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bench on the other side of the fire, his family lay somewhere at our feet, and throughout the capacious lodge there must have been twenty or thirty people sleeping. The smell of barksmoke and of dripping salmon stored for winter feasts overhead was something overpowering;

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but we were weary, and slept soundly until we were awoke at daylight by the squaws lighting the fires, and the little children peering round at us and shouting, "Mammathle! Mammathle!" ("white men! white men !"-literally "men who have come over the sea in houses.")

As we went out in the chill morning down to the river to make our ablutions, we found the patriarchs of the village already up, sitting, Indian fashion, in a row against the lodges,

with their noses in their blankets as a protection from the chill morning air, and talking in their low, quiet way about last night's adventures and the remaining part of the programme. They saluted us cheerfully, but seemed to be rather astonished at our washing in the river, the fog from which concealed the sun from view, or rather at washing at all. The "dew and mist of morning" in these regions is indescribably strange, and with the solemn scenery and such curious surroundings the whole of the incidents are impressed on the memory in a manner not easily to be effaced. As we sat talking with the elders of the people, a sturdy hunter, my companion in many a forest journey, and who afterwards crossed the colony with me (p. 41), invited us to his lodge to have breakfast. If hunger had left any squeamishness in us, assuredly the sight of Quassoon's breakfast equipage quite dissipated it. It was not extensive, and certainly was not grand, and in its excessive newness bore marks of having been only recently procured, possibly in honour of his expected guests; but it had that crowning virtue— not always found in things aboriginal-cleanliness. On a clean cedar-plaited mat, placed over a box, were three cups and a pot of tea, with a native carved vessel full of splendid potatoes and a fine, whole, fresh-boiled salmon. We were invited to fall to while the host and hostess held bashfully aside, waiting on their guests, somewhat after the graceful but embarrassing custom, now and then, but at one time very commonly seen in Scandinavia. We begged them to share with us; but as it was evident that they were not at home in this method of breakfasting, we allowed them to wait until we had finished, when they attacked the remainder with a hearty good will. Our morning repast over, we adjourned to the house of entertainment. What followed need not be particularly described here, as there was much the same style of dances, songs, and presents on the part of the Opichesahts as we had witnessed the night before on that of the Seshahts. Some of the dances were, however, rather peculiar; many of them being carried on with such energy that the perspiration poured from the dancers. The weirdlike appearance of some of them, heightened by the glare of the torches of resinous pine which flared around the lodge, was remarkable. In some, an accompaniment was kept up with a sort of drum, and the beating with paddles or sticks was continuous. When a more than ordinarily popular dancer or chief got up, he was applauded by the beating of paddles against the lodgeboards. One of their nooks (or dances) seemed to be the sorcerers' or oostilukyn dance; and certain sleight-of-hand feats were practised on a slave-boy. This boy suddenly ceased dancing and fell down as if dead. The face was pale and bloodless, and the pulse scarcely beat; altogether he presented a most ghastly appearance. Blood flowed from his nostrils and soon covered his face. The dance of the "medicine-men" continued furiously around him; his feet were laid to the fire, the blood washed off, the people beat drums, danced and sang, and suddenly the patient sprang up and joined in the dance. Certainly it was a most consummate piece of acting, and was, no doubt, due to the training and skill of the sorcerer. In the earlier part of the day I had seen him in close conversation with this youth, whose servile condition would render him unlikely to be on intimate terms with men of that rank, except to serve some purpose. All of the Indians seemed implicitly to believe in this display of the medicine-man's power, and it was triumphantly pointed out to us as a refutation of all our sneers.

Another dance was the "roof-dance." The greater number of the performers having ascended the flat roof of the lodge, while the dances and songs were going on below, leaped up and down between the roof-boards-pushed aside for that purpose—making a noise like

thunder. After the dance was finished, an old Seshaht came forward and remarked that it was a dance peculiar to his tribe, it could not be omitted, but that it was very injurious to the roof, and feared their friend's house, which was of great antiquity, had suffered considerably from their performance. In order to make recompense, he would present a board to him, at the same time throwing down a piece of stick as a promissory note. Several others followed his example, and the old man gravely bowed his acknowledgments.

The last dance which I shall notice was characterised by having a greater number of dancers, and a movement of the song which, though cheerful, was not so quick or loud as those which had preceded it. The dancers moved softly but actively about, and seemed to address each other in praises of the building; they looked cheerful, and then turned their heads quickly, as if speaking first to one and then to another, and sang, "It is a very great house, a very great house a very great house!" Upon a movement of the conductor, who with voice and arm never failed to direct all the performances of the company, they changed their words (while they kept the same tune, certainly the most pleasant one of the entertainment) to, "It is a very warm fire, a very warm fire, a very warm fire!" and finally ended by praising the household furniture such as it was-"These are very nice things, very nice things, very nice things!" On the whole this dance-song was the most pleasing of those we witnessed; there was something dramatic in the way in which those rudely-painted and half-naked savages attempted to represent in danee and song the idea of an animated conversation.

THE "NOOSHEETL."

Hitherto the two tribes had taken an equal part in the proceedings, and given and received about an equal number of presents. The same morning the noosheetl eommenced. This differs from the pacheetl in not being made with any expectation of a return, but really of the nature of a gift. In this instance the presents were all made by one man, Kayquestl. The blankets and other things were given according to the rank of the receivers; some getting four blankets, others three, and so on. Besides gifts, payments were made to such of the common people as had come to swell the train of their chief. The liveliness which characterised the pachectl was entirely wanting in the noosheetl. The people did not come forward to receive their presents, but sat sullenly until they were brought. There were no more songs and dances; the cheery klak-koh was seldom or ever heard, and the whole affair seemed to imply feelings rather mournful than otherwise. Just as the entertainment was drawing to a close, a loud buzz went through the house, and all eyes were directed to Mr. Knipe and myself. At the same time a young chief danced into the middle of the room, and after loud praises chanted by the women and the children, and echoed by the men, a bear-skin was presented to each of us. Then, amid the applause of the assembled guests, we dismounted from the daïs and made a few remarks, short enough it is true, but as appropriate as our very limited knowledge of the language would admit. An Indian only makes a present with a view to another in return, and if ever, as in this case, they trust a white man so far as to part with one, without the immediate prospect of a substantial return, it must be looked upon as a peculiar mark of confidence. Our Mentor, however, warned us that if on this occasion we showed any desire to make any return it would be looked upon in the light of an affront, but he naïvely added, if ever we gave a potlatch, Kayquestl would expect to be invited. As we never did give.

a potlatch, I may remark that we took an opportunity of rewarding the donor before many days passed without in any way offending his dignity. On afterwards showing the skins to the Alberni trader, he assured us that they were two of the finest he had ever seen. Admire the good sense displayed in this arrangement. They did not give us blankets, or muskets, or canoe, knowing that these would not be appreciated; but though such things as furs were not a part of the articles distributed, yet as they knew we should value them most, this delicate

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compliment was hit on. Owing to the absence of any festive accompaniments, the noosheetl did not last so long as the previous part of the entertainment, and presented no marked features. The host himself gave away about fifty blankets (of about £25 value), one shaft of a salmon-spear, a large quantity of clothing, four looking-glasses, a great many iron basins, bracelets, plates, and strings of beads.

This feast presented many interesting features of such entertainments, and being between two tribes as yet little (if at all) altered by the customs of civilisation, may be taken as the type of all. Still, however, the property distributed, owing to the small number and poverty

of the people, was not so great as in some others I have been a witness of. There is a chief near Clayoquot Sound, well known to the traders as "Trader George of Clayoquot," but who is called by the Indians by a name signifying "the man who takes everything and gives nothing." When I last heard of him he was said to have between 700 and 800 blankets, beside a vast accumulation of other property. Yet this abominably cruel wretch has been known to cut off young slave children's heads just to show how careless he was of valuable property! On these

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festive occasions I have known them to smash canoes, break muskets to pieces, and burn large numbers of blankets, their object being to show how little they cared for wealth. At a great feast of this nature given by the Thongeisth tribe at Victoria, in 1863, a slave was presented. On this occasion the blankets were pitched by a pole from an elevated platform. But the customs of the east coast tribes differ considerably from those of the western shores of Vancouver Island, and likewise on this occasion a desire to make as great a show as possible before the crowd of whites was evident. At these feasts, as all the world over, the greatest man gets the most, while the poor people come off with a very small share, and sometimes this is only a strip

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