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paddles, out of the harbour and into the bay, S'calam-ward! They apparently supposed-as it was our intention they should-that the whole Pachenaht tribe was in ambush; how otherwise was the repeated firing to be accounted for? and as Indians hate firing in the dark, never knowing who is to be hit, they acted upon the principle that discretion is the better part of valour. Delighted at our ruse, we proceeded over the point, three or four trade muskets in our arms, and fired a few parting shots in their direction as they were digging the paddles in the water, to tell the S'calam village the story of their hairbreadth escape from the vile Pachenaht ambush! In a day or two the Pachenahts returned, and for about four-and-twenty hours we were great men. There was absolutely a little gratitude shown to us for preserving their village from destruction; but soon the old selfishness and meanness returned, and from being the saviours of the Pachenahts, we sank down to the usual level of King George men,' from whom the greatest possible amount of largess or loot' was to be abstracted.”

MERRYMAKINGS.

I have spoken of their wars, and have as yet only slightly alluded to their merrymakings. Let us now turn from bloodshed and cruelty to glance at these very marked and characteristic features in North-west American Indian life. It is in them that savage life appears in its gayest and most pleasing aspects. For once selfishness, so far as it can be severed from everything Indian, disappears, or is at least kept in the background, and every one strives to be as friendly and as kind as possible. The dull tenor of the Indian way is absolutely broken by something which is decidedly picturesque. Indeed, if I were asked what constitutes the most peculiar feature in the economy of these North-western Indian tribes, I should certainly reply, these great gift-feasts; or, as they are known to the white traders, their potlatches (or "givings away"), a term derived from the Chinook jargon word potlatch, " to give." Gambling is an every-day amusement, while horse-racing (p. 80) can only be indulged in by some of the interior tribes; but a potlatch, combining glory, amusement, and the gratification of vanity, can be given whenever the donor has property enough. These coast Indians are very avaricious in the acquisition of property, blankets being the standard of riches amongst them, as horses are among the interior tribes. Though muskets, canoes, &c., are all carefully collected, yet most of these articles owe their acquisition to blankets, and an Indian, in describing the wealth of another, will indicate this by telling how many pessisse (or blankets) he has. This hoarding up of blankets is the engrossing passion of these people in time of peace, and the exciting cause of their wars is often the desire of obtaining prisoners as slaves, by the sale of whom, or by whose labour, they may add to their hoard. I have often commiserated a poorlooking man lounging about, his only covering a threadbare, tattered blanket, and on inquiry would be surprised to learn that he was one of the wealthiest men in the tribe, and had several hundred new blankets stored up in air-tight boxes, of native manufacture, in his lodge. I was once sneered at as "no great chief" because, forsooth, I had only one pair of "Mackinaw " blankets in my canoe, when halting at a village of Indians who had little intercourse with the whites, and were accordingly in a primitive condition. To obtain these blankets, there is no act of self-denial at which the coast fisherman will hesitate; I might almost say no crime which will deter him, if he sees blankets likely to be the result of it. The end of all this scraping and hoarding is to give away the property again at some potlatch, at which in a few hours the labour

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years will be dissipated. These feasts are often given by the chief men of small tribes as a sort of peace-offering to more powerful ones; but most frequently they are looked upon in the light of gratifying the vanity of the giver and of adding to his personal consequence. His praise sounds far and near. He accordingly assumes a sort of parvenu rank in the tribe, very different, however, from the hereditary aristocracy already referred to. The chiefs are under the necessity of frequently giving these potlatches in order to preserve their popularity, just as the old knights

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used to scatter largess to their followers; and accordingly we generally find these dignitaries about the poorest men in the tribe.

It is, as I have said, at these gatherings that Indian character is seen in its most attractive, if not most characteristic aspect. I, therefore, think it might be amusing and instructive to describe at some length one of the principal at which I was fortunate enough to be present, more especially as it will give me an opportunity of alluding to some Indian customs as yet untouched on. The occasion of the entertainment was the hospitality of a rich Opichesaht named Kayquash, who having a large store of blankets and other

things, invited some eight or ten of the leading Seshahts to come and receive presents from him. The Indians always make the most of these occasions, each one invited bringing his canoe full of friends. Thus nearly the whole tribe is present, including the women, who are escorted by one or two men, in one large canoe by themselves. The Opichesahts live in a little village romantically situated on the beautiful Somass or Klistachnit River, arising in Sproat's Lake and flowing into the sea at the head of the Alberni Canal. Accordingly, a companion*

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and I gladly accepted the invitation of one of the Seshahts to accompany him to this great feast in his canoe. It was on a bright October morning that we left the Seshaht village on the seashore and entered the mouth of the river. The banks were densely wooded down to the water's edge by a tangled maze of forests of the beautiful dog-wood (Cornus Nuttallii) and the broad-leaved maple (Acer macrophyllum), now in its autumnal yellow leaf, reflected in the waters of the little river, added variety to the otherwise sombre scenery of

*The Rev. C. Knipe, M.A., to whose very complete notes I am indebted for many of the facts from which I have written this description.

the forest-clad hills, over which the grey morning mist was just hovering. Every now and then, as we turned the bend of the river, we would come in sight of some little prairie, with a solitary Indian lodge, the site having been selected as a good hunting or fishing station. There was, however, little hunting on that morning, for all were astir for the Opichesaht feast, and the inmates now joined our little fleet of canoes on the river. We reached the Seshaht fishing-village at the rapids of the river about nine in the morning, and the chief ran down to meet us, and carried me to the shore on his back. The same kind office was done for my companion by Tueckbacht, another Seshaht, who had accompanied us in the canoe, and by whom we were to be introduced to the day's entertainment. The office of carrying us ashore was merely a point of politeness, as we could easily have stepped from the canoe to the bank, but it is, no doubt, a remnant of some stately bit of Asiatic courtesy. We found the Seshahts busy in making preparations. Some were polishing up their wooden masks, some painting their faces, others arranging the fashion of dress, or that near approach to nudity which they seemed to think individually most becoming. We left them thus engaged in order to precede them to the Opichesaht village, where we might observe the whole ceremony of their first approach. When wo got to Opichesaht we saluted the chief and others, and were very kindly received. Circumstances threw us rather more into the company of the second chief than the first, as the Seshaht Tueckbacht had married into the second's family; and I fancied we could see a little coldness on the part of one or two on account of this, but it speedily wore off as the day advanced. We occupied ourselves for some time conversing with one and another and viewing the house where the entertainment was to be held. It belonged to Kayquash, and was swept out and supplied with two tiers of seats or boxes. One end of the house was intended for the Opichesahts and their performance, the other for the Seshahts. There now began to be some movement in the camp, and whispers were heard that the Seshaht canoes were coming up the river. The ceremony of arrival consisted of a sham attack upon the Opichesaht village by the Seshaht visitors. A free discharge of muskets was heard in the distance, and they were soon replied to by our party, to show that they were ready for the friendly fray. The plan of assault which gradually unfolded itself was that, while the canoes came up the river, others lying in ambush on the opposite bank should, at a given signal, ford the river and join the attacking party. As the canoes came rapidly up, the Opichesaht scouts, consisting chiefly of young boys, withdrew to the village, the chief's son in a small canoe being the last to go. All the attacking canoes were now in sight, and the last to round the point at some distance from the rest was the canoe of women. This canoe was to be considered as showing by its, womanly freight that the whole proceeding was to be taken as a friendly jest and not in earnest. The women were standing and dancing in the canoe, keeping time to a song of a sweet highpitched tone, which they did not cease for a moment. Their heads were plentifully covered with white, downy feathers. I could find out nothing more about this custom, so universal among all Indians, than that it indicates lightness of heart, joy, and feasting. The canoes now ranged themselves in a line right in front of the village, and were soon joined by the men in ambush, among whom was the Seshaht chief himself. Now there began to be an appearance of increasing hostile feeling; the men in the canoes flourished their sticks and brandished

knives, and exhibited great horse-pistols, while a fire-eater, with face entirely blackened, exhorted them to the attack. They answered his shriek with a deep single note, like the roar of a hundred wild beasts in unison, and which, once heard, one could never forget. I remember the same note from a much larger body of men at the Tsongeisth entertainment at Victoria to the S'calams and other tribes. This peculiar note, which was repeated more than once afterwards, always meant a readiness and impatience to do what was proposed. On one occasion in the house when food was proposed the people gave their eager assent in the same manner. All this time the women's canoe kept at a little distance, and like the chorus in a Greek play, with its sweet song and holiday appearance, gave a peaceful. interpretation to the savage scene. The name of this song and dance, whether carried on in the canoe or on shore, is chees cheesa. While this went on among the Seshahts, the Opichesaht women and the host were dancing and singing a welcome on the roof of the house nearest the water, and those who remained below were supposed to exhibit the appearance of persons alarmed by the attack and afraid to resist it. In a moment, on a given sign, the Seshaht canoes were thrust upon the land, and a number of men with a leader leapt out and marched upon the village. At least half, however, remained behind, as if afraid, and the men who had run to the attack returned and seemed to upbraid them with their cowardice. Upon this nearly all climbed the bank, and after some apparent difficulty, entered the house, and at this point the pretended hostility was exchanged for a better understanding. A little acting now went on among the people on the roof of the house. A man in an immense wooden mask made his appearance, bending so low that hardly anything but his head was seen. The mask had a long open nose like a trunk, and the performer, who feigned drunkenness, often bent his head down, which caused a bottle to run down his nose, and then turning his head back like a fowl drinking, he would draw the bottle back again. After this an Indian came upon the roof, made a speech, and threw a blanket down to the ground, which was quickly taken up by one of the Seshahts, who came up from one of the canoes near which they were all assembled. The canoes, although aground, were not completely drawn up, and until that occurred the reconciliation of the supposed combatants was not considered to be consummated. Two Seshahts now came forward, dancing lightly with blankets in their hands. They said a few words with great force, the burden of their speech. being to name the persons for whom the blankets were intended, and to say, in reference to the blankets which they threw down, "We don't know where they come from-take them." Two Opichesahts (not necessarily those to whom they were given) came forward to receive them, and immediately delivered them to the persons for whom they were intended. The same thing was done by the same dancers some eight or ten times, always accompanying the gifts with some short remark, such as, "Don't have a bad heart," "We give you many blankets," "We mean to give plenty," "We have a good heart," "We give plenty," "King George men (Englishmen) do not give." The real giver of all these was the Seshaht chief. After this the Seshaht women stood up upon the shore, and in order came forward and invited the Opichesahts to come down to see the chees cheesa. The dance was then carried on in exactly the same manner as it was before, the women being ranged in a half-circle. I should say in performing it the women do not leap up, but rise on their toes and fall again, hardly moving, and on some occasions not at all, but remaining on one spot all the time. Their elbows are kept

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