embarked with our +booty in our canoes for Nootka, where we were received +with great demonstrations of joy by the women and +children, accompanying our war-song with a most +furious drumming on the houses. The next day a great +feast was given by Maquina in celebration of his victory, +which was terminated, as usual, with a dance by Sat-sat-sok-sis.<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></p> + +<p>Repeated applications had been made to Maquina by +a number of kings or chiefs to purchase me, especially +after he had showed them the harpoon I had made for +him, which he took much pride in, but he constantly +refused to part with me on any terms. Among these, +the king of the Wickinninish was particularly solicitous +to obtain me, having twice applied to Maquina for that +purpose, once in a very formal manner, by sending his +messenger with four canoes, who, as he approached the +shore, decorated in their highest style, with the white +down on his head, etc., declared that he came to buy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>"Tooteyoohannis," the name by which I was known to +them, for his master, and that he had brought for that +purpose four young male slaves, two highly ornamented +canoes, such a number of the skins of metamelth, and of +the <i>quartlack</i>,<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> or sea-otter, and so many fathoms of +cloth and of Ife-whaw, while, as he mentioned the different +articles, they were pointed out or held up by his +attendants; but even this tempting offer had no influence +on Maquina, who in the latter part of the summer was +again very strongly urged to sell me by Ulatilla, or, as +he is generally called, Machee Ulatilla, chief of the +Klaizzarts,<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> who had come to Nootka on a visit.</p> + +<p>This chief, who could speak tolerable English, had +much more the appearance of a civilised man than any +of the savages that I saw. He appeared to be about +thirty, was rather small in his person, but extremely well +formed, with a skin almost as fair as that of an European, +good features, and a countenance expressive of candour +and amiableness, and which was almost always +brightened with a smile. He was much neater both in +his dress and person than any of the other chiefs, seldom +wearing paint, except upon his eyebrows, which, after +the custom of his country, were plucked out, and a few +strips of the pelpelth on the lower part of his face. He +always treated me with much kindness, was fond of +conversing with me in English and in his own language, +asking me many questions relative to my country, its +manners, customs, etc., and appeared to take a strong +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>interest in my fate, telling me that if he could persuade +Maquina to part with me, he would put me on board +the first ship that came to his country, a promise which, +from his subsequent conduct, I have good reason to +think he would have performed, as my deliverance at +length from captivity and suffering was, under the +favour of Divine Providence, wholly owing to him, the +only letter that ever reached an European or American +vessel out of sixteen that I wrote at different times and +sent to various parts of the coast, having been delivered +by him in person. So much pleased was I with this +man's behaviour to me while at Nootka, that I made for +him a cheetolth, which I burnished highly, and engraved +with figures. With this he was greatly delighted. +I also would have made for him a harpoon, would +Maquina have consented.</p> + +<p>With hearts full of dejection and almost lost to hope, +no ship having appeared off Nootka this season, did my +companion and myself accompany the tribe on their +removal in September to Tashees, relinquishing in consequence +for six months even the remotest expectation +of relief.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> This habit—unfortunately not peculiar to the Indians—is still occasionally +indulged in. The reason they give for it is, that when the great +flood covered the earth—a tradition that is found among other North-West +American Indians—they escaped in their canoes, and had to eat lice +for lack of any other food, and now practise it out of gratitude. The +superstitious observances of these tribes are so numerous that the merest +account of those known would fill a volume. One or two interesting +instances may be mentioned:—Thus, in sneezing, there is good luck if +the right nostril is alone affected. But if the left, then evil fortune is +at hand. When they pare their nails, which is not often, they burn the +parings, and if the smoke from them goes straight up, their latter end +will be good; if not, they will go to the place of punishment. They +used to regard—and perhaps still regard—the whites not as human beings, +but as a sort of demons.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> The E-cha-chets are not at present recognised as a separate tribe. But +there is a large village in Clayoquat Sound on the south end of Wakenninish +Island which bears that name. Like many now all but extinct tribes, +who have become absorbed into greater ones, the E-cha-chets seem in +Jewitt's time to have been more numerous. In Meares's narrative, "Lee-cha-ett" +is mentioned as a village of Wakenninish, but this could not +have been the same place, for Maquina and Wakenninish were at +this period on good terms. The river which the expedition ascended to +reach the summer salmon fishing village of the tribe was probably either +the Bear or the Onamettis, both of which flow through some swampy +ground into the head of Bedwall Arm. But as usual Jewitt exaggerated +the distance up which the canoemen paddled. There is no river in Vancouver +Island navigable for twenty or thirty miles, and few, even when +broken by rapids and falls, quite that length.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> This is an exaggerated estimate.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> This is one of the best descriptions of West Coast warfare with which +I am acquainted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> "Quiaotluk," Jewitt, with innate cockneyism, inserting an <i>r</i> after <i>a</i> +wherever this is possible. No Indian can pronounce <i>r</i>, any more than a +Chinaman can.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Klahosahts.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p>MARRIAGE OF THE AUTHOR—HIS ILLNESS—DISMISSES +HIS WIFE—RELIGION OF THE NATIVES—CLIMATE</p> + + +<p>Soon after our establishment there, Maquina informed +me that he and his chiefs had held council both before +and after quitting Nootka, in which they had determined +that I must marry one of their women, urging as +a reason to induce me to consent, that, as there was +now no probability of a ship coming to Nootka to +release me, that I must consider myself as destined +to pass the remainder of my life with them, that the +sooner I conformed to their customs the better, +and that a wife and family would render me more +contented and satisfied with their mode of living. I +remonstrated against this decision, but to no purpose, +for he told me that, should I refuse, both +Thompson and myself would be put to death; telling +me, however, that if there were none of the women +of his tribe that pleased me, he would go with me to +some of the other tribes, where he would purchase +for me such a one as I should select. Reduced to +this sad extremity, with death on the one side and +matrimony on the other, I thought proper to choose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> +what appeared to me the least of the two evils, +and consent to be married, on condition that, as I +did not fancy any of the Nootka women, I should +be permitted to make choice of one from some other +tribe.</p> + +<p>This being settled, the next morning by daylight, +Maquina, with about fifty men in two canoes, set out +with me for Ai-tiz-zart,<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> taking with him a quantity of +cloth, a number of muskets, sea-otter skins, etc., for the +purchase of my bride. With the aid of our paddles +and sails, being favoured with a fair breeze, we arrived +some time before sunset at the village. Our arrival +excited a general alarm, and the men hastened to the +shore, armed with the weapons of their country, making +many warlike demonstrations, and displaying much zeal +and activity. We, in the meantime, remained quietly +seated in our canoes, where we remained for about half +an hour, when the messenger of the chief, dressed in +their best manner, came to welcome us and invite us on +shore to eat.<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> We followed him in procession to the +chief's house, Maquina at our head, taking care to leave +a sufficient number in the boats to protect the property. +When we came to the house, we were ushered in with +much ceremony, and our respective seats pointed +out to us, mine being next to Maquina by his +request.</p> + +<p>After having been regaled with a feast of herring +spawn and oil, Maquina asked me if I saw any among +the women who were present that I liked. I immediately +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>pointed out to a young girl of about seventeen, the +daughter of Upquesta, the chief, who was sitting near +him by her mother. On this, Maquina, making a sign +to his men, arose, and, taking me by the hand, walked +into the middle of the room, and sent off two of his +men to bring the boxes containing the presents from +the canoes. In the meantime, Kinneclimmets, the +master of ceremonies, whom I have already spoken of, +made himself ready for the part he was to act, by +powdering his hair with white down. When the chests +were brought in, specimens of the several articles were +taken out, and showed by our men, one of whom held +up a musket, another a skin, a third a piece of cloth, +etc.</p> + +<p>On this Kinneclimmets stepped forward, and, addressing +the chief, informed him that all these belonged +to me, mentioning the number of each kind, and +that they were offered to him for the purchase of +his daughter Eu-stoch-ee-exqua, as a wife for me. +As he said this, the men who held up the various +articles walked up to the chief, and with a very stern +and morose look, the complimentary one on these +occasions, threw them at his feet. Immediately on +which, all the tribe, both men and women, who were +assembled on this occasion, set up a cry of <i>Klack-ko-Tyee</i>,<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> +that is, "Thank ye, chief."</p> + +<p>His men, after this ceremony, having returned to +their places, Maquina rose, and, in a speech of more +than half an hour, said much in my praise to the Ai-tiz-zart +chief, telling him that I was as good a man +as themselves, differing from them only in being white, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>that I was besides acquainted with many things of +which they were ignorant; that I knew how to make +daggers, cheetolths, and harpoons, and was a very +valuable person, whom he was determined to keep +always with him; praising me at the same time for +the goodness of my temper, and the manner in which +I had conducted myself since I had been with them, +observing that all the people of Nootka, and even the +children, loved me.</p> + +<p>While Maquina was speaking, his master of ceremonies +was continually skipping about, making the +most extravagant gestures, and exclaiming "<i>Wocash!</i>" +When he had ceased, the Ai-tiz-zart chief arose, amidst +the acclamations of his people, and began with setting +forth the many good qualities and accomplishments of +his daughter; that he loved her greatly, and as she +was his only one, he could not think of parting with +her. He spoke in this manner for some time, but +finally concluded by consenting to the proposed union, +requesting that she might be well used and kindly +treated by her husband. At the close of the speech, +when the chief began to manifest a disposition to consent +to our union, Kinneclimmets again began to call +out as loud as he could bawl, "<i>Wocash!</i>" cutting a +thousand capers and spinning himself around on his +heel like a top.</p> + +<p>When Upquesta had finished his speech, he directed +his people to carry back the presents which Maquina +had given him, to me, together with two young male +slaves to assist me in fishing. These, after having been +placed before me, were by Maquina's men taken on +board the canoes. This ceremony being over, we were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +invited by one of the principal chiefs to a feast at +his house, of <i>Klussamit</i>,<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> or dried herring, where, after +the eating was over, Kinneclimmets amused the company +very highly with his tricks, and the evening's +entertainment was closed by a new war-song from our +men, and one in return from the Ai-tiz-zarts, accompanied +with expressive gestures, and wielding of their +weapons.</p> + +<p>After this our company returned to lodge at Upquesta's, +except a few who were left on board the +canoes to watch the property. In the morning I received +from the chief his daughter, with an earnest +request that I would use her well, which I promised +him; when, taking leave of her parents, she accompanied +me with apparent satisfaction on board of the +canoe.</p> + +<p>The wind being ahead, the natives were obliged to +have recourse to their paddles, accompanying them +with their songs, interspersed with the witticisms and +buffoonery of Kinneclimmets, who, in his capacity of +king's steersman, one of his functions which I forgot to +enumerate, not only guided the course of the canoe, +but regulated the singing of the boatmen. At about +five in the morning we reached Tashees, where we +found all the inhabitants collected on the shore to +receive us.</p> + +<p>We were welcomed with loud shouts of joy, and +exclamations of "<i>Wocash!</i>" and the women, taking my +bride under their charge, conducted her to Maquina's +house, to be kept with them for ten days; it being +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>an universal custom, as Maquina informed me, that no +intercourse should take place between the new married +pair during that period. At night Maquina gave a +great feast, which was succeeded by a dance, in which +all the women joined, and thus ended the festivities of +my marriage.<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></p> + +<p>The term of my probation being over, Maquina +assigned me as an apartment the space in the upper +part of his house between him and his elder brother, +whose room was opposite. Here I established myself +with my family, consisting of myself and wife, +Thompson, and the little Sat-sat-sok-sis, who had +always been strongly attached to me, and now solicited +his father to let him live with me, to which he consented.</p> + +<p>This boy was handsome, extremely well formed, +amiable, and of a pleasant, sprightly disposition. I +used to take a pleasure in decorating him with rings, +bracelets, ear-jewels, etc., which I made for him of +copper, and ornamented and polished them in my +best manner. I was also very careful to keep him free +from vermin of every kind, washing him and combing +his hair every day. These marks of attention were not +only very pleasing to the child, who delighted in being +kept neat and clean, as well as in being dressed off in +his finery, but was highly gratifying both to Maquina +and his queen, who used to express much satisfaction +at my care of him.</p> + +<p>In making my domestic establishment, I determined, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>as far as possible, to live in a more comfortable and +cleanly manner than the others. For this purpose I +erected with planks a partition of about three feet +high between mine and the adjoining rooms, and +made three bedsteads of the same, which I covered +with boards, for my family to sleep on, which I found +much more comfortable than sleeping on the floor +amidst the dirt.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, I found my Indian princess both amiable +and intelligent, for one whose limited sphere of observation +must necessarily give rise to but a few ideas. +She was extremely ready to agree to anything that I +proposed relative to our mode of living, was very +attentive in keeping her garments and person neat +and clean, and appeared in every respect solicitous to +please me.</p> + +<p>She was, as I have said, about seventeen; her person +was small but well formed, as were her features; +her complexion was, without exception, fairer than +any of the women, with considerable colour in her +cheeks, her hair long, black, and much softer than +is usual with them, and her teeth small, even, and +of a dazzling whiteness; while the expression of +her countenance indicated sweetness of temper and +modesty. She would indeed have been considered as +very pretty in any country, and, excepting Maquina's +queen, was by far the handsomest of any of their +women.</p> + +<p>With a partner possessing so many attractions, many +may be apt to conclude that I must have found +myself happy,—at least, comparatively so; but far +otherwise was it with me. A compulsory marriage with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +the most beautiful and accomplished person in the +world can never prove a source of real happiness; and, +in my situation, I could not but view this connection +as a chain that was to bind me down to this savage +land, and prevent my ever again seeing a civilised +country; especially when, in a few days after, Maquina +informed me that there had been a meeting of his +chiefs, in which it had been determined that, as I +had married one of their women, I must be considered +as one of them, and conform to their customs, +and that in future neither myself nor Thompson should +wear our European clothes, but dress in kutsaks<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> +like themselves. This order was to me most painful, +but I persuaded Maquina at length so far to relax in +it as to permit me to wear those I had at present, +which were almost worn out, and not to compel +Thompson to change his dress, observing that, as +he was an old man, such a change would cause his +death.</p> + +<p>Their religious celebration, which the last year took +place in December, was in this commenced on the 15th +of November, and continued for fourteen days. As I +was now considered as one of them, instead of being +ordered to the woods, Maquina directed Thompson and +myself to remain and pray with them to Quahootze +to be good to them, and thank him for what he had +done.</p> + +<p>It was opened in much the same manner as the +former. After which, all the men and women in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>village assembled at Maquina's house, in their plainest +dresses, and without any kind of ornaments about +them, having their heads bound around with the red +fillet, a token of dejection and humiliation, and their +countenances expressive of seriousness and melancholy. +The performances during the continuance of this celebration +consisted almost wholly in singing a number +of songs to mournful airs, the king regulating the +time by beating on his hollow plank or drum, accompanied +by one of his chiefs seated near him with the +great rattle. In the meantime they ate but seldom, +and then very little, retiring to sleep late, and rising +at the first appearance of dawn, and even interrupting +this short period of repose by getting up at midnight +and singing.</p> + +<p>The ceremony was terminated by an exhibition of a +similar character to the one of the last year, but still +more cruel. A boy of twelve years old, with six +bayonets run into his flesh, one through each arm and +thigh, and through each side close to the ribs, was +carried around the room suspended upon them, without +manifesting any symptoms of pain. Maquina, on my +inquiring the reason of this display, informed me that +it was an ancient custom of his nation to sacrifice a +man at the close of this solemnity, in honour of their +God, but that his father had abolished it, and substituted +this in its place.<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> The whole closed on the evening of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>the 29th, with a great feast of salmon spawn and oil, at +which the natives, as usual, made up for their late +abstinence.</p> + +<p>A few days after, a circumstance occurred, which, +from its singularity, I cannot forbear mentioning. I was +sent for by my neighbour Yealthlower, the king's elder +brother, to file his teeth, which operation having been +performed, he informed me that a new wife, whom he +had a little time before purchased, having refused to +sleep with him, it was his intention, provided she persisted +in her refusal, to bite off her nose. I endeavoured +to dissuade him from it, but he was determined, and, in +fact, performed his savage threat that very night, saying +that since she would not be his wife, she should not be +that of any other, and in the morning sent her back to +her father.</p> + +<p>The inhuman act did not, however, proceed from any +innate cruelty of disposition or malice, as he was far +from being of a barbarous temper; but such is the +despotism exercised by these savages over their women, +that he no doubt considered it as a just punishment for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>her offence, in being so obstinate and perverse; as he +afterwards told me, that in similar cases the husband +had a right with them to disfigure his wife in this +way or some other, to prevent her ever marrying +again.</p> + +<p>About the middle of December, we left Tashees +for Cooptee. As usual at this season, we found the +herrings in great plenty, and here the same scene +of riotous feasting that I witnessed last year was +renewed by our improvident natives, who, in addition +to their usual fare, had a plentiful supply of wild +geese, which were brought us in great quantities by +the Eshquates. These, as Maquina informed me, were +caught with nets made from bark in the fresh waters +of that country. Those who take them make choice +for that purpose of a dark and rainy night, and, with +their canoes stuck with lighted torches, proceed with +as little noise as possible to the place where the +geese are collected, who, dazzled by the light, suffer +themselves to be approached very near, when the net +is thrown over them, and in this manner from fifty to +sixty, or even more, will sometimes be taken at one +cast.</p> + +<p>On the 15th of January 1805, about midnight, I was +thrown into considerable alarm, in consequence of an +eclipse of the moon, being awakened from my sleep +by a great outcry of the inhabitants. On going to +discover the cause of this tumult, I found them all +out of their houses, bearing lighted torches, singing +and beating upon pieces of plank; and when I asked +them the reason of this proceeding, they pointed to +the moon, and said that a great cod-fish was endeavouring +to swallow her, and that they were driving +him away. The origin of this superstition I could not +discover.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> +<a href="images/i209.jpg"><img src="images/i209-t.jpg" width="350" height="261" alt="INDIAN CHIEF'S GRAVE (TEMP. 1863)." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><br />INDIAN CHIEF'S GRAVE (TEMP. 1863).</span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +</div> + +<p>Though, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +in some respects, my situation was rendered +more comfortable since my marriage, as I lived in a +more cleanly manner, and had my food better and +more neatly cooked, of which, besides, I had always +a plenty, my slaves generally furnishing me, and +Upquesta never failing to send me an ample supply +by the canoes that came from Ai-tiz-zart; still, from +my being obliged at this season of the year to change +my accustomed clothing, and to dress like the natives, +with only a piece of cloth of about two yards long +thrown loosely around me, my European clothes +having been for some time entirely worn out, I suffered +more than I can express from the cold, especially +as I was compelled to perform the laborious task of +cutting and bringing the firewood, which was rendered +still more oppressive to me, from my comrade, for a +considerable part of the winter, not having it in his +power to lend me his aid, in consequence of an attack +of the rheumatism in one of his knees, with which he +suffered for more than four months, two or three weeks +of which he was so ill as to be under the necessity to +leave the house.</p> + +<p>This state of suffering, with the little hope I now had +of ever escaping from the savages, began to render my +life irksome to me; still, however, I lost not my +confidence in the aid of the Supreme Being, to +whom, whenever the weather and a suspension from +the tasks imposed on me would permit, I never +failed regularly on Sundays to retire to the wood to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +worship, taking Thompson with me when he was able +to go.</p> + +<p>On the 20th of February, we returned to our summer +quarters at Nootka, but on my part, with far different +sensations than the last spring, being now almost in +despair of any vessel arriving to release us, or our being +permitted to depart if there should.</p> + +<p>Soon after our return, as preparatory to the whaling +season, Maquina ordered me to make a good number +of harpoons for himself and his chiefs, several of +which I had completed, with some lances, when, on +the 16th of March, I was taken very ill with a +violent colic, caused, I presume, from having suffered +so much from the cold, in going without proper +clothing. For a number of hours I was in great pain, +and expected to die, and on its leaving me, I was so +weak as scarcely to be able to stand, while I had +nothing comforting to take, nor anything to drink but +cold water.</p> + +<p>On the day following, a slave belonging to Maquina +died, and was immediately, as is their custom in such +cases, tossed unceremoniously out of doors, from +whence he was taken by some others and thrown into +the water. The treatment of this poor creature made +a melancholy impression upon my mind, as I could +not but think that such probably would be my fate +should I die among these heathens, and so far from +receiving a decent burial, that I should not even be +allowed the common privilege of having a little earth +thrown over my remains.</p> + +<p>The feebleness in which the violent attack of my +disorder had left me, the dejection I felt at the almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> +hopelessness of my situation and the want of warm +clothing and proper nursing, though my Indian wife, +as far as she knew how, was always ready, even +solicitous, to do everything for me she could, still kept +me very much indisposed, which Maquina perceiving, +he finally told me that if I did not like living with +my wife, and that was the cause of my being so sad, I +might part with her. This proposal I readily accepted, +and the next day Maquina sent her back to her +father.</p> + +<p>On parting with me she discovered much emotion, +begging me that I would suffer her to remain till I +had recovered, as there was no one who would take +so good care of me as herself. But when I told her +she must go, for that I did not think I should ever +get well, which in truth I but little expected, and that +her father would take good care of her and treat her +much more kindly than Maquina, she took an affectionate +leave, telling me that she hoped I should +soon get better, and left her two slaves to take care +of me.</p> + +<p>Though I rejoiced at her departure, I was greatly +affected with the simple expressions of her regard for +me, and could not but feel strongly interested for this +poor girl, who in all her conduct towards me had +discovered so much mildness and attention to my +wishes; and had it not been that I considered her as an +almost insuperable obstacle to my being permitted to +leave the country, I should no doubt have felt the +deprivation of her society a real loss. After her +departure, I requested Maquina that, as I had parted +with my wife, he would permit me to resume my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +European dress, as, otherwise, from not having been +accustomed to dress like them, I should certainly die. +To this he consented, and I once more became comfortably +clad.</p> + +<p>Change of clothing, but, more than all, the hopes +which I now began to indulge that in the course of +the summer I should be able to escape, in a short +time restored me to health, so far that I could again +go to work in making harpoons for Maquina, who +probably, fearing that he should have to part with +me, determined to provide himself with a good +stock.</p> + +<p>I shall not, however, long detain the reader with a +detail of occurrences that intervened between this +period and that of my escape, which, from that dull +uniformity that marks the savage life, would be in +a measure but a repetition, nor dwell upon that +mental torture I endured from a constant conflict of +hope and fear, when the former, almost wearied out +with repeated disappointment, offered to our sinking +hearts no prospect of release but death, to which we +were constantly exposed from the brutal ignorance +and savage disposition of the common people, who, +in the various councils that were held this season to +determine what to do with us in case of the arrival of +a ship, were almost always for putting us to death, +expecting by that means to conceal the murder of +our crew and to throw the blame of it on some other +tribe. These barbarous sentiments were, however, +universally opposed by Maquina and his chiefs, who +would not consent to our being injured. But, as +some of their customs and traits of national character<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +which I think deserving of notice have not been +mentioned, I shall proceed to give an account of +them.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The office of king or chief is, with those people, +hereditary, and descends to the eldest son, or, in failure +of male issue, to the elder brother, who in the regal line +is considered as the second person in the kingdom. At +feasts, as I have observed, the king is always placed in +the highest or seat of honour, and the chiefs according +to their respective ranks, which appear in general to be +determined by their affinity to the royal family; they +are also designated by the embellishments of their +mantles or kutsaks. The king, or head <i>Tyee</i> is their +leader in war, in the management of which he is +perfectly absolute. He is also president of their councils, +which are almost always regulated by his opinion. But +he has no kind of power over the property of his +subjects, nor can he require them to contribute to his +wants, being in this respect no more privileged than any +other person. He has, in common with his chiefs, the +right of holding slaves, which is not enjoyed by private +individuals, a regulation probably arising from their +having been originally captives taken in battle, the spoils +of war being understood as appertaining to the king, +who receives and apportions them among his several +chiefs and warriors according to their rank and deserts.</p> + +<p>In conformity with this idea, the plunder of the <i>Boston</i> +was all deposited in Maquina's house, who distributed +part of it among his chiefs, according to their respective +ranks or degree of favour with him, giving to one three +hundred muskets, to another one hundred and fifty, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +other things in like proportion. The king is, however, +obliged to support his dignity by making frequent +entertainments, and whenever he receives a large supply +of provision, he must invite all the men of his tribe +to his house to eat it up, otherwise, as Maquina told +me, he would not be considered as conducting himself +like a <i>Tyee</i>, and would be no more thought of than a +common man.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>With regard to their religion.—They believe in the +existence of a Supreme Being, whom they call <i>Quahootze</i>, +and who, to use Maquina's expression, was one great +<i>Tyee</i> in the sky, who gave them their fish, and could +take them from them, and was the greatest of all kings. +Their usual place of worship appeared to be the water, +for whenever they bathed, they addressed some words in +form of prayer to the God above, entreating that he +would preserve them in health, give them good success +in fishing, etc. These prayers were repeated with much +more energy on preparing for whaling or for war, as I +have already mentioned.</p> + +<p>Some of them would sometimes go several miles to +bathe, in order to do it in secret; the reason for this I +could never learn, though I am induced to think it was +in consequence of some family or private quarrel, and +that they did not wish what they said to be heard; +while at other times they would repair in the same +secret manner to the woods to pray. This was +more particularly the case with the women, who +might also have been prompted by a sentiment of +decency to retire for the purpose of bathing, as they +are remarkably modest.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span></p> + +<p>I once found one of our women more than two +miles from the village on her knees in the woods, with +her eyes shut and her face turned towards heaven, +uttering words in a lamentable tone, amongst which I +distinctly heard, <i>Wocash Ah-welth</i>, meaning "good +Lord," and which has nearly the same signification +with Quahootze.</p> + +<p>Though I came very near her, she appeared not to +notice me, but continued her devotions. And I have +frequently seen the women go alone into the woods, +evidently for the purpose of addressing themselves to a +superior Being, and it was always very perceptible on +their return when they had been thus employed, from +their silence and melancholy looks.</p> + +<p>They have no belief, however, in a state of future +existence, as I discovered in conversation with Maquina +at Tootoosch's death, on my attempting to convince +him that he still existed, and that he would again see +him after his death; but he could comprehend nothing +of it, and, pointing to the ground, said that there was +the end of him, and that he was like that.<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> Nor do +they believe in ghosts, notwithstanding the case of +Tootoosch would appear to contradict this assertion, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>but that was a remarkable instance, and such a one +as had never been known to occur before; yet from +the mummeries performed over the sick, it is very +apparent that they believe in the agency of spirits, +as they attribute diseases to some evil one that has +entered the body of the patient. Neither have they +any priests, unless a kind of conjurer<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> may be so considered +who sings and prays over the sick to drive +away the evil spirit.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>On the birth of twins, they have a most singular +custom, which, I presume, has its origin in some religious +opinion, but what it is, I could never satisfactorily learn. +The father is prohibited for the space of two years from +eating any kind of meat, or fresh fish, during which +time he does no kind of labour whatever, being supplied +with what he has occasion for from the tribe. In the +meantime, he and his wife, who is also obliged to conform +to the same abstinence, with their children, live entirely +separate from the others, a small hut being built for +their accommodation, and he is never invited to any of +the feasts, except such as consist wholly of dried +provision, where he is treated with great respect, and +seated among the chiefs, though no more himself than +a private individual.</p> + +<p>Such births are very rare among them; an instance +of the kind, however, occurred while I was at Tashees +the last time, but it was the only one known since the +reign of the former king. The father always appeared +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>very thoughtful and gloomy, never associated with the +other inhabitants, and was at none of the feasts, but such +as were entirely of dried provision, and of this he ate +not to excess, and constantly retired before the amusements +commenced. His dress was very plain, and he +wore around his head the red fillet of bark, the symbol +of mourning and devotion. It was his daily practice to +repair to the mountain, with a chief's rattle in his hand, +to sing and pray, as Maquina informed me, for the fish +to come into their waters. When not thus employed, +he kept continually at home, except when sent for to +sing and perform his ceremonies over the sick, being +considered as a sacred character, and one much in favour +with their gods.<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></p> + +<p>These people are remarkably healthful, and live to +a very advanced age, having quite a youthful appearance +for their years.<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> They have scarcely any +disease but the colic, their remedy for which is +friction, a person rubbing the bowels of the sick +violently, until the pain has subsided, while the conjurer, +or holy man, is employed, in the meantime, in +making his gestures, singing, and repeating certain +words, and blowing off the evil spirit, when the patient +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>is wrapped up in a bearskin, in order to produce +perspiration.</p> + +<p>Their cure for the rheumatism, or similar pains, which +I saw applied by Maquina in the case of Thompson, to +whom it gave relief, is by cutting or scarifying the part +affected. In dressing wounds, they simply wash them +with salt water, and bind them up with a strip of +cloth, or the bark of a tree. They are, however, very +expert and successful in the cure of fractured or +dislocated limbs, reducing them very dexterously, and, +after binding them up with bark, supporting them +with blocks of wood, so as to preserve their +position.<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></p> + +<p>During the whole time I was among them, but five +natural deaths occurred, Tootoosch and his two infant +children, an infant son of Maquina, and the slave whom +I have mentioned, a circumstance not a little remarkable +in a population of about fifteen hundred; and as respects +child-birth, so light do they make of it, that I have seen +their women, the day after, employed as usual, as if little +or nothing had happened.</p> + +<p>The Nootkians in their conduct towards each other +are in general pacific and inoffensive, and appear by no +means an ill-tempered race, for I do not recollect any +instance of a violent quarrel between any of the men, or +the men and their wives, while I was with them, that of +Yealthlower excepted. But when they are in the least +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>offended, they appear to be in the most violent rage, +acting like so many maniacs, foaming at the mouth, +kicking and spitting most furiously; but this is rather a +fashion with them than a demonstration of malignity, +as in their public speeches they use the same violence, +and he is esteemed the greatest orator who bawls the +loudest, stamps, tosses himself about, foams, and spits +the most.<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a></p> + +<p>In speaking of their regulations, I have omitted +mentioning that, on attaining the age of seventeen, the +eldest son of a chief is considered as a chief himself, +and that whenever the father makes a present, it is +always done in the name of his eldest son, or, if +he has none, in that of his daughter. The chiefs +frequently purchase their wives at the age of eight or +ten, to prevent their being engaged by others, though +they do not take them from their parents until they +are sixteen.</p> + +<p>With regard to climate, the greater part of the spring, +summer, and autumn is very pleasant, the weather being +at no time oppressively hot, and the winters uncommonly +mild for so high a latitude, at least, as far as my experience +went. At Tashees and Cooptee, where we passed +the coldest part of the season, the winter did not set in +till late in December, nor have I ever yet known the ice, +even on the freshwater ponds, more than two or three +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>inches in thickness, or a snow exceeding four inches in +depth; but what is wanting in snow, is amply made up +in rain, as I have frequently known it, during the winter +months, rain almost incessantly for five or six days in +succession.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> Ayhuttisaht, also in Nootka Sound.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> This is the custom if the visit of the strangers has not been announced +in advance.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> <i>Ooshyuksomayts</i> is another expression meaning much the same thing.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> <i>Kloosmit</i> is "herring" (<i>Meletta crulea</i>) generally. <i>Klooshist</i> is +dried salmon, a more common article of food.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> Jewitt's marriage was less ceremonious than is usual with Indians of +any rank, and the ten days' probation was not according to modern +customs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> <i>Kutsak</i>, or <i>kotsack</i>, or <i>kootsick</i>, or <i>cotsack</i>, for all these forms occur, +was the blanket worn cloakwise, rendered familiar to Europeans in so +many pictures and sketches.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Human sacrifices are quite common among the Northern tribes. But +in Vancouver they were very rare in my time, and are now still less +frequent. In 1863 the burial of a chief was celebrated by the heads of +several tribesmen being fixed about his grave. These were not taken by +force, but surrendered by the trembling tribesmen, the victims being most +likely slaves. In 1788, Meares affirms, on what we believe to be insufficient +evidence, that Maquina (Moqulla) sacrificed a human being every +new moon, to gratify "his unnatural appetite" for human flesh. The +victim was a slave selected by the blindfolded chief catching him in a +house in which a number were assembled. Meares even declares that +Maquina acknowledged his weakness, and that though Callicum, another +chief, avoided cannibalism, he reposed on a pillow filled with human skulls. +If so, the practice has ceased. Yet cannibalism was undeniably practised +at times among the Indians of both the East and West coasts. There were +in 1866 Indians living in Koskeemo Sound, who still talked of the delights +of human flesh. Many years ago, the Bella-Bellas ate a servant of the +Hudson Bay Company, and the Nuchaltaws of Cape Mudge are affirmed +by old traders to have paid the same doubtful compliment to a sailor who +fell into their clutches.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> This, in common with other statements of the kind, is more than +doubtful. The best account of their religion is by Mr. Sproat, but even +he acknowledges that, after two years devoted to the subject, and to the +questioning of others who had passed half a lifetime amongst the "Ahts," +he could discover very little about their faith which could be pronounced +indisputably accurate. Even the Indians themselves are by no means at +one on the subject, people without a written creed or sacred books being +apt to entertain very contradictory ideas on their theological tenets. I +endeavoured to fathom some of their beliefs, and I had ample opportunities; +but I confess to the difficulty of getting behind these reserved folk, and I +did not meet with sufficient success to make the results worth recording.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> What Jewitt calls a "conjurer" is more commonly known in these +times as a "medicine man," who was, more often than not, a combination +nine parts rogue and one part fool.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> This is entirely different from the views that are entertained by +other tribes. The tribes speaking the language which prevails from +Port San Juan to Comox are so ashamed of twins, that one of the hapless +two is almost invariably killed. I do not remember having ever +seen a case. Most of the Indian birth notions are very curious.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> They are apt to rapidly change from young-looking to old-looking men, +without any of that pleasant "Indian summer" so characteristic of people +in more civilised communities. But advanced years are not common. In +1864 the oldest man in the little Opechesaht tribe, whose homes are on the +Kleecoot River (flowing out of Sproat Lake into the Alberni Inlet), was +only sixty, so far as he could make out.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Bilious complaints, constipation, dysentery, consumption, fevers and +acute inflammatory diseases, and (amongst some tribes, but not amongst +the Nootkians), ophthalmia, are common, though rheumatism and paralysis +are infrequent. The "diseases of civilisation," it may be added, have been +known for many years.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> This is still true. When sober they indulge in high words, and are +fond of teasing the women until they get out of temper; but a blow is rare. +Even the children seldom fall out, the necessity of small communities +living together for mutual protection compelling the members to establish +a <i>modus vivendi</i>. However, when drunk—and in spite of the laws +against liquor being sold to them, this is by no means uncommon—they +are prone to seek close quarters and act like angry termagants.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p>ARRIVAL OF THE BRIG "LYDIA"—STRATAGEM OF THE +AUTHOR—ITS SUCCESS</p> + + +<p>It was now past midsummer, and the hopes we had +indulged of our release became daily more faint, for +though we had heard of no less than seven vessels on +the coast, yet none appeared inclined to venture to +Nootka.</p> + +<p>The destruction of the <i>Boston</i>, the largest, strongest, +and best equipped ship, with the most valuable cargo +of any that had ever been fitted for the North-West +trade, had inspired the commanders of others with +a general dread of coming thither, lest they should +share the same fate; and though in the letters I wrote +(imploring those who should receive them to come +to the relief of two unfortunate Christians who were +suffering among heathen), I stated the cause of the +<i>Boston's</i> capture, and that there was not the least danger +in coming to Nootka, provided they would follow the +directions I laid down, still I felt very little encouragement +that any of these letters would come to hand; +when, on the morning of the 19th of July, a day that will +be ever held by me in grateful remembrance of the +mercies of God, while I was employed with Thompson +in forging daggers for the king, my ears were saluted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +with the joyful sound of three cannon, and the cries of +the inhabitants, exclaiming "<i>Weena, weena—Mamethlee!</i>"—that +is, "Strangers—White men!"</p> + +<p>Soon after, several of our people came running into +the house, to inform me that a vessel under full sail was +coming into the harbour. Though my heart bounded +with joy, I repressed my feelings, and, affecting to pay +no attention to what was said, told Thompson to be on +his guard, and not betray any joy, as our release, and +perhaps our lives, depended on our conducting ourselves +so as to induce the natives to suppose we were not very +anxious to leave them. We continued our work as if +nothing had happened, when, in a few minutes after, +Maquina came in, and, seeing us at work, appeared +much surprised, and asked me if did not know that a +vessel had come.</p> + +<p>I answered in a careless manner, that it was nothing +to me. "How, John," said he, "you no glad go board?" +I replied that I cared very little about it, as I had +become reconciled to their manner of living, and had +no wish to go away. He then told me that he had +called a council of his people respecting us, and that +we must leave off work and be present at it.</p> + +<p>The men having assembled at Maquina's house, he +asked them what was their opinion should be done with +Thompson and myself, now a vessel had arrived, and +whether he had not better go on board himself, to make +a trade, and procure such articles as were wanted. Each +one of the tribe who wished, gave his opinion. Some +were for putting us to death, and pretending to the +strangers that a different nation had cut off the <i>Boston</i>; +while others, less barbarous, were for sending us fifteen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +or twenty miles back into the country, until the departure +of the vessel.</p> + +<p>These, however, were the sentiments of the common +people, the chiefs opposing our being put to death, or +injured, and several of them, among the most forward +of whom were Yealthlower and the young chief Toowinnakinnish, +were for immediately releasing us; but +this, if he could avoid it, by no means appeared to +accord with Maquina's wishes.</p> + +<p>Having mentioned Toowinnakinnish, I shall briefly +observe that he was a young man of about twenty-three +years old, the only son of Toopeeshottee, the +oldest and most respected chief of the tribe. His son +had always been remarkably kind and friendly to me, +and I had in return frequently made for him daggers, +cheetolths, and other things, in my best manner. He +was one of the handsomest men among them, very +amiable, and much milder in his manners than any of +the others, as well as neater both in his person and +house, at least his apartment, without even excepting +Maquina.</p> + +<p>With regard, however, to Maquina's going on board +the vessel, which he discovered a strong inclination to +do, there was but one opinion, all remonstrating against +it, telling him that the captain would kill him or keep +him prisoner, in consequence of his having destroyed +our ship. When Maquina had heard their opinions, he +told them that he was not afraid of being hurt from +going on board the vessel, but that he would, however, +as it respected that, be guided by John, whom he had +always found true. He then turned to me, and asked +me if I thought there would be any danger in his going<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> +on board. I answered, that I was not surprised at the +advice his people had given him, unacquainted as they +were with the manners of the white men, and judging +them by their own; but if they had been with them as +much as I had, or even himself, they would think very +different. That he had almost always experienced good +and civil treatment from them, nor had he any reason +to fear the contrary now, as they never attempted to +harm those who did not injure them; and if he wished +to go on board, he might do it, in my opinion, with +security.</p> + +<p>After reflecting a few moments, he said, with much +apparent satisfaction, that if I would write a letter to +the captain, telling him good of him, that he had treated +Thompson and myself kindly since we had been with +him, and to use him well, he would go.</p> + +<p>It may easily be supposed that I felt much joy at +this determination, but, knowing that the least incaution +might annihilate all my hopes of escape, was careful +not to manifest it, and to treat his going or staying as +a matter perfectly indifferent to me. I told him +that, if he wished me to write such a letter, I had no +objection, as it was the truth, otherwise I could not +have done it.</p> + +<p>I then proceeded to write the recommendatory letter, +which the reader will naturally imagine was of a somewhat +different tenor from the one he had required; +for if deception is in any case warrantable, it was +certainly so in a situation like ours, where the only +chance of regaining that freedom of which we had +been so unjustly deprived, depended upon it; and I +trust that few, even of the most rigid, will condemn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> +me with severity for making use of it, on an occasion +which afforded me the only hope of ever more +beholding a Christian country, and preserving myself, +if not from death, at least from a life of continued +suffering.</p> + +<p>The letter which I wrote was nearly in the following +terms:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p> +<span class="smcap">TO CAPTAIN</span>——<br /> +<span class="smcap">OF THE BRIG</span>——<br /> +</p> + +<div class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Nootka</span>, <i>July</i> 19, 1805. +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—The bearer of this letter is the Indian king by +the name of Maquina. He was the instigator of the +capture of the ship <i>Boston</i>, of Boston, in North America, +John Salter, captain, and of the murder of twenty-five +men of her crew, the two only survivors being now on +shore—Wherefore I hope you will take care to confine +him according to his merits, putting in your dead-lights, +and keeping so good a watch over him, that he cannot +escape from you. By so doing, we shall be able to +obtain our release in the course of a few hours.</p> + +<div class="right"> +<span class="smcap">John R. Jewitt</span>, <i>Armourer of the "Boston"</i><br /> +<i>for himself, and</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">John Thompson</span>, <i>Sail-maker of the said ship</i>.<br /> +</div> +</div> + +<p>I have been asked how I dared to write in this +manner: my answer is, that from my long residence +among these people, I knew that I had little to apprehend +from their anger on hearing of their king being +confined, while they knew his life depended upon my +release, and that they would sooner have given up five +hundred white men, than have had him injured. This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +will serve to explain the little apprehension I felt at +their menaces afterwards, for otherwise, sweet as liberty +was to me, I should hardly have ventured on so hazardous +an experiment.</p> + +<p>On my giving the letter to Maquina, he asked me to +explain it to him. This I did line by line, as he pointed +them out with his finger, but in a sense very different +from the real, giving him to understand that I had +written to the captain that, as he had been kind to me +since I had been taken by him, that it was my wish +that the captain should treat him accordingly, and give +him what molasses, biscuit, and rum he wanted.</p> + +<p>When I had finished, placing his finger in a significant +manner on my name at the bottom, and eyeing me +with a look that seemed to read my inmost thoughts, +he said to me, "John, you no lie?" Never did I +undergo such a scrutiny, or ever experience greater +apprehensions than I felt at that moment, when my +destiny was suspended on the slightest thread, and the +least mark of embarrassment on mine, or suspicion of +treachery on his part, would probably have rendered +my life the sacrifice.</p> + +<p>Fortunately I was able to preserve my composure, +and my being painted in the Indian manner, which +Maquina had since my marriage required of me, prevented +any change in my countenance from being +noticed, and I replied with considerable promptitude, +looking at him in my turn, with all the confidence I +could muster,—</p> + +<p>"Why do you ask me such a question, Tyee? Have +you ever known me to lie?"</p> + +<p>"No."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then how can you suppose I should tell you a +lie now, since I have never done it?" As I was +speaking, he still continued looking at me with the +same piercing eye, but, observing nothing to excite his +suspicion, he told me that he believed what I said was +true, and that he would go on board, and gave orders +to get ready his canoe. His chiefs again attempted to +dissuade him, using every argument for that purpose, +while his wives crowded around him, begging him on +their knees not to trust himself with the white men. +Fortunately for my companion and myself, so strong +was his wish of going on board the vessel, that he was +deaf to their solicitations, and, making no other reply to +them than "John no lie," left the house, taking four prime +skins with him as a present to the captain.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the canoe put off, when he ordered his +men to stop, and, calling to me, asked me if I did not +want to go on board with him. Suspecting this as a +question merely intended to ensnare me, I replied that +I had no wish to do it, not having any desire to leave +them.</p> + +<p>On going on board the brig, Maquina immediately +gave his present of skins and my letter to the captain, +who, on reading it, asked him into the cabin, where he +gave him some biscuit and a glass of rum, at the same +time privately directing his mate to go forward, and +return with five or six of the men armed. When they +appeared, the captain told Maquina that he was his +prisoner, and should continue so, until the two men, +whom he knew to be on shore, were released, at the same +time ordering him to be put in irons, and the windows +secured, which was instantly done, and a couple of men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> +placed as a guard over him. Maquina was greatly surprised +and terrified at this reception; he, however, made +no attempt to resist, but requested the captain to permit +one of his men to come and see him. One of them was +accordingly called, and Maquina said something to him +which the captain did not understand, but supposed to +be an order to release us, when, the man returning to +the canoe, it was paddled off with the utmost expedition +to the shore.</p> + +<p>As the canoe approached, the inhabitants, who had +all collected upon the beach, manifested some uneasiness +at not seeing their king on board, but when, on +its arrival, they were told that the captain had made +him a prisoner, and that John had spoke bad about him +in the letter, they all, both men and women, set up a +loud howl, and ran backwards and forwards upon the +shore like so many lunatics, scratching their faces, and +tearing the hair in handfuls from their heads.</p> + +<p>After they had beat about in this manner for some +time, the men ran to their huts for their weapons, as if +preparing to attack an invading enemy; while Maquina's +wives and the rest of the women came around me, and, +throwing themselves on their knees, begged me with +tears to spare his life; and Sat-sat-sok-sis, who kept +constantly with me, taking me by the hand, wept bitterly, +and joined his entreaties to theirs, that I would not let +the white men kill his father. I told them not to afflict +themselves, that Maquina's life was in no danger, nor +would the least harm be done to him.</p> + +<p>The men were, however, extremely exasperated with +me, more particularly the common people, who came +running in the most furious manner towards me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> +brandishing their weapons, and threatening to cut me in +pieces no bigger than their thumb-nails, while others +declared they would burn me alive over a slow fire suspended +by my heels. All this fury, however, caused +me but little alarm, as I felt convinced they would not +dare to execute their threats while the king was on +board the brig.</p> + +<p>The chiefs took no part in this violent conduct, but +came to me, and inquired the reason why Maquina had +been thus treated, and if the captain intended to kill him. +I told them that if they would silence the people, so +that I could be heard, I would explain all to them. +They immediately put a stop to the noise, when I informed +them that the captain, in confining Maquina, had +done it only in order to make them release Thompson +and myself, as he well knew we were with them; and if +they would do that, their king would receive no injury, +but be well treated, otherwise he would be kept a +prisoner.</p> + +<p>As many of them did not appear to be satisfied with +this, and began to repeat their murderous threats—"Kill +me," said I to them, "if it is your wish," throwing +open the bearskin which I wore. "Here is my breast. I +am only one among so many, and can make no resistance; +but unless you wish to see your king hanging by his +neck to that pole," pointing to the yard-arm of the brig, +"and the sailors firing at him with bullets, you will not +do it."</p> + +<p>"Oh no," was the general cry, "that must never +be; but what must we do?" I told them that their +best plan would be to send Thompson on board, to +desire the captain to use Maquina well till I was released,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> +which would be soon. This they were perfectly willing +to do, and I directed Thompson to go on board. But +he objected, saying that he would not leave me alone with +the savages. I told him not to be under any fear for +me, for that if I could get him off, I could manage well +enough for myself; and that I wished him, immediately +on getting on board the brig, to see the captain, and +request him to keep Maquina close till I was released, as +I was in no danger while he had him safe.</p> + +<p>When I saw Thompson off, I asked the natives what +they intended to do with me. They said I must talk to +the captain again, in another letter, and tell him to let +his boat come on shore with Maquina, and that I should +be ready to jump into the boat at the same time Maquina +should jump on shore. I told them that the captain, +who knew that they had killed my shipmates, would +never trust his men so near the shore, for fear they could +kill them too, as they were so much more numerous, +but that if they would select any three of their number +to go with me in a canoe, when we came within hail, I +would desire the captain to send his boat with Maquina, +to receive me in exchange for him.</p> + +<p>This appeared to please them, and after some whispering +among the chiefs, who, from what words I over-heard, +concluded that if the captain should refuse to +send his boat with Maquina, the three men would have +no difficulty in bringing me back with them, they agreed +to my proposal, and selected three of their stoutest men +to convey me. Fortunately, having been for some time +accustomed to see me armed, and suspecting no design +on my part, they paid no attention to the pistols that I +had about me.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p> + +<p>As I was going into the canoe, little Sat-sat-sok-sis, +who could not bear to part with me, asked me, with an +affecting simplicity, since I was going away to leave him, +if the white men would not let his father come on shore, +and not kill him. I told him not to be concerned, for +that no one should injure his father, when, taking an +affectionate leave of me, and again begging me not to +let the white men hurt his father, he ran to comfort his +mother, who was at a little distance, with the assurances +I had given him.</p> + +<p>On entering the canoe, I seated myself in the prow +facing the three men, having determined, if it was +practicable, from the moment I found Maquina was +secured, to get on board the vessel before he was +released, hoping by that means to be enabled to obtain +the restoration of what property belonging to the <i>Boston</i> +still remained in the possession of the savages, which I +thought, if it could be done, a duty that I owed to the +owners. With feelings of joy impossible to be described +did I quit the savage shore, confident now that nothing +could thwart my escape, or prevent the execution of the +plan that I had formed, as the men appointed to convey +and guard me were armed with nothing but their +paddles.</p> + +<p>As we came within hail of the brig, they at once +ceased paddling, when, presenting my pistols at them, I +ordered them instantly to go on, or I would shoot the +whole of them. A proceeding so wholly unexpected +threw them into great consternation, and, resuming their +paddles, in a few moments, to my inexpressible delight, +I once more found myself alongside of a Christian ship, +a happiness which I had almost despaired of ever again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +enjoying. All the crew crowded to the side to see me as +the canoe came up, and manifested much joy at my safety. +I immediately leaped on board, where I was welcomed +by the captain, Samuel Hill, of the brig <i>Lydia</i> of Boston, +who congratulated me on my escape, informing me that +he had received my letter off Kloiz-zart<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> from the chief +Machee Ulatilla, who came off himself in his canoe +to deliver it to him, on which he immediately proceeded +hither to aid me. I returned him my thanks +in the best manner I could for his humanity, though I +hardly knew what I said, such was the agitated state of +my feelings at that moment, with joy for my escape, +thankfulness to the Supreme Being who had so mercifully +preserved me, and gratitude to those whom He had +rendered instrumental in my delivery, that I have no +doubt that, what with my strange dress, being painted +with red and black from head to foot, having a bearskin +wrapped around me, and my long hair, which +I was not allowed to cut, fastened on the top +of my head in a large bunch, with a sprig of green +spruce, I must have appeared more like one deranged +than a rational creature, as Captain Hill afterwards +told me that he never saw anything in the form of man +look so wild as I did when I first came on board.</p> + +<p>The captain then asked me into the cabin, where I +found Maquina in irons, with a guard over him. He +looked very melancholy, but on seeing me his countenance +brightened up, and he expressed his pleasure with +the welcome of "<i>Wocash</i>, John," when, taking him by +the hand, I asked the captain's permission to take off +his irons, assuring him that, as I was with him, there was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>no danger of his being in the least troublesome. He +accordingly consented, and I felt a sincere pleasure in +freeing from fetters a man who, though he had caused +the death of my poor comrades, had nevertheless always +proved my friend and protector, and whom I had +requested to be thus treated, only with a view of +securing my liberty. Maquina smiled, and appeared +much pleased at this mark of attention from me. When +I had freed the king from his irons, Captain Hill wished +to learn the particulars of our capture, observing that +an account of the destruction of the ship and her crew +had been received at Boston before he sailed, but that +nothing more was known, except that two of the men +were living, for whose rescue the owners had offered a +liberal reward, and that he had been able to get nothing +out of the old man, whom the sailors had supplied so +plentifully with grog as to bring him too much by the +head to give any information.</p> + +<p>I gave him a correct statement of the whole proceeding, +together with the manner in which my life and that +of my comrade had been preserved. On hearing my +story, he was greatly irritated against Maquina, and +said he ought to be killed. I observed that, however ill +he might have acted in taking our ship, yet that it might +perhaps be wrong to judge an uninformed savage with +the same severity as a civilised person, who had the +light of religion and the laws of society to guide him. +That Maquina's conduct in taking our ship arose from +an insult that he thought he had received from Captain +Salter, and from the unjustifiable conduct of some +masters of vessels who had robbed him, and, without +provocation, killed a number of his people. Besides,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> +that a regard for the safety of others ought to prevent +his being put to death, as I had lived long enough with +these people to know that revenge of an injury is held +sacred by them, and that they would not fail to retaliate, +should we kill their king, on the first vessel or boat's +crew that should give them an opportunity; and that, +though he might consider executing him as but an act +of justice, it would probably cost the lives of many +Americans.</p> + +<p>The captain appeared to be convinced from what I +said of the impolicy of taking Maquina's life, and said +that he would leave it wholly with me whether to spare +or kill him, as he was resolved to incur no censure in +either case. I replied that I most certainly should never +take the life of a man who had preserved mine, had I +no other reason, but as there was some of the <i>Boston's</i> +property still remaining on shore, I considered it a duty +that I owed to those who were interested in that ship, +to try to save it for them, and with that view I thought +it would be well to keep him on board till it was given +up. He concurred in this proposal, saying, if there was +any of the property left, it most certainly ought to be +got.</p> + +<p>During this conversation Maquina was in great +anxiety, as, from what English he knew, he perfectly +comprehended the subject of our deliberation; constantly +interrupting me to inquire what we had determined +to do with him, what the captain said, if his life +would be spared, and if I did not think that Thompson +would kill him. I pacified him as well as I was able, +by telling him that he had nothing to fear from the +captain, that he would not be hurt, and that if Thompson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +wished to kill him, he would not be allowed to do it. +He would then remind me that I was indebted to him +for my life, and that I ought to do by him as he had +done by me. I assured him that such was my intention, +and I requested him to remain quiet, and not alarm +himself, as no harm was intended him. But I found it +extremely difficult to convince him of this, as it accorded +so little with the ideas of revenge entertained by them. +I told him, however, that he must restore all the property +still in his possession belonging to the ship. This he +was perfectly ready to do, happy to escape on such +terms.</p> + +<p>But as it was now past five, and too late for the +articles to be collected and brought off, I told him that +he must content himself to remain on board with me +that night, and in the morning he should be set on shore +as soon as the things were delivered. To this he agreed, +on condition that I would remain with him in the cabin. +I then went upon deck, and the canoe that brought me +having been sent back, I hailed the inhabitants and told +them that their king had agreed to stay on board till +the next day, when he would return, but that no canoes +must attempt to come near the vessel during the night, +as they would be fired upon. They answered, "<i>Woho, +woho</i>"—"Very well, very well."</p> + +<p>I then returned to Maquina, but so great were his +terrors, that he would not allow me to sleep, constantly +disturbing me with his questions, and repeating, "John, +you know, when you was alone, and more than five +hundred men were your enemies, I was your friend, and +prevented them from putting you and Thompson to +death, and now I am in the power of your friends, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> +ought to do the same by me." I assured him that he +would be detained on board no longer than whilst the +property was released, and that as soon as it was done, +he would be set at liberty.</p> + +<p>At daybreak I hailed the natives, and told them +that it was Maquina's order that they should bring +off the cannon and anchors, and whatever remained +with them of the cargo of the ship. This they set +about doing with the utmost expedition, transporting +the cannon and anchors by lashing together +two of their largest canoes, and covering them with +planks, and in the course of two hours they delivered +everything on board that I could recollect, with +Thompson's and my chest, containing the papers of +the ship, etc.</p> + +<p>When everything belonging to the ship had been +restored, Maquina was permitted to return in his +canoe, which had been sent for him, with a present +of what skins he had collected, which were about +sixty, for the captain, in acknowledgment of his +having spared his life, and allowed him to depart +unhurt.</p> + +<p>Such was also the transport he felt when Captain Hill +came into the cabin, and told him that he was at liberty +to go, that he threw off his mantle, which consisted of +four of the very best skins, and gave it to him as a mark +of his gratitude; in return for which the captain presented +him with a new greatcoat and hat, with which +he appeared much delighted. The captain then desired +me to inform him that he should return to that part of +the coast in November, and that he wished him to keep +what skins he should get, which he would buy of him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +This Maquina promised, saying to me at the same time, +"John, you know I shall be then at Tashees, but when +you come, make <i>pow</i>," which means, fire a gun, "to let +me know, and I will come down." When he came to +the side of the brig, he shook me cordially by the hand, +and told me that he hoped I would come to see him +again in a big ship, and bring much plenty of blankets, +biscuit, molasses, and rum, for him and his son, who +loved me a great deal; and that he would keep all the +furs he got for me, observing at the same time, that he +should never more take a letter of recommendation from +any one, or ever trust himself on board a vessel unless I +was there. Then, grasping both my hands with much +emotion, while the tears trickled down his cheeks, he +bade me farewell, and stept into the canoe, which +immediately paddled him on shore.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding my joy at my deliverance, and the +pleasing anticipation I felt of once more beholding a +civilised country, and again being permitted to offer up +my devotions in a Christian church, I could not avoid +experiencing a painful sensation on parting with the +savage chief, who had preserved my life, and in general +treated me with kindness, and, considering their ideas +and manners, much better than could have been +expected.</p> + +<p>My pleasure was also greatly damped by an unfortunate +accident that occurred to Toowinnakinnish. That +interesting young chief had come on board in the first +canoe in the morning, anxious to see and comfort his +king. He was received with much kindness by Captain +Hill, from the favourable account I gave of him, and +invited to remain on board. As the muskets were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +delivered, he was in the cabin with Maquina, where was +also the captain, who, on receiving them, snapped a +number in order to try the locks; unluckily one of them +happened to be loaded with swan shot, and, going off, +discharged its contents into the body of poor Toowinnakinnish, +who was sitting opposite. On hearing the +report, I instantly ran into the cabin, where I found +him weltering in his blood, with the captain, who was +greatly shocked at the accident, endeavouring to assist +him.</p> + +<p>We raised him up, and did everything in our power to +aid and comfort him, telling him that we felt much +grieved at his misfortune, and that it was wholly +unintentional; this he told me he was perfectly satisfied +of, and while we dressed and bound up his wounds, in +the best manner we could, he bore the pain with great +calmness, and, bidding me farewell, was put on board +one of the canoes and taken on shore, where, after +languishing a few days, he expired. To me his misfortune +was a source of much affliction, as he had no share in +the massacre of our crew, was of a most amiable character, +and had always treated me with the greatest kindness +and hospitality.</p> + +<p>The brig being under weigh, immediately on +Maquina's quitting us, we proceeded to the northward, +constantly keeping the shore in sight, and touching at +various places for the purpose of trading.</p> + +<p>Having already exceeded the bounds I had prescribed +myself, I shall not attempt any account of our voyage +upon the coast, or a description of the various nations +we met with in the course of it, among whom were a +people of a very singular appearance, called by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +sailors the <i>Wooden-lips</i>.<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> They have many skins, and +the trade is principally managed by their women, who +are not only expert in making a bargain, but as dexterous +in the management of their canoes as the men are elsewhere.</p> + +<p>After a period of nearly four months from our leaving +Nootka, we returned from the northward to Columbia +River, for the purpose of procuring masts, etc., for our +brig, which had suffered considerably in her spars during +a gale of wind. We proceeded about ten miles up the +river to a small Indian village, where we heard from +the inhabitants that Captains Clark and Lewis, from +the United States of America, had been there about a +fortnight before, on their journey overland, and had left +several medals with them, which they showed us.<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> The +river at this place is of considerable breadth, and both +sides of it from its entrance covered with forests of the +very finest pine timber, fir, and spruce, interspersed with +Indian settlements.</p> + +<p>From this place, after providing ourselves with spars, we +sailed for Nootka, where we arrived in the latter part of +November.<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> The tribe being absent, the agreed signal +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>was given, by firing a cannon, and in a few hours after a +canoe appeared, which landed at the village, and, putting +the king on shore, came off to the brig. Inquiry was +immediately made by Kinneclimmets, who was one of +the three men in the canoe, if John was there, as the +king had some skins to sell them if he was. I then +went forward and invited them on board, with which +they readily complied, telling me that Maquina had a +number of skins with him, but that he would not come +on board unless I would go on shore for him. This I +agreed to, provided they would remain in the brig in the +meantime. To this they consented, and the captain, +taking them into the cabin, treated them with bread and +molasses. I then went on shore in the canoe, notwithstanding +the remonstrances of Thompson and the captain, +who, though he wanted the skins, advised me by no +means to put myself in Maquina's power; but I assured +him that I had no fear as long as those men were on +board.</p> + +<p>As I landed, Maquina came up and welcomed me with +much joy: on inquiring for the men, I told him that +they were to remain till my return. "Ah, John," said +he, "I see you are afraid to trust me, but if they had +come with you, I should not have hurt you, though I +should have taken good care not to let you go on board +of another vessel." He then took his chest of skins, and, +stepping into the canoe, I paddled him alongside the +brig, where he was received and treated by Captain Hill<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> +with the greatest cordiality, who bought of him his skins. +He left us much pleased with his reception, inquiring of +me how many moons it would be before I should come +back again to see him and his son; saying that he would +keep all his furs for me, and that as soon as my son, who +was then about five months old, was of a suitable age to +take from his mother, he would send for him, and take +care of him as his own.<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></p> + +<p>As soon as Maquina had quitted us, we got under +weigh, and stood again to the northward. We continued +on the coast until the 11th of August, 1806,<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> when, +having completed our trade, we sailed for China, to the +great joy of all our crew, and particularly so to me. +With a degree of satisfaction that I can ill express, +did I quit a coast to which I was resolved nothing +should again tempt me to return, and as the tops +of the mountains sank in the blue waves of the +ocean, I seemed to feel my heart lightened of an +oppressive load.</p> + +<p>We had a prosperous passage to China, arriving at +Macao in December, from whence the brig proceeded +to Canton. There I had the good fortune to meet a +townsman and an old acquaintance in the mate of an +English East Indiaman, named John Hill, whose father, +a wealthy merchant in Hull in the Baltic trade, was a +next-door neighbour to mine. Shortly after our arrival, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>the captain being on board of an English ship, and mentioning +his having had the good fortune to liberate two +men of the <i>Boston's</i> crew from the savages, and that one +of them was named Jewitt, my former acquaintance +immediately came on board the brig to see me.</p> + +<p>Words can ill express my feelings on seeing him. +Circumstanced as I was, among persons who were entire +strangers to me, to meet thus in a foreign land with one +between whom and myself a considerable intimacy had +subsisted, was a pleasure that those alone who have +been in a similar situation can properly estimate. He +appeared on his part no less happy to see me, whom he +supposed to be dead, as the account of our capture had +been received in England some time before his sailing, +and all my friends supposed me to have been murdered. +From this young man I received every attention and aid +that a feeling heart interested in the fate of another could +confer. He supplied me with a new suit of clothes and a +hat, a small sum of money for my necessary expenses, +and a number of little articles for sea stores on my +voyage to America. I also gave him a letter for my +father, in which I mentioned my wonderful preservation +and escape through the humanity of Captain Hill, with +whom I should return to Boston. This letter he enclosed +to his father by a ship that was just sailing, in +consequence of which it was received much earlier than +it otherwise would have been.</p> + +<p>We left China in February 1807, and, after a pleasant +voyage of one hundred and fourteen days, arrived at +Boston. My feelings on once more finding myself in a +Christian country, among a people speaking the same +language with myself, may be more readily conceived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +than expressed. In the post office in that place I found +a letter for me from my mother, acknowledging the +receipt of mine from China, expressing the great joy of +my family on hearing of my being alive and well, whom +they had for a long time given up for dead, and requesting +me to write to them on receiving her letter, which I +accordingly did. While in Boston I was treated with +much kindness and hospitality by the owners of the +ship <i>Boston</i>, Messrs. Francis and Thomas Amory of that +place, to whom I feel myself under great obligations for +their goodness to me, and the assistance which they so +readily afforded a stranger in distress.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> This seems another variant of Klaosaht.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> These are doubtless the Hydahs and their kindred, the women of whom +insert a wooden or ivory trough in their lower lip.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> Lewis and Clark reached the mouth of Columbia River on the 15th +of November 1805, and wintered at "Fort Clatsop," as they called their +dwelling among the then numerous Clatsop Indians, until the 23rd of March +1806, when they began the return journey. The Indians have long ago +vanished from the lower Columbia, the remnant of the Clatsops, and the +Chinooks on the opposite side, now wearing out the tribal existence in +inland Reservations. But it is still possible to come across one of the +medals which the explorers distributed amongst them.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> It is clear, therefore, from this statement that Lewis and Clark had +left Fort Clatsop much more than a fortnight before the vessel in which Jewitt +was arrived there; for it is impossible to suppose that the latter took from +April to November to get at spars and make the return voyage to Nootka. +But the journal of Lewis and Clark was not published until 1814, so that, +when Jewitt wrote, he had no ready means of checking the Indians' statement, +though neither he nor his editor seems to have troubled books +much.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> The cavalier manner in which Jewitt abandons his family is quite in +the fur-trader's fashion. It does not seem that he even asked to see his +Indian "princess!"</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> If Jewitt's information about the departure of Lewis and Clark from the +Columbia River is even approximately accurate, the date must be wrong by +a year, and the subsequent one quite as far out of the due reckoning. 1806 +may be a misprint for 1807.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p> +<h2>APPENDIX</h2> + + +<p>I. <span class="smcap">The "Boston's" Crew</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Names of the Crew of the Ship <i>Boston</i>, belonging to +Boston in Massachusetts, owned by Messrs. F. and +T. Amory, Merchants of that place—All of whom, +excepting two, were on the 22nd of March, 1803, +barbarously murdered by the savages of Nootka.</p> +</div> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">John Salter,</td><td align="left">of Boston,</td><td align="left">Captain.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">B. Delouisa,</td><td align="left">Ditto,</td><td align="left">Chief Mate.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">William Ingraham,</td><td align="left">of New York,</td><td align="left">Second Mate.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Edward Thompson,</td><td align="left">of Blyth (England),</td><td align="left">Boatswain.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Adam Siddle,</td><td align="left">of Hull, ditto,</td><td align="left">Carpenter.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Philip Brown,</td><td align="left">of Cambridge (Mass.),</td><td align="left">Joiner.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John Dorthy,</td><td align="left">of Situate, ditto,</td><td align="left">Blacksmith.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Abraham Waters,</td><td align="left">of Philadelphia,</td><td align="left">Steward.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Francis Duffield,</td><td align="left">of Penton (England),</td><td align="left">Tailor.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-right: 3em;">John Wilson (blackman),</span></td><td align="left">of Virginia,</td><td align="left">Cook.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">William Caldwell,</td><td align="left">of Boston,</td><td align="left">Seaman.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Joseph Miner,</td><td align="left">of Newport,</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">William Robinson,</td><td align="left">of Leigh<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> (Scotland),</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Thomas Wilson,</td><td align="left">of Air,<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> ditto,</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Andrew Kelly,</td><td align="left">Ditto, ditto,</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Robert Burton,</td><td align="left">of the Isle of Man,</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">James M'Clay,</td><td align="left">of Dublin,</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Thomas Platten,</td><td align="left"><span style="margin-right: 3em;">of Blackney, Norfolk, Eng.</span></td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Thomas Newton,</td><td align="left">of Hull, "</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Charles Bates,</td><td align="left">of St. James Deeping, "</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John Hall,</td><td align="left">of Newcastle, "</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Samuel Wood,</td><td align="left">of Glasgow (Scotland),</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter Alstrom,</td><td align="left">Norwegian,</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Francis Marten,</td><td align="left">Portuguese,</td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Jupiter Senegal (blackman)</td><td></td><td align="left">Ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John Thompson,</td><td align="left">Philadelphia,</td><td align="left">Sail Maker,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left">who escaped—since dead.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John R. Jewitt,</td><td align="left">of Hull (England),</td><td align="left">Armourer,</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>the writer of the Journal from whence this Narrative is taken, and who at +present, March 1815, resides in Middletown, in the State of Connecticut.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> Leith.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Ayr.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p> +<h2>II. <span class="smcap">War-Song of The Nootka Tribe</span></h2> + +<div class="center"><i>Commencing with a Chorus repeated at the end of each line.</i></div> + +<div class="poem"> +Hah-yee hah yar har, he yar hah.<br /> +Hah-yah hee yar har—he yar hah.<br /> +Iye ie ee yah har—ee yie hah.<br /> +Ie yar ee yar hah—ee yar yah.<br /> +Ie yar ee I yar yar hah—Ie yar ee yee yah!<br /> +<br /> +Ie-yee ma hi-chill at-sish Kla-ha—Hah-ye-hah.<br /> +Que nok ar parts arsh waw—Ie yie-yar.<br /> +Waw-hoo naks sar hasch—Yar-hah. I-yar hee I-yar.<br /> +Waw hoo naks ar hasch yak-queets sish ni-ese,<br /> +Waw har. Hie yee ah-hah.<br /> +</div> + +<p>Repeated over and over, with gestures and brandishing of weapons.</p> + +<div class="center"><br /><br /><i>Note.</i></div> + +<p><i>Ie-yee ma hi-chill</i> signifies, "Ye do not know." It appears to be a poetical +mode of expression, the common one for "You do not know" being +<i>Wik-kum-atash</i>; from this, it would seem that they have two languages, +one for their songs and another for common use. The general meaning of +this first stanza appears to be, "Ye little know, ye men of Klahar, what +valiant warriors we are. Poorly can our foes contend with us, when we +come on with our daggers," etc.</p> + +<p>The Nootkians have no songs of an historical nature, nor do they appear +to have any tradition respecting their origin.<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> That is not quite true. They have several of a vague order: one, for example, is that +all the Indians are sprung from Quawteaht and the Thunder Birds. Another is that all +the tribes on the West Coast come from the west; the different tribes having sprung +from the canoes full of migrants stranded by a storm here and there, and so forth.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p> +<h2>III. <span class="smcap">A List of Words</span></h2> + +<div class="center"><i>In the Nootkian Language, the most in use.</i><a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></div> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Check-up,</td><td align="left">Man.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kloots-mah,</td><td align="left">Woman.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Noowexa,</td><td align="left">Father.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hooma-hexa,</td><td align="left">Mother.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tanassis,</td><td align="left">Child.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Katlahtik,</td><td align="left">Brother.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kloot-chem-up,</td><td align="left">Sister.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tanassis-check-up,</td><td align="left">Son.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tanassis-kloots-mah,</td><td align="left">Daughter.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tau-hat-se-tee,</td><td align="left">Head.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kassee,</td><td align="left">Eye.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hap-se-up,</td><td align="left">Hair.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Neetsa,</td><td align="left">Nose.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Parpee,</td><td align="left">Ears.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chee-chee,</td><td align="left">Teeth.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Choop,</td><td align="left">Tongue.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kook-a-nik-sa,</td><td align="left">Hands.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Klish-klin,</td><td align="left">Feet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Oop-helth,</td><td align="left">Sun or Moon.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tar-toose,</td><td align="left">Stars.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sie-yah,</td><td align="left">Sky.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Toop-elth,</td><td align="left">Sea.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Cha-hak,</td><td align="left">Fresh water.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Meet-la,</td><td align="left">Rain.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Queece,</td><td align="left">Snow.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Noot-chee,</td><td align="left">Mountain or hill.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kla-tur-miss,</td><td align="left">Earth.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Een-nuk-see,</td><td align="left">Fire or fuel.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mook-see,</td><td align="left">Rock.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Muk-ka-tee,</td><td align="left">House.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Wik,</td><td align="left">No.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">He-ho,</td><td align="left">Yes.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kak-koelth,</td><td align="left">Slave.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mah-hack,</td><td align="left">Whale.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Klack-e-miss,</td><td align="left">Oil.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Quart-lak,</td><td align="left">Sea-otter.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Coo-coo-ho-sa,</td><td align="left">Seal.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Moo-watch,</td><td align="left">Bear.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">So-har,</td><td align="left">Salmon.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Toosch-qua,</td><td align="left">Cod.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pow-ee,</td><td align="left">Halibut.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kloos-a-mit,</td><td align="left">Herring.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chap-atz,</td><td align="left">Canoe.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Oo-wha-pa,</td><td align="left">Paddle.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chee-me-na,</td><td align="left">Fish-hook.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chee-men,</td><td align="left">Fish-hooks.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sick-a-minny,</td><td align="left">Iron.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Toophelth,</td><td align="left">Cloth.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Cham-mass,</td><td align="left">Fruit.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Cham-mas-sish,</td><td align="left">Sweet or pleasant to the taste.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Moot-sus,</td><td align="left">Powder.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chee-pokes,</td><td align="left">Copper.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hah-welks,</td><td align="left">Hungry.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nee-sim-mer-hise,</td><td align="left">Enough.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chat-ta-yek,</td><td align="left">Knife or dagger.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Klick-er-yek,</td><td align="left">Rings.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Quish-ar,</td><td align="left">Smoke.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mar-met-ta,</td><td align="left">Goose or duck.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pook-shit-tle,</td><td align="left">To blow.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Een-a-qui-shit-tle,</td><td align="left">To kindle a fire.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ar-teese,</td><td align="left">To bathe.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ma-mook-su-mah,</td><td align="left">To go to fish.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Smootish-check-up,</td><td align="left">Warrior.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-right: 3em">Cha-alt-see klat-tur wah,</span></td><td align="left">Go off, or go away.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ma-kook,</td><td align="left">To sell.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kah-ah-pah-chilt,</td><td align="left">Give me something.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Oo-nah,</td><td align="left">How many.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Iy ah-ish,</td><td align="left">Much.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ko-mme-tak,</td><td align="left">I understand.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">I-yee ma hak,</td><td align="left">I do not understand.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Em-ma-chap,</td><td align="left">To play.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kle-whar,</td><td align="left">To laugh.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mac-kam-mah-sish,</td><td align="left">Do you want to buy.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kah-ah-coh,</td><td align="left">Bring it.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sah-wauk,</td><td align="left">One.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Att-la,</td><td align="left">Two.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kat-sa,</td><td align="left">Three.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mooh,</td><td align="left">Four.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Soo-chah,</td><td align="left">Five.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Noo-poo,</td><td align="left">Six.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">At-tle-poo,</td><td align="left">Seven.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">At-lah-quelth,</td><td align="left">Eight.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Saw-wauk-quelth,</td><td align="left">Nine.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hy-o,</td><td align="left">Ten.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sak-aitz,</td><td align="left">Twenty.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Soo-jewk,</td><td align="left">One hundred.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hy-e-oak,</td><td align="left">One thousand.</td></tr> +</table> +<br /><br /> +</div> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> Most of the words in this vocabulary are given with reasonable correctness, though +the transliteration is somewhat primitive. A fuller and more accurate one may be found +in the Appendix to Sproat's <i>Scenes and Studies of Savage Life</i> (1868), pp. 295-309, so +that it is not necessary to annotate the present one. Those in Cook's <i>Voyage</i> and +in Dawson and Tolmie's <i>Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of British +Columbia</i> (1884), are short and imperfect. I have a much fuller one in manuscript.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> +<h2>INDEX</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 20em;">PAGE</span><br /> +<br /> +Aht Indians, The, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> +—— The various tribes of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> +<br /> +A-y-chart, Journey to, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br /> +—— Natives, conflict with, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Bear, Capture of the, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> +—— Management of the, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br /> +<br /> +Boston, Arrival at, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br /> +—— Reception at, by friends, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Boston</i>, The—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Burning of, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Capture of, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">List of crew of, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Murder of crew of, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Canoes, Description of, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /> +<br /> +Cayuquets, The, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> +<br /> +China, Arrival at, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br /> +<br /> +Celebration, A religious, <a href="#Page_205">205</a><br /> +<br /> +Climate, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +<br /> +Cook and Vancouver, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br /> +<br /> +Cooptee, Town of, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Death, Indian customs observed at, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Feast, An Indian, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /> +<br /> +Fruit, Various kinds of, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Geese, Mode of capture of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Herring, Mode of capture of, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /> +<br /> +Hull, Leave-taking at, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Klaizzarts, The, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> +<br /> +Kla-oo-quates, The, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> +<br /> +Kletsup Root, Description of, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Ife-waw, Method of securing, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Jewitt—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Birth of, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Domestic management, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Early life of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Illness of, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Marriage of, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Parentage of, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Proposal to release, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Proposal to murder, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Reception of, by savages, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Received by Captain Hill, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sufferings from cold, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Suspicions of, by Maquina, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Termination of captivity, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Journal, Jewitt's, Commencement of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +King, Privileges of the, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Language, Commencement to learn, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Lydia</i>, The, Arrival of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /> +——Departure of, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> +——Letter to captain of, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<i>Manchester</i>, The, <a href="#Page_154">154</a><br /> +<br /> +Maquina—, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, 188<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Capture and Imprisonment of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Council concerning, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Release of, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Visit of, to the <i>Lydia</i>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Mooachats, The, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br /> +<br /> +Moon, Eclipse of the, in 1805, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Newchemass, The, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> +<br /> +Native, Indecent burial of a, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br /> +<br /> +Natives, Intercourse with, <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br /> +<br /> +Nettinahts, The, <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span><br /> +Nootka Sound, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br /> +—— —— Return to, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +—— —— Voyage to, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br /> +<br /> +Nootkians, The—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Complexion and physique, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Diseases of, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dress of, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Filthiness of, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Food of, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">General conduct of, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Houses of, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mode of living of, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Musical instruments of, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ornaments and decorations of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Personal appearance of, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Religion of, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Slaves of, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sports of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Superstitions of, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">War-song of, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Nootkian language, List of words, <a href="#Page_249">249</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Porpoises, Sea, Capture of, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Quahootze, The celebration of, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Salmon, Method of capture of the, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> +<br /> +Salter, Captain John, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> +<br /> +Savages, Treatment of, by English Commanders, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> +<br /> +Savagedom in Western Vancouver, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> +<br /> +Sea-otter, Description of the, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br /> +<br /> +Sundays at Nootka, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Tashees, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br /> +<br /> +Thompson—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Escape by stratagem of, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Escape from death of, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Reception of, by crew of the <i>Lydia</i>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Tootoosch—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Description of, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Death of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Funeral of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Singular Derangement of, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span><br /> +Toowinnakinnish, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br /> +<br /> +Trade, Articles of, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Tribes, Arrival of neighbouring, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br /> +<br /> +Twins, Custom at birth of, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Ulatilla, <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br /> +<br /> +Upquesta, Town of, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> +—— Reception at, <a href="#Page_169">169</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +War, Preparations for, with the A-y-charts, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br /> +<br /> +Whale, Method of capture of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, 178<br /> +<br /> +Whale-oil, Method of procuring, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br /> +<br /> +Whaling, Observances preparatory to, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br /> +<br /> +Wickinninish Native, Insult of, <a href="#Page_191">191</a><br /> +<br /> +Wife, Departure of Jewitt's, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br /> +<br /> +Wooden-lips, The, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Yama fruit, Species of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> +<br /> +Yealthlower, Cruelty of, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br /> +</p> + + +<div class="center"><br /><br /><br /> +MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. +</div> + + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><div class="u">CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS.</div></div> + +<h2>The Investors' Review.</h2> + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Edited by A. J. WILSON.</span></div> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Monthly, 1s. net.</span></div> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Vol. I. (1892) and Vol. II. (1893). <i>Cloth, 21s. each.</i> Vol. III. +(January-June 1894), Vol. IV. (July-December 1894), Vol. V. +(January-June 1895), and Vol. VI. (July-December 1895). +<i>Cloth, 7s. 6d. net.</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>THE INVESTORS' REVIEW is entirely independent. It +deals with all subjects which may affect the value of +investments, social and political, as well as financial.</p> + +<p>Besides articles on economic questions and the economic side +of politics, written from original standpoints, the <span class="smcap">Investors' +Review</span> contains many notes and hints on subjects of current +interest to investors, carefully compiled historical analyses of +individual Joint-Stock Companies, short rsums of the latest +published Company Balance-Sheets, and occasional Critical Notes +on New Investments offered to the public of any plausibility +or importance. These are invariably written from the point of +view of an impartial and experienced observer.</p> + +<p>This Review is indispensable to all who desire, not mere market +tips, but the actual truth about public securities. It allows them to +see the inside of London finance with a thoroughness and outspokenness +no other publication of the kind attempts.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"> +CLEMENT WILSON,<br /> +<span class="smcap">29 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C.</span> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><div class="u">CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS.</div></div> + +<h2>The Investment Index.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +A Quarterly Supplement to the<br /> +"Investors' Review." +</div> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Price 2s net.</span></div> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Contains a List of Securities, arranged in the order of the +London Stock Exchange Official List, and their yields at +current prices indicated, in a clear and effective manner, so as to +enable investors to see at a glance what stocks pay and what their +position is. Selections from Provincial Stock Exchange Lists are +also included.</p> + +<p>In addition to this List, the Investment Index contains plain +critical notes on balance-sheets, on the finances of foreign states and +municipalities, and other matters of interest to people with money +invested or to invest.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"><i>OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.</i></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"The compilation of securities is particularly valuable."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>"Its carefully classified list of securities will be found very valuable."—<i>Globe.</i></p> + +<p>"At no time has such a list of securities been more valuable than at the +present."—<i>Star.</i></p> + +<p>"It forms an admirable book of reference, and is a useful supplement to the +well-known Review."—<i>Newcastle Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>"Contains a mass of information that will be found most valuable by +investors."—<i>Liverpool Mercury.</i></p> + +<p>"Should be useful to people with money invested or to invest."—<i>Dundee +Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>"A most excellent and useful compilation which should be in the hands of +every investor."—<i>Sketch.</i></p> + +<p>"A useful publication for the searcher after investments."—<i>Sun.</i></p> + +<p>"A most valuable compilation."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"> +CLEMENT WILSON,<br /> +<span class="smcap">29 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C.</span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><div class="u">CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS.</div></div> + +<h2>THE HISTORY OF CURRENCY,<br /> +1252-1894.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Being an Account of the Gold and Silver Moneys +and Monetary Standards of Europe and America, +together with an Examination of the effects of +Currency and Exchange Phenomena on Commercial +and National Progress and Well-being.</p> + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">By WILLIAM A. SHAW, M. A.</span></div> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<div class="center"><i>Second Edition. Price 15s.</i></div> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"A valuable addition to economic literature...."—<i>The Times.</i></p> + +<p>"L'auteur a rendu un signal service la science conomique par la publication +de son volume."—<i>Journal des Dbats.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Shaw's work possesses a permanent historical interest far transcending +the present battle of the standards."—<i>The N. Y. Nation.</i></p> + +<p>"There have been few more important contributions to the currency controversy."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + + +<div class="center"><div class="u">BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</div></div> + +<div class="center">Select Tracts and Documents</div> + +<div class="center">illustrative of</div> + +<h2>English Monetary History,<br /> +1626-1730.</h2> + +<div class="center"><i>Comprising Works of</i></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Sir <span class="smcap">Robert Cotton</span>; <span class="smcap">Henry Robinson</span>; Sir <span class="smcap">Richard +Temple</span> and <span class="smcap">J. S.</span>; Sir <span class="smcap">Isaac Newton</span>; <span class="smcap">John +Conduitt</span>; together with Extracts from the Domestic +State Papers at H.M. Record Office. Price 6s.</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. Shaw has done the students of currency history a service in publishing +this volume."—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>"The volume is welcome, both for its illustrations of economic theory and as +a contribution to currency history. It need scarcely be said that Mr. Shaw +does his editing well."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"> +CLEMENT WILSON,<br /> +<span class="smcap">29 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C.</span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><div class="u">CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS.</div></div> + +<h2>A Glossary of Colloquial, Slang,<br /> +and Technical Terms</h2> + +<h3>IN USE ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE AND IN THE MONEY MARKET.</h3> + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Edited by A. J. 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Price 6s.</i> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +A Collection of Tales, all more or less sad in tone, by a<br /> +comparatively new writer of great promise. +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"The author handles her themes with an ability that should obtain a very +favourable reception for her stories."—<i>Morning Post.</i></p> + +<p>"Four excellent stories."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p>"'The Secret of Wardale Court' is a well-told mystery, exciting at some +points and engrossing all through."—<i>Birmingham Daily Post.</i></p> + +<p>"Written with remarkable power."—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i></p> + +<p>"Four clever tales, three of which at least are highly exciting."—<i>Athenum.</i></p> + +<p>"Unusually well written."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"> +CLEMENT WILSON,<br /> +<span class="smcap">29 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C.</span> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><div class="u">CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS.</div></div> + +<h2>THE LIFE OF<br /> +THOMAS WANLESS, PEASANT. +</h2> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<div class="center"><i>New Edition. 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Price 5s.</i></div> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"This book will be read, if only for the sake of its merciless +realism."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>"As an artist he has found his feet.... His method is biting +and stern, his grip on the attention is masterful.... It is impossible +to resist the impression that all the characters have been +studied from actual models."—<i>Birmingham Daily Post.</i></p> + +<p>"It is a great advance on the author's 'Life of Thomas Wanless, +Peasant,' ... one is not inclined to find much fault with a novel +which gives such clear evidence of genuine power, and is written +with such freshness and vigour."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p>"The book is somewhat gloomy, but contains strong dramatic +episodes."—<i>Baptist.</i></p> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"> +CLEMENT WILSON,<br /> +<span class="smcap">29 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C.</span> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><div class="u">CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS.</div></div> + +<h2>ROBERT BURNS.</h2> + +<h3>THE POEMS, EPISTLES, SONGS, EPIGRAMS,<br /> +AND EPITAPHS. +</h3> + +<div class="center"> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +Edited by JAS. A. MANSON. + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<i>With Notes, Index, Glossary, and Biographical +Sketch.</i> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<i>Price 5s. Two Volumes, small 8vo, cloth, gilt top.</i> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"The biographical sketch is carefully executed, and not too enthusiastic +for the occasion."—<i>Times.</i></p> + +<p>"Is deserving of notice on account not only of the excellence of its +paper and typography, but of the sane way in which the personal +character and literary qualities of the author of 'Tam O' Shanter' are +appraised in the biographical sketch which serves by way of introduction."—<i>Daily +News.</i></p> + +<p>"Its price, its completeness, and the care bestowed in the arrangement +of its contents, their annotation, and the preparation of a glossary, +should have vogue with the admirers of Burns."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. James A. Manson, the editor, has written a biographical +introduction, in which he takes a temperate and common-sense view of +the poet."—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>"The volumes are such a treat to handle and read that they are +certain to be popular."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> + +<p>"To anyone in search of a 'Burns' we thoroughly recommend this +scholarly and beautiful edition."—<i>Freeman's Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"Contains an admirable biographical sketch, which, unlike most +biographies, overlooks with kindly eye the follies of the erratic genius."—<i>Graphic.</i></p> + +<p>"There are several features in connection with the work which in our +opinion specially commend it to admirers of our national poet at this +time. While it is one of the smallest and handiest editions, it is also +one of the most complete."—<i>People's Friend.</i></p> + +<p>"A most attractive edition."—<i>Cassel's Saturday Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"The thoroughness of the notes and the fulness and clearness of the +English equivalents in the glossary unite in making this one of the +very best editions of Burns ever published."—<i>North British Daily +Mail.</i></p> + +<p>"A noble edition, which holds its place well with all rivals."—<i>Irish +Times.</i></p> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"> +CLEMENT WILSON,<br /> +<span class="smcap">29 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C.</span> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><div class="u">CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS.</div></div> + +<h2> +THE ADVENTURES OF<br /> +JOHN JEWITT, +</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span class="smcap">Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship</span><br /> +<i>BOSTON</i>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">During a Captivity of nearly Three Years among the</span><br /> +<i>INDIANS OF NOOTKA SOUND</i>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">In Vancouver Island</span>.<br /> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<i>Edited, with an Introduction and Notes</i>,<br /> +BY<br /> +<span class="smcap">Dr.</span> ROBERT BROWN, M.A., F.L.S.,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Commander of the First Vancouver Exploring Expedition, etc.</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"> +<div class="u"><i>SUNDIAL SERIES.</i></div><br /> +NO. I. +</div> + +<h2>A CHRISTIAN WITH TWO WIVES.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +BY <span class="smcap">Rev.</span> DENNIS HIRD, M.A.,<br /> +<i>Rector of Eastnor</i>;<br /> +AUTHOR OF "TODDLE ISLAND," ETC.<br /> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +Paper covers, 1s.; cloth, gilt top, 2s.<br /> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<i>Other Sundials will follow by various Authors.</i><br /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center"> +CLEMENT WILSON,<br /> +<span class="smcap">29 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C.</span> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="tnote"> +<div class="center">Transcriber's Note</div> + +<p>Click on an image to see a high-resolution version.</p> + +<p>Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.</p> + +<p>The following words appear both with and without +hyphens and have not been changed: +Ai-tiz-zarts, Cay-u-quets, Kla-iz-zarts, Noot-chee.</p> + +<p>Hyphen added: ear[-]rings (page 118), otter[-]skin (page 153), sail[-]maker (page 35), +saw[-]mills (page 61).</p> + +<p>Hyphen removed: fresh[-]water (page 221), good[-]will (pages 92, 93).</p> + +<p>List of illustrations: page number 151 changed to 149.</p> + +<p>Page 129: "as" changed to "at" (at war, whaling and fishing).</p> + +<p>Page 250: The word "Moot-sus, Powder" was restored from another book.</p> + +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 38010-h.txt or 38010-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/0/1/38010">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/0/1/38010</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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b/38010.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7438 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Adventures of John Jewitt, by John +Rodgers Jewitt, Edited by Robert Brown + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Adventures of John Jewitt + Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island + + +Author: John Rodgers Jewitt + +Editor: Robert Brown + +Release Date: November 14, 2011 [eBook #38010] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT*** + + +E-text prepared by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38010-h.htm or 38010-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38010/38010-h/38010-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38010/38010-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/adventuresofjohn00jewiuoft + + +Transcriber's note: + + The following notation has been used for letters with macrons + above them that cannot be represented in the Latin-1 encoding: + [=a], [=e], [=i]. These characters are represented correctly + in the UTF-8 and HTML versions of this e-book. + + + + + +[Illustration: Portrait of Dr. Robert Brown] + + +THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT + +Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship _Boston_ +During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among +the Indians of Nootka Sound in Vancouver Island + +Edited with an Introduction and Notes + +by + +Robert Brown, Ph.D., M.A., F.L.S. +Commander of the First Vancouver Exploring Expedition + +With Thirteen Illustrations + + + + + + + +Clement Wilson +29 Paternoster Row, London, E.C. +1896 + +[_All Rights Reserved_] + +Morrison and Gibb, Printers, Edinburgh + + + + +IN MEMORY + + +A sad interest attaches to this little book. Although published after +his death, and therefore deprived of his final revision, it was not the +last work which Dr. Robert Brown did. His manuscript was actually +completed many months ago, but at his own request it was returned to him +to receive a last careful overhaul at his hands. This revision had been +practically finished, and the MS. lay ready uppermost among the papers +in his desk, where it was found after his death. Dr. Brown died on the +morning of the 26th of October, 1895, working almost to his last hour. +Before the leader he had written for the _Standard_ on the evening of +the 25th had come under the eyes of its readers, the hand that had +penned it was cold in death. Between the evening and the morning he went +home. He was only fifty-three, but "a righteous man, though he die +before his time, shall be at rest." + +And in one sense Dr. Brown needed rest--ay, even this last and sweetest +rest of all. His life had been one of unremitting work--work well done, +which the busy, hurrying world mostly heeded not, knowing naught of the +hand that did it. Some twenty years ago, when I first knew him, he was a +fair, stalwart Northerner, full of vigour, mirthful also, and apparently +looking out on the voyage of life with the confident, joyous eye of one +who felt he had strength within him to conquer. His latter days were +saddened by incessant toil, performed in weakness of body and jadedness +of brain, and by the feeling that his best work, the work into which he +put his rich stores of knowledge, was neither recognised nor requited as +it should have been. + +To a sensitive man the daily wear and tear of a journalist's life in +London is often murderous, always exhausting--and Dr. Brown was very +sensitive. Beneath the genial exterior, which seemed to indicate a +careless, light-hearted spirit, lay great depths of feeling, and a +tenderness that shrank from expressing itself. The man was too proud and +self-restrained to betray these depths even to those nearest and dearest +to him. This was at once a nobility in him and a weakness. Had he opened +his heart more, he would have chafed and fretted less, little annoyances +would not have become mountain loads of care. But the truth is, Dr. +Brown was not cut out for the life of an everyday journalist, either by +training, habits, or disposition. The ideal post for him would have been +that of a professor at some great university, where he could have had +abundant leisure to pursue his favourite studies, where young men would +have surrounded him and listened with delight to the outpouring of the +wealth of lore with which his capacious intellect was stored. His lot +was otherwise cast, and he accepted it manfully, battling with his +destiny to his last hours, grimly and in silence of soul, intent only on +one thing, to lift his children clear above the necessity for treading +the same rough road upon which he had worn himself out. + +Other and worthier hands than mine may trace, it is to be hoped, the +story of his life, his expeditions in America and Greenland, and his +many literary labours not only in popularising scientific subjects, with +a thoroughness and attractiveness too little recognised, but in walks +apart where the multitude could not judge him. My dominant feeling about +him for many years has been one of regret that he should be wearing his +life away so fast. He never learned to play; to be completely idle for a +day even became, latterly, irksome, almost irritating, to him. His +fingers itched to hold the pen, to handle a book. Although in earlier +times he could enjoy a brief holiday, he ever mixed work with his +pleasure; could, indeed, accept no pleasure which did not imply work +somewhere close to his hand. Thus his various journeys to Morocco, +ostensibly taken, at any rate the earlier of them, to escape from all +kinds of work, and from the sight of the day's newspaper, ended in his +becoming the foremost authority in Great Britain upon the literature, +present social condition, and probable future of that perishing country. +The acquisition of this knowledge was all in his day's enjoyment. + +The testimony of the introduction and notes to this little book is +enough to prove how thoroughly and conscientiously everything that Dr. +Brown undertook was done. The question of payment rarely entered into +his calculations. Some of his very best work was done for nothing, +because he loved to do it. Witness his edition of _Leo Africanus_, +prepared for the Hakluyt Society, and his innumerable memoirs to the +various learned Societies of which he was a member. + +Few of Dr. Brown's London friends were aware that his attainments as a +scientific botanist were of the highest order. Yet in this department of +science alone he had written thirty papers and reports, besides an +advanced text-book of Botany (published by William Blackwood and Sons), +before the summer of 1872, when he was only thirty years of age. These +were entirely outside his contributions to general literature on that +and other subjects, already at that date numerous; and if we add to the +list the various reports, essays, memoranda contributed by him to the +Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, of which he was President, to the +Royal Geographical Society, of whose Council he was a member at his +death, and to numerous other bodies, as well as to scientific and +popular journals, on geographical, geological, and zoological subjects, +from first to last the total mounts to several hundreds. In these +branches of science his heart lay always, but he laboured for his daily +bread and to give to him that needed. + +The portrait forming the frontispiece to this volume is from a +photograph of Dr. Brown taken in 1870, just after his return from his +last expedition to Greenland, and represents him much as he looked when, +some years later, he first came to London, after failing to obtain the +chair of Botany in Edinburgh University. That was a disappointment which +he cannot be said ever to have entirely surmounted. The memory of it to +some extent kept him aloof from his fellow-labourers in the world of +journalism. What work he had to do he did loyally, manfully, and with +the most scrupulous care; but he lived a man apart, more or less, from +his first coming among us to the end. In his family circle, and where he +was really known, his loss has brought a great sorrow. + + A. J. W. + LONDON, _February 16, 1896_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + INTRODUCTION. BY DR. ROBERT BROWN 13 + + CHAPTER I + BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EARLY LIFE OF THE AUTHOR 43 + + CHAPTER II + VOYAGE TO NOOTKA SOUND 53 + + CHAPTER III + INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES--MAQUINA--SEIZURE + OF THE VESSEL AND MURDER OF THE CREW 58 + + CHAPTER IV + RECEPTION OF JEWITT BY THE SAVAGES--ESCAPE OF + THOMPSON--ARRIVAL OF NEIGHBOURING TRIBES--AN INDIAN FEAST 70 + + CHAPTER V + BURNING OF THE VESSEL--COMMENCEMENT OF JEWITT'S JOURNAL 83 + + CHAPTER VI + DESCRIPTION OF NOOTKA SOUND--MANNER OF BUILDING + HOUSES--FURNITURE--DRESSES 95 + + CHAPTER VII + APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES--ORNAMENTS--OTTER-HUNTING-- + FISHING--CANOES 112 + + CHAPTER VIII + MUSIC--MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--SLAVES--NEIGHBOURING + TRIBES--TRADE WITH THESE--ARMY 129 + + CHAPTER IX + SITUATION OF THE AUTHOR--REMOVAL TO TASHEES--FISHING + PARTIES 142 + + CHAPTER X + CONVERSATION WITH MAQUINA--FRUITS--RELIGIOUS + CEREMONIES--VISIT TO UPQUESTA 156 + + CHAPTER XI + RETURN TO NOOTKA (FRIENDLY COVE)--DEATH OF MAQUINA'S + NEPHEW--INSANITY OF TOOTOOSCH--AN INDIAN MOUNTEBANK 172 + + CHAPTER XII + WAR WITH THE A-Y-CHARTS--A NIGHT ATTACK--PROPOSALS TO + PURCHASE THE AUTHOR 185 + + CHAPTER XIII + MARRIAGE OF THE AUTHOR--HIS ILLNESS--DISMISSES HIS + WIFE--RELIGION OF THE NATIVES--CLIMATE 198 + + CHAPTER XIV + ARRIVAL OF THE BRIG "LYDIA"--STRATAGEM OF THE + AUTHOR--ITS SUCCESS 223 + + APPENDIX + I. THE "BOSTON'S" CREW 247 + II. WAR-SONG OF THE NOOTKA TRIBE 248 + III. A LIST OF WORDS 249 + + INDEX 253 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + PORTRAIT OF DR. ROBERT BROWN (1870) _Frontispiece_ + DR. BROWN'S "BOY" 14 + PORT SAN JUAN INDIANS 16 + OHYAHT INDIAN 24 + INDIAN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE LANDING-STAGE, ESQUIMAULT 33 + HABITATIONS IN NOOTKA SOUND (TEMP. 1803) 97 + INTERIOR OF A HABITATION IN NOOTKA SOUND 103 + NOOTKA SOUND INDIANS 111 + INDIAN CANOES, VICTORIA, V. I. (TEMP. 1863) 125 + UK-LULAC-AHT INDIAN 135 + SALMON WEAR NEAR THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF QUAMICHAN, V. I. 149 + CALLICUM AND MAQUILLA, CHIEFS OF NOOTKA SOUND + (TEMP. 1803) 159 + INDIAN CHIEF'S GRAVE (TEMP. 1863) 209 + + + + +ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Many years ago--when America was in the midst of war, when railways +across the continent were but the dream of sanguine men, and when the +Pacific was a faraway sea--the writer of these lines passed part of a +pleasant summer in cruising along the western shores of Vancouver +Island. Our ship's company was not distinguished, for it consisted of +two fur-traders and an Indian "boy," and the sloop in which the crew and +passengers sailed was so small, that, when the wind failed, and the +brown folk ashore looked less amiable and the shore more rugged than was +desirable, we put her and ourselves beyond hail by the aid of what +seamen know as a "white ash breeze." Out of one fjord we went, only to +enter another so like it that there was often a difficulty in deciding +by the mere appearance of the shore which was which. Everywhere the +dense forest of Douglas fir and Menzies spruce covered the country from +the water's edge to the summit of the rounded hills which here and there +caught the eye in the still little known, but at that date almost +entirely unexplored interior. Wherever a tree could obtain a foothold, +there a tree grew, until in places their roots were at times laved by +the spray. Beneath this thick clothing of heavy timber flourished an +almost equally dense undergrowth of shrubs, which until then were only +known to us from the specimens introduced from North-West America into +the European gardens. Gay were the thickets of thimbleberry[1] and +salmonberry[2] wherever the soil was rich, and for miles the ground was +carpeted with the salal,[3] while the huckleberry,[4] the crab-apple,[5] +and the flowering currant[6] varied the monotony of the gloomy woods. In +places the ginseng, or, as the woodmen call it, the "devil's +walking-stick,"[7] with its long prickly stem and palm-like head of +great leaves, imparted an almost tropical aspect to scenery which, seen +from the deck of our little craft, looked so like that of Southern +Norway, that I have never seen the latter without recalling the outer +limits of British Columbia. On the few flat spits where the sun reached, +the gigantic cedars[8] and broad-leaved maples[9] lighted up the scene, +while the dogwood,[10] with its large white flowers reflected in the +water of some river which, after a turbulent course, had reached the sea +through a placid mouth, or a Menzies arbutus,[11] whose glossy leaves +and brown bark presented a more southern facies to the sombre jungles, +afforded here and there a relief to the never-ending fir and pine and +spruce. + +[Illustration: DR. BROWN'S "BOY."] + +A more solitary shore, so far as white men are concerned, it would be +hard to imagine. From the day we left until the day we returned, we +sighted only one sail; and from Port San Juan, where an Indian trader +lived a lonely life in an often-beleaguered blockhouse, to Koskeemo +Sound, where another of these voluntary exiles passed his years among +the savages, there was not a christened man, with the exception of the +little settlement of lumbermen at the head of the Alberni Canal. For +months at a time no keel ever ploughed this sea, and then too frequently +it was a warship sent from Victoria to chastise the tribesmen for some +outrage committed on wayfaring men such as we. The floating fur-trader +with whom we exchanged the courtesies of the wilderness had indeed been +despitefully used. For had he not taken to himself some savage woman, +who had levanted to her tribe with those miscellaneous effects which he +termed "iktas"? And the Klayoquahts had stolen his boat, and the +Kaoquahts his beans and his vermilion and his rice, and threatened to +scuttle his schooner and stick his head on its masthead. And, moreover, +to complete this tale of public pillage and private wrong, a certain +chief, to whom he applied many ornate epithets, had declared that he +cared not a salal-berry for all of "King George's warships." So that the +conclusion of this merchant of the wilds was that, until "half the +Indians were hanged, and the other half badly licked, there would be no +peace on the coast for honest men such as he." Then, under a cloud of +playful blasphemy, our friend sailed away. + +[Illustration: PORT SAN JUAN INDIANS.] + +For if civilisation was scarce in the Western Vancouver of '63, +savagedom was all-abounding. Not many hours passed without our having +dealings with the lords of the soil. It was indeed our business--or, at +least, the business of the two men and the Indian "boy"--to meet with +and make profit out of the barbarous folk. Hence it was seldom that we +went to sleep without the din of a board village in our ears, or woke +without the ancient and most fish-like smell of one being the first +odour which greeted our nostrils. In almost every cove, creek, or inlet +there was one of these camps, and every few miles we entered the +territory of a new tribe, ruled by a rival chief, rarely on terms with +his neighbour, and as often as not at war with him. More than once we +had occasion to witness the gruesome evidence of this state of matters. +A war party returning from a raid on a distant hamlet would be met with, +all painted in hideous colours, and with the bleeding heads of their +decapitated enemies fastened to the bows of their cedar canoes, and the +cowering captives, doomed to slavery, bound among the fighting men. Or, +casting anchor in front of a village, we would be shown with pride a row +of festering skulls stuck on poles, as proof of the military prowess of +our shifty hosts. + +These were, however, unusually unpleasant incidents. More frequently we +saw little except the more lightsome traits of what was then a very +primitive savage life, and the barbarous folk treated us kindly. A +marriage feast might be in progress, or a great "potlatch," or +merrymaking, at which the giving away of property was the principal +feature (p. 82), might be in full blaze at the very moment we steered +round the wooded point. Halibut and dog-fish were being caught in vast +quantities--the one for slicing and drying for winter use; the other for +the sake of the oil extracted from the liver, then as now an important +article of barter, being in ready demand by the Puget Sound saw-mills. +Now and then a fur-seal or, better still, a sea-otter would be killed. +But this is not the land of choice furs. Even the marten and the mink +were indifferent. Beaver--which in those days, after having been almost +hunted to death, were again getting numerous, owing to the low prices +which the pelts brought having slackened the trappers' zeal--would often +be brought on board, and a few hides of the wapiti, the "elk" of the +Western hunter, and the black-tailed deer which swarm in the Vancouver +woods, generally appeared at every village. The natives are, however, +essentially fish-eaters, and though in every tribe there is generally a +hunter or two, the majority of them seldom wander far afield, the +interior being in their mythology a land of evil things, of which wise +men would do well to keep clear. Even the black bear, which in autumn +was often a common feature of the country, where it ranged the +crab-apple thickets, was not at this season an object of the chase. Like +the deer and the wolves, it was shunning the heat and the flies by +summering near the snow which we could notice still capping some of the +inland hills, rising to heights of from five thousand to seven thousand +feet, and feasting on the countless salmon which were descending every +stream, until, with the receding waters, they were left stranded in the +upland pools. So cheap were salmon, that at times they could be bought +for a cent's worth of "trade goods," and deer in winter for a few +charges of powder and shot. A whale-hunt, in which the behemoth was +attacked by harpoons with attached inflated sealskins, after a fashion +with which I had become familiar when a resident among the Eskimo of +Baffin Bay, was a more curious sight. Yet dog-fish oil was the staple of +the unpicturesque traffic in which my companions engaged; while I, a +hunter after less considered trifles, landed to roam the woods and +shores for days at a time, gathering the few flowers which bloomed under +these umbrageous forests, though in number sufficient to tempt the +red-beaked humming-bird[12] to migrate from Mexico to these northern +regions, its tiny nest being frequently noticed on the tops of low +bushes. + +[Sidenote: The Aht Indians.] + +But, after all, the most interesting sight on the shore was the people +who inhabited it. They were the "Indians," whom my friend Gilbert Sproat +afterwards described as the "Ahts,"[13] for this syllable terminates the +name of each of the many little tribes into which they are divided. Yet, +with a disregard of the laws of nomenclature, the Ethnological Bureau at +Washington has only recently announced its intention of knowing them +officially by the meaningless title of "Wakashan." They are a people by +themselves, speaking a language which was confined to Vancouver Island, +with the exception of Cape Flattery, the western tip of Washington, +where the Makkahs speak it. In Vancouver Island, a region about the size +of Ireland, three, if not four distinct aboriginal tongues are in use, +in addition to Chinook Jargon, a sort of _lingua franca_ employed by the +Indians in their intercourse with the whites or with tribes whose speech +they do not understand. The Kawitshen (Cowitchan) with its various +dialects, the chief of which is the Tsongersth (Songer) of the people +near Victoria, prevails from Sooke in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, +northwards to Comox. From that point to the northern end of the island +various dialects of the Kwakiool (Cogwohl of the traders) are the medium +in which the tribesmen do not conceal their thoughts. The people of +Quatseno and Koskeemo Sounds, owing to their frequent intercourse with +Fort Rupert on the other side of the island, which at this point is at +its narrowest, understand and frequently speak the Kwakiool. But after +passing several days entirely alone among these people, I can vouch for +the fact that this dialect is so peculiar that it almost amounts to a +separate language. However, from this part, or properly, from Woody +Point southwards to Port San Juan, the Aht language is entirely +different. + +The latter locality,[14] nearly opposite Cape Flattery, on the other +side of Juan de Fuca Strait, the most southern part, and the only one on +the mainland where it is spoken, is the special territory of the +Pachenahts. When I knew them, they were, like all of their race, a +dwindling people. A few years earlier, Grant had estimated them to +number a hundred men. In 1863 there were not more than a fifth of that +number fit to manage a canoe, and the total number of the tribe did not +exceed sixty. War with the Sclallans and Makkahs on the opposite shore, +and smallpox, which is more powerful than gunpowder, had so decimated +them that, no longer able to hold their own, they had leagued with the +Nettinahts, old allies of theirs, for mutual defence. Quixto, the chief, +I find described in my notes as a stout fellow, terrible at a bargain, +very well disposed towards the whites, as are all his tribe, the husband +of four wives, an extraordinary number for the Indians of the coast, and +reputed to be rich in blankets and the other gear which constitutes +wealth among the aborigines of this part of the British Empire. In their +palmy days they had made way as far north as Clayoquat Sound and the +Ky-yoh-quaht-cutz in one direction, and with the Tsongersth to the +eastward, though that now pusillanimous tribe had generally the best of +them. Their eastern border is, however, the Jordan River, but they have +a fishing station at the Sombria (Cockles), and several miles up both +the Pandora and Jordan Rivers flowing into their bay. Karleit is their +western limit. + +The Nettinahts[15] are a more powerful tribe; indeed, at the period when +the writer of this book was a prisoner in Nootka Sound, they were among +the strongest of all the Aht people. Even then, they had four +hundred[16] fighting men, and were a people with whom it did not do to +be off your guard. They have--or had--many villages, from Pachena +Bay[17] to the west and Karleit to the east, besides three villages in +Nettinaht Inlet,[18] eleven fishing stations on the Nettinaht River, +three stations on the Cowitchan Lake, and one at Sguitz on the Cowitchan +River itself, while they sometimes descend as far as Tsanena to plant +potatoes. They have thus the widest borders of any Indian tribe in +Vancouver Island, and have a high reputation as hunters, whale-fishers, +and warriors. Moqulla was then the head chief, but every winter a +sub-tribe hunted and fished on the Cowitchan Lake, a sheet of water +which I was among the first to visit, and the very first to "lay down" +with approximate accuracy. Though nowadays--_Eheu fugaces, Postume, +Postume, labuntur anni!_--there is a waggon road to the lake, and, I am +told, "a sort of hotel" on the spot where eight-and-twenty years ago we +encamped on extremely short rations, though with the soothing knowledge +that if only the Fates were kindly and the wind favourable, there were +plenty of trout in the water, and a dinner at large in the woods around. +In those days most of the Nettinaht villages were fortified with wooden +pickets to prevent any night attack, and from its situation, Whyack, the +principal one (built on a cliff, stockaded on the seaward side, and +reached only by a narrow entrance where the surf breaks continuously), +is impregnable to hostile canoemen. This people accordingly carried +themselves with a high hand, and bore a name correspondingly bad. + +Barclay--or Berkeley Sound--is the home of various petty +tribes--Ohyahts, Howchuklisahts, Yu-clul-ahts, Toquahts, Seshahts, and +Opechesahts. The two with whom I was best acquainted were the last +named. The Seshahts lived at the top of the Alberni Canal--a long +narrow fjord or cleft in the island--and on the Seshaht Islands in the +Sound. During the summer months they came for salmon-fishing to Sa ha, +or the first rapids on the Kleekort or Saman River,[19] their chief +being Ia-pou-noul, who had just succeeded to this office owing to the +abdication of his father, though the entire fighting force of the tribe +did not number over fifty men. As late as 1859 the Seshahts seized an +American ship, the _Swiss Boy_. The Opechesahts, of whom I have very +kindly memories, as I encamped with their chief for many days, and +explored Sproat Lake in his company, were an offshoot of the Seshahts, +and had their home on the Kleekort River, but, owing to a massacre by +the now extinct Quallehum (Qualicom) Indians from the opposite coast, +who caught them on an island in Sproat Lake, they were reduced to +seventeen men, most of them, however, tall, handsome fellows, and good +hunters. Chieftainship in that part of the world goes by inheritance. +Hence there may be many of these hereditary aristocrats in a very small +tribe. Accordingly, few though the Opechesaht warriors were, three men, +Quatgenam, Kalooish or Kanash, and Quassoon, a shaggy, thick-set, and +tremendously strong individual who crossed the island with me in 1865, +were entitled to that rank; and it may be added that the women of this, +the most freshwater of all the Vancouver tribes, were noted for a more +than usual share of good looks. + +The Howchuklisahts, whose chief was Maz-o-wennis, numbered forty-five +people, including twenty-eight men. They lived in Ouchucklesit[20] +Harbour, off the Alberni Canal; they had also a fishing camp on +Henderson Lake, and two or three lodges on the rapid or stream flowing +out of that sheet of water, which was discovered and named by me. But +they were "bad to deal with." + +[Illustration: OHYAHT INDIAN.] + +The You-clul-ahts of Ucluelt Inlet, ruled by Ia-pou-noul, a wealthy man +in blankets and other Indian wealth, numbered about one hundred. The +chief of the Toquahts in Pipestem Inlet was Sow-wa-wenes, a middle-aged +man, who had an easy task, as his lieges numbered only eleven, so that +they were thirty years ago on the eve of extinction. The Ohyahts of +Grappler Creek were estimated in 1863 to be about one hundred and +seventy-five in fighting strength--which, multiplied by four for women +and children, would make them, for that region, an unusually strong +community. These figures are probably correct, since the man who made +the statement was, after living for years amongst them, eventually +murdered by the savages,[21] whom he had trusted too implicitly. +Kleesheens, a notorious scoundrel, was their chief. In Clayoquat Sound +were the Klahoquahts, Kellsmahts, Ahousahts, Heshquahts, and +Mamosahts--the last a little tribe numbering only five men. Indeed, with +the exception of the Klahoquahts (who numbered one hundred and sixty +men) and the Ahousahts (who claimed two hundred and fifty), these little +septs, all devoured by mutual hatred, and frequently at war with each +other, were even then dwindling to nothingness. But the Opetsahts, +though marked on the Admiralty Chart[22] as a separate tribe, are--or +were--only a village of the Ahousahts. + +In Nootka Sound, the Muchlahts and Mooachahts lived. In Esperanza +Inlet were the villages of two tribes--the Noochahlahts and Ayattisahts, +numbering forty and twenty-two men respectively, and chiefed at that +time by two worthies of the names of Mala-koi-Kennis, and +Quak-ate-Komisa, whom we left in the delectable condition of each +expecting the other round to cut his and his tribesmen's throats. + +North of this inlet were Ky-yoh-quahts, of the Sound of that name +(Kaioquat), numbering two hundred and fifty men. To us they were +exceedingly friendly, though a trader whom we met had a different tale +to tell of their treatment of him. Kanemat, a young man of about +twenty-two, was their chief, though the tribe was virtually governed by +his mother, a notable lady named Shipally, and at times by his pretty +squaw, Wick-anes, and his lively son and heir, Klahe-ek-enes. The +Chaykisahts, the Klahosahts, and the Neshahts of Woody Point are the +other Aht tribes, though the latter is not included among them by Mr. +Sproat. But they speak their language, of which their chief village is +its most northern limit. + +Everywhere their tribes showed such evident signs of decadence that by +this time some of them must be all but extinct. Still, as the whites had +not come much in contact with them--though all of them asked us for +"lum" (rum), but did not get it, it is clear enough what had been the +traders' staple--the "diseases of civilisation" could not be blamed for +their decay. Even then the practical extermination of two tribes was so +recent that the facts were still fresh in their neighbours' memory. +These were the Ekkalahts, who lived at the top of the Alberni Canal, but +were all but killed off in the same massacre by which the Opechesahts +were decimated. The only survivor was a man named Keekeon, who lived +with the Seshahts, most of whom had forgotten even the name of this +vanquished little nationality. The other tribe was the Koapinahts (or +Koapin-ah), who at that time numbered sixty or seventy people, but at +the period to which I refer they were reduced to two adults--a man and a +woman--all the rest having been slaughtered a few years earlier by the +Kwakiools from the other side of the island, in conjunction with the +Neshahts of Woody Point. In after days I learned to know these tribes +very familiarly, crossing and recrossing the island with or to them, +hunting and canoeing with them, in the woods, up the rivers, or on the +lakes, and gathering from their lips + + "This fair report of them who dwell + In that retirement." + +At first sight these "tinkler loons and siclike companie" were by no +means attractive. They were frowsy, and, undeniably, they were not +clean. But it was only after penetrating their inner ways, after +learning the wealth of custom and folk-lore of which they, all +unconscious of their riches, were the jealous custodians, that one began +to appreciate these primitive folk from a scientific point of view. Even +yet, as the writer recalls the days when he was prone to find men more +romantic than is possible in "middle life forlorn," it is difficult not +to associate the most prosaic of savages with something of the +picturesqueness which, in novels at least, used to cling to all their +race. For, as the charm of such existence as theirs unfolded itself to +the lover of woods and prairies, and lakes and virgin streams, the +neglect of soap and of sanitation was forgotten. As Mr. Leland has +remarked about the gipsies: "When their lives and legends are known, +the ethnologist is apt to think of Tieck's elves, and of the Shang +Valley, which was so grim and repulsive from without, but which, once +entered, was the gay forecourt of Goblin-land." + +In those days little was known--and little cared--about any of the +Western tribes, except by the "schooner-men," as the Indians called the +roving traders. Their very names were strange to the majority of the +Victoria people, and I am told that very few of the colonists of to-day +are any better informed. It has therefore been thought fitting that I +should go somewhat minutely into the condition of the Indians, at a +period when they were more primitive than now, as a slight contribution +to the meagre chronicles of a dying race. For if not preserved here, it +is likely to perish with almost the last survivor of a little band with +whom, during the last two decades, death has been busy. + +[Sidenote: Nootka Sound and its memories.] + +Among the many inlets which we entered on the cruise which has enabled +me to edit this narrative of a less fortunate predecessor, was Nootka +Sound. No portion of North-West America was more famous than this spot, +for once upon a time it was the former centre of the fur trade, and a +locality which more than once figured prominently in diplomatic +correspondence. Indeed, so associated was it as the type of this part of +the western continent, that in many works the heterogeneous group of +savages who inhabit the entire coast between the Columbia River and the +end of Vancouver Island was described as the "Nootka-Columbians." More +than one species of plant and animal attest the fact of this Sound +having been the locality at which the naturalist first broke ground in +North-West America. There are, for instance, a _Haliotis Nutkaensis_ (an +ear shell), a _Rubus Nutkanus_ (a raspberry); and a yellow cypress, +which, however, attained its chief development on the mainland much +farther north, bears among its synonyms that of _Chamcaecyparis +Nutkaensis_. For though it is undeniable that Ensign Juan Perez +discovered it as early as 1779, and named it Port San Lorenzo, after the +saint on whose day it was first seen, this fact was unknown or +forgotten, when, four years later, Cook entered, and called it King +George Sound, though he tells us it was afterwards found that it was +called Nootka by the natives. Hence arose the title it has ever since +borne, though this was an entire mistake on the great navigator's part, +since there is no word in the Aht language at all corresponding to +Nootka, unless indeed it is "Nootche," a mountain, which not unlikely +Cook mistook for that of the inlet generally. The proofs of the presence +of earlier visitors were iron and other tools, familiarity with ships, +and two silver spoons of Spanish manufacture, which, we may take it, had +been stolen from Perez's ship. The next vessel to enter the Sound was +the _Sea Otter_, under the command of Captain James Hanna, who made such +a haul in the shape of sea-otter skins that for many years Nootka was +the great rendezvous of the fur-traders who cruised as far north as +Russian America--now Alaska--and, like Portlock, Dixon, and Meares, +charted and named many of the most familiar parts of the British +Columbian coast. Meares built the _North-West America_ by the aid of +Chinese carpenters in Nootka Sound in the winter of 1788-89, this little +sloop being the first vessel, except a canoe, ever constructed in the +country north of California. + +The lucrative trade done by the English and American traders, some of +whom, disposing of their furs in China, sailed under the Portuguese flag +and fitted out at Macao as the port most readily open to them, +determined the Spaniards to assert their rights to the original +discovery. This was done by Don Estevan Martinez "taking possession" of +the Sound, seizing the vessels there, and erecting a fort to maintain +the territory against all comers. A hot diplomatic warfare ensued, the +result of which was the Convention of Nootka, by which the Sound was +made over to Great Britain; and it was while engaged on this mission of +receiving the Sound that Vancouver, conjointly with Quadra, the Spanish +commander, discovered that the region it intersects is an island, which +for a time bore their joint names, but by general consent has that of +Vancouver only attached to it nowadays. + +This was in the year 1795. Being now indisputably British territory, +Nootka and the coasts north and south of it became more and more +frequented by fur-traders, who found, in spite of the increasing +scarcity of pelts, and the higher prices which keener competition +brought about, an ample profit in buying tolerably cheap on the American +coast and selling very dear to the Chinese, whose love for the sea-otter +continues unabated. Many of these adventurers were Americans--hailing, +for the most part, from Boston. Hence to this day an American is +universally known among the North-Western Indians as a "Boston-man," +while an Englishman is quite as generally termed a "Kintshautsh man" +(King George man), it being during the long reign of George III. that +they first became acquainted with our countrymen. Their barter was +carried on in knives, copper plates, copper kettles, muskets, +brass-hilted swords, soldiers' coats and buttons, pistols, tomahawks, +and blankets, which soon superseded the more costly "Kotsaks" of +sea-otter until then the principal garment, though the women wore, as +they do still at times (or did when I knew the shore), blankets woven +out of pine-tree bark. Rum also seemed to have been freely disposed of, +and no doubt many of the outrages which early began to mark the +intercourse of the brown men and their white visitors were not a little +due to this, and to the customs, ever more free than welcome, in which +it is the habit of the mariner to indulge when he and the savage +forgather. At all events, the natives and their foreign visitors seem to +have come very soon into collision. Indeed, it was seldom that a voyage +was completed without some outrage on one or both sides, followed by +reprisals from the party supposed to have been wronged. Thus part of the +crew of the _Imperial Eagle_, under the command of Captain Barclay,[23] +who discovered and named in his own honour the Sound so called, were +murdered at "Queenhythe,"[24] south of Juan de Fuca Strait, which +Barclay was amongst the first to explore, or rather to rediscover. At a +later date, namely, in 1805, the _Atahualpa_ of Rhode Island was +attacked in Millbank Sound, and her captain, mate, and six seamen were +killed. In 1811 the _Tonquin_, belonging to John Jacob Astor's romantic +fur-trading adventure, which is so well known from Washington Irving's +_Astoria_, was seized by the savages on this coast, and then blown up by +M'Kay, the chief trader, with the entire crew and their assailants. The +scene of the catastrophe has been stated to be Nootka, but other +commentators have fixed upon Barclay Sound, and as late as 1863 an +intelligent trader informed me that some ship's timbers, half buried in +the sand there, were attributed by the Indians to some disastrous event, +which he believed to have been the one in question.[25] I am, however, +now inclined to think that in crediting Nahwitti, at the northern end of +Vancouver Island, with this notable event in the early history of +North-West America,[26] Dr. George Dawson has arrived at the truth. + +To this day--or until very recently--the Indians of the North-West +coast are not accounted very trustworthy, and at the period when I knew +them they were suspected of killing several traders and of looting more +than one small vessel, acts which earned for them frequent visits from +the gunboats at Esquimault, and in several instances the undesirable +distinction of having their villages shelled when they refused to +give up the offenders--generally a difficult operation, since it meant +pretty well the entire village. + +[Illustration: INDIAN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE LANDING-STAGE, ESQUIMAULT.] + +[Sidenote: John Jewitt and the capture of the "Boston" in 1803.] + +But the most famous of all the piracies of the Western Indians is that +of which an account is contained in John Jewitt's Narrative. The +ostensible author of this work was a Hull blacksmith, the armourer of +the _Boston_, an American ship which was seized while lying in Nootka +Sound, and the entire crew massacred, with the exception of Jewitt, who +was spared owing to his skill as a mechanic being valuable to the +Indians, and John Thompson, the sail-maker, who, though left for dead, +recovered, and was saved by the tact of Jewitt in representing him to be +his father. This happened in March 1803, and from that date until the +20th of July 1805, these two men were kept in slavery to the chief +Maquenna or Moqulla, when they were freed by the arrival of the brig +_Lydia_ of Boston, Samuel Hill master. During this servitude, Jewitt, +who seems to have been a man of some education, kept a journal and +acquired the Aht language, though the style in which his book is written +shows that in preparing it for the press he had obtained the assistance +of a more practised writer than himself. Still, his work is a valuable +contribution to ethnology. For, omitting the brief but excellent +accounts by Cook and Meares, it is the earliest, and, with the exception +of Mr. Sproat's lecture, the fullest description of these Indians. It is +indeed the only one treating specially on the Nootka people, with whom +alone he had any minute acquaintance. Some of the habits he pictures are +now obsolete, or greatly modified, but others--it may be said the +greater number--are exactly as he notes them to have been eighty-six +years ago. Besides the internal evidences of its authenticity, the truth +of the adventures described was vouched for at the time by Jewitt's +companion in slavery; and though there is no absolute proof of its +credibility, it may not be uninteresting to state that, thirty years +ago, I conversed with an American sea captain, who, as a boy, distinctly +remembered Jewitt working as a blacksmith in the town of Middleton in +Connecticut. When the book was first published, in the year 1815, +several editions appeared in America, and at least two reprints were +called for in England, so that the Narrative enjoyed considerable +popularity in the first two decades of the century. Writing in 1840, +Robert Green Low, Librarian to the Department of State at Washington, +characterises it as "a simple and unpretending narrative, which will, no +doubt, in after centuries, be read with interest by the enlightened +people of North-West America." Again, in 1845, the same industrious, +though not always impartial, historian remarks that "this little book +has been frequently reprinted, and, though seldom found in libraries, is +much read by boys and seamen in the United States." As copies are now +seldom met with, this is no longer the case, though on our cruise in +1863 it was one of the well-thumbed little library of the traders, one +of whom had inherited it from William Edy Banfield, whose name has +already been mentioned (p. 25). This trader, for many years a well-known +man on the out-of-the-way parts of the coast, furnished a curious link +between Jewitt's time and our own. For an old Indian told him that he +had, as a boy, served in the family of a chief of Nootka, called +Klan-nin-itth, at the time when Jewitt and Thompson were in slavery; and +that he often assisted Jewitt in making spears, arrows, and other +weapons required for hostile expeditions. He said, further, that the +white slave generally accompanied his owner on visits which he paid to +the Ayhuttisaht, Ahousaht, and Klahoquaht chiefs. This old man +especially remembered Jewitt, who was a good-humoured fellow, often +reciting and singing in his own language for the amusement of the +tribesmen. He was described as a tall, well-made youth, with a mirthful +countenance, whose dress latterly consisted of nothing but a mantle of +cedar bark. Mr. Sproat, who obtained his information from the same +quarter that I did, adds that there was a long story of Jewitt's +courting, and finally abducting, the daughter of Waughclagh, the +Ahousaht chief. This incident in his career is not recorded by our +author, who, however, was married to a daughter of Upquesta, an +Ayhuttisaht Indian. + +Apart, however, from Jewitt not caring to enlighten the decent-living +puritans of Connecticut too minutely regarding his youthful escapades, +it is not unlikely that Mr. Banfield's informant mixed up some +half-forgotten legends regarding another white man, who, seventeen years +before Jewitt's captivity, had voluntarily remained among these Nootka +Indians. This was a scapegrace named John M'Kay,[27] an Irishman, who, +after being in the East India Company's Service in some minor medical +capacity, shipped in 1785 on board the _Captain Cook_ as surgeon's mate, +and was left behind in Nootka Sound, in the hope that he would so +ingratiate himself with the natives, as to induce them to refuse furs to +any other traders except those with whom he was connected. This man +seems to have been an ignorant, untruthful braggart, who contradicted +himself in many important particulars. But entire credence may be given +to his statement that in a short time he sank into barbarism, becoming +as filthy as the dirtiest of his savage companions. For when Captain +Hanna saw him in August 1786, the natives had stripped him of his +clothes, and obliged him to adopt their dress and habits. He even +refused to leave, declaring that he had begun to relish dried fish and +whale oil--though, owing to a famine in the Sound, he got little of +either--and was well satisfied to stay for another year. After making +various excursions in the country about Nootka Sound, during which he +came to the conclusion that it was not a part of the American continent, +but a chain of detached islands, he gladly deserted his Indian wife, and +left with Captain Berkeley in 1787. To "preach, fight, and mend a +musket" seems to have been too much for this medical pluralist. His +further history I am unable to trace, though, for the sake of historical +roundness, it would have been interesting to believe that he was the +same M'Kay who twenty-four years later ended his career so terribly by +blowing up the _Tonquin_, with whose son I was well acquainted. + +In all of these transactions the head chief of Nootka, or at least of +the Mooachahts, figures prominently. This was Maquenna or Moqulla +(Jewitt's Maquina), who, with his relative Wikananish, ruled over most +of the tribes from here to Nettinaht Inlet. He was a shifty savage, +endowed with no small mental ability, and, though at times capable of +acts which were almost generous, untrustworthy like most of his race, +and when offended ready for any act of vindictiveness. Wikananish was on +a visit to Maquenna when the _Discovery_ and _Resolution_ entered the +Sound, and among the relics which Maquenna kept for many years were a +brass mortar left by Cook, which in Meares's day was borne before the +chief as a portion of his regalia, and three "pieces of a brassy metal +formed like cricket bats," on which were the remains of the name and +arms of Sir Joseph Banks, and the date 1775--Banks, it may be +remembered, being the scientific companion of Cook. In every subsequent +voyage Maquenna figures, and not a few of the outrages committed on that +coast were due either to him or to his instigation. Some, like his +attempt to seize Hanna's vessel in 1785, are known from extraneous +sources, and others were boasted of by him to Jewitt. The last of his +proceedings of which history has left any record, is the murder of the +crew of the _Boston_ and the enslavement of Thompson and Jewitt, and in +the narrative of the latter we are afforded a final glimpse of this +notorious "King."[28] + +[Sidenote: Changes since Jewitt's time.] + +When I visited Nootka Sound in 1863, fifty-eight years had passed since +the captivity of the author of this book. In the interval many things +had happened. But though the Indians had altered in some respects, they +were perhaps less changed than almost any other savages in America since +the whites came in contact with them. Eighty-five years had passed since +Cook had careened his ships in Resolution Cove, and seventy since +Vancouver entered the Sound on his almost more notable voyage. Yet the +bricks from the blacksmith's forge, fresh and vitrified as if they had +been in contact with the fire only yesterday, were at times dug up from +among the rank herbage. The village in Friendly Cove--a spot which not a +few mariners found to be very unfriendly--differed in no way from the +picture in Cook's _Voyage_; and though some curio-hunting captain had no +doubt long ago carried off the mortar and emblazoned brasses, the +natives still spoke traditionally of Cook and Vancouver, and were ready +to point out the spots where in 1788 Meares built the _North-West +America_ and the white men had cultivated. Memories of Martinez and +Quadra existed in the shape of many legends, of Indians with Iberian +features, and of several old people who by tradition (though some of +them were old enough to have remembered these navigators), could still +repeat the Spanish numerals. And the head chief of the Mooachahts in +Friendly Cove--vastly smaller though his tribe was, and much abridged +his power--was a grandson of Maquenna, called by the same name, and had +many of his worst characteristics. This fact I am likely to remember. +For he had been accused of having murdered, in the previous January, +Captain Stev of the _Trader_, and since that time no whites had ventured +near him. He, however, assured us that the report was simply a scandal +raised by the neighbouring tribes, who had long hated him and his +people, and would like to see them punished by the arrival of a gunboat, +and that in reality the vessel was wrecked, and the white men were +drowned. At the same time, among the voices heard that night at the +council held in Maquenna's great lodge, supported by the huge beams +described by Jewitt, were some in favour of killing his latest visitors, +on the principle that dead men tell no tales. But that the Noes had it, +the present narrative is the best proof. + +So far as their habits were concerned, they were in a condition as +primitive as at almost any period since the whites had visited them. +Many of the old people were covered only with a mantle of woven pine +bark, and beyond a shirt, in most cases made out of a flour sack, a +blanket was the sole garment of the majority of the tribesmen. At times +when they wanted to receive any goods, they simply pulled off the +blanket, wrapped up the articles in it, and went ashore stark naked, +with the exception of a piece of skin round the loins. The women wore +for the most part no other dress except the blanket and a curious apron +made of a fringe of bark strings. All of them painted hideously, the +women adding a streak of vermilion down the middle division of the hair, +and on high occasions the glittering mica sand, spoken of by Jewitt, was +called into requisition. Their customs--and I had plenty of +opportunities to study them in the course of the years which +followed--were in no way different from what they were in Cook's time. +No missionary seemed ever to have visited them, and their religious +observances were accordingly still the most unadulterated of paganism. +Jewitt's narrative is, however, as might have been expected, very vague +on such matters; and, curiously enough, he makes no mention of their +characteristic trait of compressing the foreheads of the children, the +tribes in Koskeemo Sound squeezing it, while the bones are still +cartilaginous, in a conical shape--though the brain is not thereby +permanently injured: it is simply displaced. + +Since that day, the tribesmen of the west coast of Vancouver Island have +grown fewer and fewer. Some of the smaller septs have indeed become +extinct, and others must be fast on the wane. They have, however, eaten +of the tree of knowledge, and the gunboats have now little occasion to +visit them for punitive purposes. Missionaries have even attempted to +teach them better manners. The Alberni saw-mills have long been +deserted, though other settlers have taken possession of the ground, and +several have squatted in Koskeemo Sound, in the hope that the coal-seams +there might induce the Pacific steamers to make that remote region their +headquarters. Finally, an effort is being made to induce fishermen from +the West of Scotland to settle on that coast. There is plenty of work +for them, and the Indians nowadays are very little to be feared. Indeed, +so far from the successors of Moqulla and Wikananish menacing Donald and +Sandy, they will be ready to help them for a consideration; though a +great deal of tact and forbearance will be necessary before people so +conservative as the hot-tempered Celts work smoothly with a race quite +as fiery and quite as wedded to old ways, as the Ahts among whom John +Jewitt passed the early years of this century. + + R. B. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Rubus Nutkanus._ + +[2] _Rubus spectabilis._ + +[3] _Gaultheria Shallon._ + +[4] _Vaccinium ovatum._ + +[5] _Pyrus rivularis._ + +[6] _Ribes sanguineum_, now a common shrub in our ornamental grounds. + +[7] _Echinopanax horridum._ + +[8] _Thuja gigantea_, a tree which to the Indian is what the bamboo is +to the Chinese. + +[9] _Acer macrophyllum._ + +[10] _Cornus Nuttallii._ + +[11] _Arbutus Menziesii._ + +[12] _Selasphorus rufus._ It is one of one hundred and fifty-three birds +which I catalogued from Vancouver Island (_Ibis_, Nov. 1868). + +[13] _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_ (1868), by the Hon. G. M. +Sproat, late Commissioner of Indian Affairs for British Columbia. + +[14] "Pachena" of the Indians. + +[15] Or, as they call themselves in their dialect of the Aht, +"Dittinahts." Nettinaht is a white man's corruption. + +[16] A few years earlier they were estimated at a thousand. + +[17] "Klootis" of the Indians. + +[18] Known to them as "Etlo." + +[19] They were not permitted this privilege until the whites came to +Alberni in August 1860. + +[20] Though the orthography of these names is often incorrect, and not +even phonetically accurate, I have, in order to avoid the mischief of a +confusion of nomenclature, kept to that of the Admiralty Chart. + +[21] This was the Banfield who acted as Indian agent in Barclay Sound. +He was drowned by Kleetsak, a slave of Kleesheens, capsizing the canoe +in which he was sailing, in revenge for a slight passed upon the chief. +I went ashore at the Ohyaht village in the same canoe, and was asked +whether I was not afraid, "for Banipe was killed in it." There was also +a story that the capsize was an accident. + +[22] It may be proper to state in this place that the interior details +of that chart are, with very few exceptions, from my explorations. But +the map on which they were laid down by me has been so often copied by +societies, governments, and private individuals without permission (and +without acknowledgment), that the author of it has long ceased to claim +a property so generally pillaged. The original, however, appeared, with +a memoir on the interior--"Das Innere der Vancouver Insel"--which has +not yet been translated, in Petermann's _Geographische Mittheilungen_, +1869. + +[23] Or Berkeley--for the name is spelt both ways. + +[24] Destruction Island, in lat. 47 deg. 35'. This was almost the same +spot as that in which the Spaniards of Bodega's crew were massacred in +1775, and for this reason they named it Isla de Dolores--the "Island of +Sorrows." It is in what is now the State of Washington, U.S.A. + +[25] Green Low will even blame Wikananish, who figures in Jewitt's +narrative, as the instigator of the outrage. + +[26] The Nahwitti Indians. Compare the Tl[=a]-tl[=i]-s[=i]--Kwela and +Nekum-ke-l[=i]sla septs of the Kwakiool people. They now inhabit a +village named Meloopa, on the south-east side of Hope Island. But their +original hamlet was situated on a small rocky peninsula on the east side +of Cape Commerell, which forms the north point of Vancouver Island. Here +remains of old houses are still to be seen, at a place known to the +Indians as Nahwitti. It was close to this place that the _Tonquin_ was +blown up.--_Science_, vol. ix. p. 341. + +[27] "Maccay" (Meares); "M'Key" (Dixon). + +[28] There is a portrait of him, apparently authentic, in Meares's +_Voyages_, vol. ii. (1791). That in the original edition of Jewitt's +Narrative, like the plate of the capture of the _Boston_, appears to +have been drawn from description, though there is a certain resemblance +in it to Meares's sketch made fourteen or fifteen years earlier. But the +scenery, the canoes, the people, and, above all, the palm trees in +Nootka Sound, are purely imaginary. + + + + +JOHN JEWITT'S NARRATIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE OF THE AUTHOR + + +I was born in Boston, a considerable borough town in Lincolnshire, in +Great Britain, on the 21st of May, 1783. My father, Edward Jewitt, was +by trade a blacksmith, and esteemed among the first in his line of +business in that place. At the age of three years I had the misfortune +to lose my mother, a most excellent woman, who died in childbed, leaving +an infant daughter, who, with myself, and an elder brother by a former +marriage of my father, constituted the whole of our family. My father, +who considered a good education as the greatest blessing he could bestow +on his children, was very particular in paying every attention to us in +that respect, always exhorting us to behave well, and endeavouring to +impress on our minds the principles of virtue and morality, and no +expense in his power was spared to have us instructed in whatever might +render us useful and respectable in society. My brother, who was four +years older than myself and of a more hardy constitution, he destined +for his own trade, but to me he had resolved to give an education +superior to that which is to be obtained in a common school, it being +his intention that I should adopt one of the learned professions. +Accordingly, at the age of twelve he took me from the school in which I +had been taught the first rudiments of learning, and placed me under the +care of Mr. Moses, a celebrated teacher of an academy at Donnington, +about eleven miles from Boston, in order to be instructed in the Latin +language, and in some of the higher branches of the mathematics. I there +made considerable proficiency in writing, reading, and arithmetic, and +obtained a pretty good knowledge of navigation and of surveying; but my +progress in Latin was slow, not only owing to the little inclination I +felt for learning that language, but to a natural impediment in my +speech, which rendered it extremely difficult for me to pronounce it, so +that in a short time, with my father's consent, I wholly relinquished +the study. + +The period of my stay at this place was the most happy of my life. My +preceptor, Mr. Moses, was not only a learned, but a virtuous, +benevolent, and amiable man, universally beloved by his pupils, who took +delight in his instruction, and to whom he allowed every proper +amusement that consisted with attention to their studies. + +One of the principal pleasures I enjoyed was in attending the fair, +which is regularly held twice a year at Donnington, in the spring and in +the fall,[29] the second day being wholly devoted to selling horses, a +prodigious number of which are brought thither for that purpose. As the +scholars on these occasions were always indulged with a holiday, I +cannot express with what eagerness of youthful expectation I used to +anticipate these fairs, nor what delight I felt at the various shows, +exhibitions of wild beasts, and other entertainments that they +presented; I was frequently visited by my father, who always discovered +much joy on seeing me, praised me for my acquirements, and usually left +me a small sum for my pocket expenses. + +Among the scholars at this academy, there was one named Charles Rice, +with whom I formed a particular intimacy, which continued during the +whole of my stay. He was my class and room mate, and as the town he came +from, Ashby, was more than sixty miles off, instead of returning home, +he used frequently during the vacation to go with me to Boston, where he +always met with a cordial welcome from my father, who received me on +these occasions with the greatest affection, apparently taking much +pride in me. My friend in return used to take me with him to an uncle of +his in Donnington, a very wealthy man, who, having no children of his +own, was very fond of his nephew, and on his account I was always a +welcome visitor at the house. I had a good voice, and an ear for music, +to which I was always passionately attached, though my father +endeavoured to discourage this propensity, considering it (as is too +frequently the case) but an introduction to a life of idleness and +dissipation; and, having been remarked for my singing at church, which +was regularly attended on Sundays and festival days by the scholars, Mr. +Morthrop, my friend Rice's uncle, used frequently to request me to sing; +he was always pleased with my exhibitions of this kind, and it was no +doubt one of the means that secured me so gracious a reception at his +house. A number of other gentlemen in the place would sometimes send for +me to sing at their houses, and as I was not a little vain of my vocal +powers, I was much gratified on receiving these invitations, and +accepted them with the greatest pleasure. + +Thus passed away the two happiest years of my life, when my father, +thinking that I had received a sufficient education for the profession +he intended me for, took me from school at Donnington in order to +apprentice me to Doctor Mason, a surgeon of eminence at Reasby, in the +neighbourhood of the celebrated Sir Joseph Banks.[30] With regret did I +part from my school acquaintance, particularly my friend Rice, and +returned home with my father, on a short visit to my family, preparatory +to my intended apprenticeship. The disinclination I ever had felt for +the profession my father wished me to pursue, was still further +increased on my return. When a child I was always fond of being in the +shop, among the workmen, endeavouring to imitate what I saw them do; +this disposition so far increased after my leaving the academy, that I +could not bear to hear the least mention made of my being apprenticed to +a surgeon, and I used so many entreaties with my father to persuade him +to give up this plan and learn me his own trade, that he at last +consented. + +More fortunate would it probably have been for me, had I gratified the +wishes of this affectionate parent, in adopting the profession he had +chosen for me, than thus to have induced him to sacrifice them to mine. +However it might have been, I was at length introduced into the shop, +and my natural turn of mind corresponding with the employment, I became +in a short time uncommonly expert at the work to which I was set. I now +felt myself well contented, pleased with my occupation, and treated with +much affection by my father, and kindness by my step-mother, my father +having once more entered the state of matrimony, with a widow much +younger than himself, who had been brought up in a superior manner, and +was an amiable and sensible woman. + +About a year after I had commenced this apprenticeship, my father, +finding that he could carry on his business to more advantage in Hull, +removed thither with his family. An event of no little importance to me, +as it in a great measure influenced my future destiny. Hull being one of +the best ports in England, and a place of great trade, my father had +there full employment for his numerous workmen, particularly in vessel +work. This naturally leading me to an acquaintance with the sailors on +board some of the ships: the many remarkable stories they told me of +their voyages and adventures, and of the manners and customs of the +nations they had seen, excited a strong wish in me to visit foreign +countries, which was increased by my reading the voyages of Captain +Cook, and some other celebrated navigators. + +Thus passed the four years that I lived at Hull, where my father was +esteemed by all who knew him, as a worthy, industrious, and thriving +man. At this period a circumstance occurred which afforded me the +opportunity I had for some time wished, of gratifying my inclination of +going abroad. + + * * * * * + +Among our principal customers at Hull were the Americans who frequented +that port, and from whose conversation my father as well as myself +formed the most favourable opinion of that country, as affording an +excellent field for the exertions of industry, and a flattering prospect +for the establishment of a young man in life. In the summer of the year +1802, during the peace between England and France, the ship _Boston_, +belonging to Boston, in Massachusetts, and commanded by Captain John +Salter, arrived at Hull, whither she came to take on board a cargo of +such goods as were wanted for the trade with the Indians, on the +North-West coast of America, from whence, after having taken in a lading +of furs and skins, she was to proceed to China, and from thence home to +America. The ship having occasion for many repairs and alterations, +necessary for so long a voyage, the captain applied to my father to do +the smith's work, which was very considerable. That gentleman, who was +of a social turn, used often to call at my father's house, where he +passed many of his evenings, with his chief and second mates, Mr. B. +Delouisa and Mr. William Ingraham,[31] the latter a fine young man of +about twenty, of a most amiable temper, and of such affable manners, as +gained him the love and attachment of the whole crew. These gentlemen +used occasionally to take me with them to the theatre, an amusement +which I was very fond of, and which my father rather encouraged than +objected to, as he thought it a good means of preventing young men, who +are naturally inclined to seek for something to amuse them, from +frequenting taverns, ale-houses, and places of bad resort, equally +destructive of the health and morals, while the stage frequently +furnishes excellent lessons of morality and good conduct. + +In the evenings that he passed at my father's, Captain Salter, who had +for a great number of years been at sea, and seen almost all parts of +the world, used sometimes to speak of his voyages, and, observing me +listen with much attention to his relations, he one day, when I had +brought him some work, said to me in rather a jocose manner, "John, how +should you like to go with me?" I answered, that it would give me great +pleasure, that I had for a long time wished to visit foreign countries, +particularly America, which I had been told so many fine stories of, and +that if my father would give his consent, and he was willing to take me +with him, I would go. + +"I shall be very glad to do it," said he, "if your father can be +prevailed on to let you go; and as I want an expert smith for an +armourer, the one I have shipped for that purpose not being sufficiently +master of his trade, I have no doubt that you will answer my turn well, +as I perceive you are both active and ingenious, and on my return to +America I shall probably be able to do something much better for you in +Boston. I will take the first opportunity of speaking to your father +about it, and try to persuade him to consent." He accordingly, the next +evening that he called at our house, introduced the subject: my father +at first would not listen to the proposal. That best of parents, though +anxious for my advantageous establishment in life, could not bear to +think of parting with me, but on Captain Salter's telling him of what +benefit it would be to me to go the voyage with him, and that it was a +pity to keep a promising and ingenious young fellow like myself confined +to a small shop in England, when if I had tolerable success I might do +so much better in America, where wages were much higher and living +cheaper, he at length gave up his objections, and consented that I +should ship on board the _Boston_ as an armourer, at the rate of thirty +dollars per month, with an agreement that the amount due to me, together +with a certain sum of money, which my father gave Captain Salter for +that purpose, should be laid out by him on the North-West coast in the +purchase of furs for my account, to be disposed of in China for such +goods as would yield a profit on the return of the ship; my father being +solicitous to give me every advantage in his power of well establishing +myself in my trade in Boston, or some other maritime town of America. +Such were the flattering expectations which this good man indulged +respecting me. Alas! the fatal disaster that befell us, not only blasted +all these hopes, but involved me in extreme distress and wretchedness +for a long period after. + +The ship, having undergone a thorough repair and been well coppered, +proceeded to take on board her cargo, which consisted of English cloths, +Dutch blankets, looking-glasses, beads, knives, razors, etc., which +were received from Holland, some sugar and molasses, about twenty +hogsheads of rum, including stores for the ship, a great quantity of +ammunition, cutlasses, pistols, and three thousand muskets and +fowling-pieces. The ship being loaded and ready for sea, as I was +preparing for my departure, my father came to me, and, taking me aside, +said to me with much emotion, "John, I am now going to part with you, +and Heaven only knows if we shall ever again meet. But in whatever part +of the world you are, always bear it in mind, that on your own conduct +will depend your success in life. Be honest, industrious, frugal, and +temperate, and you will not fail, in whatsoever country it may be your +lot to be placed, to gain yourself friends. Let the Bible be your guide, +and your reliance in any fortune that may befall you, that Almighty +Being, who knows how to bring forth good from evil, and who never +deserts those who put their trust in Him." He repeated his exhortations +to me to lead an honest and Christian life, and to recollect that I had +a father, a mother, a brother, and sister, who could not but feel a +strong interest in my welfare, enjoining me to write him by the first +opportunity that should offer to England, from whatever part of the +world I might be in, more particularly on my arrival in Boston. This I +promised to do, but long unhappily was it before I was able to fulfil +this promise. I then took an affectionate leave of my worthy parent, +whose feelings would hardly permit him to speak, and, bidding an +affectionate farewell to my brother, sister, and step-mother, who +expressed the greatest solicitude for my future fortune, went on board +the ship, which proceeded to the Downs, to be ready for the first +favourable wind. I found myself well accommodated on board as regarded +my work, an iron forge having been erected on deck; this my father had +made for the ship on a new plan, for which he afterwards obtained a +patent; while a corner of the steerage was appropriated to my +vice-bench, so that in bad weather I could work below. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[29] These fairs are still held, though the dates are now May 26th, +September 4th, and October 27th. + +[30] The companion of Cook, and for many years President of the Royal +Society. + +[31] This William Ingraham must not be confounded with Joseph Ingraham, +who also visited Nootka Sound, and played a considerable part in the +exploration of the North-West American coast. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +VOYAGE TO NOOTKA SOUND + + +On the third day of September, 1802, we sailed from the Downs with a +fair wind, in company with twenty-four sail of American vessels, most of +which were bound home. + +I was sea-sick for a few of the first days, but it was of short +continuance, and on my recovery I found myself in uncommonly fine health +and spirits, and went to work with alacrity at my forge, in putting in +order some of the muskets, and making daggers, knives, and small +hatchets for the Indian trade, while in wet and stormy weather I was +occupied below in filing and polishing them. This was my employment, +having but little to do with sailing the vessel, though I used +occasionally to lend a hand in assisting the seamen in taking in and +making sail. + +As I had never before been out of sight of land, I cannot describe my +sensations, after I had recovered from the distressing effects of +sea-sickness, on viewing the mighty ocean by which I was surrounded, +bound only by the sky, while its waves, rising in mountains, seemed +every moment to threaten our ruin. Manifest as is the hand of Providence +in preserving its creatures from destruction, in no instance is it more +so than on the great deep; for whether we consider in its tumultuary +motions the watery deluge that each moment menaces to overwhelm us, the +immense violence of its shocks, the little that interposes between us +and death, a single plank forming our only security, which, should it +unfortunately be loosened, would plunge us at once into the abyss, our +gratitude ought strongly to be excited towards that superintending Deity +who in so wonderful a manner sustains our lives amid the waves. + +We had a pleasant and favourable passage of twenty-nine days to the +Island of St. Catherine,[32] on the coast of Brazils, where the captain +had determined to stop for a few days to wood and water. This place +belongs to the Portuguese. On entering the harbour, we were saluted by +the fort, which we returned. The next day the governor of the island +came on board of us with his suite; Captain Salter received him with +much respect, and invited him to dine with him, which he accepted. The +ship remained at St. Catherine's four days, during which time we were +busily employed in taking in wood, water, and fresh provisions, Captain +Salter thinking it best to furnish himself here with a full supply for +his voyage to the North-West coast, so as not to be obliged to stop at +the Sandwich Islands. St. Catherine's is a very commodious place for +vessels to stop at that are bound round Cape Horn, as it abounds with +springs of fine water, with excellent oranges, plantains, and bananas. + +Having completed our stores, we put to sea, and on the twenty-fifth of +December, at length passed Cape Horn, which we had made no less than +thirty-six days before, but were repeatedly forced back by contrary +winds, experiencing very rough and tempestuous weather in doubling it. + +Immediately after passing Cape Horn, all our dangers and difficulties +seemed to be at an end; the weather became fine, and so little labour +was necessary on board the ship, that the men soon recovered from their +fatigue and were in excellent spirits. A few days after we fell in with +an English South Sea whaling ship homeward bound,[33] which was the only +vessel we spoke with on our voyage. We now took the trade wind or +monsoon, during which we enjoyed the finest weather possible, so that +for the space of a fortnight we were not obliged to reeve a topsail or +to make a tack, and so light was the duty and easy the life of the +sailors during this time, that they appeared the happiest of any people +in the world. + +Captain Salter, who had been for many years in the East India trade, was +a most excellent seaman, and preserved the strictest order and +discipline on board his ship, though he was a man of mild temper and +conciliating manners, and disposed to allow every indulgence to his men, +not inconsistent with their duty. We had on board a fine band of music, +with which on Saturday nights, when the weather was pleasant, we were +accustomed to be regaled, the captain ordering them to play for several +hours for the amusement of the crew. This to me was most delightful, +especially during the serene evenings we experienced in traversing the +Southern Ocean. As for myself, during the day I was constantly occupied +at my forge, in refitting or repairing some of the ironwork of the +vessel, but principally in making tomahawks, daggers, etc., for the +North-West coast. + +During the first part of our voyage we saw scarcely any fish, excepting +some whales, a few sharks, and flying fish; but after weathering Cape +Horn we met with numerous shoals of sea porpoises, several of whom we +caught, and as we had been for some time without fresh provisions, I +found it not only a palatable, but really a very excellent food. To one +who has never before seen them, a shoal of these fish[34] presents a +very striking and singular appearance; beheld at a distance coming +towards a vessel, they look not unlike a great number of small black +waves rolling over one another in a confused manner, and approaching +with great swiftness. As soon as a shoal is seen, all is bustle and +activity on board the ship, the grains and the harpoons are immediately +got ready, and those who are best skilled in throwing them take their +stand at the bow and along the gunwale, anxiously awaiting the welcome +troop as they come, gambolling and blowing around the vessel, in search +of food. When pierced with the harpoon and drawn on board, unless the +fish is instantly killed by the stroke, which rarely happens, it utters +most pitiful cries, greatly resembling those of an infant. The flesh, +cut into steaks and broiled, is not unlike very coarse beef, and the +harslet in appearance and taste is so much like that of a hog, that it +would be no easy matter to distinguish the one from the other; from this +circumstance the sailors have given the name of the herring hog[35] to +this fish. I was told by some of the crew, that if one of them happens +to free itself from the grains or harpoons, when struck, all the others, +attracted by the blood, immediately quit the ship and give chase to the +wounded one, and as soon as they overtake it, immediately tear it in +pieces. We also caught a large shark, which had followed the ship for +several days, with a hook which I made for the purpose, and although the +flesh was by no means equal to that of the herring hog, yet to those +destitute as we were of anything fresh, I found it eat very well. After +passing the Cape, when the sea had become calm, we saw great numbers of +albatrosses, a large brown and white bird of the goose kind, one of +which Captain Salter shot, whose wings measured from their extremities +fifteen feet. One thing, however, I must not omit mentioning, as it +struck me in a most singular and extraordinary manner. This was, that on +passing Cape Horn in December, which was midsummer in that climate, the +nights were so light, without any moon, that we found no difficulty +whatever in reading small print, which we frequently did during our +watches. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[32] Santa Catharina. + +[33] This is now, so far as Great Britain is concerned, a reminiscence +of a vanished trade: the South Sea whaling is extinct. + +[34] The zoological reader does not require to be told that the +porpoise, a very general term applied by sailors to many small species +of cetaceans, is not a "fish." + +[35] _Porc poisson_ of the French, of which porpoise is simply a +corruption. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES--MAQUINA--SEIZURE OF THE VESSEL AND MURDER +OF THE CREW + + +In this manner, with a fair wind and easy weather from the 28th of +December, the period of our passing Cape Horn, we pursued our voyage to +the northward until the 12th of March, 1803, when we made Woody Point in +Nootka Sound, on the North-West coast of America. We immediately stood +up the Sound for Nootka, where[36] Captain Salter had determined to +stop, in order to supply the ship with wood and water before proceeding +up the coast to trade. But in order to avoid the risk of any molestation +or interruption to his men from the Indians while thus employed, he +proceeded with the ship about five miles to the northward of the +village, which is situated on Friendly Cove, and sent out his chief mate +with several of the crew in the boat to find a good place for anchoring +her. After sounding for some time, they returned with information that +they had discovered a secure place for anchorage, on the western side of +an inlet or small bay, at about half a mile from the coast, near a small +island which protected it from the sea, and where there was plenty of +wood and excellent water. The ship accordingly came to anchor in this +place, at twelve o'clock at night, in twelve fathom water, muddy bottom, +and so near the shore that to prevent the ship from winding we secured +her by a hawser to the trees. + +On the morning of the next day, the 13th, several of the natives came on +board in a canoe from the village of Nootka, with their king, called +Maquina, who appeared much pleased on seeing us, and with great seeming +cordiality welcomed Captain Salter and his officers to his country. As I +had never before beheld a savage of any nation, it may readily be +supposed that the novelty of their appearance, so different from any +people that I had hitherto seen, excited in me strong feelings of +surprise and curiosity. I was, however, particularly struck with the +looks of their king, who was a man of a dignified aspect, about six feet +in height and extremely straight and well proportioned; his features +were in general good, and his face was rendered remarkable by a large +Roman nose, a very uncommon form of feature among these people; his +complexion was of a dark copper hue, though his face, legs, and arms +were, on this occasion, so covered with red paint, that their natural +colour could scarcely be perceived; his eyebrows were painted black in +two broad stripes like a new moon, and his long black hair, which shone +with oil, was fastened in a bunch on the top of his head and strewed or +powdered all over with white down, which gave him a most curious and +extraordinary appearance. He was dressed in a large mantle or cloak of +the black sea-otter skin, which reached to his knees, and was fastened +around his middle by a broad belt of the cloth of the country, wrought +or painted with figures of several colours; this dress was by no means +unbecoming, but, on the contrary, had an air of savage magnificence. His +men were habited in mantles of the same cloth, which is made from the +bark of a tree,[37] and has some resemblance to straw matting; these are +nearly square, and have two holes in the upper part large enough to +admit the arms; they reach as low as the knees, and are fastened round +their bodies with a belt about four inches broad of the same cloth. + +From his having frequently visited the English and American ships that +traded to the coast, Maquina had learned the signification of a number +of English words, and in general could make himself pretty well +understood by us in our own language. He was always the first to go on +board such ships as came to Nootka, which he was much pleased in +visiting, even when he had no trade to offer, as he always received some +small present, and was in general extremely well treated by the +commanders. He remained on board of us for some time, during which the +captain took him into the cabin and treated him with a glass of +rum--these people being very fond of distilled spirits--and some biscuit +and molasses, which they prefer to any kind of food that we can offer +them.[38] + +As there are seldom many furs to be purchased at this place, and it was +not fully the season, Captain Salter had put in here not so much with an +expectation of trading, as to procure an ample stock of wood and water +for the supply of the ship on the coast, thinking it more prudent to +take it on board at Nootka, from the generally friendly disposition of +the people, than to endanger the safety of his men in sending them on +shore for that purpose among the more ferocious natives of the north. + +With this view, we immediately set about getting our water-casks in +readiness, and the next and two succeeding days, part of the crew were +sent on shore to cut pine timber, and assist the carpenter in making it +into yards and spars for the ship, while those on board were employed in +refitting the rigging, repairing the sails, etc., when we proceeded to +take in our wood and water as expeditiously as possible, during which +time I kept myself busily employed in repairing the muskets, making +knives, tomaxes,[39] etc., and doing such ironwork as was wanted for the +ship. + +Meantime more or less of the natives came on board of us daily, bringing +with them fresh salmon, with which they supplied us in great plenty, +receiving in return some trifling articles. Captain Salter was always +very particular, before admitting these people on board, to see that +they had no arms about them, by obliging them indiscriminately to throw +off their garments, so that he felt perfectly secure from any attack. + +On the 15th the king came on board with several of his chiefs; he was +dressed as before in his magnificent otter-skin robe, having his face +highly painted, and his hair tossed with the white down, which looked +like snow. His chiefs were dressed in mantles of the country cloth of +its natural colour, which is a pale yellow; these were ornamented with a +broad border, painted or wrought in figures of several colours, +representing men's heads, various animals, etc., and secured around them +by a belt like that of the king, from which it was distinguished only by +being narrower: the dress of the common people is of the same fashion, +and differs from that of the chiefs in being of a coarser texture, and +painted red, of one uniform colour. + +Captain Salter invited Maquina and his chiefs to dine with him, and it +was curious to see how these people (when they eat) seat themselves (in +their country fashion, upon our chairs) with their feet under them +crossed like Turks. They cannot endure the taste of salt, and the only +thing they would eat with us was the ship bread, which they were very +fond of, especially when dipped in molasses; they had also a great +liking for tea and coffee when well sweetened. As iron weapons and tools +of almost every kind are in much request among them, whenever they came +on board they were always very attentive to me, crowding around me at +the forge, as if to see in what manner I did my work, and in this way +became quite familiar, a circumstance, as will be seen in the end, of +great importance to me. The salmon which they brought us furnished a +most delicious treat to men who for a long time had lived wholly on +salt provisions, excepting such few sea fish as we had the good fortune +occasionally to take. We indeed feasted most luxuriously, and flattered +ourselves that we should not want while on the coast for plenty of fresh +provisions, little imagining the fate that awaited us, and that this +dainty food was to prove the unfortunate lure to our destruction! + +On the 19th the king came again on board, and was invited by the captain +to dine with him. He had much conversation with Captain Salter, and +informed him that there were plenty of wild ducks and geese near +Friendly Cove, on which the captain made him a present of a +double-barrelled fowling-piece, with which he appeared to be greatly +pleased, and soon after went on shore. + +On the 20th we were nearly ready for our departure, having taken in what +wood and water we were in want of. + +The next day Maquina came on board with nine pair of wild ducks, as a +present; at the same time he brought with him the gun, one of the locks +of which he had broken, telling the captain that it was _peshak_,[40] +that is, bad. Captain Salter was very much offended at this observation, +and, considering it as a mark of contempt for his present, he called the +king a liar, adding other opprobrious terms, and, taking the gun from +him, tossed it indignantly into the cabin, and, calling me to him, said, +"John, this fellow has broken this beautiful fowling-piece, see if you +can mend it." On examining it, I told him that it could be done. As I +have already observed, Maquina knew a number of English words, and +unfortunately understood but too well the meaning of the reproachful +terms that the captain addressed to him. He said not a word in reply, +but his countenance sufficiently expressed the rage he felt, though he +exerted himself to suppress it, and I observed him, while the captain +was speaking, repeatedly put his hand to his throat, and rub it upon his +bosom, which he afterwards told me was to keep down his heart, which was +rising into his throat and choking him. He soon after went on shore with +his men, evidently much discomposed. + +On the morning of the 22nd the natives came off to us as usual with +salmon, and remained on board; when about noon Maquina came alongside, +with a considerable number of his chiefs and men in their canoes, who, +after going through the customary examination, were admitted into the +ship. He had a whistle in his hand, and over his face a very ugly mask +of wood, representing the head of some wild beast, appeared to be +remarkably good-humoured and gay, and whilst his people sang and capered +about the deck, entertaining us with a variety of antic trick and +gestures, he blew his whistle to a kind of tune which seemed to regulate +their motions. As Captain Salter was walking on the quarter-deck, +amusing himself with their dancing, the king came up to him and inquired +when he intended to go to sea? He answered, "To-morrow." Maquina then +said, "You love salmon--much in Friendly Cove, why not go there and +catch some?" The captain thought that it would be very desirable to have +a good supply of these fish for the voyage, and, on consulting with Mr. +Delouisa, it was agreed to send part of the crew on shore after dinner +with the seine, in order to procure a quantity. Maquina and his chiefs +stayed and dined on board, and after dinner the chief mate went off with +nine men in the jolly-boat and yawl, to fish at Friendly Cove, having +set the steward on shore at our watering place, to wash the captain's +clothes. + +Shortly after the departure of the boats, I went down to my vice-bench +in the steerage, where I was employed in cleaning muskets. I had not +been there more than an hour, when I heard the men hoisting in the +longboat, which, in a few minutes after, was succeeded by a great bustle +and confusion on deck. I immediately ran up the steerage stairs, but +scarcely was my head above deck, when I was caught by the hair by one of +the savages, and lifted from my feet; fortunately for me, my hair being +short, and the ribbon with which it was tied slipping, I fell from his +hold into the steerage. As I was falling he struck at me with an axe, +which cut a deep gash in my forehead, and penetrated the skull, but in +consequence of his losing his hold I luckily escaped the full force of +the blow, which otherwise would have cleft my head in two. I fell, +stunned and senseless, upon the floor; how long I continued in this +situation I know not, but on recovering my senses, the first thing that +I did was to try to get up, but so weak was I, from the loss of blood, +that I fainted and fell. I was, however, soon recalled to my +recollection by three loud shouts or yells from the savages, which +convinced me that they had got possession of the ship. It is impossible +for me to describe my feelings at this terrific sound. Some faint idea +may be formed of them by those who have known what it is to half waken +from a hideous dream and still think it real. Never, no, never shall I +lose from my mind the impression of that dreadful moment. I expected +every instant to share the wretched fate of my unfortunate companions, +and when I heard the song of triumph, by which these infernal yells was +succeeded, my blood ran cold in my veins. + +Having at length sufficiently recovered my senses to look around me, +after wiping the blood from my eyes, I saw that the hatch of the +steerage was shut. This was done, as I afterwards discovered, by order +of Maquina, who, on seeing the savage strike at me with the axe, told +him not to hurt me, for that I was the armourer, and would be useful to +them in repairing their arms; while at the same time, to prevent any of +his men from injuring me, he had the hatch closed. But to me this +circumstance wore a very different appearance, for I thought that these +barbarians had only prolonged my life in order to deprive me of it by +the most cruel tortures. + +I remained in this horrid state of suspense for a very long time, when +at length the hatch was opened, and Maquina, calling me by name, ordered +me to come up. I groped my way up as well as I was able, being almost +blinded with the blood that flowed from my wound, and so weak as with +difficulty to walk. The king, on perceiving my situation, ordered one of +his men to bring a pot of water to wash the blood from my face, which +having done, I was able to see distinctly with one of my eyes, but the +other was so swollen from my wound, that it was closed. But what a +terrific spectacle met my eyes: six naked savages, standing in a circle +around me, covered with the blood of my murdered comrades, with their +daggers uplifted in their hands, prepared to strike. I now thought my +last moment had come, and recommended my soul to my Maker. + +The king, who, as I have already observed, knew enough of English to +make himself understood, entered the circle, and, placing himself before +me, addressed me nearly in the following words: "John--I speak--you no +say no; You say no--daggers come!" He then asked me if I would be his +slave during my life--if I would fight for him in his battles, if I +would repair his muskets and make daggers and knives for him--with +several other questions, to all of which I was careful to answer, yes. +He then told me that he would spare my life, and ordered me to kiss his +hands and feet to show my submission to him, which I did. In the +meantime his people were very clamorous to have me put to death, so that +there should be none of us left to tell our story to our countrymen, and +prevent them from coming to trade with them; but the king in the most +determined manner opposed their wishes, and to his favour am I wholly +indebted for my being yet among the living. + +As I was busy at work at the time of the attack, I was without my coat, +and what with the coldness of the weather, my feebleness from loss of +blood, the pain of my wound, and the extreme agitation and terror that I +still felt, I shook like a leaf, which the king observing, went into the +cabin, and, bringing up a greatcoat that belonged to the captain, threw +it over my shoulders, telling me to drink some rum from a bottle which +he handed me, at the same time giving me to understand that it would be +good for me, and keep me from trembling bling as I did. I took a +draught of it, after which, taking me by the hand, he led me to the +quarter-deck, where the most horrid sight presented itself that ever my +eyes witnessed. The heads of our unfortunate captain and his crew, to +the number of twenty-five, were all arranged in a line,[41] and Maquina, +ordering one of his people to bring a head, asked me whose it was: I +answered, the captain's. In like manner the others were showed me, and I +told him the names, excepting a few that were so horribly mangled that I +was not able to recognise them. + +I now discovered that all our unfortunate crew had been massacred, and +learned that, after getting possession of the ship, the savages had +broke open the arm-chest and magazine, and, supplying themselves with +ammunition and arms, sent a party on shore to attack our men, who had +gone thither to fish, and, being joined by numbers from the village, +without difficulty overpowered and murdered them, and, cutting off their +heads, brought them on board, after throwing their bodies into the sea. +On looking upon the deck, I saw it entirely covered with the blood of my +poor comrades, whose throats had been cut with their own jack-knives, +the savages having seized the opportunity, while they were busy in +hoisting in the boat, to grapple with them, and overpower them by their +numbers; in the scuffle the captain was thrown overboard, and despatched +by those in the canoes, who immediately cut off his head. What I felt on +this occasion, may be more readily conceived than expressed. + +After I had answered his questions, Maquina took my silk handkerchief +from my neck and bound it around my head, placing over the wound a leaf +of tobacco, of which we had a quantity on board. This was done at my +desire, as I had often found, from personal experience, the benefit of +this application to cuts. + +Maquina then ordered me to get the ship under weigh for Friendly Cove. +This I did by cutting the cables, and sending some of the natives aloft +to loose the sails, which they performed in a very bungling manner. But +they succeeded so far in loosing the jib and top-sails, that, with the +advantage of fair wind, I succeeded in getting the ship into the Cove, +where, by order of the king, I ran her ashore on a sandy beach, at eight +o'clock at night. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[36] By "Nootka," Friendly Cove, or "Yucuaht," is meant; there is no +special place of that name; the word, indeed, is unknown to the natives. +Woody Point, or Cape Cook, is in lat. 50 deg. 6' 31" N. + +[37] The white pine (_Pinus monticola_). This is employed for making +blankets trimmed with sea-otter fur, but the mats used in their canoes +are made of cedar bark (_Thuja gigantea_). + +[38] This is still true. Many years ago, when there was a threat of +Indian trouble at Victoria, Sir James Douglas, famous as the first +governor of British Columbia, and still more celebrated as a factor of +the Hudson Bay Company, immediately allayed the rising storm by ordering +a keg of treacle and a box of biscuit to be opened. Instantly the knives +and muskets were tossed aside, and the irate savages fell to these +homely dainties with the best of goodwill to all concerned. "Dear me! +dear me! there is nothing like a little molasses," was the sage +governor's remark. At the Alberni saw-mills, on the West coast, the +invariable midday meal of the Indians loading lumber was coarse ship's +biscuit dipped in a tin basin of the cheapest treacle, around which the +mollified tribesmen squatted. + +[39] Tomahawks (little hatchets) in more familiar language. + +[40] _Pesh-shuak, Wikoo_, or _Chuuk_ is also used in the same sense, but +the first word is most frequently employed. + +[41] The Indians of the North-West coast and the wooded region protected +by the great rivers always take heads as trophies. The heads are +subsequently fixed on poles in front of their cedar-board lodges. The +prairie Indians and the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains generally +take, and always took, scalps alone, owing, perhaps, to the difficulty +of carrying heads. This is no obstacle to fighting men travelling in +canoes, on the bows of which they are often fastened while the warriors +are returning from hostile expeditions. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +RECEPTION OF JEWITT BY THE SAVAGES--ESCAPE OF THOMPSON--ARRIVAL OF +NEIGHBOURING TRIBES--AN INDIAN FEAST + + +We were received by the inhabitants of the village, men, women, and +children, with loud shouts of joy, and a most horrible drumming with +sticks upon the roofs and sides of their houses,[42] in which they had +also stuck a great number of lighted pine torches, to welcome their +king's return, and congratulate him on the success of his enterprise. + +Maquina then took me on shore to his house, which was very large, and +filled with people--where I was received with much kindness by the +women, particularly those belonging to the king, who had no less than +nine wives, all of whom came around me, expressing much sympathy for my +misfortune, gently stroking and patting my head in an encouraging and +soothing manner, with words expressive of condolence. How sweet is +compassion even from savages! Those who have been in a similar +situation, can alone truly appreciate its value. + +In the meantime all the warriors of the tribe, to the number of five +hundred,[43] had assembled at the king's house, to rejoice for their +success. They exulted greatly in having taken our ship, and each one +boasted of his own particular exploits in killing our men, but they were +in general much dissatisfied with my having been suffered to live, and +were very urgent with Maquina to deliver me to them, to be put to death, +which he obstinately refused to do, telling them that he had promised me +my life, and would not break his word; and that, besides, I knew how to +repair and to make arms, and should be of great use to them. + +The king then seated me by him, and ordered his women to bring him +something to eat, when they set before him some dried clams and +train-oil, of which he ate very heartily, and encouraged me to follow +his example, telling me to eat much, and take a great deal of oil, which +would make me strong and fat. Notwithstanding his praise of this new +kind of food, I felt no disposition to indulge in it, both the smell and +taste being loathsome to me; and had it been otherwise, such was the +pain I endured, the agitation of my mind, and the gloominess of my +reflections, that I should have felt very little inclination for eating. + +Not satisfied with his first refusal to deliver me up to them, the +people again became clamorous that Maquina should consent to my being +killed, saying that not one of us ought to be left alive to give +information to others of our countrymen, and prevent them from coming to +trade, or induce them to revenge the destruction of our ship, and they +at length became so boisterous, that he caught up a large club in a +passion, and drove them all out of the house. During this scene, a son +of the king, about eleven years old, attracted no doubt by the +singularity of my appearance, came up to me: I caressed him; he returned +my attentions with much apparent pleasure, and considering this as a +fortunate opportunity to gain the good will of the father, I took the +child on my knee, and, cutting the metal buttons from off the coat I had +on, I tied them around his neck. At this he was highly delighted, and +became so much attached to me, that he would not quit me. + +The king appeared much pleased with my attention to his son, and, +telling me that it was time to go to sleep, directed me to lie with his +son next to him, as he was afraid lest some of his people would come +while he was asleep and kill me with their daggers. I lay down as he +ordered me, but neither the state of my mind nor the pain I felt would +allow me to sleep. + +About midnight I was greatly alarmed by the approach of one of the +natives, who came to give information to the king that there was one of +the white men alive, who had knocked him down as he went on board the +ship at night. This Maquina communicated to me, giving me to understand +that as soon as the sun rose he should kill him. I endeavoured to +persuade him to spare his life, but he bade me be silent and go to +sleep. I said nothing more, but lay revolving in my mind what method I +could devise to save the life of this man. What a consolation, thought +I, what a happiness would it prove to me in my forlorn state among +these heathens, to have a Christian and one of my own countrymen for a +companion, and how greatly would it alleviate and lighten the burden of +my slavery. + +As I was thinking of some plan for his preservation, it all at once came +into my mind that this man was probably the sail-maker of the ship, +named Thompson, as I had not seen his head among those on deck, and knew +that he was below at work upon sails not long before the attack. The +more I thought of it, the more probable it appeared to me, and as +Thompson was a man nearly forty years of age, and had an old look, I +conceived it would be easy to make him pass for my father, and by this +means prevail on Maquina to spare his life. Towards morning I fell into +a dose, but was awakened with the first beams of the sun by the king, +who told me he was going to kill the man who was on board the ship, and +ordered me to accompany him. I rose and followed him, leading with me +the young prince, his son. + +On coming to the beach, I found all the men of the tribe assembled. The +king addressed them, saying that one of the white men had been found +alive on board the ship, and requested their opinion as to saving his +life or putting him to death. They were unanimously for the latter. This +determination he made known to me. Having arranged my plan, I asked him, +pointing to the boy, whom I still held by the hand, if he loved his son. +He answered that he did. I then asked the child if he loved his father, +and on his replying in the affirmative, I said, "And I also love mine." +I then threw myself on my knees at Maquina's feet, and implored him, +with tears in my eyes, to spare my father's life, if the man on board +should prove to be him, telling him that if he killed my father, it was +my wish that he should kill me too, and that if he did not, I would kill +myself--and that he would thus lose my services; whereas, by sparing my +father's life, he would preserve mine, which would be of great advantage +to him, by my repairing and making arms for him. + +Maquina appeared moved by my entreaties, and promised not to put the man +to death if he should be my father. He then explained to his people what +I had said, and ordered me to go on board and tell the man to come on +shore. To my unspeakable joy, on going into the hold, I found that my +conjecture was true. Thompson was there. He had escaped without any +injury, excepting a slight wound in the nose, given him by one of the +savages with a knife, as he attempted to come on deck, during the +scuffle. Finding the savages in possession of the ship, as he afterwards +informed me, he secreted himself in the hold, hoping for some chance to +make his escape; but that, the Indian who came on board in the night +approaching the place where he was, he supposed himself discovered, and, +being determined to sell his life as dearly as possible, as soon as he +came within his reach, he knocked him down, but the Indian, immediately +springing up, ran off at full speed. + +I informed him, in a few words, that all our men had been killed; that +the king had preserved my life, and had consented to spare his on the +supposition that he was my father, an opinion which he must be careful +not to undeceive them in, as it was his only safety. After giving him +his cue, I went on shore with him, and presented him to Maquina, who +immediately knew him to be the sail-maker, and was much pleased, +observing that he could make sails for his canoe. He then took us to his +house, and ordered something for us to eat. + +On the 24th and 25th, the natives were busily employed in taking the +cargo out of the ship, stripping her of her sails and rigging, cutting +away the spars and masts, and, in short, rendering her as complete a +wreck as possible, the muskets, ammunition, cloth, and all the principal +articles taken from her, being deposited in the king's house. + +While they were thus occupied, each one taking what he liked, my +companion and myself being obliged to aid them, I thought it best to +secure the accounts and papers of the ship, in hopes that on some future +day I might have it in my power to restore them to the owners. With this +view I took possession of the captain's writing-desk, which contained +the most of them, together with some paper and implements for writing. I +had also the good fortune to find a blank account-book, in which I +resolved, should it be permitted me, to write an account of our capture, +and the most remarkable occurrences that I should meet with during my +stay among these people, fondly indulging the hope that it would not be +long before some vessel would arrive to release us. I likewise found in +the cabin a small volume of sermons, a Bible, and a Common Prayer-book +of the Church of England, which furnished me and my comrade great +consolation in the midst of our mournful servitude, and enabled me, +under the favour of Divine Providence, to support with firmness the +miseries of a life which I might otherwise have found beyond my +strength to endure. + +As these people set no value upon things of this kind, I found no +difficulty in appropriating them to myself, by putting them in my chest, +which, though it had been broken open and rifled by the savages, as I +still had the key, I without much difficulty secured. In this I also put +some small tools belonging to the ship, with several other articles, +particularly a journal kept by the second mate, Mr. Ingraham, and a +collection of drawings and views of places taken by him, which I had the +good fortune to preserve, and on my arrival at Boston, I gave them to a +connection of his, the Honourable Judge Dawes, who sent them to his +family in New York. + +On the 26th, two ships were seen standing in for Friendly Cove. At their +first appearance the inhabitants were thrown into great confusion, but, +soon collecting a number of muskets and blunderbusses, ran to the shore, +from whence they kept up so brisk a fire at them, that they were +evidently afraid to approach nearer, and, after firing a few rounds of +grape-shot, which did no harm to any one, they wore ship and stood out +to sea. These ships, as I afterwards learned, were the _Mary_ and _Juno_ +of Boston. + +They were scarcely out of sight when Maquina expressed much regret that +he had permitted his people to fire at them, being apprehensive that +they would give information to others in what manner they had been +received, and prevent them from coming to trade with him. + +A few days after hearing of the capture of the ship, there arrived at +Nootka a great number of canoes filled with savages from no less than +twenty tribes to the north and south. Among those from the north were +the Ai-tiz-zarts,[44] Schoo-mad-its,[45] Neu-wit-ties,[46] +Savin-nars,[47] Ah-owz-arts,[48] Mo-watch-its,[49] Suth-setts,[50] +Neu-chad-lits,[51] Mich-la-its,[52] and Cay-u-quets,[53] the most of +whom were considered as tributary to Nootka. From the south, the +Aytch-arts[54] and Esqui-ates,[55] also tributary, with the +Kla-oo-quates,[56] and the Wickannish, a large and powerful tribe about +two hundred miles distant. + +These last were better clad than most of the others, and their canoes +wrought with much greater skill; they are furnished with sails as well +as paddles, and, with the advantage of a fair breeze, are usually but +twenty-four hours on their passage. + +Maquina, who was very proud of his new acquisition, was desirous of +welcoming these visitors in the European manner. He accordingly ordered +his men, as the canoes approached, to assemble on the beach with loaded +muskets and blunderbusses, placing Thompson at the cannon, which had +been brought from the ship and laid upon two long sticks of timber in +front of the village; then, taking a speaking trumpet in his hand, he +ascended with me the roof of his house, and began drumming or beating +upon the boards with a stick most violently. + +Nothing could be more ludicrous than the appearance of this motley group +of savages collected on the shore, dressed as they were with their +ill-gotten finery in the most fantastic manner, some in women's smocks, +taken from our cargo, others in _Kotsacks_[57] (or cloaks) of blue, red, +or yellow broadcloth, with stockings drawn over their heads, and their +necks hung round with numbers of powder-horns, shot-bags, and +cartouch-boxes, some of them having no less than ten muskets apiece on +their shoulders, and five or six daggers in their girdles. Diverting +indeed was it to see them all squatted upon the beach, holding their +muskets perpendicularly with the butt pressed upon the sand, instead of +against their shoulders, and in this position awaiting the order to +fire. + +Maquina, at last, called to them with his trumpet to fire, which they +did in the most awkward and timid manner, with their muskets hard +pressed upon the ground as above-mentioned. At the same moment the +cannon was fired by Thompson, immediately on which they threw themselves +back and began to roll and tumble over the sand as if they had been +shot, when, suddenly springing up, they began a song of triumph, and, +running backward and forward upon the shore, with the wildest +gesticulations, boasted of their exploits, and exhibited as trophies +what they had taken from us. Notwithstanding the unpleasantness of my +situation, and the feelings that this display of our spoils excited, I +could not avoid laughing at the strange appearance of these savages, +their awkward movements, and the singular contrast of their dress and +arms. + +When the ceremony was concluded, Maquina invited the strangers to a +feast at his house, consisting of whale-blubber, smoked herring spawn, +and dried fish and train-oil, of which they ate most plentifully. The +feast being over, the trays out of which they ate, and other things, +were immediately removed to make room for the dance, which was to close +the entertainment. This was performed by Maquina's son, the young prince +Sat-sat-sok-sis, whom I have already spoken of, in the following +manner:-- + +Three of the principal chiefs, drest in their otter-skin mantles, which +they wear only on extraordinary occasions and at festivals, having their +heads covered over with white down and their faces highly painted, came +forward into the middle of the room, each furnished with a bag filled +with white down, which they scattered around in such a manner as to +represent a fall of snow. These were followed by the young prince, who +was dressed in a long piece of yellow cloth, wrapped loosely around him, +and decorated with small bells, with a cap on his head to which was +fastened a curious mask in imitation of a wolf's head, while the rear +was brought up by the king himself in his robe of sea-otter skin, with a +small whistle in his mouth and a rattle in his hand, with which he kept +time to a sort of tune on his whistle. After passing very rapidly in +this order around the house, each of them seated himself, except the +prince, who immediately began his dance, which principally consisted in +springing up into the air in a squat posture, and constantly turning +around on his heels with great swiftness in a very narrow circle. + +This dance, with a few intervals of rest, was continued for about two +hours, during which the chiefs kept up a constant drumming with sticks +of about a foot in length on a long hollow plank, which was, though a +very noisy, a most doleful kind of music. This they accompanied with +songs, the king himself acting as chorister, while the women applauded +each feat of activity in the dancer, by repeating the words, _Wocash! +Wocash Tyee!_[58] that is, Good! very good, Prince! + +As soon as the dance was finished, Maquina began to give presents to the +strangers, in the name of his son Sat-sat-sok-sis. These were pieces of +European cloth, generally of a fathom in length, muskets, powder, shot, +etc. Whenever he gave them anything, they had a peculiar manner of +snatching it from him with a very stern and surly look, repeating each +time the words, _Wocash Tyee_. This I understood to be their custom, and +was considered as a compliment, which, if omitted, would be supposed as +a mark of disregard for the present. On this occasion Maquina gave away +no less than one hundred muskets, the same number of looking-glasses, +four hundred yards of cloth, and twenty casks of powder, besides other +things. + +After receiving these presents, the strangers retired on board their +canoes, for so numerous were they that Maquina would not suffer any but +the chiefs to sleep in the houses; and, in order to prevent the property +from being pillaged by them, he ordered Thompson and myself to keep +guard during the night, armed with cutlasses and pistols. + +In this manner tribes of savages from various parts of the coast +continued coming for several days, bringing with them blubber, oil, +herring spawn, dried fish, and clams, for which they received in return +presents of cloth, etc., after which they in general immediately +returned home. I observed that very few, if any, of them, except the +chiefs, had arms, which, I afterwards learned, is the custom with these +people, whenever they come upon a friendly visit or to trade, in order +to show, on their approach, that their intentions are pacific.[59] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[42] A common mode of expressing joy. During dancing and singing this +goes on continually. + +[43] In 1863, when I made a special inquiry, the whole number of adult +males in the Mooachaht tribe (the so-called Nootkans) was one hundred +and fifty. + +[44] Ayhuttisahts. + +[45] This name is unknown to me. + +[46] Nahwittis, or Flatlashekwill, an almost vanished tribe, join the +north end of Vancouver Island (Goletas Channel, Galliano Island, and +west-ward to Cape Scott). + +[47] The name of some village, not a tribe. + +[48] Ahousahts. + +[49] Mooachahts. The "Nootkans" proper of Friendly Cove. + +[50] Seshahts, but they are to the south (Alberni Canal) and Barclay +Sound. + +[51] Noochahlahts (lat. 49 deg. 47' 20" N.). + +[52] Muchlahts, or Quaquina arm. + +[53] Ky-yoh-quahts. + +[54] This is probably another spelling of the E-cha-chahts. + +[55] Hishquayahts (lat. 49 deg. 27' 31" N., long. 126 deg. 25' 27" W.). + +[56] Klahoquahts. This and the other tribes mentioned in the text +are no longer tributary to the Mooachahts, and there is no "Wickannish" +tribe. As we have already seen (p. 38), it is the name of an +individual--probably the chief of the Klahoquahts. It is a common name. +The Nettinahts and the Klahoquahts are still renowned in canoe-making. +They chisel them out of the great cedar (_Thuja gigantea_) trees in this +district, for sale to other tribes. But Jewitt, who had no personal +knowledge of the homes of these tribes, makes sad havoc of their names +and the direction from which they came. + +[57] _Kootsik_, the "cotsack" of Meares. _Kootsik-poom_ is the pin by +which the Indian blanket cloak is fastened. In Meares's time the people +dressed in kootsiks of sea-otter skin. But even then they were getting +so fond of blankets, that without "woollens" among the barter, trade was +difficult. In fifteen years they learned a better use for sea-otters +worth L20 apiece than to make cloaks of them. + +[58] The words were really _Waw-kash_ (a word of salutation) and _Tyee_. +This is in most common use in Nootka Sound. The order of salutation to a +man is _Quaache-is_, to a woman _Che-is_, and at parting _Klach-she_. A +married woman is _Klootsnah_; a young girl _Hah-quatl-is_; an unmarried +woman (whether old or young) _Hah-quatl_--distinctions which Jewitt does +not make in his brief vocabulary. The Indians have many words to express +varieties of the same action. Thus _patt[=e]s_ means to wash. But +_patt[=e][=e]_ is to wash all over; _tsont-soomik_, to wash the hands; +_tsocuks_, to wash a pan, etc. _Haouwith_, or _Hawilth_, is the original +word for chief, though _Tyee_ is commonly used. + +[59] This is one of the earliest--if not the first--account of these +periodical givings away of property so characteristic of the +North-Western coast Indians, and known to the whites as "Potlatches." An +Indian accumulates blankets and other portable property simply to give +away at such feasts. Then if a poor, he becomes a great man, and even a +kind of minor chief--a Life Peer, as it were. But those who have +received much are expected to return the compliment by also giving a +"potlatch," to which guests come from far and near. I have described one +of these in _The Races of Mankind_ (the first edition of _The Peoples of +the World_), vol. i. pp. 75-90. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BURNING OF THE VESSEL--COMMENCEMENT OF JEWITT'S JOURNAL + + +Early on the morning of the 19th the ship was discovered to be on fire. +This was owing to one of the savages having gone on board with a +firebrand at night for the purpose of plunder, some sparks from which +fell into the hold, and, communicating with some combustibles, soon +enveloped the whole in flames. The natives regretted the loss of the +ship the more as a great part of her cargo still remained on board. To +my companion and myself it was a most melancholy sight, for with her +disappeared from our eyes every trace of a civilised country; but the +disappointment we experienced was still more severely felt, for we had +calculated on having the provision to ourselves, which would have +furnished us with a stock for years, as whatever is cured with salt, +together with most of our other articles of food, are never eaten by +these people. I had luckily saved all my tools, excepting the anvil and +the bellows, which was attached to the forge, and from their weight had +not been brought on shore. We had also the good fortune, in looking over +what had been taken from the ship, to discover a box of chocolate and a +case of port wine, which, as the Indians were not fond of it, proved a +great comfort to us for some time; and from one of the natives I +obtained a Nautical Almanack which had belonged to the captain, and +which was of great use to me in determining the time. + +About two days after, on examining their booty, the savages found a +tierce of rum, with which they were highly delighted, as they have +become very fond of spirituous liquors since their intercourse with the +whites.[60] This was towards evening, and Maquina, having assembled all +the men at his house, gave a feast, at which they drank so freely of the +rum, that in a short time they became so extremely wild and frantic that +Thompson and myself, apprehensive for our safety, thought it prudent to +retire privately into the woods, where we continued till past midnight. + +On our return we found the women gone, who are always very temperate, +drinking nothing but water, having quitted the house and gone to the +other huts to sleep, so terrified were they at the conduct of the men, +who lay all stretched out on the floor in a state of complete +intoxication. How easy in this situation would it have been for us to +have dispatched or made ourselves masters of our enemies had there been +any ship near to which we could have escaped, but as we were situated +the attempt would have been madness. The wish of revenge was, however, +less strongly impressed on my mind than what appeared to be so evident +an interposition of Divine Providence in our favour. How little can man +penetrate its designs, and how frequently is that intended as a blessing +which he views as a curse. The burning of our ship, which we had +lamented so much, as depriving us of so many comforts, now appeared to +us in a very different light, for, had the savages got possession of the +rum, of which there were nearly twenty puncheons on board,[61] we must +inevitably have fallen a sacrifice to their fury in some of their +moments of intoxication. This cask, fortunately, and a case of gin, was +all the spirits they obtained from the ship. To prevent the recurrence +of similar danger, I examined the cask, and, finding still a +considerable quantity remaining, I bored a small hole in the bottom with +a gimblet, which before morning, to my great joy, completely emptied it. + + +By this time the wound in my head began to be much better, so that I +could enjoy some sleep, which I had been almost deprived of by the pain, +and though I was still feeble from the loss of blood and my sufferings, +I found myself sufficiently well to go to work at my trade, in making +for the king and his wives bracelets and other small ornaments of copper +or steel, and in repairing the arms, making use of a large square stone +for the anvil, and heating my metal in a common wood fire. This was very +gratifying to Maquina, and his women particularly, and secured me their +goodwill. + +In the meantime, great numbers from the other tribes kept continually +flocking to Nootka, bringing with them, in exchange for the ship's +plunder, such quantities of provision, that, notwithstanding the little +success that Maquina met with in whaling this season, and their +gluttonous waste, always eating to excess when they have it, regardless +of the morrow, seldom did the natives experience any want of food during +the summer. As to myself and companion, we fared as they did, never +wanting for such provision as they had, though we were obliged to eat it +cooked in their manner, and with train-oil as a sauce, a circumstance +not a little unpleasant, both from their uncleanly mode of cooking and +many of the articles of their food, which to a European are very +disgusting; but, as the saying is, hunger will break through stone +walls, and we found, at times, in the blubber of sea animals and the +flesh of the dog-fish, loathsome as it generally was, a very acceptable +repast. + +But much oftener would poor Thompson, who was no favourite with them, +have suffered from hunger had it not been for my furnishing him with +provision. This I was enabled to do from my work, Maquina allowing me +the privilege, when not employed for him, to work for myself in making +bracelets and other ornaments of copper, fish-hooks, daggers, etc., +either to sell to the tribes who visited us or for our own chiefs, who +on these occasions, besides supplying me with as much as I wished to +eat, and a sufficiency for Thompson, almost always made me a present of +a European garment, taken from the ship, or some fathoms of cloth, which +were made up by my comrade, and enabled us to go comfortably clad for +some time; or small bundles of penknives, razors, scissors, etc., for +one of which we could almost always procure from the natives two or +three fresh salmon, cod, or halibut; or dried fish, clams, and herring +spawn from the stranger tribes; and had we only been permitted to cook +them after our own way, as we had pots and other utensils belonging to +the ship, we should not have had much cause of complaint in this +respect; but so tenacious are these people of their customs, +particularly in the article of food and cooking, that the king always +obliged me to give whatever provision I bought to the women to cook. And +one day, finding Thompson and myself on the shore employed in boiling +down sea-water into salt, on being told what it was he was very much +displeased, and, taking the little we had procured, threw it into the +sea. In one instance alone, as a particular favour, he allowed me to +boil some salmon in my own way, when I invited him and his queen to eat +with me; they tasted it, but did not like it, and made their meal of +some of it that I had cooked in their country fashion. + +In May the weather became uncommonly mild and pleasant, and so forward +was vegetation, that I picked plenty of strawberries[62] by the middle +of the month. Of this fruit there are great quantities on this coast, +and I found them a most delicious treat. + +My health now had become almost re-established, my wound being so far +healed that it gave me no further trouble. I had never failed to wash it +regularly once a day in sea water, and to dress it with a fresh leaf of +tobacco, which I obtained from the natives, who had taken it from the +ship, but made no use of it. This was all the dressing I gave it, except +applying to it two or three times a little loaf sugar, which Maquina +gave me, in order to remove some proud flesh, which prevented it from +closing. + +My cure would doubtless have been much sooner effected had I have been +in a civilised country, where I could have had it dressed by a surgeon +and properly attended to. But alas! I had no good Samaritan, with oil +and wine, to bind up my wounds, and fortunate might I even esteem myself +that I was permitted to dress it myself, for the utmost that I could +expect from the natives was compassion for my misfortunes, which I +indeed experienced from the women, particularly the queen, or favourite +wife of Maquina, the mother of Sat-sat-sok-sis, who used frequently to +point to my head, and manifest much kindness and solicitude for me. I +must do Maquina the justice to acknowledge, that he always appeared +desirous of sparing me any labour which he believed might be hurtful to +me, frequently inquiring in an affectionate manner if my head pained me. +As for the others, some of the chiefs excepted, they cared little what +became of me, and probably would have been gratified with my death. + +My health being at length re-established and my wound healed, Thompson +became very importunate for me to begin my journal, and as I had no ink, +proposed to cut his finger to supply me with blood for the purpose +whenever I should want it. On the 1st of June I accordingly commenced a +regular diary, but had no occasion to make use of the expedient +suggested by my comrade, having found a much better substitute in the +expressed juice of a certain plant, which furnished me with a bright +green colour, and, after making a number of trials, I at length +succeeded in obtaining a very tolerable ink, by boiling the juice of the +blackberry with a mixture of finely powdered charcoal, and filtering it +through a cloth. This I afterwards preserved in bottles, and found it +answer very well, so true is it that "necessity is the mother of +invention." As for quills, I found no difficulty in procuring them +whenever I wanted, from the crows and ravens with which the beach was +almost always covered, attracted by the offal of whales, seals, etc., +and which were so tame that I could easily kill them with stones, while +a large clam-shell furnished me with an inkstand. + +The extreme solicitude of Thompson that I should begin my journal might +be considered as singular in a man who neither knew how to read or +write, a circumstance, by the way, very uncommon in an American, were we +less acquainted with the force of habit, he having been for many years +at sea, and accustomed to consider the keeping of a journal as a thing +indispensable. This man was born in Philadelphia, and at eight years old +ran away from his friends and entered as a cabin boy on board a ship +bound to London. On his arrival there, finding himself in distress, he +engaged as an apprentice to the captain of a collier, from whence he was +impressed on board an English man-of-war, and continued in the British +naval service about twenty-seven years, during which he was present at +the engagement under Lord Howe with the French fleet in June 1794, and +when peace was made between England and France, was discharged. He was a +very strong and powerful man, an expert boxer, and perfectly fearless; +indeed, so little was his dread of danger, that when irritated he was +wholly regardless of his life. Of this the following will furnish a +sufficient proof:-- + +One evening about the middle of April, as I was at the house of one of +the chiefs, where I had been employed on some work for him, word was +brought me that Maquina was going to kill Thompson. I immediately +hurried home, where I found the king in the act of presenting a loaded +musket at Thompson, who was standing before him with his breast bared +and calling on him to fire. I instantly stepped up to Maquina, who was +foaming with rage, and, addressing him in soothing words, begged him for +my sake not to kill my father, and at length succeeded in taking the +musket from him and persuading him to sit down. + +On inquiring into the cause of his anger, I learned that, while Thompson +was lighting the lamps in the king's room, Maquina having substituted +ours for their pine torches, some of the boys began to tease him, +running around him and pulling him by the trousers, among the most +forward of whom was the young prince. This caused Thompson to spill the +oil, which threw him into such a passion, that, without caring what he +did, he struck the prince so violent a blow in his face with his fist as +to knock him down. The sensation excited among the savages by an act +which was considered as the highest indignity, and a profanation of the +sacred person of majesty, may be easily conceived. The king was +immediately acquainted with it, who, on coming in and seeing his son's +face covered with blood, seized a musket and began to load it, +determined to take instant revenge of the audacious offender, and had I +arrived a few moments later than I did, my companion would certainly +have paid with his life for his rash and violent conduct. I found the +utmost difficulty in pacifying Maquina, who for a long time after could +not forgive Thompson, but would repeatedly say, "John, _you_ +die--Thompson kill." + +But to appease the king was not all that was necessary. In consequence +of the insult offered to their prince, the whole tribe held a council, +in which it was unanimously resolved that Thompson should be put to +death in the most cruel manner. I however interceded so strenuously with +Maquina for his life, telling him that if my father was killed, I was +determined not to survive him, that he refused to deliver him up to the +vengeance of his people, saying, that for John's sake they must consent +to let him live. The prince, who, after I had succeeded in calming his +father, gave me an account of what had happened, told me that it was +wholly out of regard to me, as Thompson was my father, that his life had +been spared, for that if any one of the tribe should dare to lift a hand +against him in anger, he would most certainly be put to death. + +Yet even this narrow escape produced not much effect on Thompson, or +induced him to restrain the violence of his temper. For, not many weeks +after, he was guilty of a similar indiscretion, in striking the eldest +son of a chief, who was about eighteen years old, and, according to +their custom, was considered as a Tyee, or chief, himself, in +consequence of his having provoked him by calling him a white slave. +This affair caused great commotion in the village, and the tribe was +very clamorous for his death, but Maquina would not consent. + +I used frequently to remonstrate with him on the imprudence of his +conduct, and beg him to govern his temper better, telling him that it +was our duty, since our lives were in the power of these savages, to do +nothing to exasperate them. But all I could say on this point availed +little, for so bitter was the hate he felt for them, which he was no way +backward in manifesting both by his looks and actions, that he declared +he never would submit to their insults, and that he had much rather be +killed than be obliged to live among them; adding that he only wished he +had a good vessel and some guns, and he would destroy the whole of the +cursed race; for to a brave sailor like him, who had fought the French +and Spaniards with glory, it was a punishment worse than death to be a +slave to such a poor, ignorant, despicable set of beings. + +As for myself, I thought very differently. After returning thanks to +that merciful Being who had in so wonderful a manner softened the hearts +of the savages in my favour, I had determined from the first of my +capture to adopt a conciliating conduct towards them, and conform +myself, as far as was in my power, to their customs and mode of +thinking, trusting that the same divine goodness that had rescued me +from death, would not always suffer me to languish in captivity among +these heathens. + +With this view, I sought to gain their goodwill by always endeavouring +to assume a cheerful countenance, appearing pleased with their sports +and buffoon tricks, making little ornaments for the wives and children +of their chiefs, by which means I became quite a favourite with them, +and fish-hooks, daggers, etc., for themselves. + +As a further recommendation to their favour, and what might eventually +prove of the utmost importance to us, I resolved to learn their +language, which in the course of a few months' residence I so far +succeeded in acquiring, as to be able in general to make myself well +understood. + +I likewise tried to persuade Thompson to learn it, as what might prove +necessary to him. But he refused, saying that he hated both them and +their cursed lingo, and would have nothing to do with it. + +By pursuing this conciliatory plan, so far did I gain the goodwill of +these savages, particularly the chiefs, that I scarcely ever failed +experiencing kind treatment from them, and was received with a smile of +welcome at their houses, where I was always sure of having something +given me to eat, whenever they had it, and many a good meal have I had +from them, when they themselves were short of provisions and suffering +for the want of them. + +And it was a common practice with me, when we had nothing to eat at +home, which happened not unfrequently during my stay among them, to go +around the village, and on noticing a smoke from any of the houses, +which denoted that they were cooking, enter in without ceremony, and ask +them for something, which I was never refused. + +Few nations, indeed, are there so very rude and unfeeling, whom constant +mild treatment, and an attention to please, will not mollify and obtain +from some return of kind attention. This the treatment I received from +these people may exemplify, for not numerous, even among those calling +themselves civilised, are there instances to be found of persons +depriving themselves of food to give it to a stranger, whatever may be +his merits. + +It may perhaps be as well in this place to give a description of Nootka; +some accounts of the tribes who were accustomed to visit us; and the +manners and customs of the people, as far as I hitherto had an +opportunity of observing them. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[60] It was about this date that Long, an Indian trader, described rum +as the _unum necessarium_ for traffic with the savages. It is still +eagerly asked for, though its sale or gift is illegal. + +[61] For sale, of course, to the Indians. + +[62] Chiefly _Fragaria chilensis_. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +DESCRIPTION OF NOOTKA SOUND--MANNER OF BUILDING +HOUSES--FURNITURE--DRESSES + + +The village of Nootka is situated in between 49 and 50 deg. N. lat.,[63] +at the bottom of Friendly Cove, on the west or north-west side. It +consists of about twenty houses or huts, on a small hill, which rises +with a gentle ascent from the shore. Friendly Cove, which affords good +and secure anchorage for ships close in with the shore, is a small +harbour of not more than a quarter or half a mile in length, and about +half a mile or three-quarters broad, formed by the line of coast on the +east and a long point or headland, which extends as much as three +leagues into the Sound, in nearly a westerly direction.[64] This, as +well as I can judge from what I have seen of it, is in general from one +to two miles in breadth, and mostly a rocky and unproductive soil, with +but few trees. The eastern and western shores of this harbour are steep +and in many parts rocky, the trees growing quite to the water's edge, +but the bottom to the north and north-west is a fine sandy beach of half +a mile or more in extent. + +From the village to the north and north-east extends a plain, the soil +of which is very excellent, and with proper cultivation may be made to +produce almost any of our European vegetables; this is but little more +than half a mile in breadth, and is terminated by the seacoast, which in +this place is lined with rocks and reefs, and cannot be approached by +ships. The coast in the neighbourhood of Nootka is in general low, and +but little broken into hills and valleys. The soil is good, well covered +with fine forests of pine, spruce, beech, and other trees, and abounds +with streams of the finest water, the general appearance being the same +for many miles around. + +The village is situated on the ground occupied by the Spaniards, when +they kept a garrison here; the foundations of the church and the +governor's house are yet visible, and a few European plants are still to +be found, which continue to be self-propagated, such as onions, peas, +and turnips, but the two last are quite small, particularly the turnips, +which afforded us nothing but the tops for eating. Their former village +stood on the same spot, but the Spaniards, finding it a commodious +situation, demolished the houses, and forced the inhabitants to retire +five or six miles into the country.[65] With great sorrow, as Maquina +told me, did they find themselves compelled to quit their ancient place +of residence, but with equal joy did they repossess themselves of it +when the Spanish garrison was expelled by the English. + +[Illustration: HABITATIONS IN NOOTKA SOUND.] + +The houses, as I have observed, are above twenty in number, built nearly +in a line. These are of different sizes, according to the rank or +quality of the _Tyee_, or chief, who lives in them, each having one, of +which he is considered as the lord. They vary not much in width, being +usually from thirty-six to forty feet wide, but are of very different +lengths, that of the king, which is much the longest, being about one +hundred and fifty feet, while the smallest, which contain only two +families, do not exceed forty feet in length; the house of the king is +also distinguished from the others by being higher. + +Their method of building is as follows: they erect in the ground two +very large posts, at such a distance apart as is intended for the length +of the house. On these, which are of equal height, and hollowed out at +the upper end, they lay a large spar for the ridge-pole of the building, +or, if the length of the house requires it, two or more, supporting +their ends by similar upright posts; these spars are sometimes of an +almost incredible size, having myself measured one in Maquina's house, +which I found to be one hundred feet long and eight feet four inches in +circumference. At equal distances from these two posts, two others are +placed on each side, to form the width of the building; these are rather +shorter than the first, and on them are laid in like manner spars, but +of a smaller size, having the upper part hewed flat, with a narrow ridge +on the outer side to support the ends of the planks. + +The roof is formed of pine planks with a broad feather edge, so as to +lap well over each other, which are laid lengthwise from the ridge-pole +in the centre, to the beams at the sides, after which the top is covered +with planks of eight feet broad, which form a kind of coving projecting +so far over the ends of the planks that form the roof, as completely to +exclude the rain. On these they lay large stones to prevent their being +displaced by the wind. The ends of the planks are not secured to the +beams on which they are laid by any fastening, so that in a high storm I +have often known all the men obliged to turn out and go upon the roof to +prevent them from being blown off, carrying large stones and pieces of +rock with them to secure the boards, always stripping themselves naked +on these occasions, whatever may be the severity of the weather, to +prevent their garments from being wet and muddied, as these storms are +almost always accompanied with heavy rains. The sides of their houses +are much more open and exposed to the weather; this proceeds from their +not being so easily made close as the roof, being built with planks of +about ten feet long and four or five wide, which they place between +stancheons or small posts of the height of the roof; of these there are +four to each range of boards, two at each end, and so near each other as +to leave space enough for admitting a plank. The planks or boards which +they make use of for building their houses, and for other uses, they +procure of different lengths as occasion requires, by splitting them out +with hard wooden wedges from pine logs, and afterwards dubbing them down +with their chisels, with much patience, to the thickness wanted, +rendering them quite smooth. + +There is but one entrance; this is placed usually at the end, though +sometimes in the middle, as was that of Maquina's. Through the middle of +the building, from one end to the other, runs a passage of about eight +or nine feet broad, on each side of which the several families that +occupy it live, each having its particular fireplace, but without any +kind of wall or separation to mark their respective limits; the chief +having his apartment at the upper end, and the next in rank opposite on +the other side. They have no other floor than the ground; the fireplace +or hearth consists of a number of stones loosely put together, but they +are wholly without a chimney, nor is there any opening left in the roof, +but whenever a fire is made, the plank immediately over it is thrust +aside, by means of a pole, to give vent to the smoke. + +The height of the houses in general, from the ground to the centre of +the roof, does not exceed ten feet, that of Maquina's was not far from +fourteen; the spar forming the ridge-pole of the latter was painted in +red and black circles alternately, by way of ornament, and the large +posts that supported it had their tops curiously wrought or carved, so +as to represent human heads of a monstrous size, which were painted in +their manner. These were not, however, considered as objects of +adoration, but merely as ornaments.[66] + +The furniture of these people is very simple, and consists only of +boxes, in which they put their clothes, furs, and such things as they +hold most valuable; tubs for keeping their provisions of spawn and +blubber in; trays from which they eat; baskets for their dried fish and +other purposes, and bags made of bark matting, of which they also make +their beds, spreading a piece of it upon the ground when they lie down, +and using no other bed covering than their garments. The boxes are of +pine, with a top that shuts over, and instead of nails or pegs, are +fastened with flexible twigs; they are extremely smooth and high +polished, and sometimes ornamented with rows of very small white shells. +The tubs are of a square form, secured in the like manner, and of +various sizes, some being extremely large, having seen them that were +six feet long by four broad and five deep. The trays are hollowed out +with their chisels from a solid block of wood, and the baskets and mats +are made from the bark of trees. + +From bark they likewise make the cloth for their garments, in the +following manner:--A quantity of this bark is taken and put into fresh +water, where it is kept for a fortnight, to give it time to completely +soften; it is then taken out and beaten upon a plank, with an instrument +made of bone, or some very hard wood, having grooves or hollows on one +side of it, care being taken to keep the mass constantly moistened with +water, in order to separate, with more ease, the hard and woody from the +soft and fibrous parts, which, when completed, they parcel out into +skeins, like thread. These they lay in the air to bleach, and afterwards +dye them black or red, as suits their fancies, their natural colour +being a pale yellow. In order to form the cloth, the women, by whom the +whole of this process is performed, take a certain number of these +skeins and twist them together, by rolling them with their hands upon +their knees into hard rolls, which are afterwards connected by means of +a strong thread, made for the purpose. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A HABITATION IN NOOTKA SOUND.] + +Their dress usually consists of but a single garment, which is a loose +cloak or mantle (called _kutsack_) in one piece, reaching nearly to the +feet. This is tied loosely over the right or left shoulder, so as to +leave the arms at full liberty. + +Those of the common people are painted red with ochre the better to keep +out the rain, but the chiefs wear them of their native colour, which is +a pale yellow, ornamenting them with borders of the sea-otter skin, a +kind of grey cloth made of the hair of some animal[67] which they +procure from the tribes to the south, or their own cloth wrought or +painted with various figures in red or black, representing men's heads, +the sun and moon, fish and animals, which are frequently executed with +much skill. They have also a girdle of the same kind for securing this +mantle or _kutsack_ around them, which is in general still more highly +ornamented, and serves them to wear their daggers and knives in. In +winter, however, they sometimes make use of an additional garment, which +is a kind of hood, with a hole in it for the purpose of admitting the +head, and falls over the breast and back, as low as the shoulders; this +is bordered both at top and bottom with fur, and is never worn except +when they go out. + +The garments of the women vary not essentially from those of the men, +the mantle having holes in it for the purpose of admitting the arms, and +being tied close under the chin instead of over the shoulder. The chiefs +have also mantles of the sea-otter skin, but these are only put on upon +extraordinary occasions; and one that is made from the skin of a certain +large animal, which is brought from the south by the Wickanninish[68] +and Kla-iz-zarts.[69] This they prepare by dressing it in warm water, +scraping off the hair and what flesh adheres to it carefully with sharp +mussel-shells, and spreading it out in the sun to dry on a wooden frame, +so as to preserve the shape. When dressed in this manner it becomes +perfectly white, and as pliable as the best deer's leather, but almost +as thick again. They then paint it in different figures with such paints +as they usually employ in decorating their persons; these figures mostly +represent human heads, canoes employed in catching whales, etc. + +This skin is called metamelth, and is probably got from an animal of +the moose kind; it is highly prized by these people, is their great war +dress, and only worn when they wish to make the best possible display of +themselves. Strips or bands of it, painted as above, are also sometimes +used by them for girdles or the bordering of their cloaks, and also for +bracelets and ankle ornaments by some of the inferior class. + +On their heads, when they go out upon any excursion, particularly +whaling or fishing, they wear a kind of cap or bonnet in form not unlike +a large sugar loaf with the top cut off. This is made of the same +materials with their cloth,[70] but is in general of a closer texture, +and by way of tassel has a long strip of the skin of the metamelth[71] +attached to it, covered with rows of small white shells or beads. Those +worn by the common people are painted entirely red, the chiefs having +theirs of different colours. The one worn by the king, and which serves +to designate him from all the others, is longer and broader at the +bottom; the top, instead of being flat, having upon it an ornament in +the figure of a small urn. It is also of a much finer texture than the +others, and plaited or wrought in black and white stripes, with the +representation in front of a canoe in pursuit of a whale, with the +harpooner standing in the prow prepared to strike. This bonnet is called +_Seeya-poks_. + +Their mode of living is very simple--their food consisting almost +wholly of fish, or fish spawn fresh or dried, the blubber of the whale, +seal, or sea-cow, mussels, clams, and berries of various kinds; all of +which are eaten with a profusion of train-oil for sauce, not excepting +even the most delicate fruit, as strawberries and raspberries. + +With so little variety in their food, no great secret can be expected in +their cookery. Of this, indeed, they may be said to know but two +methods, viz. by boiling and steaming, and even the latter is not very +frequently practised by them. Their mode of boiling is as follows:--Into +one of their tubs they pour water sufficient to cook the quantity of +provision wanted. A number of heated stones are then put in to make it +boil, when the salmon or other fish are put in without any other +preparation than sometimes cutting off the heads, tails, and fins, the +boiling in the meantime being kept up by the application of the hot +stones, after which it is left to cook until the whole is nearly reduced +to one mass. It is then taken out and distributed in the trays. In a +similar manner they cook their blubber and spawn, smoked or dried fish, +and, in fine, almost everything they eat, nothing going down with them +like broth. + +When they cook their fish by steam, which are usually the heads, tails, +and fins of the salmon, cod, and halibut, a large fire is kindled, upon +which they place a bed of stones, which, when the wood is burnt down, +becomes perfectly heated. Layers of green leaves or pine boughs are then +placed upon the stones, and the fish, clams, etc., being laid upon +them, water is poured over them, and the whole closely covered with mats +to keep in the steam. This is much the best mode of cooking, and clams +and mussels done in this manner are really excellent.[72] These, as I +have said, may be considered as their only kinds of cookery; though I +have, in a very few instances, known them dress the roe or spawn of the +salmon and the herring, when first taken, in a different manner; this +was by roasting them, the former being supported between two split +pieces of pine, and the other having a sharp stick run through it, with +one end fixed in the ground; sprats are also roasted by them in this +way, a number being spitted upon one stick; and this kind of food, with +a little salt, would be found no contemptible eating even to an +European. + +At their meals they seat themselves upon the ground, with their feet +curled up under them, around their trays, which are generally about +three feet long by one broad, and from six to eight inches deep. In +eating they make use of nothing but their fingers, except for the soup +or oil, which they lade out with clam-shells. + +Around one of these trays from four to six persons will seat themselves, +constantly dipping in their fingers or clam-shells one after the other. +The king and chiefs alone have separate trays, from which no one is +permitted to eat with them except the queen, or principal wife of the +chief; and whenever the king or one of the chiefs wishes to distinguish +any of his people with a special mark of favour on these occasions, he +calls him and gives him some of the choice bits from his tray. The +slaves eat at the same time, and of the same provisions, faring in this +respect as well as their masters, being seated with the family, and only +feeding from separate trays. + +Whenever a feast is given by the king or any of the chiefs, there is a +person who acts as a master of ceremonies, and whose business it is to +receive the guests as they enter the house, and point out to them their +respective seats, which is regulated with great punctiliousness as +regards rank; the king occupying the highest or the seat of honour, his +son or brother sitting next him, and so on with the chiefs according to +their quality; the private persons belonging to the same family being +always placed together, to prevent any confusion. The women are seldom +invited to their feasts, and only at those times when a general +invitation is given to the village.[73] + +As, whenever they cook, they always calculate to have an abundance for +all the guests, a profusion in this respect being considered as the +highest luxury, much more is usually set before them than they can eat. +That which is left in the king's tray, he sends to his house for his +family by one of his slaves, as do the chiefs theirs; while those who +eat from the same tray, and who generally belong to the same family, +take it home as common stock, or each one receives his portion, which is +distributed on the spot. This custom appeared very singular to my +companion and myself, and it was a most awkward thing for us, at first, +to have to lug home with us, in our hands or arms, the blubber of fish +that we received at these times, but we soon became reconciled to it, +and were very glad of an opportunity to do it. + +[Illustration: NOOTKA SOUND INDIANS.] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[63] The exact position of the village is lat. 49 deg. 35' 31" N.; long. +126 deg. 37' 32" W. + +[64] According to the Admiralty Sailing Directions, the Cove is about +two cables in extent, and sheltered from the sea by a small rocky +high-water island on its east side. It affords anchorage in the middle +for only one vessel of moderate size, though several small vessels might +find shelter. When Vancouver visited it in 1792, no less than eight +ships were in it, most of them small, and secured to the shore by +hawsers. + +[65] This means farther up the Sound; for there are villages in the +interior of Vancouver Island. The Admiralty Sailing Directions declare +that not a trace of the Spanish settlement now exists. This is scarcely +correct, for an indistinct ridge shows the site of houses, and here and +there a few bricks half hidden in the ground may be detected. I have +seen a cannon ball and a Mexican dollar found there. Many of the Nootka +Indians have large moustaches and whiskers, which may possibly be due to +their Spanish blood, and others were decidedly Chinese-looking, a fact +which may be traced to the presence of Meares's Chinese carpenters in +1778-79. Some of them can, or could, thirty years ago, by tradition, +count ten in Spanish; and there is a legend in the Sound to the effect +that the white men had begun to cultivate the ground, and to erect a +stockade and fort; when one day a ship came with papers for the head +man, who was observed to cry, and all the foreigners became sad. The +next day they began moving their goods to the ship. But, as Mr. Sproat +suggests, this might have reference to Meares's settlement. + +[66] This is a good description of the house of Maquina's grandson, as I +saw it fifty-eight years after Jewitt's time. + +[67] Dog's hair. A tribe on Fraser River used to keep flocks of these +curs, which they periodically clipped like sheep. + +[68] Probably the Klayoquahts (see p. 77). + +[69] Klahosahts. + +[70] The outside is made of cedar bark, the inside of white-hair bark. + +[71] I have more than once discussed the identity of this animal with +Indian traders. None of them recognised it, nor, indeed, were acquainted +with the animal by the name Jewitt applies to it. It is, however, not +unlikely the North-Western marmot (_Arctomys pruinosus_), specimens of +which are now and then--though, it must be admitted, rarely--seen in +Vancouver Island; but it is more common farther south. The Alberni +Indians (Seshahts and Opechesahts) used to talk of a beast called +_Sit-si-tehl_, which we took to be the marmot, and Mr. Sproat saw one; I +was not so fortunate. + +[72] In the opinion of the judicious Jewitt, every one who has eaten +food--especially salmon and shell-fish--cooked after this fashion will +coincide. _Experto crede._ + +[73] Or to one or more of the neighbouring tribes, such feasts being +known as _Wawkoahs_. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES--ORNAMENTS--OTTER-HUNTING--FISHING--CANOES + + +In point of personal appearance the people of Nootka are among the +best-looking of any of the tribes that I have seen. The men are in +general from about five feet six to five feet eight inches in height; +remarkably straight, of a good form, robust and strong, with their limbs +in general well turned and proportioned, excepting the legs and feet, +which are clumsy and ill formed, owing, no doubt, to their practice of +sitting on them, though I have seen instances in which they were very +well shaped; this defect is more particularly apparent in the women, who +are for the most part of the time within doors, and constantly sitting +while employed in their cooking and other occupations.[74] The only +instance of deformity that I saw amongst them was a man of dwarfish +stature; he was thirty years old, and but three feet three inches high; +he had, however, no other defect than his diminutive size, being well +made, and as strong and able to bear fatigue as what they were in +general.[75] + +Their complexion, when freed from the paint and oil with which their +skins are generally covered, is a brown, somewhat inclining to a copper +cast. The shape of the face is oval; the features are tolerably regular, +the lips being thin and the teeth very white and even; their eyes are +black but rather small, and the nose pretty well formed, being neither +flat nor very prominent; their hair is black, long, and coarse, but they +have no beard, completely extirpating it, as well as the hair from their +bodies, Maquina being the only exception, who suffered his beard to grow +on his upper lip in the manner of mustachios, which was considered as a +mark of dignity. + +As to the women, they are much whiter, many of them not being darker +than those in some of the southern parts of Europe. They are in general +very well-looking, and some quite handsome. Maquina's favourite wife in +particular, who was a Wickinninish princess, would be considered as a +beautiful woman in any country. She was uncommonly well formed, tall, +and of a majestic appearance; her skin remarkably fair for one of these +people, with considerable colour, her features handsome, and her eyes +black, soft, and languishing; her hair was very long, thick, and black, +as is that of the females in general, which is much softer than that of +the men; in this they take much pride, frequently oiling and plaiting it +carefully into two broad plaits, tying the ends with a strip of the +cloth of the country, and letting it hang down before on each side of +the face. + +The women keep their garments much neater and cleaner than the men, and +are extremely modest in their deportment and dress; their mantle, or +_kutsack_, which is longer than that of the men, reaching quite to their +feet and completely enveloping them, being tied close under the chin, +and bound with a girdle of the same cloth or of sea-otter skin around +their waists; it has also loose sleeves, which reach to the elbows. +Though fond of ornamenting their persons, they are by no means so +partial to paint as the men, merely colouring their eyebrows black and +drawing a bright red stripe from each corner of the mouth towards the +ear. Their ornaments consist chiefly of ear-rings, necklaces, bracelets, +rings for the fingers and ankles, and small nose-jewels (the latter are, +however, wholly confined to the wives of the king or chiefs); these are +principally made out of copper or brass, highly polished and of various +forms and sizes; the nose-jewel is usually a small white shell[76] or +bead suspended to a thread. + +The wives of the common people frequently wear for bracelets and ankle +rings strips of the country cloth or skin of the metamelth painted in +figures, and those of the king or principal chiefs, bracelets and +necklaces consisting of a number of strings of _Ife-waw_, an article +much prized by them, and which makes a very handsome appearance. This +_Ife-waw_, as they term it, is a kind of shell of a dazzling whiteness +and as smooth as ivory; it is of a cylindrical form, in a slight degree +curved, about the size of a goose quill, hollow, three inches in length +and gradually tapering to a point, which is broken off by the natives as +it is taken from the water; this they afterwards string upon threads of +bark and sell it by the fathom; it forms a kind of circulating medium +among these nations, five fathoms being considered as the price of a +slave, their most valuable species of property. It is principally +obtained from the Aitizzarts, a people living about thirty or forty +miles to the northward, who collect it from the reefs and sunken rocks +with which their coast abounds, though it is also brought in +considerable quantity from the south.[77] + +Their mode of taking it has been thus described to me:--To one end of a +pole is fastened a piece of plank, in which a considerable number of +pine pegs are inserted, made sharp at the ends; above the plank, in +order to sink it, a stone or some weight is tied, and the other end of +the pole suspended to a long rope; this is let down perpendicularly by +the _Ife-waw_ fishers in those places where that substance is found, +which are usually from fifty to sixty fathoms deep. On finding the +bottom, they raise the pole up a few feet and let it fall; this they +repeat a number of times, as if sounding, when they draw it up and take +off the _Ife-waw_ which is found adhering to the points. This method of +procuring it is very laborious and fatiguing, especially as they seldom +take more than two or three of these shells at a time, and frequently +none. + +Though the women, as I have said, make but little use of paint, the very +reverse is the case with the men. In decorating their heads and faces +they place their principal pride, and none of our most fashionable beaus +when preparing for a grand ball can be more particular; for I have known +Maquina, after having been employed more than an hour in painting his +face, rub the whole off, and recommence the operation anew, when it did +not entirely please him. + +The manner in which they paint themselves frequently varies, according +to the occasion, but it oftener is the mere dictate of whim. The most +usual method is to paint the eyebrows black in form of a half-moon and +the face red in small squares, with the arms and legs and part of the +body red; sometimes one half of the face is painted red in squares and +the other black; at others dotted with spots of red and black instead +of squares, with a variety of other devices, such as painting one half +of the face and body red and the other black. + +But a method of painting which they sometimes employed, and which they +were much more particular in, was by laying on the face a quantity of +bear's grease of about one-eighth of an inch thick; this they raised up +into ridges resembling a small bead in joiner's work with a stick +prepared for the purpose, and then painted them red, which gave the face +a very singular appearance. + +On extraordinary occasions the king and principal chiefs used to strew +over their faces, after painting, a fine black shining powder procured +from some mineral, as Maquina told me it was got from the rocks. This +they call _pelpelth_,[78] and value it highly, as, in their opinion, it +serves to set off their looks to great advantage, glittering especially +in the sun like silver. This article is brought them in bags by the +_Newchemass_,[79] a very savage nation who live a long way to the north, +from whom they likewise receive a superior kind of red paint, a species +of very fine and rich ochre, which they hold in much estimation. + +Notwithstanding this custom of painting themselves, they make it an +invariable practice, both in summer and winter, to bathe once a day, and +sometimes oftener; but as the paint is put on with oil, it is not much +discomposed thereby, and whenever they wish to wash it off, they repair +to some piece of fresh water and scour themselves with sand or rushes. + +In dressing their heads on occasion of a festival or a visit, they are +full as particular and almost as long as in painting. The hair, after +being well oiled, is carefully gathered upon the top of the head and +secured by a piece of pine or spruce bough with the green leaves upon +it. After having it properly fixed in this manner, the king and +principal chiefs used to strew all over it the white down obtained from +a species of large brown eagle which abounds on this coast, and which +they are very particular in arranging so as not to have a single feather +out of place, occasionally wetting the hair to make it adhere. This, +together with the bough, which is sometimes of considerable size and +stuck over with feathers by means of turpentine, gives them a very +singular and grotesque appearance, which they, however, think very +becoming, and the first thing they do, on learning the arrival of +strangers, is to go and decorate themselves in this manner. + +The men also wear bracelets of painted leather or copper and large +ear-rings of the latter, but the ornament on which they appear to set +the most value is the nose-jewel, if such an appellation may be given to +the wooden stick which some of them employ for this purpose. The king +and chiefs, however, wear them of a different form, being either small +pieces of polished copper or brass, of which I made many for them in +the shape of hearts and diamonds, or a twisted conical shell about half +an inch in length, of a bluish colour and very bright, which is brought +from the south. These are suspended by a small wire or string to the +hole in the gristle of the nose, which is formed in infancy by boring it +with a pin, the hole being afterwards enlarged by the repeated insertion +of wooden pegs of an increased size, until it becomes about the diameter +of a pipe-stem, though some have them of a size nearly sufficient to +admit the little finger. + +The common class, who cannot readily procure the more expensive jewels +that I have mentioned, substitute for them, usually, a smooth, round +stick, some of which are of an almost incredible length, for I have seen +them projecting not less than eight or nine inches beyond the face on +each side; this is made fast or secured in its place by little wedges on +each side of it. These "sprit-sail-yard fellows," as my messmate used to +call them, when rigged out in this manner, made quite a strange show, +and it was his delight, whenever he saw one of them coming towards us +with an air of consequence proportioned to the length of his stick, to +put up his hand suddenly as he was passing him, so as to strike the +stick, in order, as he said, to brace him up sharp to the wind; this +used to make them very angry, but nothing was more remote from +Thompson's ideas than a wish to cultivate their favour. + +The natives of Nootka appear to have but little inclination for the +chase, though some of them were expert marksmen, and used sometimes to +shoot ducks and geese; but the seal and the sea-otter form the +principal objects of their hunting, particularly the latter. + +Of this animal, so much noted for its valuable skin, the following +description may not be uninteresting:--The sea-otter[80] is nearly five +feet in length, exclusive of the tail, which is about twelve inches, and +is very thick and broad where it joins the body, but gradually tapers to +the end, which is tipped with white. The colour of the rest is a +shining, silky black, with the exception of a broad white stripe on the +top of the head. Nothing can be more beautiful than one of these animals +when seen swimming, especially when on the look-out for any object. At +such times it raises its head quite above the surface, and the contrast +between the shining black and the white, together with its sharp ears +and a long tuft of hair rising from the middle of its forehead, which +looks like three small horns, render it quite a novel and attractive +object. They are in general very tame, and will permit a canoe or boat +to approach very near before they dive. I was told, however, that they +are become much more shy since they have been accustomed to shoot them +with muskets, than when they used only arrows.[81] + +The skin is held in great estimation in China, more especially that of +the tail, the fur of which is finer and closer set than that on the +body. This is always cut off and sold separately by the natives. The +value of a skin is determined by its size, that being considered as a +prime skin which will reach, in length, from a man's chin to his feet. +The food of the sea-otter is fish, which he is very dexterous in taking, +being an excellent swimmer, with feet webbed like those of a goose. They +appear to be wholly confined to the seacoast, at least to the salt +water. They have usually three or four young at a time, but I know not +how often they breed, nor in what place they deposit their young, though +I have frequently seen them swimming around the mother when no larger +than rats. The flesh is eaten by the natives, cooked in their usual mode +by boiling, and is far preferable to that of the seal, of which they +make much account. + +But if not great hunters, there are few people more expert in fishing. +Their lines are generally, made from the sinew of the whale, and are +extremely strong. For the hook, they usually make use of a straight +piece of hard wood, in the lower part of which is inserted, and well +secured with thread or whale sinew, a bit of bone made very sharp at the +point and bearded; but I used to make for them hooks from iron, which +they preferred, not only as being less liable to break, but more certain +of securing the fish. Cod, halibut, and other sea fish were not only +caught by them with hooks, but even salmon. + +To take this latter fish, they practise the following method:--One +person seats himself in a small canoe, and, baiting his hook with a +sprat, which they are always careful to procure as fresh as possible, +fastens his line to the handle of the paddle; this, as he plies it in +the water, keeps the fish in constant motion, so as to give it the +appearance of life, which the salmon seeing, leaps at it and is +instantly hooked, and, by a sudden and dexterous motion of the paddle, +drawn on board. I have known some of the natives take no less than eight +or ten salmon of a morning, in this manner, and have seen from twenty to +thirty canoes at a time in Friendly Cove thus employed. + +They are likewise little less skilful in taking the whale. This they +kill with a kind of javelin or harpoon thus constructed and fitted: the +barbs are formed of bone, which are sharpened on the outer side, and +hollowed within, for the purpose of forming a socket for the staff; +these are then secured firmly together with a whale sinew, the point +being fitted so as to receive a piece of mussel-shell, which is ground +to a very sharp edge, and secured in its place by means of +turpentine.[82] To this head or prong is fastened a strong line of whale +sinew about nine feet in length, to the end of which is tied a bark rope +from fifty to sixty fathoms long, having from twenty to thirty sealskin +floats or buoys attached to it at certain intervals, in order to check +the motion of the whale and obstruct his diving. In the socket of the +harpoon a staff or pole of about ten feet long, gradually tapering from +the middle to each end, is placed; this the harpooner holds in his hand, +in order to strike the whale, and immediately detaches it as soon as the +fish is struck. + +The whale is considered as the king's fish, and no other person, when he +is present, is permitted to touch him until the royal harpoon has first +drawn his blood, however near he may approach; and it would be +considered almost a sacrilege for any of the common people to strike a +whale before he is killed, particularly if any of the chiefs should be +present.[83] They also kill the porpoise[84] and sea-cow[85] with +harpoons, but this inferior game is not interdicted the lower class. + +With regard to their canoes, some of the handsomest to be found on the +whole coast are made at Nootka, though very fine ones are brought by the +Wickinninish and the Kla-iz-zarts, who have them more highly ornamented. +They are of all sizes, from such as are capable of holding only one +person to their largest war canoes, which will carry forty men, and are +extremely light. Of these, the largest of any that I ever saw was one +belonging to Maquina, which I measured, and found to be forty-two feet +six inches in length at the bottom, and forty-six feet from stem to +stern. These are made of pine,[86] hollowed out from a tree with their +chisels solely, which are about three inches broad and six in length, +and set into a handle of very hard wood. + +This instrument was formerly made of flint, or some hard stone ground +down to as sharp an edge as possible, but since they have learned the +use of iron, they have almost all of them of that metal. Instead of a +mallet for striking this chisel, they make use of a smooth round stone, +which they hold in the palm of the hand. With this same awkward +instrument they not only excavate their canoes and trays and smooth +their planks, but cut down such trees as they want, either for building, +fuel, or other purposes, a labour which is mostly done by their slaves. + +The felling of trees, as practised by them, is a slow and most tedious +process, three of them being generally from two to three days in cutting +down a large one; yet so attached were they to their own method, that +notwithstanding they saw Thompson frequently, with one of our axes, of +which there was a number saved, fell a tree in less time than they +could have gone round it with their chisels, still they could not be +persuaded to make use of them. + +[Illustration: INDIAN CANOES, VICTORIA, V. I. (TEMP. 1863).] + +After hollowing out their canoes, which they do very neatly, they +fashion the outside, and slightly burn it, for the purpose of removing +any splinters or small points that might obstruct its passage through +the water, after which they rub it over thoroughly with rushes or coarse +mats, in order to smooth it, which not only renders it almost as smooth +as glass, but forms a better security for it from the weather; this +operation of burning and rubbing down the bottoms of their canoes is +practised as often as they acquire any considerable degree of roughness +from use. The outside by this means becomes quite black, and to complete +their work they paint the inside of a bright red, with ochre or some +other similar substance; the prows and sterns are almost always +ornamented with figures of ducks or some other kind of bird, the former +being so fashioned as to represent the head, and the latter the tail; +these are separate pieces from the canoe, and are fastened to it with +small flexible twigs or bark cord. + +Some of these canoes, particularly those employed in whaling, which will +hold about ten men, are ornamented within about two inches below the +gunwale with two parallel lines on each side of very small white shells, +running fore and aft, which has a very pretty effect. Their war canoes +have no ornament of this kind, but are painted on the outside with +figures in white chalk, representing eagles, whales, human heads, etc. +They are very dexterous in the use of their paddles, which are very +neatly wrought, and are five feet long, with a short handle and a blade +seven inches broad in the middle, tapering to a sharp point. With these +they will make a canoe skim very swiftly on the water, with scarcely any +noise, while they keep time to the stroke of the paddle with their +songs. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[74] Yet they are by no means weak in the legs, a coast Indian being +capable of long travel in the bush without tiring. The Hydahs of Queen +Charlotte Island, and the Tlinkets and Kaloshes of the neighbouring +mainland, are splendid specimens of men, tall, comparatively fair, +large-headed, regularly-featured, and endowed with courage and +intelligence, though their morals leave much to be desired. All the +canoe Indians are very strong-handed, owing to the constant use of the +paddle. In a scuffle with one of them, it does not do to let him get a +grip; better prevent him from coming to close quarters, for in this case +the white man has little chance. The Klahoquahts are the finest-looking +of the Vancouver west coast tribes. + +[75] I have rarely seen a corpulent Indian, and not one idiot, or a +cripple so deformed that he was incapable of earning his livelihood. It +is seldom that they are deformed from birth, and when they are, they +generally disappear, so as not to be a burden on the tribe. As a +facetious old savage remarked to me, when discussing that curious +immunity from helplessness in his tribe, "The climate doesn't agree with +them." The brother of Quisto, chief of the Pachenahts in 1865 (San Juan +Harbour), was much deformed in the legs, but he was an excellent +canoeman. + +[76] Commonly the flattish nacreous portion of the Abelone, or Ear-shell +(_Haliotis Kamschatkiana_), known as _Apats-em_, which is pawned or sold +in times of scarcity. By constant removal and insertion, the septum of +the nose, through which it is fastened, becomes in time so large that it +will admit almost any kind of moderately-sized ornament. Feathers are +frequently inserted, and more than once I have seen an Indian, clad in a +blanket alone, denude himself of his single garment to hold biscuits or +other goods, and dispose of his pipe by sticking it in the hole through +his nasal septum, which, had times been better, would have been occupied +with a piece of shell, either square, oblong, or of a horseshoe shape. + +[77] This is the well-known _Dentalium pretiosum_, or Tooth-shell, +generally known as the _Hioqua_. It is procured chiefly from Cape +Flattery, on the southern side of Juan de Fuca Strait, and from Koskeemo +Sound on the north. The "Aitizzarts" (Ayhuttisahts) probably obtained it +by barter with the tribes on that part of the coast. It is not much used +nowadays.--_The Peoples of the World_, vol. i. p. 60. + +[78] This is powdered mica of the black variety. It is obtained in +various places, from veins exposed, for the most part in the beds of +streams. + +[79] These seem to be the Nimpkish, from the Nimpkish River, south of +Fort Rupert, on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, who still +frequently cross the island by a chain of rivers and lakes to Nootka +Sound. This is confirmed by Jewitt writing in another place that they +lived somewhat in the interior. It is doubtful whether he knew that the +country in which he lived was an island. At all events, he never +mentions it by that name. This route I have described in "Das Innere der +Vancouver Insel" (Petermann, _Geographische Mittheilungen_, 1869). + +[80] _Enhydra lutris_, or "Quiaotluck," now so rapidly decreasing in +numbers that it can scarcely escape the fate of Steller's Rhytina. + +[81] For an account of the habits and history of these valued animals, +the reader is referred to _The Countries of the World_, vol. i. p. 304. + +[82] The harpoon is at present a little different in construction. Pine +resin, not "turpentine," is used for the purpose described, and the tips +of deers' horns are utilised for the barbs. The most remarkable fact +about the west coast of Vancouver Island whaling is its use of inflated +sealskins to impede the motion of the animal through the water. This is +an Eskimo contrivance in use by the Alaskans and other extreme northern +tribes, from whom the West Vancouverians seem to have borrowed it. In +Sproat's _Scenes and Studies of Savage Life_, p. 226, there is an +excellent description of whaling as practised in that part of Vancouver +Island. The species pursued is usually finbacks, though a "black fish" +with good whalebone is occasionally captured. + +[83] The honour of using the harpoon is a hereditary privilege, enjoyed +by only a few men in a tribe, and previous to the whaling season the +crews have to practise all manner of ascetic practices in order to +ensure good luck in the venture. + +[84] This porpoise Dr. Gray considered, after examining a skull which I +brought to the British Museum in 1866, to differ little, if at all, from +the _Phocaena communis_ of the Atlantic; but Dr. (afterwards Sir) W. H. +Flower (_List of the Specimens of Cetacea_, etc., 1885, p. 16) seems to +be of a different opinion. + +[85] This "sea-cow," of which Meares also speaks as an animal hunted by +the Nootka people, though rarely seen so far south, must, one might +think, be another name for the seal or "sea-calf," were not the latter +expressly referred to by name. The sea-cow, dugong, or manatee is not +found in these seas, and the _Rhytina Stelleri_, once so abundant on +Behring Island in Behring Strait, is generally considered to have been +exterminated in the interval between 1741-1768. This, however, is hardly +in accordance with fact, for, as evidence collected by Nordenskjold +proves, they were occasionally killed in 1780, while one was seen as +late as 1854. It is therefore by no means improbable that in 1803 a few +stragglers were still waiting their end on the shores of Vancouver +Island. The sea-lion (_Eumetopias Stelleri_) is a seal also verging on +extinction, the _Otaria ursinus_ being now the fur seal of commerce (and +politics) in that part of the North Pacific. + +[86] A species of cedar (_Thuja_) is the wood used. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MUSIC--MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS--SLAVES--NEIGHBOURING TRIBES--TRADE WITH +THESE--ARMY + + +They have a number which they sing on various occasions--at war,[87] +whaling and fishing, at their marriages and feasts, and at public +festivals or solemnities. The language of the most of these appears to +be very different in many respects from that used in their common +conversation, which leads me to believe either that they have a +different mode of expressing themselves in poetry, or that they borrow +their songs from their neighbours; and what the more particularly +induces me to the latter opinion is, that whenever any of the +Newchemass, a people from the northward, and who speak a very different +language, arrived, they used to tell me that they expected a new song, +and were almost always sure to have one. + +Their tunes are generally soft and plaintive, and though not possessing +great variety, are not deficient in harmony. Their singing is generally +accompanied with several rude kinds of instrumental music, among the +most prominent of which is a kind of a drum. This is nothing more than +a long plank hollowed out on the under side and made quite thin, which +is beat upon by a stick of about a foot long, and renders a sound not +unlike beating on the head of an empty cask, but much louder. + +But the two most favourite instruments are the rattle and the pipe or +whistle; these are, however, only used by the king, the chiefs, or some +particular persons. The former is made of dried sealskin, so as to +represent a fish, and is filled with a number of small smooth pebbles; +it has a short handle, and is painted red. The whistle is made of bone, +generally the leg of a deer; it is short, but emits a very shrill sound. +They have likewise another kind of music, which they make use of in +dancing, in the manner of castanets. This is produced by a number of +mussel or cockle shells tied together and shaken to a kind of tune, +which is accompanied with the voice. + + * * * * * + +Their slaves, as I have observed, form their most valuable species of +property. These are of both sexes, being either captives taken by +themselves in war, or purchased from the neighbouring tribes, and who +reside in the same house, forming as it were a part of the family, are +usually kindly treated, eat of the same food, and live as well as their +masters. They are compelled, however, at times to labour severely, as +not only all the menial offices are performed by them, such as bringing +water, cutting wood, and a variety of others, but they are obliged to +make the canoes, to assist in building and repairing the houses, to +supply their masters with fish, and to attend them in war and to fight +for them. + +None but the king and chiefs have slaves, the common people being +prevented from holding them, either from their inability to purchase +them, or, as I am rather inclined to think, from its being considered as +the privilege of the former alone to have them,[88] especially as all +those made prisoners in war belong either to the king or the chiefs who +have captured them, each one holding such as have been taken by himself +or his slaves. There is probably, however, some little distinction in +favour of the king, who is always the commander of the expedition, as +Maquina had nearly fifty, male and female, in his house, a number +constituting about one half of its inhabitants, comprehending those +obtained by war and purchase; whereas none of the other chiefs had more +than twelve. The females are employed principally in manufacturing +cloth, in cooking, collecting berries, etc., and with regard to food and +living in general have not a much harder lot than their mistresses, the +principal difference consisting in these poor unfortunate creatures +being considered as free to any one, their masters prostituting them +whenever they think proper for the purpose of gain. In this way many of +them are brought on board the ships and offered to the crews, from +whence an opinion appears to have been formed by some of our navigators +injurious to the chastity of their females, than which nothing can be +more generally untrue, as perhaps in no part of the world is that virtue +more prized.[89] + +The houses at Nootka, as already stated, are about twenty, without +comprising those inhabited by the Klahars, a small tribe that has been +conquered and incorporated into that of Nootka, though they must be +considered as in a state of vassalage, as they are not permitted to have +any chiefs among them, and live by themselves in a cluster of small +houses at a little distance from the village. The Nootka tribe, which +consists of about five hundred warriors,[90] is not only more numerous +than almost any of the neighbouring tribes, but far exceeds them in the +strength and martial spirit of its people; and in fact there are but few +nations within a hundred miles either to the north or south but are +considered as tributary to them. + +In giving some account of the tribes that were accustomed to visit +Nootka, I shall commence at the southward with the Kla-iz-zarts, and the +Wickinninish, premising that in point of personal appearance there +prevails a wonderful diversity between the various tribes on the coast, +with the exception of the feet and legs, which are badly shaped in +almost all of them from their practice of sitting on them. + +The Kla-iz-zarts are a numerous and powerful tribe, living nearly three +hundred miles to the south, and are said to consist of more than a +thousand warriors.[91] They appear to be more civilised than any of the +others, being better and more neatly dressed, more mild and affable in +their manners, remarkable for their sprightliness and vivacity, and +celebrated for their singing and dancing. + +They exhibit also greater marks of improvement in whatever is wrought by +them; their canoes, though not superior to those of Nootka in point of +form and lightness, are more highly ornamented, and their weapons and +tools of every kind have a much higher finish and display more skill in +the workmanship. Their cast of countenance is very different from that +of the Nootkians, their faces being very broad, with a less prominent +nose and smaller eyes, and the top of the head flattened as if it had +been pressed down with a weight. Their complexion is also much fairer, +and their stature shorter, though they are well formed and strongly set. + +They have a custom which appears to be peculiar to them, as I never +observed it in any of the other tribes, which is to pluck out not only +their beards and the hair from their bodies, but also their eyebrows, so +as not to leave a vestige remaining. They were also in general more +skilful in painting and decorating themselves, and I have seen some of +them with no less than a dozen holes in each of their ears, to which +were suspended strings of small beads about two inches in length. Their +language is the same as spoken at Nootka, but their pronunciation is +much more hoarse and guttural. These people are not only very expert in +whaling, but are great hunters of the sea-otter and other animals, with +which their country is said to abound, and the metamelth, a large animal +of the deer kind, the skin of which I have already spoken of, another of +a light grey colour, with very fine hair, from which they manufacture a +handsome cloth, the beaver, and a species of large wild cat or tiger +cat. + +The Wickinninish,[92] their neighbours on the north, are about two +hundred miles from Nootka. They are a robust, strong, and warlike +people, but considered by the Nootkians as their inferiors in courage. +This tribe is more numerous than that of Nootka, amounting to between +six and seven hundred warriors. Though not so civilised as the +Kla-iz-zarts, and less skilful in their manufactures, like them they +employ themselves in hunting, as well as in whaling and fishing. Their +faces are broad, but less so than the Kla-iz-zarts, with a darker +complexion and a much less open and pleasing expression of countenance, +while their heads present a very different form, being pressed in at the +sides and lengthened towards the top somewhat in the shape of a sugar +loaf. These people are very frequent visitors at Nootka, a close +friendship subsisting between the two nations, Maquina's _Arcomah_ or +queen, _Y-ya-tintla-no_, being the daughter of the Wickinninish king. + +The Kla-oo-quates[93] adjoining them on the north are much less +numerous, their force not exceeding four hundred fighting men; they are +also behind them in the arts of life. These are a fierce, bold, and +enterprising people, and there were none that visited Nootka, whom +Maquina used to be more on his guard against, or viewed with so much +suspicion. The Eshquates[94] are about the same number; these are +considered as tributary to Maquina. Their coast abounds with rivers, +creeks, and marshes. + +[Illustration: UK-LULAC-AHT INDIAN.] + +To the north the nearest tribe of any importance is the Aitizzarts;[95] +these, however, do not exceed three hundred warriors. In appearance +they greatly resemble the people of Nootka, to whom they are considered +as tributary, their manners, dress, and style of living also being very +similar. They reside at about forty miles' distance up the Sound. A +considerable way farther to the northward are the Cayuquets;[96] these +are a much more numerous tribe than that of Nootka, but thought by the +latter to be deficient in courage and martial spirit, Maquina having +frequently told me that their hearts were a little like those of birds. + +There are also both at the north and south many other intervening +tribes, but in general small in number and insignificant, all of whom, +as well as the above-mentioned, speak the same language. But the +Newchemass, who come from a great way to the northward, and from some +distance inland, as I was told by Maquina, speak quite a different +language,[97] although it is well understood by those of Nootka. These +were the most savage-looking and ugly men that I ever saw, their +complexion being much darker, their stature shorter, and their hair +coarser, than that of the other nations, and their dress and appearance +dirty in an extreme. They wear their beards long like Jews, and have a +very morose and surly countenance. Their usual dress is a _kotsuk_ made +of wolf-skin, with a number of the tails attached to it, of which I have +seen no less than ten on one garment, hanging from the top to the +bottom; though they sometimes wear a similar mantle of bark cloth, of a +much coarser texture than that of Nootka, the original of which appears +to be the same, though from their very great filthiness it was almost +impossible to discover what it had been. + +Their mode of dressing the hair also varies essentially from that of the +other tribes, for they suffer that on the back of the head to hang +loose, and bind the other over their foreheads in the manner of a +fillet, with a strip of their country cloth, ornamented with small white +shells. Their weapons are the _cheetolth_, or war-club, which is made +from whalebone, daggers, bow and arrows, and a kind of spear pointed +with bone or copper.[98] They brought with them no furs for sale, +excepting a few wolf-skins, their merchandise consisting principally of +the black shining mineral called _pelpelth_, and the fine red paint, +which they carefully kept in close mat bags, some small dried salmon, +clams, and roes of fish, with occasionally a little coarse matting +cloth. They were accustomed to remain a much longer time at Nootka than +the other tribes, in order to recover from the fatigue of a long +journey, part of which was overland, and on these occasions taught their +songs to our savages. + +The trade of most of the other tribes with Nootka was principally +train-oil, seal or whale's blubber, fish fresh or dried, herring or +salmon spawn, clams and mussels, and the _yama_,[99] a species of fruit +which is pressed and dried, cloth, sea-otter skins, and slaves. From +the Aitizzarts and the Cayuquets, particularly the former, the best +Ife-whaw and in the greatest quantities was obtained. The Eshquates +furnished us with wild ducks and geese, particularly the latter. The +Wickinninish and Kla-iz-zarts brought to market many slaves, the best +sea-otter skins, great quantities of oil, whale sinew, and cakes of the +_yama_, highly ornamented canoes, some Ife-whaw, red ochre and pelpelth +of an inferior quality to that obtained from the Newchemass, but +particularly the so much valued metamelth, and an excellent root called +by the Kla-iz-zarts _Quawnoose_.[100] This is the size of a small onion, +but rather longer, being of a tapering form like a pear, and of a +brownish colour. It is cooked by steam, is always brought in baskets +ready prepared for eating, and is in truth a very fine vegetable, being +sweet, mealy, and of a most agreeable flavour. It was highly esteemed by +the natives, who used to eat it, as they did everything else, with +train-oil. From the Kla-iz-zarts was also received, though in no great +quantity, a cloth manufactured by them from the fur already spoken of, +which feels like wool and is of a grey colour. + +Many of the articles thus brought, particularly the provisions, were +considered as presents, or tributary offerings, but this must be viewed +as little more than a nominal acknowledgment of superiority, as they +rarely failed to get the full amount of the value of their presents. I +have known eighteen of the great tubs, in which they keep their +provisions, filled with spawn brought in this way. On these occasions a +great feast is always made, to which not only the strangers, but the +whole village, men, women, and children, are generally invited, and I +have seen five of the largest tubs employed at such time, in cooking at +the king's house. At these feasts they generally indulge in eating to an +excess, making up in this respect for their want of inebriating liquors, +which they know no method of preparing in any form, their only drink +being water. + +Whenever they came to visit or trade, it was their general custom to +stop a few miles distant, under the lee of some bluff or rock, and rig +themselves out in their best manner, by painting and dressing their +heads. On their first coming on shore, they were invited to eat by the +king, when they brought to him such articles as he wanted, after which +the rest of the inhabitants were permitted to purchase, the strangers +being careful to keep them in their canoes until sold, under strict +guard to prevent their being stolen, the disposition of these people for +thieving being so great, that it is necessary to keep a watchful eye +upon them. + +This was their usual mode of traffic, but whenever they wished to +purchase any particular object, as, for instance, a certain slave, or +some other thing of which they were very desirous, the canoe that came +for this purpose would lie off a little distance from the shore, and a +kind of ambassador or representative of the king or chief by whom it was +sent, dressed in their best manner, and with his head covered with the +white down, would rise, and, after making known the object of his +mission in a pompous speech, hold up specimens of such articles as he +was instructed to offer in payment, mentioning the number or quantity of +each, when, if the bargain was concluded, the exchange was immediately +made. + +On their visits of friendship or traffic, the chiefs alone used to sleep +on shore; this was generally at the house of the king or the head chief, +the others passing the night on board of their canoes, which was done +not only for the preservation of their property, but because they were +not permitted to remain on shore, lest they might excite some +disturbance or commit depredations. + +All these people generally go armed, the common class wearing only a +dagger suspended from their neck behind, with a string of metamelth, and +sometimes thrust in their girdles. The chiefs, in addition to the +dagger, carry the cheetolth, or war-club, suspended in the same manner +beneath their mantles; this, in the hands of a strong man, is a powerful +weapon, in the management of which some of the older chiefs are very +dexterous. It is made from the bone of a whale, and is very heavy. The +blade is about eighteen inches long and three broad, till it approaches +near the point, where it expands to the breadth of four inches. In the +middle, from whence it slopes off gradually to an edge on each side, it +is from one to two inches in thickness. This blade is usually covered +with figures of the sun and moon, a man's head, etc.; and the hilt, +which is made to represent the head of a man or some animal, is +curiously set with small white shells, and has a band of metamelth +fastened to it, in order to sling it over the shoulder. Some of the +tribes have also a kind of spear headed with copper or the bone of the +sting ray, which is a dangerous weapon; this is, however, not usual, and +only carried by the chiefs. The bow and arrow are still used by a few, +but since the introduction of firearms among them, this weapon has been +mostly laid aside. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[87] A specimen of one of their war-songs will be found at the end of +this work. + +[88] This was not the case. Any free-born native, provided he had the +means, could own a slave. + +[89] This is largely a tale of the past. + +[90] It is questionable if there are now as many people in the whole +tribe. Cook estimated the population of Friendly Cove at two thousand. + +[91] This is wrong. The Kla-iz-zarts (Klahosahts) live _north_ of Nootka +Sound. + +[92] In Meares's time (1788) Wickinninish was regarded as the most +powerful chief, next to Maquina or Maquilla, as he calls him. His +residence was usually at "Port Cox" (Clayoquat Sound), but his territory +extended as far south as Nettinaht, his subjects comprising thirteen +thousand people. Meares does not fall into Jewitt's blunder of +confounding the name of the chief with that of his tribe. But Meares +derived his information first hand, while Jewitt obtained it merely from +hearsay, never having visited any other part except the immediate +vicinity of Nootka Sound. + +[93] Klayoquahts. They have now barely two hundred warriors. + +[94] Hishquahts. If they have twenty men, that is all. Thirty years ago +they had only thirty adult males. + +[95] Ayhuttisahts. Thirty years ago they had thirty-six men fit to +fight. + +[96] Ky-yoh-quahts. In 1860 they numbered two hundred and thirty adult +men. + +[97] Namely, the Kwakiool spoken on the east and north coasts of +Vancouver Island from Comox northwards. + +[98] These implements have fallen out of use. + +[99] The salal (_Gaultheria Shallon_), which forms a carpet to the +ground, especially where the soil is poor. + +[100] The bulb of a pretty blue lily (_Gamassia esculenta_), well known +all over North-West America as the "gamass" or "kamass." The digging and +storing of it in summer form one of the most picturesque of Indian +occupations. The gamass camps are always lively, and the skill and +industry which a girl displays in this important part of her future +duties are carefully noted by the young men in search of wives. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SITUATION OF THE AUTHOR--REMOVAL TO TASHEES--FISHING PARTIES + + +But to return to our unhappy situation. Though my comrade and myself +fared as well, and even better than we could have expected among these +people, considering their customs and mode of living, yet our fears lest +no ship would come to our release, and that we should never more behold +a Christian country, were to us a source of constant pain. Our principal +consolation, in this gloomy state, was to go on Sundays, whenever the +weather would permit, to the borders of a freshwater pond about a mile +from the village, where, after bathing and putting on clean clothes, we +would seat ourselves under the shade of a beautiful pine, while I read +some chapters in the Bible, and the prayers appointed by our Church for +the day, ending our devotions with a fervent prayer to the Almighty, +that He would deign still to watch over and preserve our lives, rescue +us from the hands of the savages, and permit us once more to behold a +Christian land. + +In this manner were the greater part of our Sundays passed at Nootka; +and I felt gratified to Heaven that, amidst our other sufferings, we +were at least allowed the pleasure of offering up our devotions +unmolested, for Maquina, on my explaining to him as well as was in my +power the reason of our thus retiring at this time, far from objecting, +readily consented to it. + +The pond above mentioned was small, not more than a quarter of a mile in +breadth, and of no great length, the water being very clear, though not +of great depth, and bordered by a beautiful forest of pine, fir, +elm,[101] and beech,[101] free from bushes and underwood--a most +delightful retreat, which was rendered still more attractive by a great +number of birds that frequented it, particularly the humming-bird.[102] +Thither we used to go to wash our clothes, and felt secure from any +intrusion from the natives, as they rarely visited it, except for the +purpose of cleansing themselves of their paint. + +In July we at length thought that the hope of delivery we had so long +anxiously indulged was on the point of being gratified. A ship appeared +in the offing; but, alas! our fond hopes vanished almost as soon as +formed; for, instead of standing in for the shore, she passed to the +northward, and soon disappeared. I shall not attempt to describe our +disappointment--my heart sank within me, and I felt as though it was my +destiny never more to behold a Christian face. Four days after, there +occurred a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning, during which the +natives manifested great alarm and terror, the whole tribe hurrying to +Maquina's house, where, instead of keeping within, they seated +themselves on the roof, amid the severest of the tempest, drumming upon +the boards, and looking up to heaven, while the king beat the long +hollow plank, singing, and, as he afterwards told me, begging +_Quahootze_, the name they give to God, not to kill them, in which he +was accompanied by the whole tribe; this singing and drumming was +continued until the storm abated. + +As the summer drew near its close, we began to suffer from the frequent +want of food, which was principally owing to Maquina and the chiefs +being out whaling, in which he would not permit Thompson and myself to +join, lest we should make our escape to some of the neighbouring tribes. +At these times the women seldom or ever cook any provision, and we were +often hungry, but were sometimes fortunate enough to procure secretly a +piece of salmon, some other fish, spawn, or even blubber, which, by +boiling in salt water, with a few onions and turnips, the remains of the +Spanish garden, or young nettles or other herbs, furnished us a +delicious repast in private. + +In the meantime, we frequently received accounts from the tribes who +came to Nootka, both from the north and south, of there being vessels on +the coast, and were advised by their chiefs to make our escape, who also +promised us their aid, and to put us on board. These stories, however, +as I afterwards learned, were almost all of them without any foundation, +and merely invented by these people with a view to get us into their +power, in order to make slaves of us themselves, or to sell us to +others. + +But I was still more strongly solicited to leave Nootka by a woman. This +was a Wickinninish princess, a younger sister of Maquina's wife, who was +there on a visit. I had the good fortune, if it may be so called, to +become quite a favourite with her. She appeared much interested for me, +asked me many questions respecting my country, if I had a mother and +sister at home, and if they would not grieve for my absence. Her +complexion was fairer than that of the women in general, and her +features more regular, and she would have been quite handsome had it not +been for a defect in one of her eyes, the sight of which had been +injured by some accident; the reason, as Maquina told me, why she had +not been married, a defect of this kind being by these savages +considered as almost an insuperable objection. She urged me repeatedly +to return with her, telling me that the Wickinninish were much better +than the Nootkians; that her father would treat me more kindly than +Maquina, give me better food and clothes, and finally put me on board +one of my own country vessels. I felt, however, little disposed to +accompany her, considering my situation with Maquina full as eligible as +it would be with Wickinninish, if not better, notwithstanding all she +said to the contrary. + +On the 3rd of September the whole tribe quitted Nootka, according to +their constant practice, in order to pass the autumn and winter at +Tashees[103] and Cooptee, the latter lying about thirty miles up the +Sound, in a deep bay, the navigation of which is very dangerous, from +the great number of reefs and rocks with which it abounds. + +On these occasions everything is taken with them, even the planks of +their houses, in order to cover their new dwellings. To an European such +a removal exhibits a scene quite novel and strange; canoes piled up with +boards and boxes, and filled with men, women, and children, of all ranks +and sizes, making the air resound with their cries and songs. + +At these times, as well as when they have occasion to go some distance +from their houses, the infants are usually suspended across the mother's +shoulders, in a kind of cradle or hammock, formed of bark, of about six +inches in depth, and of the length of the child, by means of a leather +band inserted through loops on its edges; this they also keep them in +when at home, in order to preserve them in a straight position, and +prevent any distortion of the limbs, most probably a principal cause of +these people being so seldom deformed or crooked. + +The longboat of our ship having been repaired and furnished with a sail +by Thompson, Maquina gave us the direction of it, we being better +acquainted with managing it than his people, and, after loading her as +deep as she could swim, we proceeded in company with them to the north, +quitting Nootka with heavy hearts, as we could entertain no hopes of +release until our return, no ships ever coming to that part of the +coast. Passing Cooptee, which is situated on the southern bank, just +within the mouth of a small river flowing from the east in a narrow +valley at the foot of a mountain, we proceeded about fifteen miles up +this stream to Tashees, between a range of lofty hills on each side, +which extend a great distance inland, and are covered with the finest +forest trees of the country. Immediately on our arrival, we all went to +work very diligently in covering the houses with the planks we had +brought, the frames being ready erected, these people never pretending +to remove the timber. In a very short time the work was completed, and +we were established in our new residence. + +Tashees is pleasantly situated, and in a most secure position from the +winter storms, in a small vale or hollow on the south shore, at the foot +of a mountain. The spot on which it stands is level, and the soil very +fine, the country in its vicinity abounding with the most romantic +views, charmingly diversified, and fine streams of water falling in +beautiful cascades from the mountains. The river at this place is about +twenty rods in width, and, in its deepest part, from nine to twelve +feet. This village is the extreme point of navigation, as, immediately +beyond, the river becomes much more shallow, and is broken into falls +and rapids. The houses here are placed in a line like those at Nootka, +but closer together, the situation being more confined; they are also +smaller, in consequence of which we were much crowded, and incommoded +for room. + +The principal object in coming to this place is the facility it affords +these people of providing their winter stock of provisions, which +consists principally of salmon, and the spawn of that fish; to which may +be added herrings and sprats, and herring spawn. The latter, however, is +always procured by them at Nootka, previous to their quitting it. At the +seasons of spawning, which are early in spring and the last of August, +they collect a great quantity of pine branches, which they place in +different parts of the Cove at the depth of about ten feet, and secure +them by means of heavy stones. On these the herring deposit their spawn +in immense quantities; the bushes are then taken up, the spawn stripped +from the branches, and, after being washed and freed from the pine +leaves by the women, is dried and put up in baskets for use. It is +considered as their greatest delicacy, and eaten both cooked and raw; in +the former case, being boiled and eaten with train-oil, and in the +latter, mixed up with cold water alone. + +The salmon are taken at Tashees, principally in pots or wears. Their +method of taking them in wears is thus:--A pot of twenty feet in length, +and from four to five feet diameter at the mouth, is formed of a great +number of pine splinters, which are strongly secured, an inch and a half +from each other, by means of hoops made of flexible twigs, and placed +about eight inches apart. At the end it tapers almost to a point, near +which is a small wicker door for the purpose of taking out the fish. +This pot or wear is placed at the foot of a fall or rapid, where the +water is not very deep, and the fish, driven from above with long poles, +are intercepted and caught in the wear, from whence they are taken into +the canoes. In this manner I have seen more than seven hundred salmon +caught in the space of fifteen minutes.[104] I have also sometimes known +a few of the striped bass taken in this manner, but rarely. + +[Illustration: SALMON WEAR NEAR THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF QUAMICHAN, V. I.] + +At such times there is great feasting and merriment among them. The +women and female slaves being busily employed in cooking, or in curing +the fish for their winter stock, which is done by cutting off the heads +and tails, splitting them, taking out the back bone, and hanging them up +in their houses to dry. They also dry the halibut and cod, but these, +instead of curing whole, they cut up into small pieces for that purpose, +and expose to the sun. + +The spawn of the salmon, which is a principal article of their +provision, they take out, and, without any other preparation, throw it +into their tubs, where they leave it to stand and ferment, for, though +they frequently eat it fresh, they esteem it much more when it has +acquired a strong taste, and one of the greatest favours they can confer +on any person, is to invite him to eat _Quakamiss_, the name they give +this food, though scarcely anything can be more repugnant to an European +palate, than it is in this state; and whenever they took it out of these +large receptacles, which they are always careful to fill, such was the +stench which it exhaled, on being moved, that it was almost impossible +for me to abide it, even after habit had in a great degree dulled the +delicacy of my senses. When boiled it became less offensive, though it +still retained much of the putrid smell, and something of the taste. + +Such is the immense quantity of these fish, and they are taken with such +facility, that I have known upwards of twenty-five hundred brought into +Maquina's house at once; and at one of their great feasts, have seen +one hundred or more cooked in one of their largest tubs. + +I used frequently to go out with Maquina upon these fishing parties, and +was always sure to receive a handsome present of salmon, which I had the +privilege of calling mine; I also went with him several times in a +canoe, to strike the salmon, which I have attempted to do myself, but +could never succeed, it requiring a degree of adroitness that I did not +possess. I was also permitted to go out with a gun, and was several +times very successful in shooting wild ducks and teal, which are very +numerous here, though rather shy. These they cooked in their usual +manner, by boiling, without any farther dressing than skinning them. + +In many respects, however, our situation was less pleasant here than at +Nootka. We were more incommoded for room, the houses not being so +spacious, nor so well arranged, and as it was colder, we were compelled +to be much more within doors. We, however, did not neglect on Sundays, +when the weather would admit, to retire into the woods, and, by the side +of some stream, after bathing, return our thanks to God for preserving +us, and offer up to Him our customary devotions. + +I was, however, very apprehensive, soon after our arrival at this place, +that I should be deprived of the satisfaction of keeping my journal, as +Maquina one day, observing me writing, inquired of me what I was doing, +and when I endeavoured to explain it, by telling him that I was keeping +an account of the weather, he said it was not so, and that I was +speaking bad about him, and telling how he had taken our ship and killed +the crew, so as to inform my countrymen, and that if he ever saw me +writing in it again, he would throw it into the fire. I was much +rejoiced that he did no more than threaten, and became very cautious +afterwards not to let him see me write. + +Not long after, I finished some daggers for him, which I polished +highly; these pleased him much, and he gave me directions to make a +cheetolth, in which I succeeded so far to his satisfaction, that he gave +me a present of cloth sufficient to make me a complete suit of raiment, +besides other things. + +Thompson also, who had become rather more of a favourite than formerly, +since he had made a fine sail for his canoe, and some garments for him +out of European cloth, about this time completed another, which was +thought by the savages a most superb dress. This was a _kotsuk_ or +mantle, a fathom square, made entirely of European vest patterns of the +gayest colours. These were sewed together in a manner to make the best +show, and bound with a deep trimming of the finest otter-skin, with +which the arm-holes were also bordered; while the bottom was further +embellished with five or six rows of gilt buttons, placed as near as +possible to each other. + +Nothing could exceed the pride of Maquina when he first put on this +royal robe, decorated, like the coat of Joseph, with all the colours of +the rainbow, and glittering with the buttons, which as he strutted about +made a tinkling, while he repeatedly exclaimed, in a transport of +exultation, "_Klew shish Kotsuk--wick kum_ _atack Nootka_."[105]--"A +fine garment--Nootka can't make them." + +Maquina, who knew that the chiefs of the tribes who came to visit us had +endeavoured to persuade me to escape, frequently cautioned me not to +listen to them, saying that, should I make the attempt, and he were to +take me, he should certainly put me to death. While here, he gave me a +book, in which I found the names of seven persons belonging to the ship +_Manchester_, of Philadelphia, Captain Brian--viz. Daniel Smith, Lewis +Gillon, James Tom, Clark, Johnson, Ben, and Jack. These men, as Maquina +informed me, ran away from the ship and came to him, but that six of +them soon after went off in the night, with an intention to go to the +Wickinninish, but were stopped by the Eshquates, and sent back to him, +and that he ordered them to be put to death; and a most cruel death it +was, as I was told by one of the natives, four men holding one of them +on the ground, and forcing open his mouth, while they choked him by +ramming stones down his throat. + +As to Jack, the boy, who made no attempt to go off, Maquina afterwards +sold him to the Wickinninish. I was informed by the Princess Yuqua that +he was quite a small boy, who cried a great deal, being put to hard +labour beyond his strength by the natives, in cutting wood and bringing +water, and that when he heard of the murder of our crew, it had such an +effect on him, that he fell sick, and died shortly after. On learning +the melancholy fate of this unfortunate lad, it again awakened in my +bosom those feelings that I had experienced at the shocking death of my +poor comrades. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[101] These trees are not found in Vancouver Island. Possibly, though +they are not very like, Jewitt mistook them for the Oregon alder and the +American ash, both trees of that locality. + +[102] This is the migratory red-backed species (_Selasphorus rufus_, p. +19). + +[103] "Tashis Canal" of seamen--the Tashis River flows in at its head, +Coptee is at the mouth, Tashis farther up the stream. + +[104] Salmon used to be bought at Alberni at the rate of a cent apiece. +There have been times when the garden at Fort Rupert was manured with +fresh salmon. + +[105] This is a fair specimen of the kind of _lingua franca_ which even +then had begun to spring up in the intercourse of the early traders with +the Indians, and which by now takes the shape of the Chinook Jargon. +For, apart from the imperfectly pronounced Indian words, there is no +such term as Nootka in any language. It was a misconception of the first +visitors there. They probably mistook _Nootchee_, a mountain, for the +name of the country generally (p. 29). + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CONVERSATION WITH MAQUINA--FRUITS--RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES--VISIT TO +UPQUESTA + + +The king, finding that I was desirous of learning their language, was +much delighted, and took great pleasure in conversing with me. On one of +these occasions he explained to me his reasons for cutting off our ship, +saying that he bore no ill will to my countrymen, but that he had been +several times treated very ill by them. The first injury of which he had +cause to complain, was done him by a Captain Tawnington, who commanded a +schooner which passed a winter at Friendly Cove, where he was well +treated by the inhabitants. This man, taking advantage of Maquina's +absence, who had gone to the Wickinninish to procure a wife, armed +himself and crew, and entered the house, where there were none but +women, whom he threw into the greatest consternation, and, searching the +chests, took away all the skins, of which Maquina had no less than forty +of the best; and that about the same time, four of their chiefs were +barbarously killed by a Captain Martinez, a Spaniard.[106] + +That soon after, Captain Hanna, of the _Sea Otter_[107] in consequence +of one of the natives having stolen a chisel from the carpenter, fired +upon their canoes which were alongside, and killed upwards of twenty of +the natives, of whom several were _Tyees_ or chiefs; and that he +himself, being on board the vessel, in order to escape was obliged to +leap from the quarter-deck, and swim for a long way under water. + +These injuries had excited in the breast of Maquina an ardent desire of +revenge, the strongest passion of the savage heart, and though many +years had elapsed since their commission, still they were not forgotten, +and the want of a favourable opportunity alone prevented him from sooner +avenging them. Unfortunately for us, the long-wished-for opportunity at +length presented itself in our ship, which Maquina finding not guarded +with the usual vigilance of the North-West traders, and feeling his +desire of revenge rekindled by the insult offered him by Captain Salter, +formed a plan for attacking, and on his return called a council of his +chiefs, and communicated it to them, acquainting them with the manner in +which he had been treated. No less desirous of avenging this affront +offered their king than their former injuries, they readily agreed to +his proposal, which was to go on board without arms as usual, but under +different pretexts, in great numbers, and wait for his signal for the +moment of attacking their unsuspecting victims. The execution of this +scheme, as the reader knows, was unhappily too successful. + +And here I cannot but indulge a reflection that has frequently occurred +to me on the manner in which our people behave towards the natives. For, +though they are a thievish race, yet I have no doubt that many of the +melancholy disasters have principally arisen from the imprudent conduct +of some of the captains and crews of the ships employed in this trade, +in exasperating them by insulting, plundering, and even killing them on +slight grounds. This, as nothing is more sacred with a savage than the +principle of revenge, and no people are so impatient under insult, +induces them to wreak their vengeance upon the first vessel or boat's +crew that offers, making the innocent too frequently suffer for the +wrongs of the guilty, as few of them know how to discriminate between +persons of the same general appearance, more especially when speaking +the same language. And to this cause do I believe must principally be +ascribed the sanguinary disposition with which these people are +reproached, as Maquina repeatedly told me that it was not his wish to +hurt a white man, and that he never should have done it, though ever so +much in his power, had they not injured him. + +[Illustration: CALLICUM AND MAQUILLA, CHIEFS OF NOOTKA SOUND.] + +And were the commanders of our ships to treat the savages with rather +more civility than they sometimes do, I am inclined to think they would +find their account in it; not that I should recommend to them a +confidence in the good faith and friendly professions of these people, +so as in any degree to remit their vigilance, but, on the contrary, to +be strictly on their guard, and suffer but a very few of them to come on +board the ship, and admit not many of their canoes alongside at a time; +a precaution that would have been the means of preventing some of the +unfortunate events that have occurred, and if attended to, may in future +preserve many a valuable life. Such a regulation, too, from what I know +of their disposition and wants, would produce no serious difficulty in +trading with the savages, and they would soon become perfectly +reconciled to it. + +Among the provisions which the Indians procure at Tashees, I must not +omit mentioning a fruit that is very important, as forming a great +article of their food. This is what is called by them the _Yama_,[108] a +species of berry that grows in bunches like currants, upon a bush from +two to three feet high, with a large, round, and smooth leaf. This berry +is black, and about the size of a pistol shot, but of rather an oblong +shape, and open at the top like the blue whortleberry. The taste is +sweet, but a little acrid, and when first gathered, if eaten in any +great quantity, especially without oil, is apt to produce colics. To +procure it, large companies of women go out on the mountains, +accompanied by armed men to protect them against wild beasts, where they +frequently remain for several days, kindling a fire at night, and +sheltering themselves under sheds constructed of boughs. At these +parties they collect great quantities. I have known Maquina's queen and +her women return loaded, bringing with them upwards of twelve bushels. +In order to preserve it, it is pressed in the bunches between two +planks, and dried and put away in baskets for use. It is always eaten +with oil. + +Of berries of various kinds, such as strawberries, raspberries, +blackberries, etc., there are great quantities in the country, of which +the natives are very fond, gathering them in their seasons, and eating +them with oil, but the yama is the only one that they preserve. + +Fish is, however, their great article of food, as almost all the others, +excepting the yama, may be considered as accidental. They nevertheless +are far from disrelishing meat, for instance, venison and bear's flesh. +With regard to the latter, they have a most singular custom, which is, +that any one who eats of it is obliged to abstain from eating any kind +of fresh fish whatever for the term of two months, as they have a +superstitious belief that, should any of their people, after tasting +bear's flesh, eat of fresh salmon, cod, etc., the fish, though at ever +so great a distance off, would come to the knowledge of it, and be so +much offended thereat as not to allow themselves to be taken by any of +the inhabitants. This I had an opportunity of observing while at +Tashees, a bear having been killed early in December, of which not more +than ten of the natives would eat, being prevented by the prohibition +annexed to it, which also was the reason of my comrade and myself not +tasting it, on being told by Maquina the consequences. + +As there is something quite curious in their management of this animal, +when they have killed one, I shall give a description of it. After well +cleansing the bear from the dirt and blood with which it is generally +covered when killed, it is brought in and seated opposite the king in an +upright posture, with a chief's bonnet, wrought in figures, on its head, +and its fur powdered over with the white down. A tray of provision is +then set before it, and it is invited by words and gestures to eat. This +mock ceremony over, the reason of which I could never learn, the animal +is taken and skinned, and the flesh and entrails boiled up into a soup, +no part but the paunch being rejected.[109] + +This dressing the bear, as they call it, is an occasion of great +rejoicing throughout the village, all the inhabitants being invited to a +great feast at the king's house, though but few of them, in consequence +of the penalty, will venture to eat of the flesh, but generally content +themselves with their favourite dish of herring spawn and water. The +feast on this occasion was closed by a dance from Sat-sat-sok-sis, in +the manner I have already described, in the course of which he +repeatedly shifted his mask for another of a different form. + +A few days after, a second bear was taken, like the former, by means of +a trap. This I had the curiosity to go and see at the place where it was +caught, which was in the following manner:--On the edge of a small +stream of water in the mountains which the salmon ascend, and near the +spot where the bear is accustomed to watch for them, which is known by +its track, a trap or box about the height of a man's head is built of +posts and planks with a flat top, on which are laid a number of large +stones or rocks. The top and sides are then carefully covered with turf, +so as to resemble a little mound, and wholly to exclude the light, a +narrow entrance of the height of the building only being left, just +sufficient to admit the head and shoulders of the beast. On the inside, +to a large plank that covers the top is suspended by a strong cord a +salmon, the plank being left loose, so that a forcible pull will bring +it down. On coming to its usual haunt, the bear enters the trap, and, in +endeavouring to pull away the fish, brings down the whole covering with +its load of stones upon its head, and is almost always crushed to death +on the spot, or so wounded as to be unable to escape.[110] + +They are always careful to examine these traps every day, in order, if a +bear be caught, to bring it immediately, for it is not a little singular +that these people will eat no kind of meat that is in the least tainted, +or not perfectly fresh, while, on the contrary, it is hardly possible +for fish to be in too putrid a state for them, and I have frequently +known them, when a whale has been driven ashore, bring pieces of it home +with them in a state of offensiveness insupportable to anything but a +crow, and devour it with high relish, considering it as preferable to +that which is fresh. + +On the morning of the 13th of December, commenced what to us appeared a +most singular farce. Apparently without any previous notice, Maquina +discharged a pistol close to his son's ear, who immediately fell down as +if killed, upon which all the women of the house set up a most +lamentable cry, tearing handfuls of hair from their heads, and +exclaiming that the prince was dead. At the same time a great number of +the inhabitants rushed into the house, armed with their daggers, +muskets, etc., inquiring the cause of their outcry. These were +immediately followed by two others dressed in wolf-skins, with masks +over their faces representing the head of that animal; the latter came +in on their hands and feet in the manner of a beast, and, taking up the +prince, carried him off upon their backs, retiring in the same manner +they entered. We saw nothing more of the ceremony, as Maquina came to +us, and, giving us a quantity of dried provision, ordered us to quit the +house, and not return to the village before the expiration of seven +days, for that if we appeared within that period, he should kill us. + +At any other season of the year such an order would by us have been +considered as an indulgence, in enabling us to pass our time in whatever +way we wished; and even now, furnished as we were with sufficient +provision for that term, it was not very unpleasant to us, more +particularly Thompson, who was always desirous to keep as much as +possible out of the society and sight of the natives, whom he detested. +Taking with us our provisions, a bundle of clothes, and our axes, we +obeyed the directions of Maquina, and withdrew into the woods, where we +built ourselves a cabin to shelter us, with the branches of trees, and, +keeping up a good fire, secured ourselves pretty well from the cold. +Here we passed the prescribed period of our exile, with more content +than much of the time while with them, employing the day in reading and +praying for our release, or in rambling around and exploring the +country, the soil of which we found to be very good, and the face of it, +beautifully diversified with hills and valleys, refreshed with the +finest streams of water, and at night enjoyed comfortable repose upon a +bed of soft leaves, with our garments spread over us to protect us from +the cold. + +At the end of seven days we returned, and found several of the people of +Ai-tiz-zart with their king or chief at Tashees, who had been invited by +Maquina to attend the close of this performance, which I now learned was +a celebration, held by them annually, in honour of their god, whom they +call _Quahootze_,[111] to return him their thanks for his past, and +implore his future favours. It terminated on the 21st, the day after our +return, with a most extraordinary exhibition. Three men, each of whom +had two bayonets run through his sides, between the ribs, apparently +regardless of the pain, traversed the room, backwards and forwards, +singing war-songs, and exulting in this display of firmness. + +On the arrival of the 25th, we could not but call to mind that this, +being Christmas, was in our country a day of the greatest festivity, +when our fellow-countrymen, assembled in their churches, were +celebrating the goodness of God and the praises of the Saviour. What a +reverse did our situation offer!--captives in a savage land, and slaves +to a set of ignorant beings, unacquainted with religion or humanity, +hardly were we permitted to offer up our devotions by ourselves in the +woods, while we felt even grateful for this privilege. Thither, with the +king's permission, we withdrew, and, after reading the service appointed +for the day, sung the hymn of the Nativity, fervently praying that +Heaven in its goodness would permit us to celebrate the next festival of +this kind in some Christian land. + +On our return, in order to conform as much as was in our power to the +custom of our country, we were desirous of having a better supper than +usual. With this view, we bought from one of the natives some dried +clams and oil, and a root called _Kletsup_,[112] which we cooked by +steaming, and found it very palatable. This root consists of many +fibres, of about six inches long, and of the size of a crow quill. It is +sweet, of an agreeable taste, not unlike the _Quawnoose_, and it is +eaten with oil. The plant that produces it I have never seen. + +On the 31st all the tribe quitted Tashees for Cooptee, whither they go +to pass the remainder of the winter, and complete their fishing, taking +off everything with them in the same manner as at Nootka. We arrived in +a few hours at Cooptee, which is about fifteen miles, and immediately +set about covering the houses, which was soon completed. + +This place, which is their great herring and sprat fishery, stands just +within the mouth of the river, on the same side with Tashees, in a very +narrow valley at the foot of a high mountain. Though nearly as secure +as Tashees from the winter storms, it is by no means so pleasantly +situated, though to us it was a much more agreeable residence, as it +brought us nearer Nootka, where we were impatient to return, in hopes of +finding some vessel there, or hearing of the arrival of one near. + +The first snow that fell this season was the day after our arrival, on +New Year's Day; a day that, like Christmas, brought with it painful +recollections, but at the same time led us to indulge the hope of a more +fortunate year than the last. + +Early on the morning of the 7th of January, Maquina took me with him in +his canoe on a visit to Upquesta, chief of the Ai-tiz-zarts, who had +invited him to attend an exhibition at his village, similar to the one +with which he had been entertained at Tashees. This place is between +twenty and thirty miles distant up the Sound, and stands on the banks of +a small river about the size of that of Cooptee, just within its +entrance, in a valley of much greater extent than that of Tashees; it +consists of fourteen or fifteen houses, built and disposed in the manner +of those at Nootka. The tribe, which is considered as tributary to +Maquina, amounts to about three hundred warriors, and the inhabitants, +both men and women, are among the best-looking of any people on the +coast. + +On our arrival we were received at the shore by the inhabitants, a few +of whom were armed with muskets, which they fired, with loud shouts and +exclamations of _Wocash, wocash!_ + +We were welcomed by the chief's messenger, or master of ceremonies, +dressed in his best garments, with his hair powdered with white down, +and holding in his hand the cheetolth, the badge of his office. This man +preceded us to the chief's house, where he introduced and pointed out to +us our respective seats. On entering, the visitors took off their hats, +which they always wear on similar occasions, and Maquina his outer +robes, of which he has several on whenever he pays a visit, and seated +himself near the chief. + +As I was dressed in European clothes, I became quite an object of +curiosity to these people, very few of whom had ever seen a white man. +They crowded around me in numbers, taking hold of my clothes, examining +my face, hands, and feet, and even opening my mouth to see if I had a +tongue, for, notwithstanding I had by this time become well acquainted +with their language, I preserved the strictest silence, Maquina on our +first landing having enjoined me not to speak until he should direct. + +Having undergone this examination for some time, Maquina at length made +a sign to me to speak to them. On hearing me address them in their own +language, they were greatly astonished and delighted, and told Maquina +that they now perceived that I was a man like themselves, except that I +was white, and looked like a seal, alluding to my blue jacket and +trousers, which they wanted to persuade me to take off, as they did not +like their appearance. Maquina in the meantime gave an account to the +chief of the scheme he had formed for surprising our ship, and the +manner in which he and his people had carried it into execution, with +such particular and horrid details of that transaction as chilled the +blood in my veins. Trays of boiled herring spawn and train-oil were +soon after brought in and placed before us, neither the chief or any of +his people eating at the same time, it being contrary to the ideas of +hospitality entertained by these nations, to eat any part of the food +that is provided for strangers, always waiting until their visitors have +finished, before they have their own brought in. + +The following day closed their festival with an exhibition of a similar +kind to that which had been given at Tashees, but still more cruel; the +different tribes appearing on these occasions to endeavour to surpass +each other in their proofs of fortitude and endurance of pain. In the +morning, twenty men entered the chief's house, with each an arrow run +through the flesh of his sides and either arm, with a cord fastened to +the end, which, as the performers advanced, singing and boasting, was +forcibly drawn back by a person having hold of it. After this +performance was closed, we returned to Cooptee, which we reached at +midnight, our men keeping time with their songs to the stroke of their +paddles. + +The natives now began to take the herring and sprat in immense +quantities, with some salmon, and there was nothing but feasting from +morning till night. + +The following is the method they employ to take the herring. A stick of +about seven feet long, two inches broad, and half an inch thick, is +formed from some hard wood, one side of which is set with sharp teeth, +made from whalebone, at about half an inch apart. Provided with this +instrument, the fisherman seats himself in the prow of a canoe, which is +paddled by another, and whenever he comes to a shoal of herrings, which +cover the water in great quantities, he strikes it with both hands upon +them, and at the same moment, turning it up, brings it over the side of +the canoe, into which he lets those that are taken drop. It is +astonishing to see how many are caught by those who are dexterous at +this kind of fishing, as they seldom fail, when the shoals are numerous, +of taking as many as ten or twelve at a stroke, and in a very short time +will fill a canoe with them. Sprats are likewise caught in a similar +manner. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[106] This was probably Don Estevan Martinez, who, on the 6th of May +1789, arrived in the corvette _Princesa_, to take possession of the +country for his sovereign. He it was who landed materials and artillery, +and began to erect a fort on a small island at the entrance to Friendly +Cove. He seems to have been a most high-handed kind of Don, for he +seized the British vessels _Iphigenia_, _North-West America_, +_Argonaut_, and _Princess Royal_, then trading under the Portuguese +flag, and acted in so arbitrary a manner to the officers and crew, that +it was easy to believe he was not over scrupulous in his dealings with +the Indians. It was during his stay in Nootka Sound that Callicum, a +relation of Maquina's, and next to him in rank, was barbarously murdered +by an officer on board one of the Spanish ships, and his father refused +permission to dive for the body until he had handed over a number of +skins to the white savage. + +[107] Captain James Hanna was the second European to enter Nootka Sound +after Captain Cook had left it. The _Sea Otter_, a vessel under 70 tons, +was fitted out in China, and reached Nootka in August 1785; when +Maquina, presuming upon the inferior size of the craft and the small +number of the crew, made a desperate attack upon her. This was repulsed +by the courage of the ship's company, after which business proceeded on +such friendly terms that he procured five hundred and eighty-five +sea-otter skins in five weeks, which were sold in Canton for 20,600 +dollars. It was Hanna who discovered Fitzhugh Sound, Lance Island, Sea +Otter Harbour, and other now well-known spots on the North-West coast of +America. The incident related by Maquina is not to be found in the +records of the expedition which have descended to us. He made another +voyage in 1786, solely for commercial purposes. + +[108] _Gaultheria Shallon_ (see p. 137). + +[109] These observances are well worth noting in connection with the +others which attach to the bear among nearly all savage races. + +[110] These traps are still in common use. + +[111] _Quawteaht_, the supreme being of all the tribes speaking the +"Aht" language. + +[112] This seems the bracken fern root, which is eaten. But the name +usually applied to it is _Sheetla_. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +RETURN TO NOOTKA (FRIENDLY COVE)--DEATH OF MAQUINA'S NEPHEW--INSANITY OF +TOOTOOSCH--AN INDIAN MOUNTEBANK + + +About the beginning of February, Maquina gave a great feast, at which +were present not only all the inhabitants, but one hundred persons from +Ai-tiz-zart, and a number from Wickinninish who had been invited to +attend it. It is customary with them to give an annual entertainment of +this kind, and it is astonishing to see what a quantity of provision is +expended, or rather wasted, on such an occasion, when they always eat to +the greatest excess. It was at this feast that I saw upwards of an +hundred salmon cooked in one tub. The whole residence at Cooptee +presents an almost uninterrupted succession of feasting and +gormandising, and it would seem as if the principal object of these +people was to consume their whole stock of provision before leaving it, +trusting entirely to their success in fishing and whaling, for a supply +at Nootka. + +On the 25th of February we quitted Cooptee, and returned to Nootka. With +much joy did Thompson and myself again find ourselves in a place where, +notwithstanding the melancholy recollections which it excited, we hoped +before long to see some vessel arrive to our relief, and for this we +became the more solicitous, as of late we had become much more +apprehensive of our safety, in consequence of information brought +Maquina a few days before we left Cooptee, by some of the Cayuquets, +that there were twenty ships at the northward, preparing to come against +him, with an intent of destroying him and his whole tribe, for cutting +off the _Boston_. + +This story, which was wholly without foundation, and discovered +afterwards to have been invented by these people, for the purpose of +disquieting him, threw him into great alarm, and, notwithstanding all I +could say to convince him that it was an unfounded report, so great was +his jealousy of us, especially after it had been confirmed to him by +some others of the same nation, that he treated us with much harshness, +and kept a very suspicious eye upon us. + +Nothing, indeed, could be more unpleasant than our present situation, +when I reflected that our lives were altogether dependent on the will of +a savage, on whose caprice and suspicions no rational calculation could +be made. + + * * * * * + +Not long after our return, a son of Maquina's sister, a boy of eleven +years old, who had been for some time declining, died. Immediately on +his death, which was about midnight, all the men and women in the house +set up loud cries and shrieks, which, awakening Thompson and myself, so +disturbed us that we left the house. This lamentation was kept up during +the remainder of the night. In the morning, a great fire was kindled, +in which Maquina burned, in honour of the deceased, ten fathoms of +cloth, and buried with him ten fathoms more, eight of Ife-whaw, four +prime sea-otter skins, and two small trunks, containing our unfortunate +captain's clothes and watch. + +This boy was considered as a Tyee, or chief, being the only son of +Tootoosch, one of their principal chiefs, who had married Maquina's +sister, whence arose this ceremony on his interment: it being an +established custom with these people, that whenever a chief dies, his +most valuable property is burned or buried with him; it is, however, +wholly confined to the chiefs, and appears to be a mark of honour +appropriate to them.[113] In this instance, Maquina furnished the +articles, in order that his nephew might have the proper honours +rendered him. + +Tootoosch, his father, was esteemed the first warrior of the tribe, and +was one who had been particularly active in the destruction of our ship, +having killed two of our poor comrades, who were ashore, whose names +were Hall and Wood. About the time of our removal to Tashees, while in +the enjoyment of the highest health, he was suddenly seized with a fit +of delirium, in which he fancied that he saw the ghosts of those two men +constantly standing by him, and threatening him, so that he would take +no food, except what was forced into his mouth. + +A short time before this he had lost a daughter of about fifteen years +of age, which afflicted him greatly, and whether his insanity, a +disorder very uncommon amongst these savages, no instance of the kind +having occurred within the memory of the oldest man amongst them, +proceeded from this cause, or that it was the special interposition of +an all-merciful God in our favour, who by this means thought proper to +induce these barbarians still further to respect our lives, or that, for +hidden purposes, the Supreme Disposer of events sometimes permits the +spirits of the dead to revisit the world, and haunt the murderer, I know +not, but his mind, from this period until his death, which took place +but a few weeks after that of his son, was incessantly occupied with the +images of the men whom he had killed. + +This circumstance made much impression upon the tribe, particularly the +chiefs, whose uniform opposition to putting us to death, at the various +councils that were held on our account, I could not but in part +attribute to this cause; and Maquina used frequently, in speaking of +Tootoosch's sickness, to express much satisfaction that his hands had +not been stained with the blood of any of our men. + +When Maquina was first informed by his sister of the strange conduct of +her husband, he immediately went to his house, taking us with him; +suspecting that his disease had been caused by us, and that the ghosts +of our countrymen had been called thither by us, to torment him. We +found him raving about Hall and Wood, saying that they were _peshak_, +that is, bad. + +Maquina then placed some provision before him, to see if he would eat. +On perceiving it, he put forth his hand to take some, but instantly +withdrew it with signs of horror, saying that Hall and Wood were there, +and would not let him eat. Maquina then, pointing to us, asked if it was +not John and Thompson who troubled him. + +"_Wik_,"[114] he replied,--that is, no; "_John klushish--Thompson +klushish_"--John and Thompson are both good; then, turning to me, and +patting me on the shoulder, he made signs to me to eat. I tried to +persuade him that Hall and Wood were not there, and that none were near +him but ourselves; he said, "I know very well you do not see them, but I +do." + +At first Maquina endeavoured to convince him that he saw nothing, and to +laugh him out of his belief, but, finding that all was to no purpose, he +at length became serious, and asked me if I had ever seen anyone +affected in this manner, and what was the matter with him. I gave him to +understand, pointing to his head, that his brain was injured, and that +he did not see things as formerly. + +Being convinced by Tootoosch's conduct that we had no agency in his +indisposition, on our return home Maquina asked me what was done in my +country in similar cases. + +I told him that such persons were closely confined, and sometimes tied +up and whipped, in order to make them better.[115] + +After pondering for some time, he said that he should be glad to do +anything to relieve him, and that he should be whipped, and immediately +gave orders to some of his men to go to Tootoosch's house, bind him, and +bring him to his, in order to undergo the operation. + +Thompson was the person selected to administer this remedy, which he +undertook very readily, and for that purpose provided himself with a +good number of spruce branches, with which he whipped him most severely, +laying it on with the best will imaginable, while Tootoosch displayed +the greatest rage, kicking, spitting, and attempting to bite all who +came near him. This was too much for Maquina, who at length, unable to +endure it longer, ordered Thompson to desist and Tootoosch to be carried +back, saying that if there was no other way of curing him but by +whipping, he must remain mad. + +The application of the whip produced no beneficial effect on Tootoosch, +for he afterwards became still more deranged; in his fits of fury +sometimes seizing a club and beating his slaves in a most dreadful +manner, and striking and spitting at all who came near him, till at +length his wife, no longer daring to remain in the house with him, came +with her son to Maquina's. + + * * * * * + +The whaling season now commenced, and Maquina was out almost every day +in his canoe in pursuit of them, but for a considerable time with no +success, one day breaking the staff of his harpoon, another after having +been a long time fast to a whale, the weapon drawing, owing to the +breaking of the shell which formed its point, with several such like +accidents, arising from the imperfection of the instrument. + +At these times he always returned very morose and out of temper, +upbraiding his men with having violated their obligation to continence +preparatory to whaling. In this state of ill-humour he would give us +very little to eat, which, added to the women not cooking when the men +are away, reduced us to a very low fare. + +In consequence of the repeated occurrence of similar accidents, I +proposed to Maquina to make him a harpoon or foreganger of steel, which +would be less liable to fail him. The idea pleased him, and in a short +time I completed one for him, with which he was much delighted, and the +very next day went out to make a trial of it. + +He succeeded with it in taking a whale. Great was the joy throughout the +village as soon as it was known that the king had secured the whale, by +notice from a person stationed at the headland in the offing. All the +canoes were immediately launched, and, furnished with harpoons and +sealskin floats, hastened to assist in buoying it up and towing it in. + +The bringing in of this fish exhibited a scene of universal festivity. +As soon as the canoes appeared at the mouth of the Cove, those on board +of them singing a triumph to a slow air, to which they kept time with +their paddles, all who were on shore, men, women, and children, mounted +the roofs of their houses to congratulate the king on his success, +drumming most furiously on the planks, and exclaiming _Wocash--wocash, +Tyee!_ + +The whale, on being drawn on shore, was immediately cut up, and a great +feast of the blubber given at Maquina's house, to which all the village +were invited, who indemnified themselves for their Lent by eating as +usual to excess. I was highly praised for the goodness of my harpoon, +and a quantity of blubber given me, which I was permitted to cook as I +pleased; this I boiled in salt water with some young nettles and other +greens for Thompson and myself, and in this way we found it tolerable +food. + +Their method of procuring the oil, is to skim it from the water in which +the blubber is boiled, and when cool, put it up into whale bladders for +use; and of these I have seen them so large as, when filled, would +require no less than five or six men to carry. Several of the chiefs, +among whom were Maquina's brothers, who, after the king has caught the +first whale, are privileged to take them also, were very desirous, on +discovering the superiority of my harpoon, that I should make some for +them, but this Maquina would not permit, reserving for himself this +improved weapon. He, however, gave me directions to make a number more +for himself, which I executed, and also made him several lances, with +which he was greatly pleased. + + * * * * * + +As these people have some very singular observances preparatory to +whaling, an account of them will, I presume, not prove uninteresting, +especially as it may serve to give a better idea of their manners. A +short time before leaving Tashees, the king makes a point of passing a +day alone on the mountain, whither he goes very privately early in the +morning, and does not return till late in the evening.[116] This is +done, as I afterwards learned, for the purpose of singing and praying to +his God for success in whaling the ensuing season. At Cooptee the same +ceremony is performed, and at Nootka after the return thither, with +still greater solemnity, as for the next two days he appears very +thoughtful and gloomy, scarcely speaking to any one, and observes a most +rigid fast. On these occasions he has always a broad red fillet made of +bark bound around his head, in token of humiliation, with a large branch +of green spruce on the top, and his great rattle in his hand. + +In addition to this, for a week before commencing their whaling, both +himself and the crew of his canoe observe a fast, eating but very +little, and going into the water several times in the course of each day +to bathe, singing and rubbing their bodies, limbs, and faces with shells +and bushes, so that on their return I have seen them look as though they +had been severely torn with briers. They are likewise obliged to +abstain from any commerce with their women for the like period, the +latter restriction being considered as indispensable to their success. + + * * * * * + +Early in June, Tootoosch,[117] the crazy chief, died. On being +acquainted with his death, the whole village, men, women, and children, +set up a loud cry, with every testimony of the greatest grief, which +they continued for more than three hours. As soon as he was dead, the +body, according to their custom, was laid out on a plank, having the +head bound round with a red bark fillet, which is with them an emblem of +mourning and sorrow. After lying some time in this manner, he was +wrapped in an otter-skin robe, and, three fathoms of Ife-whaw being put +about his neck, he was placed in a large coffin or box of about three +feet deep, which was ornamented on the outside with two rows of the +small white shells. In this, the most valuable articles of his property +were placed with him, among which were no less than twenty-four prime +sea-otter skins. + +At night, which is their time for interring the dead, the coffin was +borne by eight men with two poles thrust through ropes passed around it, +to the place of burial, accompanied by his wife and family, with their +hair cut short in token of grief, all the inhabitants joining the +procession. + +The place of burial was a large cavern on the side of a hill at a little +distance from the village, in which, after depositing the coffin +carefully, all the attendants repaired to Maquina's house, where a +number of articles belonging to the deceased, consisting of blankets, +pieces of cloth, etc., were burned by a person appointed by Maquina for +that purpose, dressed and painted in the highest style, with his head +covered with white down, who, as he put in the several pieces one by +one, poured upon them a quantity of oil to increase the flame, in the +intervals between making a speech and playing off a variety of buffoon +tricks, and the whole closed with a feast, and a dance from +Sat-sat-sok-sis, the king's son. + +The man who performed the ceremony of burning on this occasion was a +very singular character named Kinneclimmets. He was held in high +estimation by the king, though only of the common class, probably from +his talent for mimicry and buffoonery, and might be considered as a kind +of king's jester, or rather, as combining in his person the character of +a buffoon with that of master of ceremonies and public orator to his +majesty, as he was the one who at feasts always regulated the places of +the guests, delivered speeches on receiving or returning visits, besides +amusing the company at all their entertainments, with a variety of +monkey pranks and antic gestures, which appeared to these savages the +height of wit and humour, but would be considered as extremely low by +the least polished people. + +Almost all the kings or head chiefs of the principal tribes were +accompanied by a similar character, who appeared to be attached to their +dignity, and are called in their language _Climmer-habbee_. + +This man Kinneclimmets was particularly odious to Thompson, who would +never join in the laugh at his tricks, but when he began, would almost +always quit the house with a very surly look, and an exclamation of +"Cursed fool!" which Maquina, who thought nothing could equal the +cleverness of his _Climmer-habbee_, used to remark with much +dissatisfaction, asking me why Thompson never laughed, observing that I +must have had a very good-tempered woman indeed for my mother, as my +father was so very ill-natured a man. + +Among those performances that gained him the greatest applause was his +talent of eating to excess, for I have known him devour at one meal no +less than seventy-five large herrings; and at another time, when a great +feast was given by Maquina, he undertook, after drinking three pints of +oil by way of a whet, to eat four dried salmon, and five quarts of +spawn, mixed up with a gallon of train-oil, and actually succeeded in +swallowing the greater part of this mess, until his stomach became so +overloaded as to discharge its contents in the dish. One of his +exhibitions, however, had nearly cost him his life; this was on the +occasion of Kla-quak-ee-na, one of the chiefs, having bought him a new +wife, in celebration of which he ran three times through a large fire, +and burned himself in such a manner that he was not able to stir for +more than four weeks. These feats of savage skill were much praised by +Maquina, who never failed to make him presents of cloth, muskets, etc., +on such occasions. + +The death of Tootoosch increased still more the disquietude which his +delirium had excited among the savages, and all those chiefs who had +killed our men became much alarmed lest they should be seized with the +same disorder and die like him; more particularly, as I had told Maquina +that I believed his insanity was a punishment inflicted on him by +Quahootze, for his cruelty in murdering two innocent men who had never +injured him. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[113] When an Indian dies, all of his property which has not been given +away, is either buried with him, or, in extreme cases, burned, not for +the purpose of accompanying him to the Spirit Land, but, so the people +have told me, to prevent any temptation to indulge in the bad luck of +mentioning his name. The only things that are exempted from this +practice are the dead man's best canoes, his house-planks, and fishing +and hunting implements, which, with any slaves he may possess, go to his +eldest son. I have known the deceased's house and all its contents to be +burned; but when this is not the case, then the materials are removed +elsewhere, and another building is erected. Around his grave--a box +raised from the ground on pillars, often quaintly carved, or a canoe, or +a box fixed up a tree--are placed various articles belonging to him (or +her). At one time they buried his money with him. But for obvious +reasons this custom has fallen into abeyance. + +[114] _Wik_ actually means "Not I." Good is _Klooceahatli_ or +_Klootakloosch_. + +[115] This, it must be remembered, was in the days before Connolly. +Maquina's remark that if an insane man could not be cured but by +whipping him, he must remain mad, proves that the savage chief was in +advance of his time. Insanity is, however, extremely rare among the +Indians. + +[116] He was, as the Indians say, "making his medicine," a term of very +elastic meaning. + +[117] "Tootoosch" is the Thunder Bird of "Aht" mythology. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WAR WITH THE A-Y-CHARTS--A NIGHT ATTACK--PROPOSALS TO PURCHASE THE +AUTHOR + + +Our situation had now become unpleasant in the extreme. The summer was +so far advanced that we nearly despaired of a ship arriving to our +relief, and with that expectation almost relinquished the hope of ever +having it in our power to quit this savage land. We were treated, too, +with less indulgence than before, both Thompson and myself being +obliged, in addition to our other employments, to perform the laborious +task of cutting and collecting fuel, which we had to bring on our +shoulders from nearly three miles' distance, as it consisted wholly of +dry leaves, all of which near the village had been consumed. + +To add to this, we suffered much abuse from the common people, who, when +Maquina or some of the chiefs were not present, would insult us, calling +us wretched slaves, asking us where was our Tyee or captain, making +gestures signifying that his head had been cut off, and that they would +do the like to us; though they generally took good care at such times to +keep well out of Thompson's reach, as they had more than once +experienced, to their cost, the strength of his fist. This conduct was +not only provoking and grating to our feelings in the highest degree, +but it convinced us of the ill disposition of these savages towards us, +and rendered us fearful lest they might at some time or other persuade +or force Maquina and the chiefs to put us to death. + +We were also often brought to great distress for the want of provisions, +so far as to be reduced to collect a scanty supply of mussels and +limpets from the rocks, and sometimes even compelled to part with some +of our most necessary articles of clothing in order to purchase food for +our subsistence. + +This was, however, principally owing to the inhabitants themselves +experiencing a great scarcity of provisions this season; there having +been, in the first place, but very few salmon caught at Friendly Cove, a +most unusual circumstance, as they generally abound there in the spring, +which was by the natives attributed to their having been driven away by +the blood of our men who had been thrown into the sea, which with true +savage inconsistency excited their murmurs against Maquina, who had +proposed cutting off our ship. Relying on this supply, they had in the +most inconsiderate manner squandered away their winter stock of +provisions, so that in a few days after their return it was entirely +expended. + +Nor were the king and chiefs much more fortunate in their whaling, even +after I had furnished Maquina with the improved weapon for that purpose; +but four whales having been taken during the season, which closes the +last of May, including one that had been struck by Maquina and escaped, +and was afterwards driven on shore about six miles from Nootka in +almost a state of putridity. + +These afforded but a short supply to a population, including all ages +and sexes, of no less than fifteen hundred persons, and of a character +so very improvident, that, after feasting most gluttonously whenever a +whale was caught, they were several times, for a week together, reduced +to the necessity of eating but once a day, and of collecting cockles and +mussels from the rocks for their food. + +And even after the cod and halibut fishing commenced, in June, in which +they met with tolerable success, such was the savage caprice of Maquina, +that he would often give us but little to eat, finally ordering us to +buy a canoe and fishing implements and go out ourselves and fish, or we +should have nothing. To do this we were compelled to part with our +greatcoats, which were not only important to us as garments, but of +which we made our beds, spreading them under us when we slept. From our +want of skill, however, in this new employ, we met with no success; on +discovering which, Maquina ordered us to remain at home. + +Another thing, which to me in particular proved an almost constant +source of vexation and disgust, and which living among them had not in +the least reconciled me to, was their extreme filthiness, not only in +eating fish, especially the whale, when in a state of offensive +putridity, but while at their meals, of making a practice of taking the +vermin from their heads or clothes and eating them, by turns thrusting +their fingers into their hair and into the dish, and spreading their +garments over the tubs in which the provision was cooking, in order to +set in motion their inhabitants.[118] + +Fortunately for Thompson, he regarded this much less than myself, and +when I used to point out to him any instance of their filthiness in this +respect, he would laugh and reply, "Never mind, John, the more good +things the better." I must, however, do Maquina the justice to state, +that he was much neater both in his person and eating than were the +others, as was likewise his queen, owing, no doubt, to his intercourse +with foreigners, which had given him ideas of cleanliness, for I never +saw either of them eat any of these animals, but, on the contrary, they +appeared not much to relish this taste in others. Their garments, also, +were much cleaner, Maquina having been accustomed to give his away when +they became soiled, till after he discovered that Thompson and myself +kept ours clean by washing them, when he used to make Thompson do the +same for him. + +Yet amidst this state of endurance and disappointment, in hearing +repeatedly of the arrival of ships at the north and south, most of which +proved to be idle reports, while expectation was almost wearied out in +looking for them, we did not wholly despond, relying on the mercy of the +Supreme Being, to offer up to whom our devotions on the days appointed +for His worship was our chief consolation and support, though we were +sometimes obliged, by our taskmasters, to infringe upon the Sabbath, +which was to me a source of much regret. + +We were, nevertheless, treated at times with much kindness by Maquina, +who would give us a plenty of the best that he had to eat, and +occasionally, some small present of cloth for a garment, promising me +that, if any ship should arrive within a hundred miles of Nootka, he +would send a canoe with a letter from me to the captain, so that he +might come to our release. These flattering promises and marks of +attention were, however, at those times when he thought himself in +personal danger from a mutinous spirit, which the scarcity of provisions +had excited among the natives, who, like true savages, imputed all their +public calamities, of whatever kind, to the misconduct of their chief, +or when he was apprehensive of an attack from some of the other tribes, +who were irritated with him for cutting off the _Boston_, as it had +prevented ships from coming to trade with them, and were constantly +alarming him with idle stories of vessels that were preparing to come +against him and exterminate both him and his people. + +At such times, he made us keep guard over him both night and day, armed +with cutlasses and pistols, being apparently afraid to trust any of his +own men. At one time, it was a general revolt of his people that he +apprehended; then three of his principal chiefs, among whom was his +elder brother, had conspired to take away his life; and at length he +fancied that a small party of Klaooquates, between whom and the +Nootkians little friendship subsisted, had come to Nootka, under a +pretence of trade, for the sole purpose of murdering him and his family, +telling us, probably to sharpen our vigilance, that their intention was +to kill us likewise; and so strongly were his fears excited on this +occasion, that he not only ordered us to keep near him armed by day, +whenever he went out, and to patrol at night before his house while they +remained, but to continue the same guard for three days after they were +gone, and to fire, at one and at four in the morning, one of the great +guns, to let them know, if, as he suspected, they were lurking in the +neighbourhood, that he was on his guard. + +While he was thus favourably disposed towards us, I took an opportunity +to inform him of the ill-treatment that we frequently received from his +people, and the insults that were offered us by some of the stranger +tribes in calling us white slaves, and loading us with other opprobrious +terms. He was much displeased, and said that his subjects should not be +allowed to treat us ill, and that if any of the strangers did it, he +wished us to punish the offenders with death, at the same time directing +us, for our security, to go constantly armed. + +This permission was soon improved by Thompson to the best advantage; for +a few days after, having gone to the pond to wash some of our clothes, +and a blanket for Maquina, several Wickinninish who were then at Nootka +came thither, and, seeing him washing the clothes, and the blanket +spread upon the grass to dry, they began, according to custom, to insult +him, and one of them, bolder than the others, walked over the blanket. +Thompson was highly incensed, and threatened the Indian with death if he +repeated the offence, but he, in contempt of the threat, trampled upon +the blanket, when, drawing his cutlass, without further ceremony, +Thompson cut off his head, on seeing which the others ran off at full +speed. Thompson then, gathering up the clothes and blanket, on which +were the marks of the Indian's dirty feet, and taking with him the head, +returned and informed the king of what had passed, who was much pleased, +and highly commended his conduct. This had a favourable effect for us, +not only on the stranger tribes but the inhabitants themselves, who +treated us afterwards with less disrespect. + +In the latter part of July, Maquina informed me that he was going to war +with the _A-y-charts_,[119] a tribe about fifty miles to the south, on +account of some controversy that had arisen the preceding summer, and +that I must make a number of daggers for his men, and cheetolths for his +chiefs, which having completed, he wished me to make for his own use a +weapon of quite a different form, in order to dispatch his enemy by one +blow on the head, it being the calculation of these nations, on going to +war, to surprise their adversaries while asleep. This was a steel +dagger, or more properly a spike, of about six inches long, made very +sharp, set at right angles in an iron handle of fifteen inches long, +terminating at the lower end in a crook or turn, so as to prevent its +being wrenched from the hand, and at the upper in a round knob or head, +from whence the spike protruded. This instrument I polished highly, and, +the more to please Maquina, formed on the back of the knob the +resemblance of a man's head, with the mouth open, substituting for eyes +black beads, which I fastened in with red sealing-wax. This pleased him +much, and was greatly admired by his chiefs, who wanted me to make +similar ones for them, but Maquina would not suffer it, reserving for +himself alone this weapon. + +When these people have finally determined on war, they make it an +invariable practice, for three or four weeks prior to the expedition, +to go into the water five or six times a day, when they wash and scrub +themselves from head to foot with bushes intermixed with briers, +so that their bodies and faces will often be entirely covered +with blood. During this severe exercise, they are continually +exclaiming, "_Wocash, Quahootze, Teechamme ah welth, wik-etish +tau-ilth--Kar sub-matemas--Wik-sish_ _to hauk matemas--I ya-ish +kah-shittle--As-smootish warich matemas_"; which signifies, "Good or +great God, let me live--Not be sick--Find the enemy--Not fear him--Find +him asleep, and kill a great many of them." + +During the whole of this period they have no intercourse with their +women, and for a week before setting out, abstain from feasting or any +kind of merriment, appearing thoughtful, gloomy, and morose, and for the +three last days are almost constantly in the water, both by day and +night, scrubbing and lacerating themselves in a terrible manner. +Maquina, having informed Thompson and myself that he should take us with +him, was very solicitous that we should bathe and scrub ourselves in the +same way with them, telling me that it would harden our skins, so that +the weapons of the enemy would not pierce them, but as we felt no great +inclination to amuse ourselves in this manner, we declined it. + +The expedition consisted of forty canoes, carrying from ten to twenty +men each. Thompson and myself armed ourselves with cutlasses and +pistols, but the natives, although they had a plenty of European arms, +took with them only their daggers and cheetolths, with a few bows and +arrows, the latter being about a yard in length, and pointed with +copper, mussel-shell, or bone; the bows are four feet and a half long, +with strings made of whale sinew. + +To go to A-y-chart, we ascended, from twenty to thirty miles,[120] a +river about the size of that of Tashees, the banks of which are high and +covered with wood. At midnight we came in sight of the village, which +was situated on the west bank near the shore, on a steep hill difficult +of access, and well calculated for defence. It consisted of fifteen or +sixteen houses, smaller than those at Nootka, and built in the same +style, but compactly placed. By Maquina's directions, the attack was +deferred until the first appearance of dawn, as he said that was the +time when men slept the soundest. + +At length, all being ready for the attack, we landed with the greatest +silence, and, going around so as to come upon the foe in the rear, +clambered up the hill, and while the natives, as is their custom, +entered the several huts creeping on all-fours, my comrade and myself +stationed ourselves without to intercept those who should attempt to +escape or come to the aid of their friends. I wished, if possible, not +to stain my hands in the blood of any fellow-creature; and though +Thompson would gladly have put to death all the savages in the country, +he was too brave to think of attacking a sleeping enemy. + +Having entered the houses, on the war-whoop being given by Maquina as he +seized the head of the chief and gave him the fatal blow, all proceeded +to the work of death. The A-y-charts, being thus surprised, were unable +to make resistance, and, with the exception of a very few who were so +fortunate as to make their escape, were all killed, or taken prisoners +on condition of becoming slaves to their captors. I had the good fortune +to take four captives, whom Maquina, as a favour, permitted me to +consider as mine, and occasionally employ them in fishing for me. As for +Thompson, who thirsted for revenge, he had no wish to take any +prisoners, but with his cutlass, the only weapon he would employ against +them, succeeded in killing seven stout fellows who came to attack him, +an act which obtained him great credit with Maquina and the chiefs, who +after this held him in much higher estimation, and gave him the +appellation of "Chehiel-suma-har," it being the name of a very +celebrated warrior of their nation in ancient times, whose exploits were +the constant theme of their praise. + +After having put to death all the old and infirm of either sex, as is +the barbarous practice of these people, and destroyed the buildings, we +re-embarked with our booty in our canoes for Nootka, where we were +received with great demonstrations of joy by the women and children, +accompanying our war-song with a most furious drumming on the houses. +The next day a great feast was given by Maquina in celebration of his +victory, which was terminated, as usual, with a dance by +Sat-sat-sok-sis.[121] + +Repeated applications had been made to Maquina by a number of kings or +chiefs to purchase me, especially after he had showed them the harpoon I +had made for him, which he took much pride in, but he constantly refused +to part with me on any terms. Among these, the king of the Wickinninish +was particularly solicitous to obtain me, having twice applied to +Maquina for that purpose, once in a very formal manner, by sending his +messenger with four canoes, who, as he approached the shore, decorated +in their highest style, with the white down on his head, etc., declared +that he came to buy "Tooteyoohannis," the name by which I was known to +them, for his master, and that he had brought for that purpose four +young male slaves, two highly ornamented canoes, such a number of the +skins of metamelth, and of the _quartlack_,[122] or sea-otter, and so +many fathoms of cloth and of Ife-whaw, while, as he mentioned the +different articles, they were pointed out or held up by his attendants; +but even this tempting offer had no influence on Maquina, who in the +latter part of the summer was again very strongly urged to sell me by +Ulatilla, or, as he is generally called, Machee Ulatilla, chief of the +Klaizzarts,[123] who had come to Nootka on a visit. + +This chief, who could speak tolerable English, had much more the +appearance of a civilised man than any of the savages that I saw. He +appeared to be about thirty, was rather small in his person, but +extremely well formed, with a skin almost as fair as that of an +European, good features, and a countenance expressive of candour and +amiableness, and which was almost always brightened with a smile. He was +much neater both in his dress and person than any of the other chiefs, +seldom wearing paint, except upon his eyebrows, which, after the custom +of his country, were plucked out, and a few strips of the pelpelth on +the lower part of his face. He always treated me with much kindness, was +fond of conversing with me in English and in his own language, asking me +many questions relative to my country, its manners, customs, etc., and +appeared to take a strong interest in my fate, telling me that if he +could persuade Maquina to part with me, he would put me on board the +first ship that came to his country, a promise which, from his +subsequent conduct, I have good reason to think he would have performed, +as my deliverance at length from captivity and suffering was, under the +favour of Divine Providence, wholly owing to him, the only letter that +ever reached an European or American vessel out of sixteen that I wrote +at different times and sent to various parts of the coast, having been +delivered by him in person. So much pleased was I with this man's +behaviour to me while at Nootka, that I made for him a cheetolth, which +I burnished highly, and engraved with figures. With this he was greatly +delighted. I also would have made for him a harpoon, would Maquina have +consented. + +With hearts full of dejection and almost lost to hope, no ship having +appeared off Nootka this season, did my companion and myself accompany +the tribe on their removal in September to Tashees, relinquishing in +consequence for six months even the remotest expectation of relief. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[118] This habit--unfortunately not peculiar to the Indians--is still +occasionally indulged in. The reason they give for it is, that when the +great flood covered the earth--a tradition that is found among other +North-West American Indians--they escaped in their canoes, and had to +eat lice for lack of any other food, and now practise it out of +gratitude. The superstitious observances of these tribes are so numerous +that the merest account of those known would fill a volume. One or two +interesting instances may be mentioned:--Thus, in sneezing, there is +good luck if the right nostril is alone affected. But if the left, then +evil fortune is at hand. When they pare their nails, which is not often, +they burn the parings, and if the smoke from them goes straight up, +their latter end will be good; if not, they will go to the place of +punishment. They used to regard--and perhaps still regard--the whites +not as human beings, but as a sort of demons. + +[119] The E-cha-chets are not at present recognised as a separate tribe. +But there is a large village in Clayoquat Sound on the south end of +Wakenninish Island which bears that name. Like many now all but extinct +tribes, who have become absorbed into greater ones, the E-cha-chets seem +in Jewitt's time to have been more numerous. In Meares's narrative, +"Lee-cha-ett" is mentioned as a village of Wakenninish, but this could +not have been the same place, for Maquina and Wakenninish were at this +period on good terms. The river which the expedition ascended to reach +the summer salmon fishing village of the tribe was probably either the +Bear or the Onamettis, both of which flow through some swampy ground +into the head of Bedwall Arm. But as usual Jewitt exaggerated the +distance up which the canoemen paddled. There is no river in Vancouver +Island navigable for twenty or thirty miles, and few, even when broken +by rapids and falls, quite that length. + +[120] This is an exaggerated estimate. + +[121] This is one of the best descriptions of West Coast warfare with +which I am acquainted. + +[122] "Quiaotluk," Jewitt, with innate cockneyism, inserting an _r_ +after _a_ wherever this is possible. No Indian can pronounce _r_, any +more than a Chinaman can. + +[123] Klahosahts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MARRIAGE OF THE AUTHOR--HIS ILLNESS--DISMISSES HIS WIFE--RELIGION OF THE +NATIVES--CLIMATE + + +Soon after our establishment there, Maquina informed me that he and his +chiefs had held council both before and after quitting Nootka, in which +they had determined that I must marry one of their women, urging as a +reason to induce me to consent, that, as there was now no probability of +a ship coming to Nootka to release me, that I must consider myself as +destined to pass the remainder of my life with them, that the sooner I +conformed to their customs the better, and that a wife and family would +render me more contented and satisfied with their mode of living. I +remonstrated against this decision, but to no purpose, for he told me +that, should I refuse, both Thompson and myself would be put to death; +telling me, however, that if there were none of the women of his tribe +that pleased me, he would go with me to some of the other tribes, where +he would purchase for me such a one as I should select. Reduced to this +sad extremity, with death on the one side and matrimony on the other, I +thought proper to choose what appeared to me the least of the two +evils, and consent to be married, on condition that, as I did not fancy +any of the Nootka women, I should be permitted to make choice of one +from some other tribe. + +This being settled, the next morning by daylight, Maquina, with about +fifty men in two canoes, set out with me for Ai-tiz-zart,[124] taking +with him a quantity of cloth, a number of muskets, sea-otter skins, +etc., for the purchase of my bride. With the aid of our paddles and +sails, being favoured with a fair breeze, we arrived some time before +sunset at the village. Our arrival excited a general alarm, and the men +hastened to the shore, armed with the weapons of their country, making +many warlike demonstrations, and displaying much zeal and activity. We, +in the meantime, remained quietly seated in our canoes, where we +remained for about half an hour, when the messenger of the chief, +dressed in their best manner, came to welcome us and invite us on shore +to eat.[125] We followed him in procession to the chief's house, Maquina +at our head, taking care to leave a sufficient number in the boats to +protect the property. When we came to the house, we were ushered in with +much ceremony, and our respective seats pointed out to us, mine being +next to Maquina by his request. + +After having been regaled with a feast of herring spawn and oil, Maquina +asked me if I saw any among the women who were present that I liked. I +immediately pointed out to a young girl of about seventeen, the +daughter of Upquesta, the chief, who was sitting near him by her mother. +On this, Maquina, making a sign to his men, arose, and, taking me by the +hand, walked into the middle of the room, and sent off two of his men to +bring the boxes containing the presents from the canoes. In the +meantime, Kinneclimmets, the master of ceremonies, whom I have already +spoken of, made himself ready for the part he was to act, by powdering +his hair with white down. When the chests were brought in, specimens of +the several articles were taken out, and showed by our men, one of whom +held up a musket, another a skin, a third a piece of cloth, etc. + +On this Kinneclimmets stepped forward, and, addressing the chief, +informed him that all these belonged to me, mentioning the number of +each kind, and that they were offered to him for the purchase of his +daughter Eu-stoch-ee-exqua, as a wife for me. As he said this, the men +who held up the various articles walked up to the chief, and with a very +stern and morose look, the complimentary one on these occasions, threw +them at his feet. Immediately on which, all the tribe, both men and +women, who were assembled on this occasion, set up a cry of +_Klack-ko-Tyee_,[126] that is, "Thank ye, chief." + +His men, after this ceremony, having returned to their places, Maquina +rose, and, in a speech of more than half an hour, said much in my praise +to the Ai-tiz-zart chief, telling him that I was as good a man as +themselves, differing from them only in being white, that I was besides +acquainted with many things of which they were ignorant; that I knew how +to make daggers, cheetolths, and harpoons, and was a very valuable +person, whom he was determined to keep always with him; praising me at +the same time for the goodness of my temper, and the manner in which I +had conducted myself since I had been with them, observing that all the +people of Nootka, and even the children, loved me. + +While Maquina was speaking, his master of ceremonies was continually +skipping about, making the most extravagant gestures, and exclaiming +"_Wocash!_" When he had ceased, the Ai-tiz-zart chief arose, amidst the +acclamations of his people, and began with setting forth the many good +qualities and accomplishments of his daughter; that he loved her +greatly, and as she was his only one, he could not think of parting with +her. He spoke in this manner for some time, but finally concluded by +consenting to the proposed union, requesting that she might be well used +and kindly treated by her husband. At the close of the speech, when the +chief began to manifest a disposition to consent to our union, +Kinneclimmets again began to call out as loud as he could bawl, +"_Wocash!_" cutting a thousand capers and spinning himself around on his +heel like a top. + +When Upquesta had finished his speech, he directed his people to carry +back the presents which Maquina had given him, to me, together with two +young male slaves to assist me in fishing. These, after having been +placed before me, were by Maquina's men taken on board the canoes. This +ceremony being over, we were invited by one of the principal chiefs to +a feast at his house, of _Klussamit_,[127] or dried herring, where, +after the eating was over, Kinneclimmets amused the company very highly +with his tricks, and the evening's entertainment was closed by a new +war-song from our men, and one in return from the Ai-tiz-zarts, +accompanied with expressive gestures, and wielding of their weapons. + +After this our company returned to lodge at Upquesta's, except a few who +were left on board the canoes to watch the property. In the morning I +received from the chief his daughter, with an earnest request that I +would use her well, which I promised him; when, taking leave of her +parents, she accompanied me with apparent satisfaction on board of the +canoe. + +The wind being ahead, the natives were obliged to have recourse to their +paddles, accompanying them with their songs, interspersed with the +witticisms and buffoonery of Kinneclimmets, who, in his capacity of +king's steersman, one of his functions which I forgot to enumerate, not +only guided the course of the canoe, but regulated the singing of the +boatmen. At about five in the morning we reached Tashees, where we found +all the inhabitants collected on the shore to receive us. + +We were welcomed with loud shouts of joy, and exclamations of +"_Wocash!_" and the women, taking my bride under their charge, conducted +her to Maquina's house, to be kept with them for ten days; it being an +universal custom, as Maquina informed me, that no intercourse should +take place between the new married pair during that period. At night +Maquina gave a great feast, which was succeeded by a dance, in which all +the women joined, and thus ended the festivities of my marriage.[128] + +The term of my probation being over, Maquina assigned me as an apartment +the space in the upper part of his house between him and his elder +brother, whose room was opposite. Here I established myself with my +family, consisting of myself and wife, Thompson, and the little +Sat-sat-sok-sis, who had always been strongly attached to me, and now +solicited his father to let him live with me, to which he consented. + +This boy was handsome, extremely well formed, amiable, and of a +pleasant, sprightly disposition. I used to take a pleasure in decorating +him with rings, bracelets, ear-jewels, etc., which I made for him of +copper, and ornamented and polished them in my best manner. I was also +very careful to keep him free from vermin of every kind, washing him and +combing his hair every day. These marks of attention were not only very +pleasing to the child, who delighted in being kept neat and clean, as +well as in being dressed off in his finery, but was highly gratifying +both to Maquina and his queen, who used to express much satisfaction at +my care of him. + +In making my domestic establishment, I determined, as far as possible, +to live in a more comfortable and cleanly manner than the others. For +this purpose I erected with planks a partition of about three feet high +between mine and the adjoining rooms, and made three bedsteads of the +same, which I covered with boards, for my family to sleep on, which I +found much more comfortable than sleeping on the floor amidst the dirt. + +Fortunately, I found my Indian princess both amiable and intelligent, +for one whose limited sphere of observation must necessarily give rise +to but a few ideas. She was extremely ready to agree to anything that I +proposed relative to our mode of living, was very attentive in keeping +her garments and person neat and clean, and appeared in every respect +solicitous to please me. + +She was, as I have said, about seventeen; her person was small but well +formed, as were her features; her complexion was, without exception, +fairer than any of the women, with considerable colour in her cheeks, +her hair long, black, and much softer than is usual with them, and her +teeth small, even, and of a dazzling whiteness; while the expression of +her countenance indicated sweetness of temper and modesty. She would +indeed have been considered as very pretty in any country, and, +excepting Maquina's queen, was by far the handsomest of any of their +women. + +With a partner possessing so many attractions, many may be apt to +conclude that I must have found myself happy,--at least, comparatively +so; but far otherwise was it with me. A compulsory marriage with the +most beautiful and accomplished person in the world can never prove a +source of real happiness; and, in my situation, I could not but view +this connection as a chain that was to bind me down to this savage land, +and prevent my ever again seeing a civilised country; especially when, +in a few days after, Maquina informed me that there had been a meeting +of his chiefs, in which it had been determined that, as I had married +one of their women, I must be considered as one of them, and conform to +their customs, and that in future neither myself nor Thompson should +wear our European clothes, but dress in kutsaks[129] like themselves. +This order was to me most painful, but I persuaded Maquina at length so +far to relax in it as to permit me to wear those I had at present, which +were almost worn out, and not to compel Thompson to change his dress, +observing that, as he was an old man, such a change would cause his +death. + +Their religious celebration, which the last year took place in December, +was in this commenced on the 15th of November, and continued for +fourteen days. As I was now considered as one of them, instead of being +ordered to the woods, Maquina directed Thompson and myself to remain and +pray with them to Quahootze to be good to them, and thank him for what +he had done. + +It was opened in much the same manner as the former. After which, all +the men and women in the village assembled at Maquina's house, in their +plainest dresses, and without any kind of ornaments about them, having +their heads bound around with the red fillet, a token of dejection and +humiliation, and their countenances expressive of seriousness and +melancholy. The performances during the continuance of this celebration +consisted almost wholly in singing a number of songs to mournful airs, +the king regulating the time by beating on his hollow plank or drum, +accompanied by one of his chiefs seated near him with the great rattle. +In the meantime they ate but seldom, and then very little, retiring to +sleep late, and rising at the first appearance of dawn, and even +interrupting this short period of repose by getting up at midnight and +singing. + +The ceremony was terminated by an exhibition of a similar character to +the one of the last year, but still more cruel. A boy of twelve years +old, with six bayonets run into his flesh, one through each arm and +thigh, and through each side close to the ribs, was carried around the +room suspended upon them, without manifesting any symptoms of pain. +Maquina, on my inquiring the reason of this display, informed me that it +was an ancient custom of his nation to sacrifice a man at the close of +this solemnity, in honour of their God, but that his father had +abolished it, and substituted this in its place.[130] The whole closed +on the evening of the 29th, with a great feast of salmon spawn and oil, +at which the natives, as usual, made up for their late abstinence. + +A few days after, a circumstance occurred, which, from its singularity, +I cannot forbear mentioning. I was sent for by my neighbour Yealthlower, +the king's elder brother, to file his teeth, which operation having been +performed, he informed me that a new wife, whom he had a little time +before purchased, having refused to sleep with him, it was his +intention, provided she persisted in her refusal, to bite off her nose. +I endeavoured to dissuade him from it, but he was determined, and, in +fact, performed his savage threat that very night, saying that since she +would not be his wife, she should not be that of any other, and in the +morning sent her back to her father. + +The inhuman act did not, however, proceed from any innate cruelty of +disposition or malice, as he was far from being of a barbarous temper; +but such is the despotism exercised by these savages over their women, +that he no doubt considered it as a just punishment for her offence, in +being so obstinate and perverse; as he afterwards told me, that in +similar cases the husband had a right with them to disfigure his wife in +this way or some other, to prevent her ever marrying again. + +About the middle of December, we left Tashees for Cooptee. As usual at +this season, we found the herrings in great plenty, and here the same +scene of riotous feasting that I witnessed last year was renewed by our +improvident natives, who, in addition to their usual fare, had a +plentiful supply of wild geese, which were brought us in great +quantities by the Eshquates. These, as Maquina informed me, were caught +with nets made from bark in the fresh waters of that country. Those who +take them make choice for that purpose of a dark and rainy night, and, +with their canoes stuck with lighted torches, proceed with as little +noise as possible to the place where the geese are collected, who, +dazzled by the light, suffer themselves to be approached very near, when +the net is thrown over them, and in this manner from fifty to sixty, or +even more, will sometimes be taken at one cast. + +On the 15th of January 1805, about midnight, I was thrown into +considerable alarm, in consequence of an eclipse of the moon, being +awakened from my sleep by a great outcry of the inhabitants. On going to +discover the cause of this tumult, I found them all out of their houses, +bearing lighted torches, singing and beating upon pieces of plank; and +when I asked them the reason of this proceeding, they pointed to the +moon, and said that a great cod-fish was endeavouring to swallow her, +and that they were driving him away. The origin of this superstition I +could not discover. + +[Illustration: INDIAN CHIEF'S GRAVE (TEMP. 1863).] + +Though, in some respects, my situation was rendered more comfortable +since my marriage, as I lived in a more cleanly manner, and had my food +better and more neatly cooked, of which, besides, I had always a plenty, +my slaves generally furnishing me, and Upquesta never failing to send me +an ample supply by the canoes that came from Ai-tiz-zart; still, from my +being obliged at this season of the year to change my accustomed +clothing, and to dress like the natives, with only a piece of cloth of +about two yards long thrown loosely around me, my European clothes +having been for some time entirely worn out, I suffered more than I can +express from the cold, especially as I was compelled to perform the +laborious task of cutting and bringing the firewood, which was rendered +still more oppressive to me, from my comrade, for a considerable part of +the winter, not having it in his power to lend me his aid, in +consequence of an attack of the rheumatism in one of his knees, with +which he suffered for more than four months, two or three weeks of which +he was so ill as to be under the necessity to leave the house. + +This state of suffering, with the little hope I now had of ever escaping +from the savages, began to render my life irksome to me; still, however, +I lost not my confidence in the aid of the Supreme Being, to whom, +whenever the weather and a suspension from the tasks imposed on me would +permit, I never failed regularly on Sundays to retire to the wood to +worship, taking Thompson with me when he was able to go. + +On the 20th of February, we returned to our summer quarters at Nootka, +but on my part, with far different sensations than the last spring, +being now almost in despair of any vessel arriving to release us, or our +being permitted to depart if there should. + +Soon after our return, as preparatory to the whaling season, Maquina +ordered me to make a good number of harpoons for himself and his chiefs, +several of which I had completed, with some lances, when, on the 16th of +March, I was taken very ill with a violent colic, caused, I presume, +from having suffered so much from the cold, in going without proper +clothing. For a number of hours I was in great pain, and expected to +die, and on its leaving me, I was so weak as scarcely to be able to +stand, while I had nothing comforting to take, nor anything to drink but +cold water. + +On the day following, a slave belonging to Maquina died, and was +immediately, as is their custom in such cases, tossed unceremoniously +out of doors, from whence he was taken by some others and thrown into +the water. The treatment of this poor creature made a melancholy +impression upon my mind, as I could not but think that such probably +would be my fate should I die among these heathens, and so far from +receiving a decent burial, that I should not even be allowed the common +privilege of having a little earth thrown over my remains. + +The feebleness in which the violent attack of my disorder had left me, +the dejection I felt at the almost hopelessness of my situation and the +want of warm clothing and proper nursing, though my Indian wife, as far +as she knew how, was always ready, even solicitous, to do everything for +me she could, still kept me very much indisposed, which Maquina +perceiving, he finally told me that if I did not like living with my +wife, and that was the cause of my being so sad, I might part with her. +This proposal I readily accepted, and the next day Maquina sent her back +to her father. + +On parting with me she discovered much emotion, begging me that I would +suffer her to remain till I had recovered, as there was no one who would +take so good care of me as herself. But when I told her she must go, for +that I did not think I should ever get well, which in truth I but little +expected, and that her father would take good care of her and treat her +much more kindly than Maquina, she took an affectionate leave, telling +me that she hoped I should soon get better, and left her two slaves to +take care of me. + +Though I rejoiced at her departure, I was greatly affected with the +simple expressions of her regard for me, and could not but feel strongly +interested for this poor girl, who in all her conduct towards me had +discovered so much mildness and attention to my wishes; and had it not +been that I considered her as an almost insuperable obstacle to my being +permitted to leave the country, I should no doubt have felt the +deprivation of her society a real loss. After her departure, I requested +Maquina that, as I had parted with my wife, he would permit me to resume +my European dress, as, otherwise, from not having been accustomed to +dress like them, I should certainly die. To this he consented, and I +once more became comfortably clad. + +Change of clothing, but, more than all, the hopes which I now began to +indulge that in the course of the summer I should be able to escape, in +a short time restored me to health, so far that I could again go to work +in making harpoons for Maquina, who probably, fearing that he should +have to part with me, determined to provide himself with a good stock. + +I shall not, however, long detain the reader with a detail of +occurrences that intervened between this period and that of my escape, +which, from that dull uniformity that marks the savage life, would be in +a measure but a repetition, nor dwell upon that mental torture I endured +from a constant conflict of hope and fear, when the former, almost +wearied out with repeated disappointment, offered to our sinking hearts +no prospect of release but death, to which we were constantly exposed +from the brutal ignorance and savage disposition of the common people, +who, in the various councils that were held this season to determine +what to do with us in case of the arrival of a ship, were almost always +for putting us to death, expecting by that means to conceal the murder +of our crew and to throw the blame of it on some other tribe. These +barbarous sentiments were, however, universally opposed by Maquina and +his chiefs, who would not consent to our being injured. But, as some of +their customs and traits of national character which I think deserving +of notice have not been mentioned, I shall proceed to give an account of +them. + + * * * * * + +The office of king or chief is, with those people, hereditary, and +descends to the eldest son, or, in failure of male issue, to the elder +brother, who in the regal line is considered as the second person in the +kingdom. At feasts, as I have observed, the king is always placed in the +highest or seat of honour, and the chiefs according to their respective +ranks, which appear in general to be determined by their affinity to the +royal family; they are also designated by the embellishments of their +mantles or kutsaks. The king, or head _Tyee_ is their leader in war, in +the management of which he is perfectly absolute. He is also president +of their councils, which are almost always regulated by his opinion. But +he has no kind of power over the property of his subjects, nor can he +require them to contribute to his wants, being in this respect no more +privileged than any other person. He has, in common with his chiefs, the +right of holding slaves, which is not enjoyed by private individuals, a +regulation probably arising from their having been originally captives +taken in battle, the spoils of war being understood as appertaining to +the king, who receives and apportions them among his several chiefs and +warriors according to their rank and deserts. + +In conformity with this idea, the plunder of the _Boston_ was all +deposited in Maquina's house, who distributed part of it among his +chiefs, according to their respective ranks or degree of favour with +him, giving to one three hundred muskets, to another one hundred and +fifty, with other things in like proportion. The king is, however, +obliged to support his dignity by making frequent entertainments, and +whenever he receives a large supply of provision, he must invite all the +men of his tribe to his house to eat it up, otherwise, as Maquina told +me, he would not be considered as conducting himself like a _Tyee_, and +would be no more thought of than a common man. + + * * * * * + +With regard to their religion.--They believe in the existence of a +Supreme Being, whom they call _Quahootze_, and who, to use Maquina's +expression, was one great _Tyee_ in the sky, who gave them their fish, +and could take them from them, and was the greatest of all kings. Their +usual place of worship appeared to be the water, for whenever they +bathed, they addressed some words in form of prayer to the God above, +entreating that he would preserve them in health, give them good success +in fishing, etc. These prayers were repeated with much more energy on +preparing for whaling or for war, as I have already mentioned. + +Some of them would sometimes go several miles to bathe, in order to do +it in secret; the reason for this I could never learn, though I am +induced to think it was in consequence of some family or private +quarrel, and that they did not wish what they said to be heard; while at +other times they would repair in the same secret manner to the woods to +pray. This was more particularly the case with the women, who might also +have been prompted by a sentiment of decency to retire for the purpose +of bathing, as they are remarkably modest. + +I once found one of our women more than two miles from the village on +her knees in the woods, with her eyes shut and her face turned towards +heaven, uttering words in a lamentable tone, amongst which I distinctly +heard, _Wocash Ah-welth_, meaning "good Lord," and which has nearly the +same signification with Quahootze. + +Though I came very near her, she appeared not to notice me, but +continued her devotions. And I have frequently seen the women go alone +into the woods, evidently for the purpose of addressing themselves to a +superior Being, and it was always very perceptible on their return when +they had been thus employed, from their silence and melancholy looks. + +They have no belief, however, in a state of future existence, as I +discovered in conversation with Maquina at Tootoosch's death, on my +attempting to convince him that he still existed, and that he would +again see him after his death; but he could comprehend nothing of it, +and, pointing to the ground, said that there was the end of him, and +that he was like that.[131] Nor do they believe in ghosts, +notwithstanding the case of Tootoosch would appear to contradict this +assertion, but that was a remarkable instance, and such a one as had +never been known to occur before; yet from the mummeries performed over +the sick, it is very apparent that they believe in the agency of +spirits, as they attribute diseases to some evil one that has entered +the body of the patient. Neither have they any priests, unless a kind of +conjurer[132] may be so considered who sings and prays over the sick to +drive away the evil spirit. + + * * * * * + +On the birth of twins, they have a most singular custom, which, I +presume, has its origin in some religious opinion, but what it is, I +could never satisfactorily learn. The father is prohibited for the space +of two years from eating any kind of meat, or fresh fish, during which +time he does no kind of labour whatever, being supplied with what he has +occasion for from the tribe. In the meantime, he and his wife, who is +also obliged to conform to the same abstinence, with their children, +live entirely separate from the others, a small hut being built for +their accommodation, and he is never invited to any of the feasts, +except such as consist wholly of dried provision, where he is treated +with great respect, and seated among the chiefs, though no more himself +than a private individual. + +Such births are very rare among them; an instance of the kind, however, +occurred while I was at Tashees the last time, but it was the only one +known since the reign of the former king. The father always appeared +very thoughtful and gloomy, never associated with the other +inhabitants, and was at none of the feasts, but such as were entirely of +dried provision, and of this he ate not to excess, and constantly +retired before the amusements commenced. His dress was very plain, and +he wore around his head the red fillet of bark, the symbol of mourning +and devotion. It was his daily practice to repair to the mountain, with +a chief's rattle in his hand, to sing and pray, as Maquina informed me, +for the fish to come into their waters. When not thus employed, he kept +continually at home, except when sent for to sing and perform his +ceremonies over the sick, being considered as a sacred character, and +one much in favour with their gods.[133] + +These people are remarkably healthful, and live to a very advanced age, +having quite a youthful appearance for their years.[134] They have +scarcely any disease but the colic, their remedy for which is friction, +a person rubbing the bowels of the sick violently, until the pain has +subsided, while the conjurer, or holy man, is employed, in the meantime, +in making his gestures, singing, and repeating certain words, and +blowing off the evil spirit, when the patient is wrapped up in a +bearskin, in order to produce perspiration. + +Their cure for the rheumatism, or similar pains, which I saw applied by +Maquina in the case of Thompson, to whom it gave relief, is by cutting +or scarifying the part affected. In dressing wounds, they simply wash +them with salt water, and bind them up with a strip of cloth, or the +bark of a tree. They are, however, very expert and successful in the +cure of fractured or dislocated limbs, reducing them very dexterously, +and, after binding them up with bark, supporting them with blocks of +wood, so as to preserve their position.[135] + +During the whole time I was among them, but five natural deaths +occurred, Tootoosch and his two infant children, an infant son of +Maquina, and the slave whom I have mentioned, a circumstance not a +little remarkable in a population of about fifteen hundred; and as +respects child-birth, so light do they make of it, that I have seen +their women, the day after, employed as usual, as if little or nothing +had happened. + +The Nootkians in their conduct towards each other are in general pacific +and inoffensive, and appear by no means an ill-tempered race, for I do +not recollect any instance of a violent quarrel between any of the men, +or the men and their wives, while I was with them, that of Yealthlower +excepted. But when they are in the least offended, they appear to be in +the most violent rage, acting like so many maniacs, foaming at the +mouth, kicking and spitting most furiously; but this is rather a fashion +with them than a demonstration of malignity, as in their public speeches +they use the same violence, and he is esteemed the greatest orator who +bawls the loudest, stamps, tosses himself about, foams, and spits the +most.[136] + +In speaking of their regulations, I have omitted mentioning that, on +attaining the age of seventeen, the eldest son of a chief is considered +as a chief himself, and that whenever the father makes a present, it is +always done in the name of his eldest son, or, if he has none, in that +of his daughter. The chiefs frequently purchase their wives at the age +of eight or ten, to prevent their being engaged by others, though they +do not take them from their parents until they are sixteen. + +With regard to climate, the greater part of the spring, summer, and +autumn is very pleasant, the weather being at no time oppressively hot, +and the winters uncommonly mild for so high a latitude, at least, as far +as my experience went. At Tashees and Cooptee, where we passed the +coldest part of the season, the winter did not set in till late in +December, nor have I ever yet known the ice, even on the freshwater +ponds, more than two or three inches in thickness, or a snow exceeding +four inches in depth; but what is wanting in snow, is amply made up in +rain, as I have frequently known it, during the winter months, rain +almost incessantly for five or six days in succession. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[124] Ayhuttisaht, also in Nootka Sound. + +[125] This is the custom if the visit of the strangers has not been +announced in advance. + +[126] _Ooshyuksomayts_ is another expression meaning much the same +thing. + +[127] _Kloosmit_ is "herring" (_Meletta caerulea_) generally. _Klooshist_ +is dried salmon, a more common article of food. + +[128] Jewitt's marriage was less ceremonious than is usual with Indians +of any rank, and the ten days' probation was not according to modern +customs. + +[129] _Kutsak_, or _kotsack_, or _kootsick_, or _cotsack_, for all these +forms occur, was the blanket worn cloakwise, rendered familiar to +Europeans in so many pictures and sketches. + +[130] Human sacrifices are quite common among the Northern tribes. But +in Vancouver they were very rare in my time, and are now still less +frequent. In 1863 the burial of a chief was celebrated by the heads of +several tribesmen being fixed about his grave. These were not taken by +force, but surrendered by the trembling tribesmen, the victims being +most likely slaves. In 1788, Meares affirms, on what we believe to be +insufficient evidence, that Maquina (Moqulla) sacrificed a human being +every new moon, to gratify "his unnatural appetite" for human flesh. The +victim was a slave selected by the blindfolded chief catching him in a +house in which a number were assembled. Meares even declares that +Maquina acknowledged his weakness, and that though Callicum, another +chief, avoided cannibalism, he reposed on a pillow filled with human +skulls. If so, the practice has ceased. Yet cannibalism was undeniably +practised at times among the Indians of both the East and West coasts. +There were in 1866 Indians living in Koskeemo Sound, who still talked of +the delights of human flesh. Many years ago, the Bella-Bellas ate a +servant of the Hudson Bay Company, and the Nuchaltaws of Cape Mudge are +affirmed by old traders to have paid the same doubtful compliment to a +sailor who fell into their clutches. + +[131] This, in common with other statements of the kind, is more than +doubtful. The best account of their religion is by Mr. Sproat, but even +he acknowledges that, after two years devoted to the subject, and to the +questioning of others who had passed half a lifetime amongst the "Ahts," +he could discover very little about their faith which could be +pronounced indisputably accurate. Even the Indians themselves are by no +means at one on the subject, people without a written creed or sacred +books being apt to entertain very contradictory ideas on their +theological tenets. I endeavoured to fathom some of their beliefs, and I +had ample opportunities; but I confess to the difficulty of getting +behind these reserved folk, and I did not meet with sufficient success +to make the results worth recording. + +[132] What Jewitt calls a "conjurer" is more commonly known in these +times as a "medicine man," who was, more often than not, a combination +nine parts rogue and one part fool. + +[133] This is entirely different from the views that are entertained by +other tribes. The tribes speaking the language which prevails from Port +San Juan to Comox are so ashamed of twins, that one of the hapless two +is almost invariably killed. I do not remember having ever seen a case. +Most of the Indian birth notions are very curious. + +[134] They are apt to rapidly change from young-looking to old-looking +men, without any of that pleasant "Indian summer" so characteristic of +people in more civilised communities. But advanced years are not common. +In 1864 the oldest man in the little Opechesaht tribe, whose homes are +on the Kleecoot River (flowing out of Sproat Lake into the Alberni +Inlet), was only sixty, so far as he could make out. + +[135] Bilious complaints, constipation, dysentery, consumption, fevers +and acute inflammatory diseases, and (amongst some tribes, but not +amongst the Nootkians), ophthalmia, are common, though rheumatism and +paralysis are infrequent. The "diseases of civilisation," it may be +added, have been known for many years. + +[136] This is still true. When sober they indulge in high words, and are +fond of teasing the women until they get out of temper; but a blow is +rare. Even the children seldom fall out, the necessity of small +communities living together for mutual protection compelling the members +to establish a _modus vivendi_. However, when drunk--and in spite of the +laws against liquor being sold to them, this is by no means +uncommon--they are prone to seek close quarters and act like angry +termagants. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ARRIVAL OF THE BRIG "LYDIA"--STRATAGEM OF THE AUTHOR--ITS SUCCESS + + +It was now past midsummer, and the hopes we had indulged of our release +became daily more faint, for though we had heard of no less than seven +vessels on the coast, yet none appeared inclined to venture to Nootka. + +The destruction of the _Boston_, the largest, strongest, and best +equipped ship, with the most valuable cargo of any that had ever been +fitted for the North-West trade, had inspired the commanders of others +with a general dread of coming thither, lest they should share the same +fate; and though in the letters I wrote (imploring those who should +receive them to come to the relief of two unfortunate Christians who +were suffering among heathen), I stated the cause of the _Boston's_ +capture, and that there was not the least danger in coming to Nootka, +provided they would follow the directions I laid down, still I felt very +little encouragement that any of these letters would come to hand; when, +on the morning of the 19th of July, a day that will be ever held by me +in grateful remembrance of the mercies of God, while I was employed with +Thompson in forging daggers for the king, my ears were saluted with the +joyful sound of three cannon, and the cries of the inhabitants, +exclaiming "_Weena, weena--Mamethlee!_"--that is, "Strangers--White +men!" + +Soon after, several of our people came running into the house, to inform +me that a vessel under full sail was coming into the harbour. Though my +heart bounded with joy, I repressed my feelings, and, affecting to pay +no attention to what was said, told Thompson to be on his guard, and not +betray any joy, as our release, and perhaps our lives, depended on our +conducting ourselves so as to induce the natives to suppose we were not +very anxious to leave them. We continued our work as if nothing had +happened, when, in a few minutes after, Maquina came in, and, seeing us +at work, appeared much surprised, and asked me if did not know that a +vessel had come. + +I answered in a careless manner, that it was nothing to me. "How, John," +said he, "you no glad go board?" I replied that I cared very little +about it, as I had become reconciled to their manner of living, and had +no wish to go away. He then told me that he had called a council of his +people respecting us, and that we must leave off work and be present at +it. + +The men having assembled at Maquina's house, he asked them what was +their opinion should be done with Thompson and myself, now a vessel had +arrived, and whether he had not better go on board himself, to make a +trade, and procure such articles as were wanted. Each one of the tribe +who wished, gave his opinion. Some were for putting us to death, and +pretending to the strangers that a different nation had cut off the +_Boston_; while others, less barbarous, were for sending us fifteen or +twenty miles back into the country, until the departure of the vessel. + +These, however, were the sentiments of the common people, the chiefs +opposing our being put to death, or injured, and several of them, among +the most forward of whom were Yealthlower and the young chief +Toowinnakinnish, were for immediately releasing us; but this, if he +could avoid it, by no means appeared to accord with Maquina's wishes. + +Having mentioned Toowinnakinnish, I shall briefly observe that he was a +young man of about twenty-three years old, the only son of +Toopeeshottee, the oldest and most respected chief of the tribe. His son +had always been remarkably kind and friendly to me, and I had in return +frequently made for him daggers, cheetolths, and other things, in my +best manner. He was one of the handsomest men among them, very amiable, +and much milder in his manners than any of the others, as well as neater +both in his person and house, at least his apartment, without even +excepting Maquina. + +With regard, however, to Maquina's going on board the vessel, which he +discovered a strong inclination to do, there was but one opinion, all +remonstrating against it, telling him that the captain would kill him or +keep him prisoner, in consequence of his having destroyed our ship. When +Maquina had heard their opinions, he told them that he was not afraid of +being hurt from going on board the vessel, but that he would, however, +as it respected that, be guided by John, whom he had always found true. +He then turned to me, and asked me if I thought there would be any +danger in his going on board. I answered, that I was not surprised at +the advice his people had given him, unacquainted as they were with the +manners of the white men, and judging them by their own; but if they had +been with them as much as I had, or even himself, they would think very +different. That he had almost always experienced good and civil +treatment from them, nor had he any reason to fear the contrary now, as +they never attempted to harm those who did not injure them; and if he +wished to go on board, he might do it, in my opinion, with security. + +After reflecting a few moments, he said, with much apparent +satisfaction, that if I would write a letter to the captain, telling him +good of him, that he had treated Thompson and myself kindly since we had +been with him, and to use him well, he would go. + +It may easily be supposed that I felt much joy at this determination, +but, knowing that the least incaution might annihilate all my hopes of +escape, was careful not to manifest it, and to treat his going or +staying as a matter perfectly indifferent to me. I told him that, if he +wished me to write such a letter, I had no objection, as it was the +truth, otherwise I could not have done it. + +I then proceeded to write the recommendatory letter, which the reader +will naturally imagine was of a somewhat different tenor from the one he +had required; for if deception is in any case warrantable, it was +certainly so in a situation like ours, where the only chance of +regaining that freedom of which we had been so unjustly deprived, +depended upon it; and I trust that few, even of the most rigid, will +condemn me with severity for making use of it, on an occasion which +afforded me the only hope of ever more beholding a Christian country, +and preserving myself, if not from death, at least from a life of +continued suffering. + +The letter which I wrote was nearly in the following terms:-- + + TO CAPTAIN---- + OF THE BRIG---- + NOOTKA, _July_ 19, 1805. + + SIR,--The bearer of this letter is the Indian king by the name + of Maquina. He was the instigator of the capture of the ship + _Boston_, of Boston, in North America, John Salter, captain, and + of the murder of twenty-five men of her crew, the two only + survivors being now on shore--Wherefore I hope you will take + care to confine him according to his merits, putting in your + dead-lights, and keeping so good a watch over him, that he + cannot escape from you. By so doing, we shall be able to obtain + our release in the course of a few hours. + + JOHN R. JEWITT, _Armourer of the "Boston"_ + _for himself, and_ + JOHN THOMPSON, _Sail-maker of the said ship_. + + +I have been asked how I dared to write in this manner: my answer is, +that from my long residence among these people, I knew that I had little +to apprehend from their anger on hearing of their king being confined, +while they knew his life depended upon my release, and that they would +sooner have given up five hundred white men, than have had him injured. +This will serve to explain the little apprehension I felt at their +menaces afterwards, for otherwise, sweet as liberty was to me, I should +hardly have ventured on so hazardous an experiment. + +On my giving the letter to Maquina, he asked me to explain it to him. +This I did line by line, as he pointed them out with his finger, but in +a sense very different from the real, giving him to understand that I +had written to the captain that, as he had been kind to me since I had +been taken by him, that it was my wish that the captain should treat him +accordingly, and give him what molasses, biscuit, and rum he wanted. + +When I had finished, placing his finger in a significant manner on my +name at the bottom, and eyeing me with a look that seemed to read my +inmost thoughts, he said to me, "John, you no lie?" Never did I undergo +such a scrutiny, or ever experience greater apprehensions than I felt at +that moment, when my destiny was suspended on the slightest thread, and +the least mark of embarrassment on mine, or suspicion of treachery on +his part, would probably have rendered my life the sacrifice. + +Fortunately I was able to preserve my composure, and my being painted in +the Indian manner, which Maquina had since my marriage required of me, +prevented any change in my countenance from being noticed, and I replied +with considerable promptitude, looking at him in my turn, with all the +confidence I could muster,-- + +"Why do you ask me such a question, Tyee? Have you ever known me to +lie?" + +"No." + +"Then how can you suppose I should tell you a lie now, since I have +never done it?" As I was speaking, he still continued looking at me with +the same piercing eye, but, observing nothing to excite his suspicion, +he told me that he believed what I said was true, and that he would go +on board, and gave orders to get ready his canoe. His chiefs again +attempted to dissuade him, using every argument for that purpose, while +his wives crowded around him, begging him on their knees not to trust +himself with the white men. Fortunately for my companion and myself, so +strong was his wish of going on board the vessel, that he was deaf to +their solicitations, and, making no other reply to them than "John no +lie," left the house, taking four prime skins with him as a present to +the captain. + +Scarcely had the canoe put off, when he ordered his men to stop, and, +calling to me, asked me if I did not want to go on board with him. +Suspecting this as a question merely intended to ensnare me, I replied +that I had no wish to do it, not having any desire to leave them. + +On going on board the brig, Maquina immediately gave his present of +skins and my letter to the captain, who, on reading it, asked him into +the cabin, where he gave him some biscuit and a glass of rum, at the +same time privately directing his mate to go forward, and return with +five or six of the men armed. When they appeared, the captain told +Maquina that he was his prisoner, and should continue so, until the two +men, whom he knew to be on shore, were released, at the same time +ordering him to be put in irons, and the windows secured, which was +instantly done, and a couple of men placed as a guard over him. Maquina +was greatly surprised and terrified at this reception; he, however, made +no attempt to resist, but requested the captain to permit one of his men +to come and see him. One of them was accordingly called, and Maquina +said something to him which the captain did not understand, but supposed +to be an order to release us, when, the man returning to the canoe, it +was paddled off with the utmost expedition to the shore. + +As the canoe approached, the inhabitants, who had all collected upon the +beach, manifested some uneasiness at not seeing their king on board, but +when, on its arrival, they were told that the captain had made him a +prisoner, and that John had spoke bad about him in the letter, they all, +both men and women, set up a loud howl, and ran backwards and forwards +upon the shore like so many lunatics, scratching their faces, and +tearing the hair in handfuls from their heads. + +After they had beat about in this manner for some time, the men ran to +their huts for their weapons, as if preparing to attack an invading +enemy; while Maquina's wives and the rest of the women came around me, +and, throwing themselves on their knees, begged me with tears to spare +his life; and Sat-sat-sok-sis, who kept constantly with me, taking me by +the hand, wept bitterly, and joined his entreaties to theirs, that I +would not let the white men kill his father. I told them not to afflict +themselves, that Maquina's life was in no danger, nor would the least +harm be done to him. + +The men were, however, extremely exasperated with me, more particularly +the common people, who came running in the most furious manner towards +me, brandishing their weapons, and threatening to cut me in pieces no +bigger than their thumb-nails, while others declared they would burn me +alive over a slow fire suspended by my heels. All this fury, however, +caused me but little alarm, as I felt convinced they would not dare to +execute their threats while the king was on board the brig. + +The chiefs took no part in this violent conduct, but came to me, and +inquired the reason why Maquina had been thus treated, and if the +captain intended to kill him. I told them that if they would silence the +people, so that I could be heard, I would explain all to them. They +immediately put a stop to the noise, when I informed them that the +captain, in confining Maquina, had done it only in order to make them +release Thompson and myself, as he well knew we were with them; and if +they would do that, their king would receive no injury, but be well +treated, otherwise he would be kept a prisoner. + +As many of them did not appear to be satisfied with this, and began to +repeat their murderous threats--"Kill me," said I to them, "if it is +your wish," throwing open the bearskin which I wore. "Here is my breast. +I am only one among so many, and can make no resistance; but unless you +wish to see your king hanging by his neck to that pole," pointing to the +yard-arm of the brig, "and the sailors firing at him with bullets, you +will not do it." + +"Oh no," was the general cry, "that must never be; but what must we do?" +I told them that their best plan would be to send Thompson on board, to +desire the captain to use Maquina well till I was released, which would +be soon. This they were perfectly willing to do, and I directed Thompson +to go on board. But he objected, saying that he would not leave me alone +with the savages. I told him not to be under any fear for me, for that +if I could get him off, I could manage well enough for myself; and that +I wished him, immediately on getting on board the brig, to see the +captain, and request him to keep Maquina close till I was released, as I +was in no danger while he had him safe. + +When I saw Thompson off, I asked the natives what they intended to do +with me. They said I must talk to the captain again, in another letter, +and tell him to let his boat come on shore with Maquina, and that I +should be ready to jump into the boat at the same time Maquina should +jump on shore. I told them that the captain, who knew that they had +killed my shipmates, would never trust his men so near the shore, for +fear they could kill them too, as they were so much more numerous, but +that if they would select any three of their number to go with me in a +canoe, when we came within hail, I would desire the captain to send his +boat with Maquina, to receive me in exchange for him. + +This appeared to please them, and after some whispering among the +chiefs, who, from what words I over-heard, concluded that if the captain +should refuse to send his boat with Maquina, the three men would have no +difficulty in bringing me back with them, they agreed to my proposal, +and selected three of their stoutest men to convey me. Fortunately, +having been for some time accustomed to see me armed, and suspecting no +design on my part, they paid no attention to the pistols that I had +about me. + +As I was going into the canoe, little Sat-sat-sok-sis, who could not +bear to part with me, asked me, with an affecting simplicity, since I +was going away to leave him, if the white men would not let his father +come on shore, and not kill him. I told him not to be concerned, for +that no one should injure his father, when, taking an affectionate leave +of me, and again begging me not to let the white men hurt his father, he +ran to comfort his mother, who was at a little distance, with the +assurances I had given him. + +On entering the canoe, I seated myself in the prow facing the three men, +having determined, if it was practicable, from the moment I found +Maquina was secured, to get on board the vessel before he was released, +hoping by that means to be enabled to obtain the restoration of what +property belonging to the _Boston_ still remained in the possession of +the savages, which I thought, if it could be done, a duty that I owed to +the owners. With feelings of joy impossible to be described did I quit +the savage shore, confident now that nothing could thwart my escape, or +prevent the execution of the plan that I had formed, as the men +appointed to convey and guard me were armed with nothing but their +paddles. + +As we came within hail of the brig, they at once ceased paddling, when, +presenting my pistols at them, I ordered them instantly to go on, or I +would shoot the whole of them. A proceeding so wholly unexpected threw +them into great consternation, and, resuming their paddles, in a few +moments, to my inexpressible delight, I once more found myself alongside +of a Christian ship, a happiness which I had almost despaired of ever +again enjoying. All the crew crowded to the side to see me as the canoe +came up, and manifested much joy at my safety. I immediately leaped on +board, where I was welcomed by the captain, Samuel Hill, of the brig +_Lydia_ of Boston, who congratulated me on my escape, informing me that +he had received my letter off Kloiz-zart[137] from the chief Machee +Ulatilla, who came off himself in his canoe to deliver it to him, on +which he immediately proceeded hither to aid me. I returned him my +thanks in the best manner I could for his humanity, though I hardly knew +what I said, such was the agitated state of my feelings at that moment, +with joy for my escape, thankfulness to the Supreme Being who had so +mercifully preserved me, and gratitude to those whom He had rendered +instrumental in my delivery, that I have no doubt that, what with my +strange dress, being painted with red and black from head to foot, +having a bearskin wrapped around me, and my long hair, which I was not +allowed to cut, fastened on the top of my head in a large bunch, with a +sprig of green spruce, I must have appeared more like one deranged than +a rational creature, as Captain Hill afterwards told me that he never +saw anything in the form of man look so wild as I did when I first came +on board. + +The captain then asked me into the cabin, where I found Maquina in +irons, with a guard over him. He looked very melancholy, but on seeing +me his countenance brightened up, and he expressed his pleasure with the +welcome of "_Wocash_, John," when, taking him by the hand, I asked the +captain's permission to take off his irons, assuring him that, as I was +with him, there was no danger of his being in the least troublesome. He +accordingly consented, and I felt a sincere pleasure in freeing from +fetters a man who, though he had caused the death of my poor comrades, +had nevertheless always proved my friend and protector, and whom I had +requested to be thus treated, only with a view of securing my liberty. +Maquina smiled, and appeared much pleased at this mark of attention from +me. When I had freed the king from his irons, Captain Hill wished to +learn the particulars of our capture, observing that an account of the +destruction of the ship and her crew had been received at Boston before +he sailed, but that nothing more was known, except that two of the men +were living, for whose rescue the owners had offered a liberal reward, +and that he had been able to get nothing out of the old man, whom the +sailors had supplied so plentifully with grog as to bring him too much +by the head to give any information. + +I gave him a correct statement of the whole proceeding, together with +the manner in which my life and that of my comrade had been preserved. +On hearing my story, he was greatly irritated against Maquina, and said +he ought to be killed. I observed that, however ill he might have acted +in taking our ship, yet that it might perhaps be wrong to judge an +uninformed savage with the same severity as a civilised person, who had +the light of religion and the laws of society to guide him. That +Maquina's conduct in taking our ship arose from an insult that he +thought he had received from Captain Salter, and from the unjustifiable +conduct of some masters of vessels who had robbed him, and, without +provocation, killed a number of his people. Besides, that a regard for +the safety of others ought to prevent his being put to death, as I had +lived long enough with these people to know that revenge of an injury is +held sacred by them, and that they would not fail to retaliate, should +we kill their king, on the first vessel or boat's crew that should give +them an opportunity; and that, though he might consider executing him as +but an act of justice, it would probably cost the lives of many +Americans. + +The captain appeared to be convinced from what I said of the impolicy of +taking Maquina's life, and said that he would leave it wholly with me +whether to spare or kill him, as he was resolved to incur no censure in +either case. I replied that I most certainly should never take the life +of a man who had preserved mine, had I no other reason, but as there was +some of the _Boston's_ property still remaining on shore, I considered +it a duty that I owed to those who were interested in that ship, to try +to save it for them, and with that view I thought it would be well to +keep him on board till it was given up. He concurred in this proposal, +saying, if there was any of the property left, it most certainly ought +to be got. + +During this conversation Maquina was in great anxiety, as, from what +English he knew, he perfectly comprehended the subject of our +deliberation; constantly interrupting me to inquire what we had +determined to do with him, what the captain said, if his life would be +spared, and if I did not think that Thompson would kill him. I pacified +him as well as I was able, by telling him that he had nothing to fear +from the captain, that he would not be hurt, and that if Thompson +wished to kill him, he would not be allowed to do it. He would then +remind me that I was indebted to him for my life, and that I ought to do +by him as he had done by me. I assured him that such was my intention, +and I requested him to remain quiet, and not alarm himself, as no harm +was intended him. But I found it extremely difficult to convince him of +this, as it accorded so little with the ideas of revenge entertained by +them. I told him, however, that he must restore all the property still +in his possession belonging to the ship. This he was perfectly ready to +do, happy to escape on such terms. + +But as it was now past five, and too late for the articles to be +collected and brought off, I told him that he must content himself to +remain on board with me that night, and in the morning he should be set +on shore as soon as the things were delivered. To this he agreed, on +condition that I would remain with him in the cabin. I then went upon +deck, and the canoe that brought me having been sent back, I hailed the +inhabitants and told them that their king had agreed to stay on board +till the next day, when he would return, but that no canoes must attempt +to come near the vessel during the night, as they would be fired upon. +They answered, "_Woho, woho_"--"Very well, very well." + +I then returned to Maquina, but so great were his terrors, that he would +not allow me to sleep, constantly disturbing me with his questions, and +repeating, "John, you know, when you was alone, and more than five +hundred men were your enemies, I was your friend, and prevented them +from putting you and Thompson to death, and now I am in the power of +your friends, you ought to do the same by me." I assured him that he +would be detained on board no longer than whilst the property was +released, and that as soon as it was done, he would be set at liberty. + +At daybreak I hailed the natives, and told them that it was Maquina's +order that they should bring off the cannon and anchors, and whatever +remained with them of the cargo of the ship. This they set about doing +with the utmost expedition, transporting the cannon and anchors by +lashing together two of their largest canoes, and covering them with +planks, and in the course of two hours they delivered everything on +board that I could recollect, with Thompson's and my chest, containing +the papers of the ship, etc. + +When everything belonging to the ship had been restored, Maquina was +permitted to return in his canoe, which had been sent for him, with a +present of what skins he had collected, which were about sixty, for the +captain, in acknowledgment of his having spared his life, and allowed +him to depart unhurt. + +Such was also the transport he felt when Captain Hill came into the +cabin, and told him that he was at liberty to go, that he threw off his +mantle, which consisted of four of the very best skins, and gave it to +him as a mark of his gratitude; in return for which the captain +presented him with a new greatcoat and hat, with which he appeared much +delighted. The captain then desired me to inform him that he should +return to that part of the coast in November, and that he wished him to +keep what skins he should get, which he would buy of him. This Maquina +promised, saying to me at the same time, "John, you know I shall be then +at Tashees, but when you come, make _pow_," which means, fire a gun, "to +let me know, and I will come down." When he came to the side of the +brig, he shook me cordially by the hand, and told me that he hoped I +would come to see him again in a big ship, and bring much plenty of +blankets, biscuit, molasses, and rum, for him and his son, who loved me +a great deal; and that he would keep all the furs he got for me, +observing at the same time, that he should never more take a letter of +recommendation from any one, or ever trust himself on board a vessel +unless I was there. Then, grasping both my hands with much emotion, +while the tears trickled down his cheeks, he bade me farewell, and stept +into the canoe, which immediately paddled him on shore. + +Notwithstanding my joy at my deliverance, and the pleasing anticipation +I felt of once more beholding a civilised country, and again being +permitted to offer up my devotions in a Christian church, I could not +avoid experiencing a painful sensation on parting with the savage chief, +who had preserved my life, and in general treated me with kindness, and, +considering their ideas and manners, much better than could have been +expected. + +My pleasure was also greatly damped by an unfortunate accident that +occurred to Toowinnakinnish. That interesting young chief had come on +board in the first canoe in the morning, anxious to see and comfort his +king. He was received with much kindness by Captain Hill, from the +favourable account I gave of him, and invited to remain on board. As the +muskets were delivered, he was in the cabin with Maquina, where was +also the captain, who, on receiving them, snapped a number in order to +try the locks; unluckily one of them happened to be loaded with swan +shot, and, going off, discharged its contents into the body of poor +Toowinnakinnish, who was sitting opposite. On hearing the report, I +instantly ran into the cabin, where I found him weltering in his blood, +with the captain, who was greatly shocked at the accident, endeavouring +to assist him. + +We raised him up, and did everything in our power to aid and comfort +him, telling him that we felt much grieved at his misfortune, and that +it was wholly unintentional; this he told me he was perfectly satisfied +of, and while we dressed and bound up his wounds, in the best manner we +could, he bore the pain with great calmness, and, bidding me farewell, +was put on board one of the canoes and taken on shore, where, after +languishing a few days, he expired. To me his misfortune was a source of +much affliction, as he had no share in the massacre of our crew, was of +a most amiable character, and had always treated me with the greatest +kindness and hospitality. + +The brig being under weigh, immediately on Maquina's quitting us, we +proceeded to the northward, constantly keeping the shore in sight, and +touching at various places for the purpose of trading. + +Having already exceeded the bounds I had prescribed myself, I shall not +attempt any account of our voyage upon the coast, or a description of +the various nations we met with in the course of it, among whom were a +people of a very singular appearance, called by the sailors the +_Wooden-lips_.[138] They have many skins, and the trade is principally +managed by their women, who are not only expert in making a bargain, but +as dexterous in the management of their canoes as the men are elsewhere. + +After a period of nearly four months from our leaving Nootka, we +returned from the northward to Columbia River, for the purpose of +procuring masts, etc., for our brig, which had suffered considerably in +her spars during a gale of wind. We proceeded about ten miles up the +river to a small Indian village, where we heard from the inhabitants +that Captains Clark and Lewis, from the United States of America, had +been there about a fortnight before, on their journey overland, and had +left several medals with them, which they showed us.[139] The river at +this place is of considerable breadth, and both sides of it from its +entrance covered with forests of the very finest pine timber, fir, and +spruce, interspersed with Indian settlements. + +From this place, after providing ourselves with spars, we sailed for +Nootka, where we arrived in the latter part of November.[140] The tribe +being absent, the agreed signal was given, by firing a cannon, and in a +few hours after a canoe appeared, which landed at the village, and, +putting the king on shore, came off to the brig. Inquiry was immediately +made by Kinneclimmets, who was one of the three men in the canoe, if +John was there, as the king had some skins to sell them if he was. I +then went forward and invited them on board, with which they readily +complied, telling me that Maquina had a number of skins with him, but +that he would not come on board unless I would go on shore for him. This +I agreed to, provided they would remain in the brig in the meantime. To +this they consented, and the captain, taking them into the cabin, +treated them with bread and molasses. I then went on shore in the canoe, +notwithstanding the remonstrances of Thompson and the captain, who, +though he wanted the skins, advised me by no means to put myself in +Maquina's power; but I assured him that I had no fear as long as those +men were on board. + +As I landed, Maquina came up and welcomed me with much joy: on inquiring +for the men, I told him that they were to remain till my return. "Ah, +John," said he, "I see you are afraid to trust me, but if they had come +with you, I should not have hurt you, though I should have taken good +care not to let you go on board of another vessel." He then took his +chest of skins, and, stepping into the canoe, I paddled him alongside +the brig, where he was received and treated by Captain Hill with the +greatest cordiality, who bought of him his skins. He left us much +pleased with his reception, inquiring of me how many moons it would be +before I should come back again to see him and his son; saying that he +would keep all his furs for me, and that as soon as my son, who was then +about five months old, was of a suitable age to take from his mother, he +would send for him, and take care of him as his own.[141] + +As soon as Maquina had quitted us, we got under weigh, and stood again +to the northward. We continued on the coast until the 11th of August, +1806,[142] when, having completed our trade, we sailed for China, to the +great joy of all our crew, and particularly so to me. With a degree of +satisfaction that I can ill express, did I quit a coast to which I was +resolved nothing should again tempt me to return, and as the tops of the +mountains sank in the blue waves of the ocean, I seemed to feel my heart +lightened of an oppressive load. + +We had a prosperous passage to China, arriving at Macao in December, +from whence the brig proceeded to Canton. There I had the good fortune +to meet a townsman and an old acquaintance in the mate of an English +East Indiaman, named John Hill, whose father, a wealthy merchant in Hull +in the Baltic trade, was a next-door neighbour to mine. Shortly after +our arrival, the captain being on board of an English ship, and +mentioning his having had the good fortune to liberate two men of the +_Boston's_ crew from the savages, and that one of them was named Jewitt, +my former acquaintance immediately came on board the brig to see me. + +Words can ill express my feelings on seeing him. Circumstanced as I was, +among persons who were entire strangers to me, to meet thus in a foreign +land with one between whom and myself a considerable intimacy had +subsisted, was a pleasure that those alone who have been in a similar +situation can properly estimate. He appeared on his part no less happy +to see me, whom he supposed to be dead, as the account of our capture +had been received in England some time before his sailing, and all my +friends supposed me to have been murdered. From this young man I +received every attention and aid that a feeling heart interested in the +fate of another could confer. He supplied me with a new suit of clothes +and a hat, a small sum of money for my necessary expenses, and a number +of little articles for sea stores on my voyage to America. I also gave +him a letter for my father, in which I mentioned my wonderful +preservation and escape through the humanity of Captain Hill, with whom +I should return to Boston. This letter he enclosed to his father by a +ship that was just sailing, in consequence of which it was received much +earlier than it otherwise would have been. + +We left China in February 1807, and, after a pleasant voyage of one +hundred and fourteen days, arrived at Boston. My feelings on once more +finding myself in a Christian country, among a people speaking the same +language with myself, may be more readily conceived than expressed. In +the post office in that place I found a letter for me from my mother, +acknowledging the receipt of mine from China, expressing the great joy +of my family on hearing of my being alive and well, whom they had for a +long time given up for dead, and requesting me to write to them on +receiving her letter, which I accordingly did. While in Boston I was +treated with much kindness and hospitality by the owners of the ship +_Boston_, Messrs. Francis and Thomas Amory of that place, to whom I feel +myself under great obligations for their goodness to me, and the +assistance which they so readily afforded a stranger in distress. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[137] This seems another variant of Klaosaht. + +[138] These are doubtless the Hydahs and their kindred, the women of +whom insert a wooden or ivory trough in their lower lip. + +[139] Lewis and Clark reached the mouth of Columbia River on the 15th of +November 1805, and wintered at "Fort Clatsop," as they called their +dwelling among the then numerous Clatsop Indians, until the 23rd of +March 1806, when they began the return journey. The Indians have long +ago vanished from the lower Columbia, the remnant of the Clatsops, and +the Chinooks on the opposite side, now wearing out the tribal existence +in inland Reservations. But it is still possible to come across one of +the medals which the explorers distributed amongst them. + +[140] It is clear, therefore, from this statement that Lewis and Clark +had left Fort Clatsop much more than a fortnight before the vessel in +which Jewitt was arrived there; for it is impossible to suppose that the +latter took from April to November to get at spars and make the return +voyage to Nootka. But the journal of Lewis and Clark was not published +until 1814, so that, when Jewitt wrote, he had no ready means of +checking the Indians' statement, though neither he nor his editor seems +to have troubled books much. + +[141] The cavalier manner in which Jewitt abandons his family is quite +in the fur-trader's fashion. It does not seem that he even asked to see +his Indian "princess!" + +[142] If Jewitt's information about the departure of Lewis and Clark +from the Columbia River is even approximately accurate, the date must be +wrong by a year, and the subsequent one quite as far out of the due +reckoning. 1806 may be a misprint for 1807. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +I. THE "BOSTON'S" CREW + + Names of the Crew of the Ship _Boston_, belonging to Boston in + Massachusetts, owned by Messrs. F. and T. Amory, Merchants of + that place--All of whom, excepting two, were on the 22nd of + March, 1803, barbarously murdered by the savages of Nootka. + + John Salter, of Boston, Captain. + B. Delouisa, Ditto, Chief Mate. + William Ingraham, of New York, Second Mate. + Edward Thompson, of Blyth (England), Boatswain. + Adam Siddle, of Hull, ditto, Carpenter. + Philip Brown, of Cambridge (Mass.), Joiner. + John Dorthy, of Situate, ditto, Blacksmith. + Abraham Waters, of Philadelphia, Steward. + Francis Duffield, of Penton (England), Tailor. + John Wilson (blackman), of Virginia, Cook. + William Caldwell, of Boston, Seaman. + Joseph Miner, of Newport, Ditto. + William Robinson, of Leigh[143] (Scotland), Ditto. + Thomas Wilson, of Air,[144] ditto, Ditto. + Andrew Kelly, Ditto, ditto, Ditto. + Robert Burton, of the Isle of Man, Ditto. + James M'Clay, of Dublin, Ditto. + Thomas Platten, of Blackney, Norfolk, Eng. Ditto. + Thomas Newton, of Hull, " Ditto. + Charles Bates, of St. James Deeping, " Ditto. + John Hall, of Newcastle, " Ditto. + Samuel Wood, of Glasgow (Scotland), Ditto. + Peter Alstrom, Norwegian, Ditto. + Francis Marten, Portuguese, Ditto. + Jupiter Senegal (blackman) Ditto. + John Thompson, Philadelphia, Sail Maker, + who escaped--since dead. + John R. Jewitt, of Hull (England), Armourer, + +the writer of the Journal from whence this Narrative is taken, and who +at present, March 1815, resides in Middletown, in the State of +Connecticut. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[143] Leith. + +[144] Ayr. + + + + +II. WAR-SONG OF THE NOOTKA TRIBE + +_Commencing with a Chorus repeated at the end of each line._ + + Hah-yee hah yar har, he yar hah. + Hah-yah hee yar har--he yar hah. + Iye ie ee yah har--ee yie hah. + Ie yar ee yar hah--ee yar yah. + Ie yar ee I yar yar hah--Ie yar ee yee yah! + + Ie-yee ma hi-chill at-sish Kla-ha--Hah-ye-hah. + Que nok ar parts arsh waw--Ie yie-yar. + Waw-hoo naks sar hasch--Yar-hah. I-yar hee I-yar. + Waw hoo naks ar hasch yak-queets sish ni-ese, + Waw har. Hie yee ah-hah. + +Repeated over and over, with gestures and brandishing of weapons. + + +_Note._ + +_Ie-yee ma hi-chill_ signifies, "Ye do not know." It appears to be a +poetical mode of expression, the common one for "You do not know" being +_Wik-kum-atash_; from this, it would seem that they have two languages, +one for their songs and another for common use. The general meaning of +this first stanza appears to be, "Ye little know, ye men of Klahar, what +valiant warriors we are. Poorly can our foes contend with us, when we +come on with our daggers," etc. + +The Nootkians have no songs of an historical nature, nor do they appear +to have any tradition respecting their origin.[145] + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[145] That is not quite true. They have several of a vague order: one, +for example, is that all the Indians are sprung from Quawteaht and the +Thunder Birds. Another is that all the tribes on the West Coast come +from the west; the different tribes having sprung from the canoes full +of migrants stranded by a storm here and there, and so forth. + + + + +III. A LIST OF WORDS + +_In the Nootkian Language, the most in use._[146] + + + Check-up, Man. + Kloots-mah, Woman. + Noowexa, Father. + Hooma-hexa, Mother. + Tanassis, Child. + Katlahtik, Brother. + Kloot-chem-up, Sister. + Tanassis-check-up, Son. + Tanassis-kloots-mah, Daughter. + Tau-hat-se-tee, Head. + Kassee, Eye. + Hap-se-up, Hair. + Neetsa, Nose. + Parpee, Ears. + Chee-chee, Teeth. + Choop, Tongue. + Kook-a-nik-sa, Hands. + Klish-klin, Feet. + Oop-helth, Sun or Moon. + Tar-toose, Stars. + Sie-yah, Sky. + Toop-elth, Sea. + Cha-hak, Fresh water. + Meet-la, Rain. + Queece, Snow. + Noot-chee, Mountain or hill. + Kla-tur-miss, Earth. + Een-nuk-see, Fire or fuel. + Mook-see, Rock. + Muk-ka-tee, House. + Wik, No. + He-ho, Yes. + Kak-koelth, Slave. + Mah-hack, Whale. + Klack-e-miss, Oil. + Quart-lak, Sea-otter. + Coo-coo-ho-sa, Seal. + Moo-watch, Bear. + So-har, Salmon. + Toosch-qua, Cod. + Pow-ee, Halibut. + Kloos-a-mit, Herring. + Chap-atz, Canoe. + Oo-wha-pa, Paddle. + Chee-me-na, Fish-hook. + Chee-men, Fish-hooks. + Sick-a-minny, Iron. + Toophelth, Cloth. + Cham-mass, Fruit. + Cham-mas-sish, Sweet or pleasant to the taste. + Moot-sus, Powder. + Chee-pokes, Copper. + Hah-welks, Hungry. + Nee-sim-mer-hise, Enough. + Chat-ta-yek, Knife or dagger. + Klick-er-yek, Rings. + Quish-ar, Smoke. + Mar-met-ta, Goose or duck. + Pook-shit-tle, To blow. + Een-a-qui-shit-tle, To kindle a fire. + Ar-teese, To bathe. + Ma-mook-su-mah, To go to fish. + Smootish-check-up, Warrior. + Cha-alt-see klat-tur wah, Go off, or go away. + Ma-kook, To sell. + Kah-ah-pah-chilt, Give me something. + Oo-nah, How many. + Iy ah-ish, Much. + Ko-mme-tak, I understand. + I-yee ma hak, I do not understand. + Em-ma-chap, To play. + Kle-whar, To laugh. + Mac-kam-mah-sish, Do you want to buy. + Kah-ah-coh, Bring it. + Sah-wauk, One. + Att-la, Two. + Kat-sa, Three. + Mooh, Four. + Soo-chah, Five. + Noo-poo, Six. + At-tle-poo, Seven. + At-lah-quelth, Eight. + Saw-wauk-quelth, Nine. + Hy-o, Ten. + Sak-aitz, Twenty. + Soo-jewk, One hundred. + Hy-e-oak, One thousand. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[146] Most of the words in this vocabulary are given with reasonable +correctness, though the transliteration is somewhat primitive. A fuller +and more accurate one may be found in the Appendix to Sproat's _Scenes +and Studies of Savage Life_ (1868), pp. 295-309, so that it is not +necessary to annotate the present one. Those in Cook's _Voyage_ and in +Dawson and Tolmie's _Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of +British Columbia_ (1884), are short and imperfect. I have a much fuller +one in manuscript. + + + + +INDEX + + + PAGE + +Aht Indians, The, 19 +---- The various tribes of, 23 + +A-y-chart, Journey to, 193 +---- Natives, conflict with, 194 + + +Bear, Capture of the, 164 +---- Management of the, 163 + +Boston, Arrival at, 244 +---- Reception at, by friends, 245 + +_Boston_, The-- + Burning of, 83 + Capture of, 32, 64 + List of crew of, 247 + Murder of crew of, 68 + + +Canoes, Description of, 124 + +Cayuquets, The, 136 + +China, Arrival at, 244 + +Celebration, A religious, 205 + +Climate, 221 + +Cook and Vancouver, 38 + +Cooptee, Town of, 145, 168 + + +Death, Indian customs observed at, 173 + + +Feast, An Indian, 80 + +Fruit, Various kinds of, 162 + + +Geese, Mode of capture of, 208 + + +Herring, Mode of capture of, 171 + +Hull, Leave-taking at, 51 + + +Klaizzarts, The, 132 + +Kla-oo-quates, The, 134 + +Kletsup Root, Description of, 167 + + +Ife-waw, Method of securing, 116 + + +Jewitt-- + Birth of, 43 + Domestic management, 204 + Early life of, 44 + Illness of, 212 + Marriage of, 201 + Parentage of, 43 + Proposal to release, 232 + Proposal to murder, 214 + Reception of, by savages, 70 + Received by Captain Hill, 235 + Sufferings from cold, 211 + Suspicions of, by Maquina, 228 + Termination of captivity, 234 + +Journal, Jewitt's, Commencement of, 89 + + +King, Privileges of the, 215 + + +Language, Commencement to learn, 93 + +_Lydia_, The, Arrival of, 224 +----Departure of, 241 +----Letter to captain of, 227 + + +_Manchester_, The, 154 + +Maquina--, 59, 188 + Capture and Imprisonment of, 229 + Council concerning, 236 + Release of, 238 + Visit of, to the _Lydia_, 243 + +Mooachats, The, 38 + +Moon, Eclipse of the, in 1805, 208 + + +Newchemass, The, 136 + +Native, Indecent burial of a, 212 + +Natives, Intercourse with, 58 + +Nettinahts, The, 21 + +Nootka Sound, 28, 95 +---- ---- Return to, 72 +---- ---- Voyage to, 53 + +Nootkians, The-- + Complexion and physique, 113 + Diseases of, 220 + Dress of, 105 + Filthiness of, 187 + Food of, 110 + General conduct of, 225 + Houses of, 97 + Mode of living of, 108 + Musical instruments of, 129 + Ornaments and decorations of, 115, 117 + Personal appearance of, 112 + Religion of, 216 + Slaves of, 130 + Sports of, 120 + Superstitions of, 217 + War-song of, 248 + +Nootkian language, List of words, 249 + + +Porpoises, Sea, Capture of, 56 + + +Quahootze, The celebration of, 165 + + +Salmon, Method of capture of the, 121, 148 + +Salter, Captain John, 48, 55 + +Savages, Treatment of, by English Commanders, 156, 161 + +Savagedom in Western Vancouver, 16 + +Sea-otter, Description of the, 120 + +Sundays at Nootka, 142 + + +Tashees, 147 + +Thompson-- + Escape by stratagem of, 74 + Escape from death of, 90 + Reception of, by crew of the _Lydia_, 232 + +Tootoosch-- + Description of, 174 + Death of, 181 + Funeral of, 182 + Singular Derangement of, 176 + +Toowinnakinnish, 235, 240 + +Trade, Articles of, 137 + +Tribes, Arrival of neighbouring, 77 + +Twins, Custom at birth of, 218 + + +Ulatilla, 198 + +Upquesta, Town of, 168 +----Reception at, 169 + + +War, Preparations for, with the A-y-charts, 192 + +Whale, Method of capture of, 122, 178 + +Whale-oil, Method of procuring, 179 + +Whaling, Observances preparatory to, 180 + +Wickinninish Native, Insult of, 191 + +Wife, Departure of Jewitt's, 213 + +Wooden-lips, The, 241 + + +Yama fruit, Species of, 161 + +Yealthlower, Cruelty of, 207 + + +MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + _CLEMENT WILSON'S PUBLICATIONS._ + + The Investors' Review. + EDITED BY A. 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