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Portrait of Dr. Robert Brown

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THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT

ROBERT BROWN, Ph.D., M.A., F.L.S.

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IN MEMORY

A sad interest attaches to this little book. Althoughpublished after his death, and therefore deprived of hisfinal revision, it was not the last work which Dr. RobertBrown did. His manuscript was actually completedmany months ago, but at his own request it was returnedto him to receive a last careful overhaul at hishands. This revision had been practically finished,and the MS. lay ready uppermost among the papers inhis desk, where it was found after his death. Dr. Browndied on the morning of the 26th of October, 1895, workingalmost to his last hour. Before the leader he hadwritten for theStandard on the evening of the 25th hadcome under the eyes of its readers, the hand that hadpenned it was cold in death. Between the evening andthe 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, eventhis last and sweetest rest of all. His life had been oneof unremitting work—work well done, which the busy,hurrying world mostly heeded not, knowing naught ofthe hand that did it. Some twenty years ago, when Ifirst knew him, he was a fair, stalwart Northerner, full ofvigour, mirthful also, and apparently looking out on thevoyage of life with the confident, joyous eye of one who[6]felt he had strength within him to conquer. His latterdays were saddened by incessant toil, performed inweakness of body and jadedness of brain, and by thefeeling that his best work, the work into which he puthis rich stores of knowledge, was neither recognised norrequited as it should have been.

To a sensitive man the daily wear and tear of ajournalist's life in London is often murderous, alwaysexhausting—and Dr. Brown was very sensitive. Beneaththe 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 betraythese depths even to those nearest and dearest tohim. This was at once a nobility in him and a weakness.Had he opened his heart more, he would havechafed and fretted less, little annoyances would nothave become mountain loads of care. But the truthis, Dr. Brown was not cut out for the life of an everydayjournalist, either by training, habits, or disposition.The ideal post for him would have been that of aprofessor at some great university, where he could havehad abundant leisure to pursue his favourite studies,where young men would have surrounded him andlistened with delight to the outpouring of the wealth oflore with which his capacious intellect was stored. Hislot was otherwise cast, and he accepted it manfully,battling with his destiny to his last hours, grimly and insilence of soul, intent only on one thing, to lift hischildren clear above the necessity for treading the samerough road upon which he had worn himself out.

Other and worthier hands than mine may trace, it isto be hoped, the story of his life, his expeditions in[7]America and Greenland, and his many literary labours notonly in popularising scientific subjects, with a thoroughnessand attractiveness too little recognised, but in walksapart where the multitude could not judge him. Mydominant feeling about him for many years has been oneof regret that he should be wearing his life away so fast.He never learned to play; to be completely idle for a dayeven 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 somewhereclose to his hand. Thus his various journeys to Morocco,ostensibly taken, at any rate the earlier of them, toescape from all kinds of work, and from the sight of theday's newspaper, ended in his becoming the foremostauthority in Great Britain upon the literature, presentsocial condition, and probable future of that perishingcountry. The acquisition of this knowledge was all inhis day's enjoyment.

The testimony of the introduction and notes to thislittle book is enough to prove how thoroughly andconscientiously everything that Dr. Brown undertookwas done. The question of payment rarely enteredinto his calculations. Some of his very best work wasdone for nothing, because he loved to do it. Witnesshis edition ofLeo Africanus, prepared for the HakluytSociety, and his innumerable memoirs to the variouslearned Societies of which he was a member.

Few of Dr. Brown's London friends were aware thathis attainments as a scientific botanist were of thehighest order. Yet in this department of science alonehe had written thirty papers and reports, besides an[8]advanced text-book of Botany (published by WilliamBlackwood and Sons), before the summer of 1872, whenhe was only thirty years of age. These were entirelyoutside his contributions to general literature on thatand 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 PhysicalSociety of Edinburgh, of which he was President, to theRoyal Geographical Society, of whose Council he was amember at his death, and to numerous other bodies, aswell as to scientific and popular journals, on geographical,geological, and zoological subjects, from first to last thetotal mounts to several hundreds. In these branchesof science his heart lay always, but he laboured for hisdaily bread and to give to him that needed.

The portrait forming the frontispiece to this volume isfrom a photograph of Dr. Brown taken in 1870, just afterhis return from his last expedition to Greenland, andrepresents him much as he looked when, some years later,he first came to London, after failing to obtain the chair ofBotany in Edinburgh University. That was a disappointmentwhich he cannot be said ever to have entirely surmounted.The memory of it to some extent kept himaloof from his fellow-labourers in the world of journalism.What work he had to do he did loyally, manfully, andwith 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.

London,February 16, 1896.

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CONTENTS

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

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ADVENTURES OF JOHN JEWITT.

INTRODUCTION

Many years ago—when America was in the midst ofwar, when railways across the continent were but thedream of sanguine men, and when the Pacific was a farawaysea—the writer of these lines passed part of apleasant summer in cruising along the western shoresof Vancouver Island. Our ship's company was notdistinguished, for it consisted of two fur-traders andan Indian "boy," and the sloop in which the crew andpassengers sailed was so small, that, when the wind failed,and the brown folk ashore looked less amiable and theshore more rugged than was desirable, we put her andourselves beyond hail by the aid of what seamen knowas a "white ash breeze." Out of one fjord we went, onlyto enter another so like it that there was often a difficultyin deciding by the mere appearance of the shorewhich was which. Everywhere the dense forest of Douglasfir and Menzies spruce covered the country from thewater's edge to the summit of the rounded hills whichhere 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[14]grew, until in places their roots were at times laved bythe spray. Beneath this thick clothing of heavy timberflourished an almost equally dense undergrowth ofshrubs, which untilthen were onlyknown to us fromthe specimens introducedfrom North-WestAmerica intothe European gardens.Gay were thethickets of thimbleberry[1]and salmonberry[2]wherever thesoil was rich, andfor miles the groundwas carpeted withthe salal,[3] while thehuckleberry,[4] thecrab-apple,[5] and theflowering currant[6]varied the monotonyof the gloomywoods. In placesthe ginseng, or, asthe woodmen callit, the "devil'swalking-stick,"[7] with its long prickly stem and palm-likehead of great leaves, imparted an almost tropical aspectto scenery which, seen from the deck of our little craft,looked so like that of Southern Norway, that I havenever seen the latter without recalling the outer limitsof British Columbia. On the few flat spits where thesun reached, the gigantic cedars[8] and broad-leavedmaples[9] lighted up the scene, while the dogwood,[10] withits large white flowers reflected in the water of someriver which, after a turbulent course, had reached the seathrough a placid mouth, or a Menzies arbutus,[11] whoseglossy leaves and brown bark presented a moresouthern facies to the sombre jungles, afforded hereand there a relief to the never-ending fir and pine andspruce.

DR. BROWN'S "BOY."

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A more solitary shore, so far as white men areconcerned, it would be hard to imagine. From the daywe left until the day we returned, we sighted only onesail; and from Port San Juan, where an Indian traderlived a lonely life in an often-beleaguered blockhouse,to Koskeemo Sound, where another of these voluntaryexiles passed his years among the savages, there wasnot a christened man, with the exception of the littlesettlement of lumbermen at the head of the AlberniCanal. For months at a time no keel ever ploughedthis sea, and then too frequently it was a warship sentfrom Victoria to chastise the tribesmen for some outragecommitted on wayfaring men such as we. The floatingfur-trader with whom we exchanged the courtesies ofthe wilderness had indeed been despitefully used. Forhad he not taken to himself some savage woman, whohad levanted to her tribe with those miscellaneouseffects which he termed "iktas"? And the Klayoquahtshad stolen his boat,and the Kaoquahtshis beans and hisvermilion and hisrice, and threatenedto scuttle hisschooner and stickhis head on itsmasthead. And,moreover, to completethis tale ofpublic pillage andprivate wrong, acertain chief, towhom he appliedmany ornate epithets,had declaredthat he cared nota salal-berry for allof "King George'swarships." So thatthe conclusion ofthis merchant ofthe wilds was that,until "half the Indians were hanged, and the other halfbadly licked, there would be no peace on the coast forhonest men such as he." Then, under a cloud of playfulblasphemy, our friend sailed away.

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PORT SAN JUAN INDIANS.

For if civilisation was scarce in the Western Vancouver[17]of '63, savagedom was all-abounding. Not many hourspassed without our having dealings with the lords ofthe soil. It was indeed our business—or, at least, thebusiness of the two men and the Indian "boy"—tomeet with and make profit out of the barbarous folk.Hence it was seldom that we went to sleep withoutthe din of a board village in our ears, or wokewithout the ancient and most fish-like smell of onebeing the first odour which greeted our nostrils. Inalmost every cove, creek, or inlet there was one ofthese camps, and every few miles we entered theterritory of a new tribe, ruled by a rival chief, rarelyon terms with his neighbour, and as often as not atwar with him. More than once we had occasionto witness the gruesome evidence of this state ofmatters. A war party returning from a raid on adistant hamlet would be met with, all painted in hideouscolours, and with the bleeding heads of their decapitatedenemies fastened to the bows of their cedar canoes, andthe cowering captives, doomed to slavery, bound amongthe fighting men. Or, casting anchor in front of avillage, we would be shown with pride a row of festeringskulls stuck on poles, as proof of the military prowessof our shifty hosts.

These were, however, unusually unpleasant incidents.More frequently we saw little except the more lightsometraits of what was then a very primitive savage life, andthe barbarous folk treated us kindly. A marriage feastmight be in progress, or a great "potlatch," or merrymaking,at which the giving away of property was theprincipal feature (p. 82), might be in full blaze at the verymoment we steered round the wooded point. Halibut[18]and dog-fish were being caught in vast quantities—theone for slicing and drying for winter use; the other forthe sake of the oil extracted from the liver, then asnow an important article of barter, being in readydemand by the Puget Sound saw-mills. Now and thena fur-seal or, better still, a sea-otter would be killed.But this is not the land of choice furs. Even the martenand the mink were indifferent. Beaver—which in thosedays, after having been almost hunted to death, wereagain getting numerous, owing to the low prices whichthe pelts brought having slackened the trappers' zeal—wouldoften be brought on board, and a few hides ofthe wapiti, the "elk" of the Western hunter, and theblack-tailed deer which swarm in the Vancouver woods,generally appeared at every village. The natives are,however, essentially fish-eaters, and though in every tribethere is generally a hunter or two, the majority of themseldom wander far afield, the interior being in theirmythology a land of evil things, of which wise menwould do well to keep clear. Even the black bear,which in autumn was often a common feature of thecountry, where it ranged the crab-apple thickets, wasnot at this season an object of the chase. Like the deerand the wolves, it was shunning the heat and the fliesby summering near the snow which we could noticestill capping some of the inland hills, rising to heightsof from five thousand to seven thousand feet, and feastingon the countless salmon which were descending everystream, until, with the receding waters, they were leftstranded in the upland pools. So cheap were salmon,that at times they could be bought for a cent'sworth of "trade goods," and deer in winter for a few[19]charges of powder and shot. A whale-hunt, in whichthe behemoth was attacked by harpoons with attachedinflated sealskins, after a fashion with which I hadbecome familiar when a resident among the Eskimoof Baffin Bay, was a more curious sight. Yet dog-fishoil was the staple of the unpicturesque traffic in whichmy companions engaged; while I, a hunter after lessconsidered trifles, landed to roam the woods and shoresfor days at a time, gathering the few flowers whichbloomed under these umbrageous forests, though innumber 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 oflow bushes.

But, after all, the most interesting sight on the shorewas the people who inhabited it. Theywere the "Indians," whom my friend GilbertSproat afterwards described as the "Ahts,"[13] for thissyllable terminates the name of each of the manylittle tribes into which they are divided. Yet, witha disregard of the laws of nomenclature, the EthnologicalBureau at Washington has only recentlyannounced its intention of knowing them officially bythe meaningless title of "Wakashan." They are apeople by themselves, speaking a language whichwas confined to Vancouver Island, with the exceptionof Cape Flattery, the western tip of Washington, wherethe Makkahs speak it. In Vancouver Island, a regionabout the size of Ireland, three, if not four distinctaboriginal tongues are in use, in addition to ChinookJargon, a sort oflingua franca employed by the Indiansin their intercourse with the whites or with tribeswhose speech they do not understand. The Kawitshen(Cowitchan) with its various dialects, the chief of which isthe 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 northernend of the island various dialects of the Kwakiool(Cogwohl of the traders) are the medium in which thetribesmen do not conceal their thoughts. The people ofQuatseno and Koskeemo Sounds, owing to their frequentintercourse with Fort Rupert on the other side of theisland, which at this point is at its narrowest, understandand frequently speak the Kwakiool. But afterpassing several days entirely alone among these people, Ican vouch for the fact that this dialect is so peculiar thatit almost amounts to a separate language. However,from this part, or properly, from Woody Point southwardsto Port San Juan, the Aht language is entirelydifferent.

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The latter locality,[14] nearly opposite Cape Flattery,on the other side of Juan de Fuca Strait, the mostsouthern part, and the only one on the mainland whereit is spoken, is the special territory of the Pachenahts.When I knew them, they were, like all of their race, adwindling people. A few years earlier, Grant hadestimated them to number a hundred men. In 1863there were not more than a fifth of that number fit tomanage a canoe, and the total number of the tribe didnot exceed sixty. War with the Sclallans and Makkahson the opposite shore, and smallpox, which is morepowerful than gunpowder, had so decimated them that,no longer able to hold their own, they had leagued withthe Nettinahts, old allies of theirs, for mutual defence.Quixto, the chief, I find described in my notes as a stoutfellow, terrible at a bargain, very well disposed towardsthe 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 othergear which constitutes wealth among the aboriginesof this part of the British Empire. In their palmydays they had made way as far north as ClayoquatSound and the Ky-yoh-quaht-cutz in one direction, andwith the Tsongersth to the eastward, though that nowpusillanimous tribe had generally the best of them.Their eastern border is, however, the Jordan River, butthey have a fishing station at the Sombria (Cockles),and several miles up both the Pandora and Jordan Riversflowing into their bay. Karleit is their western limit.

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The Nettinahts[15] are a more powerful tribe; indeed,at the period when the writer of this book was a prisonerin Nootka Sound, they were among the strongest of allthe Aht people. Even then, they had four hundred[16]fighting men, and were a people with whom it did notdo to be off your guard. They have—or had—manyvillages, from Pachena Bay[17] to the west and Karleit tothe east, besides three villages in Nettinaht Inlet,[18] elevenfishing stations on the Nettinaht River, three stationson the Cowitchan Lake, and one at Sguitz on theCowitchan River itself, while they sometimes descend asfar as Tsanena to plant potatoes. They have thus thewidest 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, butevery winter a sub-tribe hunted and fished on theCowitchan Lake, a sheet of water which I was amongthe first to visit, and the very first to "lay down"with approximate accuracy. Though nowadays—Eheufugaces, Postume, Postume, labuntur anni!—there is awaggon road to the lake, and, I am told, "a sort ofhotel" on the spot where eight-and-twenty years agowe encamped on extremely short rations, though withthe soothing knowledge that if only the Fates werekindly and the wind favourable, there were plenty oftrout in the water, and a dinner at large in the woodsaround. In those days most of the Nettinaht villageswere fortified with wooden pickets to prevent anynight attack, and from its situation, Whyack, theprincipal one (built on a cliff, stockaded on the seawardside, and reached only by a narrow entrance wherethe surf breaks continuously), is impregnable to hostilecanoemen. This people accordingly carried themselveswith a high hand, and bore a name correspondinglybad.

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Barclay—or Berkeley Sound—is the home of variouspetty tribes—Ohyahts, Howchuklisahts, Yu-clul-ahts,Toquahts, Seshahts, and Opechesahts. The two withwhom I was best acquainted were the last named.The Seshahts lived at the top of the Alberni—aCanal[23]long narrow fjord or cleft in the island—and on theSeshaht Islands in the Sound. During the summermonths they came for salmon-fishing to Sa ha, or thefirst rapids on the Kleekort or Saman River,[19] theirchief being Ia-pou-noul, who had just succeeded to thisoffice owing to the abdication of his father, though theentire fighting force of the tribe did not number overfifty men. As late as 1859 the Seshahts seized anAmerican ship, theSwiss Boy. The Opechesahts, ofwhom I have very kindly memories, as I encampedwith their chief for many days, and explored SproatLake 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 caughtthem on an island in Sproat Lake, they were reducedto seventeen men, most of them, however, tall, handsomefellows, and good hunters. Chieftainship inthat part of the world goes by inheritance. Hencethere may be many of these hereditary aristocratsin a very small tribe. Accordingly, few though theOpechesaht warriors were, three men, Quatgenam,Kalooish or Kanash, and Quassoon, a shaggy, thick-set,and tremendously strong individual who crossed theisland with me in 1865, were entitled to that rank; andit may be added that the women of this, the most freshwaterof all the Vancouver tribes, were noted for amore than usual share of good looks.

The Howchuklisahts, whose chief was Maz-o-wennis,numbered forty-five people, including twenty-eightmen. They lived in Ouchucklesit[20] Harbour, offthe Alberni Canal; they had also a fishing camp onHenderson Lake, and two or three lodges on the rapidor stream flowing out of that sheet of water, which wasdiscovered and named by me. But they were "badto deal with."

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OHYAHT INDIAN.

The You-clul-ahtsof Ucluelt Inlet, ruledby Ia-pou-noul, awealthy man in blanketsand other Indianwealth, numberedabout one hundred.The chief of the Toquahtsin PipestemInlet was Sow-wa-wenes,a middle-agedman, who had an easytask, as his liegesnumbered onlyeleven, so that theywere thirty years agoon the eve of extinction.The Ohyahtsof Grappler Creekwere estimated in 1863to be about one hundred and seventy-five in fightingstrength—which, multiplied by four for women andchildren, would make them, for that region, an unusuallystrong community. These figures are probably[25]correct, since the man who made the statement was,after living for years amongst them, eventually murderedby the savages,[21] whom he had trusted too implicitly.Kleesheens, a notorious scoundrel, was their chief. InClayoquat Sound were the Klahoquahts, Kellsmahts,Ahousahts, Heshquahts, and Mamosahts—the last alittle tribe numbering only five men. Indeed, with theexception of the Klahoquahts (who numbered onehundred and sixty men) and the Ahousahts (whoclaimed two hundred and fifty), these little septs, alldevoured by mutual hatred, and frequently at war witheach other, were even then dwindling to nothingness.But the Opetsahts, though marked on the AdmiraltyChart[22] as a separate tribe, are—or were—only a villageof the Ahousahts.

In Nootka Sound, the Muchlahts and Mooachahtslived. In Esperanza Inlet were the villages of twotribes—the Noochahlahts and Ayattisahts, numberingforty and twenty-two men respectively, and chiefed atthat time[26] by two worthies of the names of Mala-koi-Kennis,and Quak-ate-Komisa, whom we left in thedelectable condition of each expecting the other roundto cut his and his tribesmen's throats.

North of this inlet were Ky-yoh-quahts, of the Soundof that name (Kaioquat), numbering two hundred andfifty men. To us they were exceedingly friendly, thougha trader whom we met had a different tale to tell of theirtreatment of him. Kanemat, a young man of abouttwenty-two, was their chief, though the tribe was virtuallygoverned by his mother, a notable lady named Shipally,and at times by his pretty squaw, Wick-anes, and hislively son and heir, Klahe-ek-enes. The Chaykisahts,the Klahosahts, and the Neshahts of Woody Point arethe other Aht tribes, though the latter is not includedamong them by Mr. Sproat. But they speak theirlanguage, of which their chief village is its most northernlimit.

Everywhere their tribes showed such evident signsof decadence that by this time some of them must beall but extinct. Still, as the whites had not come muchin contact with them—though all of them asked us for"lum" (rum), but did not get it, it is clear enough whathad been the traders' staple—the "diseases of civilisation"could not be blamed for their decay. Even thenthe practical extermination of two tribes was so recentthat the facts were still fresh in their neighbours' memory.These were the Ekkalahts, who lived at the top of theAlberni Canal, but were all but killed off in the samemassacre by which the Opechesahts were decimated.The only survivor was a man named Keekeon, wholived with the Seshahts, most of whom had forgotten[27]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 reducedto two adults—a man and a woman—all the rest havingbeen slaughtered a few years earlier by the Kwakioolsfrom the other side of the island, in conjunction withthe Neshahts of Woody Point. In after days I learnedto know these tribes very familiarly, crossing and recrossingthe island with or to them, hunting and canoeingwith them, in the woods, up the rivers, or on the lakes,and gathering from their lips

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 onlyafter penetrating their inner ways, after learning thewealth of custom and folk-lore of which they, allunconscious of their riches, were the jealous custodians,that one began to appreciate these primitive folk froma scientific point of view. Even yet, as the writerrecalls the days when he was prone to find men moreromantic than is possible in "middle life forlorn," it isdifficult not to associate the most prosaic of savageswith something of the picturesqueness which, in novelsat least, used to cling to all their race. For, as thecharm of such existence as theirs unfolded itself to thelover of woods and prairies, and lakes and virginstreams, the neglect of soap and of sanitation wasforgotten. As Mr. Leland has remarked about the[28]gipsies: "When their lives and legends are known, theethnologist is apt to think of Tieck's elves, and of theShang Valley, which was so grim and repulsive fromwithout, but which, once entered, was the gay forecourtof Goblin-land."

In those days little was known—and little cared—aboutany of the Western tribes, except by the"schooner-men," as the Indians called the rovingtraders. Their very names were strange to the majorityof the Victoria people, and I am told that very few ofthe colonists of to-day are any better informed. Ithas therefore been thought fitting that I should gosomewhat minutely into the condition of the Indians, ata period when they were more primitive than now, as aslight contribution to the meagre chronicles of a dyingrace. For if not preserved here, it is likely to perishwith almost the last survivor of a little band with whom,during the last two decades, death has been busy.

Among the many inlets which we entered on the cruisewhich has enabled me to edit this narrativeof a less fortunate predecessor, was NootkaSound. No portion of North-West Americawas more famous than this spot, for once upon a timeit was the former centre of the fur trade, and a localitywhich more than once figured prominently in diplomaticcorrespondence. Indeed, so associated was it as thetype of this part of the western continent, that in manyworks the heterogeneous group of savages who inhabitthe entire coast between the Columbia River and theend of Vancouver Island was described as the "Nootka-Columbians."More than one species of plant and animalattest the fact of this Sound having been the localityat which the naturalist first broke ground in North-West[29]America. There are, for instance, aHaliotisNutkaensis (an ear shell), aRubus Nutkanus (a raspberry);and a yellow cypress, which, however, attained itschief development on the mainland much farther north,bears among its synonyms that ofChamcæcyparisNutkaensis. For though it is undeniable that EnsignJuan Perez discovered it as early as 1779, and named itPort San Lorenzo, after the saint on whose day it wasfirst seen, this fact was unknown or forgotten, when, fouryears later, Cook entered, and called it King GeorgeSound, though he tells us it was afterwards found thatit was called Nootka by the natives. Hence arosethe title it has ever since borne, though this was anentire mistake on the great navigator's part, since thereis no word in the Aht language at all corresponding toNootka, unless indeed it is "Nootche," a mountain, whichnot unlikely Cook mistook for that of the inlet generally.The proofs of the presence of earlier visitors were iron andother tools, familiarity with ships, and two silver spoons ofSpanish manufacture, which, we may take it, had beenstolen from Perez's ship. The next vessel to enter theSound was theSea Otter, under the command of CaptainJames Hanna, who made such a haul in the shape ofsea-otter skins that for many years Nootka was thegreat rendezvous of the fur-traders who cruised as farnorth as Russian America—now Alaska—and, like Portlock,Dixon, and Meares, charted and named many ofthe most familiar parts of the British Columbian coast.Meares built theNorth-West America by the aid ofChinese carpenters in Nootka Sound in the winter of1788-89, this little sloop being the first vessel, except[30]a canoe, ever constructed in the country north ofCalifornia.

The lucrative trade done by the English andAmerican traders, some of whom, disposing of theirfurs in China, sailed under the Portuguese flag and fittedout at Macao as the port most readily open tothem, determined the Spaniards to assert their rightsto the original discovery. This was done by DonEstevan Martinez "taking possession" of the Sound,seizing the vessels there, and erecting a fort to maintainthe territory against all comers. A hot diplomaticwarfare ensued, the result of which was the Conventionof Nootka, by which the Sound was madeover to Great Britain; and it was while engaged onthis mission of receiving the Sound that Vancouver,conjointly with Quadra, the Spanish commander, discoveredthat the region it intersects is an island, whichfor a time bore their joint names, but by generalconsent has that of Vancouver only attached to itnowadays.

This was in the year 1795. Being now indisputablyBritish territory, Nootka and the coasts north andsouth of it became more and more frequented by fur-traders,who found, in spite of the increasing scarcity ofpelts, and the higher prices which keener competitionbrought about, an ample profit in buying tolerably cheapon the American coast and selling very dear to theChinese, whose love for the sea-otter continues unabated.Many of these adventurers were Americans—hailing, forthe most part, from Boston. Hence to this day anAmerican is universally known among the North-WesternIndians as a "Boston-man," while an Englishman[31]is quite as generally termed a "Kintshautsh man"(King George man), it being during the long reign ofGeorge III. that they first became acquainted with ourcountrymen. Their barter was carried on in knives,copper plates, copper kettles, muskets, brass-hilted swords,soldiers' coats and buttons, pistols, tomahawks, andblankets, 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 didwhen I knew the shore), blankets woven out of pine-treebark. Rum also seemed to have been freely disposedof, and no doubt many of the outrages which early beganto mark the intercourse of the brown men and theirwhite visitors were not a little due to this, and to thecustoms, ever more free than welcome, in which it is thehabit of the mariner to indulge when he and the savageforgather. At all events, the natives and their foreignvisitors seem to have come very soon into collision.Indeed, it was seldom that a voyage was completedwithout some outrage on one or both sides, followed byreprisals from the party supposed to have been wronged.Thus part of the crew of theImperial Eagle, under thecommand of Captain Barclay,[23] who discovered and namedin his own honour the Sound so called, were murderedat "Queenhythe,"[24] south of Juan de Fuca Strait, whichBarclay was amongst the first to explore, or rather torediscover. At a later date, namely, in 1805, theAtahualpa of Rhode Island was attacked in MillbankSound, and her captain, mate, and six seamen were killed.In 1811 theTonquin, belonging to John Jacob Astor'sromantic fur-trading adventure, which is so well knownfrom Washington Irving'sAstoria, was seized by thesavages on this coast, and then blown up by M'Kay, thechief trader, with the entire crew and their assailants.The scene of the catastrophe has been stated to beNootka, but other commentators have fixed upon BarclaySound, and as late as 1863 an intelligent trader informedme that some ship's timbers, half buried in the sandthere, were attributed by the Indians to some disastrousevent, which he believed to have been the one in question.[25]I am, however, now inclined to think that in creditingNahwitti, at the northern end of Vancouver Island,with this notable event in the early history of North-WestAmerica,[26] Dr. George Dawson has arrived at thetruth.

[32]To this day—or until very recently—the Indians ofthe North-West coast are not accounted very trustworthy,and at the period when I knew them they weresuspected of killing several traders and of looting morethan one small vessel, acts which earned for themfrequent visits from the gunboats at Esquimault, andin several instances the undesirable distinction ofhaving their villages shelled when they refused to giveup the offenders—generally a difficult operation, sinceit meant pretty well the entire village.

[33]

INDIAN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE LANDING-STAGE, ESQUIMAULT.[34]

[35]But the most famous of all the piracies of the WesternIndians is that of which an account is containedin John Jewitt's Narrative. Theostensible author of this work was a Hullblacksmith, the armourer of theBoston, anAmerican ship which was seized while lying in NootkaSound, and the entire crew massacred, with the exceptionof Jewitt, who was spared owing to his skill asa mechanic being valuable to the Indians, and JohnThompson, the sail-maker, who, though left for dead,recovered, and was saved by the tact of Jewitt in representinghim to be his father. This happened in March1803, and from that date until the 20th of July 1805,these two men were kept in slavery to the chiefMaquenna or Moqulla, when they were freed by thearrival of the brigLydia of Boston, Samuel Hill master.During this servitude, Jewitt, who seems to have beena man of some education, kept a journal and acquiredthe Aht language, though the style in which his bookis written shows that in preparing it for the press he hadobtained the assistance of a more practised writer thanhimself. Still, his work is a valuable contribution toethnology. For, omitting the brief but excellent accountsby Cook and Meares, it is the earliest, and, with theexception of Mr. Sproat's lecture, the fullest descriptionof these Indians. It is indeed the only one treatingspecially on the Nootka people, with whom alone hehad any minute acquaintance. Some of the habitshe pictures are now obsolete, or greatly modified, but[36]others—it may be said the greater number—are exactlyas he notes them to have been eighty-six years ago.Besides the internal evidences of its authenticity, thetruth of the adventures described was vouched for atthe time by Jewitt's companion in slavery; and thoughthere is no absolute proof of its credibility, it may not beuninteresting to state that, thirty years ago, I conversedwith an American sea captain, who, as a boy, distinctlyremembered Jewitt working as a blacksmith in the townof Middleton in Connecticut. When the book was firstpublished, in the year 1815, several editions appearedin America, and at least two reprints were called for inEngland, so that the Narrative enjoyed considerablepopularity in the first two decades of the century.Writing in 1840, Robert Green Low, Librarian to theDepartment of State at Washington, characterises it as"a simple and unpretending narrative, which will, nodoubt, in after centuries, be read with interest by theenlightened people of North-West America." Again,in 1845, the same industrious, though not alwaysimpartial, historian remarks that "this little book hasbeen frequently reprinted, and, though seldom foundin libraries, is much read by boys and seamen in theUnited States." As copies are now seldom met with,this is no longer the case, though on our cruise in 1863it was one of the well-thumbed little library of thetraders, one of whom had inherited it from WilliamEdy Banfield, whose name has already been mentioned(p. 25). This trader, for many years a well-known manon the out-of-the-way parts of the coast, furnished acurious link between Jewitt's time and our own. Foran old Indian told him that he had, as a boy, served in[37]the family of a chief of Nootka, called Klan-nin-itth, atthe 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 generallyaccompanied his owner on visits which he paid to theAyhuttisaht, Ahousaht, and Klahoquaht chiefs. Thisold man especially remembered Jewitt, who was agood-humoured fellow, often reciting and singing inhis own language for the amusement of the tribesmen.He was described as a tall, well-made youth, with amirthful countenance, whose dress latterly consisted ofnothing but a mantle of cedar bark. Mr. Sproat, whoobtained his information from the same quarter thatI did, adds that there was a long story of Jewitt'scourting, and finally abducting, the daughter of Waughclagh,the Ahousaht chief. This incident in his careeris not recorded by our author, who, however, wasmarried to a daughter of Upquesta, an AyhuttisahtIndian.

Apart, however, from Jewitt not caring to enlightenthe decent-living puritans of Connecticut too minutelyregarding his youthful escapades, it is not unlikely thatMr. Banfield's informant mixed up some half-forgottenlegends regarding another white man, who, seventeenyears before Jewitt's captivity, had voluntarily remainedamong these Nootka Indians. This was a scapegracenamed John M'Kay,[27] an Irishman, who, after being inthe East India Company's Service in some minormedical capacity, shipped in 1785 on board theCaptainCook as surgeon's mate, and was left behind in NootkaSound, in the hope that he would so ingratiate himselfwith the natives, as to induce them to refuse furs to anyother traders except those with whom he was connected.This man seems to have been an ignorant, untruthfulbraggart, who contradicted himself in many importantparticulars. But entire credence may be given to hisstatement 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 August1786, the natives had stripped him of his clothes, andobliged him to adopt their dress and habits. He evenrefused to leave, declaring that he had begun to relishdried fish and whale oil—though, owing to a famine inthe Sound, he got little of either—and was well satisfied tostay for another year. After making various excursionsin the country about Nootka Sound, during which hecame to the conclusion that it was not a part of theAmerican continent, but a chain of detached islands, hegladly deserted his Indian wife, and left with CaptainBerkeley 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, forthe sake of historical roundness, it would have beeninteresting to believe that he was the same M'Kay whotwenty-four years later ended his career so terribly byblowing up theTonquin, with whose son I was wellacquainted.

[38]

In all of these transactions the head chief of Nootka,or at least of the Mooachahts, figures prominently. Thiswas Maquenna or Moqulla (Jewitt's Maquina), who, withhis relative Wikananish, ruled over most of the tribesfrom here to Nettinaht Inlet. He was a shifty savage,[39]endowed with no small mental ability, and, though attimes capable of acts which were almost generous,untrustworthy like most of his race, and when offendedready for any act of vindictiveness. Wikananish was ona visit to Maquenna when theDiscovery andResolutionentered the Sound, and among the relics whichMaquenna kept for many years were a brass mortarleft by Cook, which in Meares's day was borne before thechief as a portion of his regalia, and three "pieces of abrassy metal formed like cricket bats," on which were theremains of the name and arms of Sir Joseph Banks, andthe date 1775—Banks, it may be remembered, beingthe scientific companion of Cook. In every subsequentvoyage Maquenna figures, and not a few of the outragescommitted on that coast were due either to him or tohis instigation. Some, like his attempt to seize Hanna'svessel in 1785, are known from extraneous sources, andothers were boasted of by him to Jewitt. The last ofhis proceedings of which history has left any record,is the murder of the crew of theBoston and the enslavementof Thompson and Jewitt, and in the narrativeof the latter we are afforded a final glimpse of thisnotorious "King."[28]

When I visited Nootka Sound in 1863, fifty-eightyears had passed since the captivity ofthe author of this book. In the interval[40]many things had happened. But though the Indianshad altered in some respects, they were perhaps lesschanged than almost any other savages in America sincethe whites came in contact with them. Eighty-fiveyears had passed since Cook had careened his ships inResolution Cove, and seventy since Vancouver enteredthe Sound on his almost more notable voyage. Yet thebricks from the blacksmith's forge, fresh and vitrified asif 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 fewmariners found to be very unfriendly—differed in noway from the picture in Cook'sVoyage; and thoughsome curio-hunting captain had no doubt long agocarried off the mortar and emblazoned brasses, thenatives still spoke traditionally of Cook and Vancouver,and were ready to point out the spots where in 1788Meares built theNorth-West America and the whitemen had cultivated. Memories of Martinez and Quadraexisted in the shape of many legends, of Indians withIberian features, and of several old people who bytradition (though some of them were old enough tohave remembered these navigators), could still repeatthe Spanish numerals. And the head chief of theMooachahts in Friendly Cove—vastly smaller thoughhis tribe was, and much abridged his power—was agrandson of Maquenna, called by the same name, andhad many of his worst characteristics. This factI am likely to remember. For he had been accusedof having murdered, in the previous January, CaptainStev of theTrader, and since that time no whiteshad ventured near him. He, however, assured usthat the report was simply a scandal raised by the[41]neighbouring tribes, who had long hated him and hispeople, and would like to see them punished by thearrival of a gunboat, and that in reality the vessel waswrecked, and the white men were drowned. At the sametime, among the voices heard that night at the councilheld in Maquenna's great lodge, supported by the hugebeams described by Jewitt, were some in favour of killinghis latest visitors, on the principle that dead men tell notales. But that the Noes had it, the present narrativeis the best proof.

So far as their habits were concerned, they were in acondition as primitive as at almost any period since thewhites had visited them. Many of the old people werecovered only with a mantle of woven pine bark, andbeyond a shirt, in most cases made out of a flour sack,a blanket was the sole garment of the majority of thetribesmen. At times when they wanted to receive anygoods, they simply pulled off the blanket, wrapped upthe articles in it, and went ashore stark naked, withthe exception of a piece of skin round the loins. Thewomen wore for the most part no other dress except theblanket and a curious apron made of a fringe of barkstrings. All of them painted hideously, the womenadding a streak of vermilion down the middle divisionof the hair, and on high occasions the glittering micasand, spoken of by Jewitt, was called into requisition.Their customs—and I had plenty of opportunities tostudy them in the course of the years which followed—werein no way different from what they werein Cook's time. No missionary seemed ever to havevisited them, and their religious observances were accordingly[42]still the most unadulterated of paganism. Jewitt'snarrative is, however, as might have been expected, veryvague on such matters; and, curiously enough, he makesno mention of their characteristic trait of compressingthe foreheads of the children, the tribes in KoskeemoSound squeezing it, while the bones are still cartilaginous,in a conical shape—though the brain is notthereby permanently injured: it is simply displaced.

Since that day, the tribesmen of the west coast ofVancouver Island have grown fewer and fewer. Someof the smaller septs have indeed become extinct, andothers must be fast on the wane. They have, however,eaten of the tree of knowledge, and the gunboats havenow little occasion to visit them for punitive purposes.Missionaries have even attempted to teach them bettermanners. The Alberni saw-mills have long beendeserted, though other settlers have taken possession ofthe ground, and several have squatted in KoskeemoSound, in the hope that the coal-seams there mightinduce the Pacific steamers to make that remote regiontheir headquarters. Finally, an effort is being made toinduce fishermen from the West of Scotland to settleon 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 andWikananish menacing Donald and Sandy, they willbe ready to help them for a consideration; though agreat deal of tact and forbearance will be necessarybefore people so conservative as the hot-tempered Celtswork smoothly with a race quite as fiery and quite aswedded to old ways, as the Ahts among whom JohnJewitt passed the early years of this century.

R. B.

[43]

JOHN JEWITT'S NARRATIVE

CHAPTER I

BIRTH, PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE OF THE AUTHOR

I was born in Boston, a considerable borough town inLincolnshire, 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 inthat place. At the age of three years I had the misfortuneto 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 marriageof my father, constituted the whole of our family. Myfather, who considered a good education as the greatestblessing he could bestow on his children, was very particularin paying every attention to us in that respect,always exhorting us to behave well, and endeavouringto impress on our minds the principles of virtue andmorality, and no expense in his power was spared tohave us instructed in whatever might render us usefuland respectable in society. My brother, who was fouryears older than myself and of a more hardy constitution,he destined for his own trade, but to me he had[44]resolved to give an education superior to that which isto be obtained in a common school, it being his intentionthat I should adopt one of the learned professions.Accordingly, at the age of twelve he took me from theschool in which I had been taught the first rudiments oflearning, and placed me under the care of Mr. Moses, acelebrated teacher of an academy at Donnington, abouteleven miles from Boston, in order to be instructed inthe Latin language, and in some of the higher branchesof the mathematics. I there made considerable proficiencyin writing, reading, and arithmetic, and obtaineda pretty good knowledge of navigation and of surveying;but my progress in Latin was slow, not only owing tothe little inclination I felt for learning that language,but to a natural impediment in my speech, whichrendered it extremely difficult for me to pronounce it,so that in a short time, with my father's consent, Iwholly relinquished the study.

The period of my stay at this place was the mosthappy of my life. My preceptor, Mr. Moses, was notonly a learned, but a virtuous, benevolent, and amiableman, universally beloved by his pupils, who took delightin his instruction, and to whom he allowed everyproper amusement that consisted with attention totheir studies.

One of the principal pleasures I enjoyed was inattending the fair, which is regularly held twice a yearat Donnington, in the spring and in the fall,[29] the secondday being wholly devoted to selling horses, a prodigiousnumber of which are brought thither for that purpose.As the scholars on these occasions were always indulgedwith a holiday, I cannot express with whateagerness of youthful expectation I used to anticipatethese fairs, nor what delight I felt at the various shows,exhibitions of wild beasts, and other entertainments thatthey presented; I was frequently visited by my father,who always discovered much joy on seeing me, praisedme for my acquirements, and usually left me a smallsum for my pocket expenses.

[45]

Among the scholars at this academy, there was onenamed Charles Rice, with whom I formed a particularintimacy, which continued during the whole of my stay.He was my class and room mate, and as the town hecame from, Ashby, was more than sixty miles off,instead of returning home, he used frequently duringthe vacation to go with me to Boston, where he alwaysmet with a cordial welcome from my father, whoreceived me on these occasions with the greatestaffection, apparently taking much pride in me. Myfriend in return used to take me with him to an uncle ofhis in Donnington, a very wealthy man, who, having nochildren of his own, was very fond of his nephew, andon his account I was always a welcome visitor at thehouse. I had a good voice, and an ear for music, towhich I was always passionately attached, thoughmy father endeavoured to discourage this propensity,considering it (as is too frequently the case) but anintroduction to a life of idleness and dissipation; and,having been remarked for my singing at church, whichwas regularly attended on Sundays and festival days bythe scholars, Mr. Morthrop, my friend Rice's uncle, usedfrequently to request me to sing; he was always pleased[46]with my exhibitions of this kind, and it was no doubtone of the means that secured me so gracious a receptionat his house. A number of other gentlemen in theplace would sometimes send for me to sing at theirhouses, and as I was not a little vain of my vocal powers,I was much gratified on receiving these invitations, andaccepted them with the greatest pleasure.

Thus passed away the two happiest years of my life,when my father, thinking that I had received a sufficienteducation for the profession he intended me for, tookme from school at Donnington in order to apprenticeme 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 myfather, on a short visit to my family, preparatory to myintended apprenticeship. The disinclination I ever hadfelt for the profession my father wished me to pursue,was still further increased on my return. When a childI was always fond of being in the shop, among theworkmen, endeavouring to imitate what I saw them do;this disposition so far increased after my leaving theacademy, that I could not bear to hear the least mentionmade of my being apprenticed to a surgeon, and I usedso many entreaties with my father to persuade him togive up this plan and learn me his own trade, that heat 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 tomine. However it might have been, I was at lengthintroduced into the shop, and my natural turn of mindcorresponding with the employment, I became in a shorttime uncommonly expert at the work to which I wasset. I now felt myself well contented, pleased with myoccupation, and treated with much affection by myfather, and kindness by my step-mother, my fatherhaving once more entered the state of matrimony, witha widow much younger than himself, who had beenbrought up in a superior manner, and was an amiableand sensible woman.

[47]

About a year after I had commenced this apprenticeship,my father, finding that he could carry on hisbusiness to more advantage in Hull, removed thitherwith his family. An event of no little importance tome, as it in a great measure influenced my futuredestiny. Hull being one of the best ports in England,and a place of great trade, my father had there fullemployment for his numerous workmen, particularly invessel work. This naturally leading me to an acquaintancewith the sailors on board some of the ships: themany remarkable stories they told me of their voyagesand adventures, and of the manners and customs of thenations they had seen, excited a strong wish in me tovisit foreign countries, which was increased by myreading the voyages of Captain Cook, and some othercelebrated navigators.

Thus passed the four years that I lived at Hull, wheremy father was esteemed by all who knew him, as aworthy, industrious, and thriving man. At this perioda circumstance occurred which afforded me the opportunity[48]I had for some time wished, of gratifying myinclination of going abroad.

Among our principal customers at Hull were theAmericans who frequented that port, and from whoseconversation my father as well as myself formed themost favourable opinion of that country, as affording anexcellent field for the exertions of industry, and a flatteringprospect for the establishment of a young man inlife. In the summer of the year 1802, during the peacebetween England and France, the shipBoston, belongingto Boston, in Massachusetts, and commanded byCaptain John Salter, arrived at Hull, whither she cameto take on board a cargo of such goods as were wantedfor the trade with the Indians, on the North-Westcoast of America, from whence, after having taken in alading of furs and skins, she was to proceed to China,and from thence home to America. The ship havingoccasion for many repairs and alterations, necessary forso long a voyage, the captain applied to my father todo the smith's work, which was very considerable.That gentleman, who was of a social turn, used oftento call at my father's house, where he passed manyof his evenings, with his chief and second mates,Mr. B. Delouisa and Mr. William Ingraham,[31] thelatter a fine young man of about twenty, of a mostamiable temper, and of such affable manners, as gainedhim the love and attachment of the whole crew.These gentlemen used occasionally to take me withthem to the theatre, an amusement which I was veryfond of, and which my father rather encouraged thanobjected to, as he thought it a good means of preventingyoung men, who are naturally inclined toseek for something to amuse them, from frequentingtaverns, ale-houses, and places of bad resort, equallydestructive of the health and morals, while the stagefrequently furnishes excellent lessons of morality andgood conduct.

[49]

In the evenings that he passed at my father's, CaptainSalter, who had for a great number of years been at sea,and seen almost all parts of the world, used sometimesto speak of his voyages, and, observing me listen withmuch attention to his relations, he one day, when I hadbrought him some work, said to me in rather a jocosemanner, "John, how should you like to go with me?"I answered, that it would give me great pleasure, thatI had for a long time wished to visit foreign countries,particularly America, which I had been told so manyfine stories of, and that if my father would give hisconsent, and he was willing to take me with him, Iwould go.

"I shall be very glad to do it," said he, "if your fathercan be prevailed on to let you go; and as I want anexpert smith for an armourer, the one I have shippedfor that purpose not being sufficiently master of histrade, I have no doubt that you will answer my turnwell, as I perceive you are both active and ingenious,and on my return to America I shall probably be ableto do something much better for you in Boston. I willtake the first opportunity of speaking to your fatherabout it, and try to persuade him to consent." He[50]accordingly, the next evening that he called at ourhouse, introduced the subject: my father at first wouldnot listen to the proposal. That best of parents, thoughanxious for my advantageous establishment in life, couldnot bear to think of parting with me, but on CaptainSalter's telling him of what benefit it would be to me togo the voyage with him, and that it was a pity to keepa promising and ingenious young fellow like myselfconfined to a small shop in England, when if I hadtolerable success I might do so much better in America,where wages were much higher and living cheaper, he atlength gave up his objections, and consented that Ishould ship on board theBoston as an armourer, at therate of thirty dollars per month, with an agreement thatthe amount due to me, together with a certain sum ofmoney, which my father gave Captain Salter for thatpurpose, should be laid out by him on the North-Westcoast in the purchase of furs for my account, to be disposedof in China for such goods as would yield a profiton the return of the ship; my father being solicitous togive me every advantage in his power of well establishingmyself in my trade in Boston, or some other maritimetown of America. Such were the flatteringexpectations which this good man indulged respectingme. Alas! the fatal disaster that befell us, notonly blasted all these hopes, but involved me inextreme distress and wretchedness for a long periodafter.

The ship, having undergone a thorough repair andbeen well coppered, proceeded to take on board hercargo, which consisted of English cloths, Dutch blankets,looking-glasses, beads, knives, razors, etc., which were[51]received from Holland, some sugar and molasses, abouttwenty hogsheads of rum, including stores for theship, a great quantity of ammunition, cutlasses, pistols,and three thousand muskets and fowling-pieces. Theship being loaded and ready for sea, as I was preparingfor my departure, my father came to me, and, taking measide, said to me with much emotion, "John, I am nowgoing to part with you, and Heaven only knows if weshall ever again meet. But in whatever part of theworld you are, always bear it in mind, that on your ownconduct 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 forthgood from evil, and who never deserts those who puttheir trust in Him." He repeated his exhortations to meto lead an honest and Christian life, and to recollectthat I had a father, a mother, a brother, and sister, whocould not but feel a strong interest in my welfare, enjoiningme to write him by the first opportunity thatshould offer to England, from whatever part of theworld I might be in, more particularly on my arrival inBoston. This I promised to do, but long unhappilywas it before I was able to fulfil this promise. I thentook an affectionate leave of my worthy parent, whosefeelings would hardly permit him to speak, and, biddingan affectionate farewell to my brother, sister, and step-mother,who expressed the greatest solicitude for myfuture fortune, went on board the ship, which proceededto the Downs, to be ready for the first favourable[52]wind. I found myself well accommodated on board asregarded my work, an iron forge having been erectedon deck; this my father had made for the ship on anew plan, for which he afterwards obtained a patent;while a corner of the steerage was appropriated tomy vice-bench, so that in bad weather I could workbelow.

[53]

CHAPTER II

VOYAGE TO NOOTKA SOUND

On the third day of September, 1802, we sailed fromthe Downs with a fair wind, in company with twenty-foursail of American vessels, most of which were boundhome.

I was sea-sick for a few of the first days, but it wasof short continuance, and on my recovery I found myselfin uncommonly fine health and spirits, and went towork with alacrity at my forge, in putting in order someof the muskets, and making daggers, knives, and smallhatchets for the Indian trade, while in wet and stormyweather I was occupied below in filing and polishingthem. This was my employment, having but little todo with sailing the vessel, though I used occasionally tolend a hand in assisting the seamen in taking in andmaking sail.

As I had never before been out of sight of land, Icannot describe my sensations, after I had recoveredfrom the distressing effects of sea-sickness, on viewingthe mighty ocean by which I was surrounded, boundonly 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 itscreatures from destruction, in no instance is it more so[54]than on the great deep; for whether we consider in itstumultuary motions the watery deluge that each momentmenaces to overwhelm us, the immense violence ofits shocks, the little that interposes between us anddeath, a single plank forming our only security, which,should it unfortunately be loosened, would plunge usat once into the abyss, our gratitude ought strongly tobe excited towards that superintending Deity who inso wonderful a manner sustains our lives amid thewaves.

We had a pleasant and favourable passage of twenty-ninedays to the Island of St. Catherine,[32] on the coast ofBrazils, where the captain had determined to stop for afew days to wood and water. This place belongs to thePortuguese. On entering the harbour, we were salutedby the fort, which we returned. The next day thegovernor of the island came on board of us with hissuite; 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, duringwhich time we were busily employed in taking in wood,water, and fresh provisions, Captain Salter thinking itbest to furnish himself here with a full supply for hisvoyage to the North-West coast, so as not to be obligedto stop at the Sandwich Islands. St. Catherine's is avery commodious place for vessels to stop at that arebound round Cape Horn, as it abounds with springsof fine water, with excellent oranges, plantains, andbananas.

Having completed our stores, we put to sea, and onthe twenty-fifth of December, at length passed CapeHorn, which we had made no less than thirty-six daysbefore, but were repeatedly forced back by contrarywinds, experiencing very rough and tempestuousweather in doubling it.

[55]

Immediately after passing Cape Horn, all our dangersand difficulties seemed to be at an end; the weatherbecame fine, and so little labour was necessary on boardthe ship, that the men soon recovered from their fatigueand were in excellent spirits. A few days after we fellin with an English South Sea whaling ship homewardbound,[33] which was the only vessel we spoke with on ourvoyage. We now took the trade wind or monsoon,during which we enjoyed the finest weather possible, sothat for the space of a fortnight we were not obliged toreeve a topsail or to make a tack, and so light was theduty and easy the life of the sailors during this time,that they appeared the happiest of any people in theworld.

Captain Salter, who had been for many years in theEast India trade, was a most excellent seaman, and preservedthe strictest order and discipline on board hisship, though he was a man of mild temper and conciliatingmanners, and disposed to allow every indulgenceto his men, not inconsistent with their duty. We hadon board a fine band of music, with which on Saturdaynights, when the weather was pleasant, we were accustomedto be regaled, the captain ordering them toplay for several hours for the amusement of the crew.This to me was most delightful, especially during theserene evenings we experienced in traversing theSouthern Ocean. As for myself, during the day I wasconstantly occupied at my forge, in refitting or repairingsome of the ironwork of the vessel, but principally inmaking tomahawks, daggers, etc., for the North-Westcoast.

[56]

During the first part of our voyage we saw scarcelyany fish, excepting some whales, a few sharks, and flyingfish; but after weathering Cape Horn we met withnumerous shoals of sea porpoises, several of whom wecaught, and as we had been for some time without freshprovisions, I found it not only a palatable, but really avery excellent food. To one who has never before seenthem, a shoal of these fish[34] presents a very striking andsingular appearance; beheld at a distance coming towardsa vessel, they look not unlike a great number ofsmall black waves rolling over one another in a confusedmanner, and approaching with great swiftness. As soonas a shoal is seen, all is bustle and activity on board theship, the grains and the harpoons are immediately gotready, and those who are best skilled in throwing them taketheir stand at the bow and along the gunwale, anxiouslyawaiting the welcome troop as they come, gambollingand blowing around the vessel, in search of food. Whenpierced with the harpoon and drawn on board, unlessthe fish is instantly killed by the stroke, which rarelyhappens, it utters most pitiful cries, greatly resemblingthose of an infant. The flesh, cut into steaks andbroiled, is not unlike very coarse beef, and the harsletin appearance and taste is so much like that of a hog,that it would be no easy matter to distinguish the one[57]from the other; from this circumstance the sailors havegiven the name of the herring hog[35] to this fish. I wastold by some of the crew, that if one of them happens tofree itself from the grains or harpoons, when struck,all the others, attracted by the blood, immediately quitthe ship and give chase to the wounded one, and as soonas they overtake it, immediately tear it in pieces. Wealso caught a large shark, which had followed the shipfor several days, with a hook which I made for the purpose,and although the flesh was by no means equal tothat of the herring hog, yet to those destitute as we wereof anything fresh, I found it eat very well. After passingthe Cape, when the sea had become calm, we sawgreat numbers of albatrosses, a large brown and whitebird of the goose kind, one of which Captain Salter shot,whose wings measured from their extremities fifteenfeet. One thing, however, I must not omit mentioning,as it struck me in a most singular and extraordinarymanner. This was, that on passing Cape Horn inDecember, which was midsummer in that climate, thenights were so light, without any moon, that we foundno difficulty whatever in reading small print, which wefrequently did during our watches.

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CHAPTER III

INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES—MAQUINA—SEIZUREOF THE VESSEL AND MURDER OF THECREW

In this manner, with a fair wind and easy weather fromthe 28th of December, the period of our passing CapeHorn, we pursued our voyage to the northward untilthe 12th of March, 1803, when we made Woody Pointin 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 supplythe ship with wood and water before proceeding up thecoast to trade. But in order to avoid the risk of anymolestation or interruption to his men from the Indianswhile thus employed, he proceeded with the ship aboutfive miles to the northward of the village, which issituated on Friendly Cove, and sent out his chief matewith several of the crew in the boat to find a goodplace for anchoring her. After sounding for some time,they returned with information that they had discovereda secure place for anchorage, on the western side of aninlet or small bay, at about half a mile from the coast,near a small island which protected it from the sea, andwhere there was plenty of wood and excellent water.The ship accordingly came to anchor in this place, attwelve o'clock at night, in twelve fathom water, muddybottom, and so near the shore that to prevent the shipfrom winding we secured her by a hawser to the trees.

[59]

On the morning of the next day, the 13th, several ofthe natives came on board in a canoe from the village ofNootka, with their king, called Maquina, who appearedmuch pleased on seeing us, and with great seemingcordiality welcomed Captain Salter and his officers to hiscountry. As I had never before beheld a savage of anynation, it may readily be supposed that the novelty oftheir appearance, so different from any people that I hadhitherto seen, excited in me strong feelings of surpriseand curiosity. I was, however, particularly struck withthe looks of their king, who was a man of a dignifiedaspect, about six feet in height and extremely straightand well proportioned; his features were in general good,and his face was rendered remarkable by a large Romannose, a very uncommon form of feature among thesepeople; 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 colourcould scarcely be perceived; his eyebrows were paintedblack in two broad stripes like a new moon, and hislong black hair, which shone with oil, was fastened in abunch on the top of his head and strewed or powderedall over with white down, which gave him a most curiousand extraordinary appearance. He was dressed in alarge mantle or cloak of the black sea-otter skin, whichreached to his knees, and was fastened around his[60]middle by a broad belt of the cloth of the country,wrought or painted with figures of several colours; thisdress was by no means unbecoming, but, on the contrary,had an air of savage magnificence. His men werehabited in mantles of the same cloth, which is made fromthe bark of a tree,[37] and has some resemblance to strawmatting; these are nearly square, and have two holes inthe upper part large enough to admit the arms; theyreach as low as the knees, and are fastened round theirbodies with a belt about four inches broad of the samecloth.

From his having frequently visited the English andAmerican ships that traded to the coast, Maquina hadlearned the signification of a number of English words, andin general could make himself pretty well understoodby us in our own language. He was always the first togo on board such ships as came to Nootka, which he wasmuch pleased in visiting, even when he had no trade tooffer, as he always received some small present, and wasin general extremely well treated by the commanders.He remained on board of us for some time, during whichthe captain took him into the cabin and treated him witha glass of rum—these people being very fond of distilledspirits—and some biscuit and molasses, which they preferto any kind of food that we can offer them.[38]

[61]

As there are seldom many furs to be purchased atthis place, and it was not fully the season, Captain Salterhad put in here not so much with an expectation oftrading, as to procure an ample stock of wood and waterfor the supply of the ship on the coast, thinking it moreprudent to take it on board at Nootka, from thegenerally friendly disposition of the people, than toendanger the safety of his men in sending them onshore for that purpose among the more ferocious nativesof the north.

With this view, we immediately set about gettingour water-casks in readiness, and the next and twosucceeding days, part of the crew were sent on shore tocut pine timber, and assist the carpenter in making itinto yards and spars for the ship, while those on boardwere employed in refitting the rigging, repairing thesails, etc., when we proceeded to take in our wood andwater as expeditiously as possible, during which time Ikept myself busily employed in repairing the muskets,making knives, tomaxes,[39] etc., and doing such ironworkas was wanted for the ship.

Meantime more or less of the natives came on boardof us daily, bringing with them fresh salmon, with whichthey supplied us in great plenty, receiving in return sometrifling articles. Captain Salter was always very particular,before admitting these people on board, to seethat they had no arms about them, by obliging themindiscriminately to throw off their garments, so that hefelt perfectly secure from any attack.

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On the 15th the king came on board with several ofhis chiefs; he was dressed as before in his magnificentotter-skin robe, having his face highly painted, and hishair tossed with the white down, which looked likesnow. His chiefs were dressed in mantles of the countrycloth of its natural colour, which is a pale yellow; thesewere ornamented with a broad border, painted orwrought in figures of several colours, representing men'sheads, various animals, etc., and secured around them bya belt like that of the king, from which it was distinguishedonly by being narrower: the dress of thecommon people is of the same fashion, and differs fromthat of the chiefs in being of a coarser texture, andpainted red, of one uniform colour.

Captain Salter invited Maquina and his chiefs to dinewith 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 likeTurks. They cannot endure the taste of salt, and theonly thing they would eat with us was the ship bread,which they were very fond of, especially when dipped inmolasses; they had also a great liking for tea and coffeewhen well sweetened. As iron weapons and tools ofalmost every kind are in much request among them,whenever they came on board they were always veryattentive to me, crowding around me at the forge, as ifto see in what manner I did my work, and in this waybecame quite familiar, a circumstance, as will be seen inthe end, of great importance to me. The salmon whichthey brought us furnished a most delicious treat to men[63]who for a long time had lived wholly on salt provisions,excepting such few sea fish as we had the good fortuneoccasionally to take. We indeed feasted most luxuriously,and flattered ourselves that we should notwant while on the coast for plenty of fresh provisions,little imagining the fate that awaited us, and that thisdainty food was to prove the unfortunate lure to ourdestruction!

On the 19th the king came again on board, and wasinvited by the captain to dine with him. He had muchconversation with Captain Salter, and informed himthat there were plenty of wild ducks and geese nearFriendly Cove, on which the captain made him a presentof a double-barrelled fowling-piece, with which heappeared to be greatly pleased, and soon after went onshore.

On the 20th we were nearly ready for our departure,having taken in what wood and water we were inwant of.

The next day Maquina came on board with nine pairof wild ducks, as a present; at the same time he broughtwith him the gun, one of the locks of which he hadbroken, telling the captain that it waspeshak,[40] that is,bad. Captain Salter was very much offended at thisobservation, and, considering it as a mark of contemptfor his present, he called the king a liar, adding otheropprobrious terms, and, taking the gun from him, tossedit 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 toldhim that it could be done. As I have already observed,Maquina knew a number of English words, and unfortunatelyunderstood but too well the meaning of thereproachful terms that the captain addressed to him.He said not a word in reply, but his countenancesufficiently expressed the rage he felt, though heexerted himself to suppress it, and I observed him,while the captain was speaking, repeatedly put his handto his throat, and rub it upon his bosom, which heafterwards told me was to keep down his heart, whichwas rising into his throat and choking him. He soonafter went on shore with his men, evidently muchdiscomposed.

[64]

On the morning of the 22nd the natives came off tous as usual with salmon, and remained on board; whenabout noon Maquina came alongside, with a considerablenumber of his chiefs and men in their canoes, who,after going through the customary examination, wereadmitted into the ship. He had a whistle in his hand,and over his face a very ugly mask of wood, representingthe head of some wild beast, appeared to be remarkablygood-humoured and gay, and whilst his people sang andcapered about the deck, entertaining us with a varietyof antic trick and gestures, he blew his whistle to a kindof tune which seemed to regulate their motions. AsCaptain Salter was walking on the quarter-deck, amusinghimself with their dancing, the king came up to himand inquired when he intended to go to sea? Heanswered, "To-morrow." Maquina then said, "You lovesalmon—much in Friendly Cove, why not go there andcatch some?" The captain thought that it would bevery desirable to have a good supply of these fish for[65]the voyage, and, on consulting with Mr. Delouisa, it wasagreed to send part of the crew on shore after dinnerwith the seine, in order to procure a quantity. Maquinaand his chiefs stayed and dined on board, and afterdinner the chief mate went off with nine men in thejolly-boat and yawl, to fish at Friendly Cove, having setthe steward on shore at our watering place, to wash thecaptain's clothes.

Shortly after the departure of the boats, I went downto my vice-bench in the steerage, where I was employedin cleaning muskets. I had not been theremore than an hour, when I heard the men hoistingin the longboat, which, in a few minutes after, wassucceeded by a great bustle and confusion on deck. Iimmediately ran up the steerage stairs, but scarcely wasmy head above deck, when I was caught by the hair byone of the savages, and lifted from my feet; fortunatelyfor me, my hair being short, and the ribbon with whichit was tied slipping, I fell from his hold into the steerage.As I was falling he struck at me with an axe, which cuta deep gash in my forehead, and penetrated the skull,but in consequence of his losing his hold I luckilyescaped the full force of the blow, which otherwisewould have cleft my head in two. I fell, stunned andsenseless, upon the floor; how long I continued in thissituation I know not, but on recovering my senses, thefirst thing that I did was to try to get up, but so weakwas I, from the loss of blood, that I fainted and fell. Iwas, however, soon recalled to my recollection by threeloud shouts or yells from the savages, which convincedme that they had got possession of the ship. It is impossiblefor me to describe my feelings at this terrific[66]sound. Some faint idea may be formed of them bythose who have known what it is to half waken from ahideous dream and still think it real. Never, no, nevershall I lose from my mind the impression of that dreadfulmoment. I expected every instant to share thewretched fate of my unfortunate companions, and whenI heard the song of triumph, by which these infernalyells was succeeded, my blood ran cold in my veins.

Having at length sufficiently recovered my senses tolook around me, after wiping the blood from my eyes, Isaw that the hatch of the steerage was shut. This wasdone, as I afterwards discovered, by order of Maquina,who, on seeing the savage strike at me with the axe, toldhim not to hurt me, for that I was the armourer, andwould be useful to them in repairing their arms; whileat the same time, to prevent any of his men from injuringme, he had the hatch closed. But to me this circumstancewore a very different appearance, for I thoughtthat these barbarians had only prolonged my life inorder to deprive me of it by the most cruel tortures.

I remained in this horrid state of suspense for a verylong time, when at length the hatch was opened, andMaquina, calling me by name, ordered me to come up.I groped my way up as well as I was able, being almostblinded with the blood that flowed from my wound, andso weak as with difficulty to walk. The king, on perceivingmy situation, ordered one of his men to bring a potof water to wash the blood from my face, which havingdone, I was able to see distinctly with one of my eyes,but the other was so swollen from my wound, that itwas closed. But what a terrific spectacle met my eyes:six naked savages, standing in a circle around me,[67]covered with the blood of my murdered comrades, withtheir daggers uplifted in their hands, prepared to strike.I now thought my last moment had come, and recommendedmy soul to my Maker.

The king, who, as I have already observed, knewenough of English to make himself understood, enteredthe circle, and, placing himself before me, addressed menearly in the following words: "John—I speak—you nosay no; You say no—daggers come!" He then askedme if I would be his slave during my life—if I wouldfight for him in his battles, if I would repair hismuskets and make daggers and knives for him—withseveral other questions, to all of which I wascareful to answer, yes. He then told me that he wouldspare my life, and ordered me to kiss his hands and feetto show my submission to him, which I did. In themeantime his people were very clamorous to have me putto death, so that there should be none of us left to tell ourstory to our countrymen, and prevent them from comingto trade with them; but the king in the most determinedmanner opposed their wishes, and to his favour amI wholly indebted for my being yet among the living.

As I was busy at work at the time of the attack, Iwas without my coat, and what with the coldness of theweather, my feebleness from loss of blood, the pain ofmy wound, and the extreme agitation and terror that Istill felt, I shook like a leaf, which the king observing,went into the cabin, and, bringing up a greatcoat thatbelonged to the captain, threw it over my shoulders,telling me to drink some rum from a bottle which hehanded me, at the same time giving me to understandthat it would be good for me, and keep me from tremblingas I did. I took a draught of it, after which, taking[68]me by the hand, he led me to the quarter-deck, wherethe most horrid sight presented itself that ever my eyeswitnessed. The heads of our unfortunate captain and hiscrew, to the number of twenty-five, were all arrangedin a line,[41] and Maquina, ordering one of his people tobring a head, asked me whose it was: I answered, thecaptain's. In like manner the others were showed me,and I told him the names, excepting a few that were sohorribly mangled that I was not able to recognise them.

I now discovered that all our unfortunate crew hadbeen massacred, and learned that, after getting possessionof the ship, the savages had broke open the arm-chestand magazine, and, supplying themselves with ammunitionand arms, sent a party on shore to attack our men,who had gone thither to fish, and, being joined bynumbers from the village, without difficulty overpoweredand murdered them, and, cutting off their heads, broughtthem on board, after throwing their bodies into the sea.On looking upon the deck, I saw it entirely coveredwith the blood of my poor comrades, whose throats hadbeen cut with their own jack-knives, the savages havingseized the opportunity, while they were busy in hoistingin the boat, to grapple with them, and overpower themby their numbers; in the scuffle the captain was thrown[69]overboard, and despatched by those in the canoes, whoimmediately 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 mysilk handkerchief from my neck and bound it aroundmy head, placing over the wound a leaf of tobacco, ofwhich we had a quantity on board. This was done atmy 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 weighfor 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. Butthey succeeded so far in loosing the jib and top-sails,that, with the advantage of fair wind, I succeeded ingetting the ship into the Cove, where, by order of theking, I ran her ashore on a sandy beach, at eight o'clockat night.

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CHAPTER IV

RECEPTION OF JEWITT BY THE SAVAGES—ESCAPE OFTHOMPSON—ARRIVAL OF NEIGHBOURING TRIBES—ANINDIAN FEAST

We were received by the inhabitants of the village,men, women, and children, with loud shouts of joy, anda most horrible drumming with sticks upon the roofsand sides of their houses,[42] in which they had also stucka great number of lighted pine torches, to welcome theirking's return, and congratulate him on the success of hisenterprise.

Maquina then took me on shore to his house, whichwas very large, and filled with people—where I wasreceived with much kindness by the women, particularlythose belonging to the king, who had no less than ninewives, all of whom came around me, expressing muchsympathy for my misfortune, gently stroking and pattingmy head in an encouraging and soothing manner,with words expressive of condolence. How sweet iscompassion even from savages! Those who have beenin a similar situation, can alone truly appreciate itsvalue.

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In the meantime all the warriors of the tribe, to thenumber of five hundred,[43] had assembled at the king'shouse, to rejoice for their success. They exulted greatlyin having taken our ship, and each one boasted of hisown particular exploits in killing our men, but theywere in general much dissatisfied with my having beensuffered to live, and were very urgent with Maquina todeliver me to them, to be put to death, which heobstinately refused to do, telling them that he hadpromised me my life, and would not break his word;and that, besides, I knew how to repair and to makearms, and should be of great use to them.

The king then seated me by him, and ordered hiswomen to bring him something to eat, when they setbefore him some dried clams and train-oil, of which heate very heartily, and encouraged me to follow hisexample, telling me to eat much, and take a great dealof oil, which would make me strong and fat. Notwithstandinghis praise of this new kind of food, I felt nodisposition to indulge in it, both the smell and tastebeing loathsome to me; and had it been otherwise, suchwas the pain I endured, the agitation of my mind, andthe gloominess of my reflections, that I should have feltvery little inclination for eating.

Not satisfied with his first refusal to deliver me up tothem, the people again became clamorous that Maquinashould consent to my being killed, saying that not oneof us ought to be left alive to give information to othersof our countrymen, and prevent them from coming totrade, or induce them to revenge the destruction of ourship, and they at length became so boisterous, that hecaught up a large club in a passion, and drove them allout of the house. During this scene, a son of the king,about eleven years old, attracted no doubt by thesingularity of my appearance, came up to me: Icaressed him; he returned my attentions with muchapparent pleasure, and considering this as a fortunateopportunity to gain the good will of the father, I tookthe child on my knee, and, cutting the metal buttonsfrom off the coat I had on, I tied them around his neck.At this he was highly delighted, and became so muchattached to me, that he would not quit me.

[72]

The king appeared much pleased with my attentionto 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 wasafraid lest some of his people would come while he wasasleep and kill me with their daggers. I lay down ashe ordered me, but neither the state of my mind nor thepain I felt would allow me to sleep.

About midnight I was greatly alarmed by theapproach of one of the natives, who came to giveinformation to the king that there was one of the whitemen alive, who had knocked him down as he went onboard the ship at night. This Maquina communicatedto me, giving me to understand that as soon as the sunrose he should kill him. I endeavoured to persuadehim to spare his life, but he bade me be silent and go tosleep. I said nothing more, but lay revolving in mymind what method I could devise to save the life of thisman. What a consolation, thought I, what a happinesswould it prove to me in my forlorn state among these[73]heathens, to have a Christian and one of my owncountrymen for a companion, and how greatly would italleviate 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 wasprobably the sail-maker of the ship, named Thompson,as I had not seen his head among those on deck, andknew that he was below at work upon sails not longbefore the attack. The more I thought of it, the moreprobable it appeared to me, and as Thompson was aman nearly forty years of age, and had an old look, Iconceived it would be easy to make him pass for myfather, and by this means prevail on Maquina to sparehis life. Towards morning I fell into a dose, but wasawakened with the first beams of the sun by the king,who told me he was going to kill the man who was onboard the ship, and ordered me to accompany him. Irose and followed him, leading with me the youngprince, his son.

On coming to the beach, I found all the men of thetribe assembled. The king addressed them, sayingthat one of the white men had been found alive on boardthe ship, and requested their opinion as to saving his lifeor putting him to death. They were unanimously forthe latter. This determination he made known to me.Having arranged my plan, I asked him, pointing to theboy, whom I still held by the hand, if he loved his son.He answered that he did. I then asked the child if heloved his father, and on his replying in the affirmative, Isaid, "And I also love mine." I then threw myself onmy knees at Maquina's feet, and implored him, withtears in my eyes, to spare my father's life, if the man on[74]board should prove to be him, telling him that if hekilled my father, it was my wish that he should kill metoo, and that if he did not, I would kill myself—andthat he would thus lose my services; whereas, by sparingmy father's life, he would preserve mine, whichwould be of great advantage to him, by my repairingand making arms for him.

Maquina appeared moved by my entreaties, andpromised not to put the man to death if he should bemy father. He then explained to his people what Ihad said, and ordered me to go on board and tell theman to come on shore. To my unspeakable joy, ongoing into the hold, I found that my conjecture wastrue. Thompson was there. He had escaped withoutany injury, excepting a slight wound in the nose, givenhim by one of the savages with a knife, as he attemptedto come on deck, during the scuffle. Finding thesavages in possession of the ship, as he afterwardsinformed me, he secreted himself in the hold, hoping forsome chance to make his escape; but that, the Indianwho came on board in the night approaching the placewhere he was, he supposed himself discovered, and,being determined to sell his life as dearly as possible, assoon as he came within his reach, he knocked him down,but the Indian, immediately springing up, ran off at fullspeed.

I informed him, in a few words, that all our menhad been killed; that the king had preserved my life,and had consented to spare his on the suppositionthat he was my father, an opinion which he must becareful not to undeceive them in, as it was his onlysafety. After giving him his cue, I went on shore with[75]him, and presented him to Maquina, who immediatelyknew him to be the sail-maker, and was much pleased,observing that he could make sails for his canoe. Hethen took us to his house, and ordered something for usto eat.

On the 24th and 25th, the natives were busilyemployed in taking the cargo out of the ship, strippingher of her sails and rigging, cutting away the spars andmasts, and, in short, rendering her as complete a wreckas possible, the muskets, ammunition, cloth, and all theprincipal articles taken from her, being deposited in theking's house.

While they were thus occupied, each one taking whathe liked, my companion and myself being obliged toaid them, I thought it best to secure the accounts andpapers of the ship, in hopes that on some future day Imight have it in my power to restore them to theowners. With this view I took possession of thecaptain's writing-desk, which contained the most ofthem, together with some paper and implements forwriting. I had also the good fortune to find a blankaccount-book, in which I resolved, should it be permittedme, to write an account of our capture, and the mostremarkable occurrences that I should meet with duringmy stay among these people, fondly indulging the hopethat it would not be long before some vessel wouldarrive to release us. I likewise found in the cabin asmall volume of sermons, a Bible, and a Common Prayer-bookof the Church of England, which furnished me andmy comrade great consolation in the midst of ourmournful servitude, and enabled me, under the favour ofDivine Providence, to support with firmness the miseries[76]of a life which I might otherwise have found beyondmy 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 beenbroken open and rifled by the savages, as I still had thekey, I without much difficulty secured. In this I alsoput some small tools belonging to the ship, with severalother articles, particularly a journal kept by the secondmate, Mr. Ingraham, and a collection of drawings andviews of places taken by him, which I had the goodfortune to preserve, and on my arrival at Boston,I gave them to a connection of his, the HonourableJudge Dawes, who sent them to his family in NewYork.

On the 26th, two ships were seen standing in forFriendly Cove. At their first appearance the inhabitantswere thrown into great confusion, but, soon collecting anumber of muskets and blunderbusses, ran to the shore,from whence they kept up so brisk a fire at them, thatthey were evidently afraid to approach nearer, and, afterfiring a few rounds of grape-shot, which did no harm toany one, they wore ship and stood out to sea. Theseships, as I afterwards learned, were theMary andJuno of Boston.

They were scarcely out of sight when Maquinaexpressed much regret that he had permitted his peopleto fire at them, being apprehensive that they would giveinformation to others in what manner they had beenreceived, and prevent them from coming to trade withhim.

A few days after hearing of the capture of the ship,[77]there arrived at Nootka a great number of canoes filledwith savages from no less than twenty tribes to thenorth and south. Among those from the north werethe 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 ofwhom were considered as tributary to Nootka. Fromthe south, the Aytch-arts[54] and Esqui-ates,[55] also tributary,with the Kla-oo-quates,[56] and the Wickannish, alarge and powerful tribe about two hundred milesdistant.

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 buttwenty-four hours on their passage.

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Maquina, who was very proud of his new acquisition,was desirous of welcoming these visitors in the Europeanmanner. He accordingly ordered his men, as the canoesapproached, to assemble on the beach with loadedmuskets and blunderbusses, placing Thompson at thecannon, which had been brought from the ship and laidupon two long sticks of timber in front of the village;then, taking a speaking trumpet in his hand, heascended with me the roof of his house, and begandrumming or beating upon the boards with a stickmost violently.

Nothing could be more ludicrous than the appearanceof this motley group of savages collected on the shore,dressed as they were with their ill-gotten finery in themost fantastic manner, some in women's smocks, takenfrom our cargo, others inKotsacks[57] (or cloaks) of blue,red, or yellow broadcloth, with stockings drawn overtheir heads, and their necks hung round with numbersof powder-horns, shot-bags, and cartouch-boxes, someof them having no less than ten muskets apiece on theirshoulders, and five or six daggers in their girdles.Diverting indeed was it to see them all squatted uponthe beach, holding their muskets perpendicularly withthe butt pressed upon the sand, instead of againsttheir shoulders, and in this position awaiting the orderto fire.

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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 asabove-mentioned. At the same moment the cannonwas fired by Thompson, immediately on which theythrew themselves back and began to roll and tumbleover the sand as if they had been shot, when, suddenlyspringing up, they began a song of triumph, and, runningbackward and forward upon the shore, with the wildestgesticulations, boasted of their exploits, and exhibited astrophies what they had taken from us. Notwithstandingthe unpleasantness of my situation, and the feelingsthat this display of our spoils excited, I could not avoidlaughing at the strange appearance of these savages,their awkward movements, and the singular contrast oftheir dress and arms.

When the ceremony was concluded, Maquina invitedthe 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 beingover, 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 performedby Maquina's son, the young prince Sat-sat-sok-sis,whom I have already spoken of, in the followingmanner:—

Three of the principal chiefs, drest in their otter-skinmantles, which they wear only on extraordinary occasionsand at festivals, having their heads covered over with[80]white down and their faces highly painted, came forwardinto the middle of the room, each furnished with a bagfilled with white down, which they scattered around insuch a manner as to represent a fall of snow. Thesewere followed by the young prince, who was dressed in along piece of yellow cloth, wrapped loosely around him,and decorated with small bells, with a cap on his head towhich was fastened a curious mask in imitation of a wolf'shead, while the rear was brought up by the king himselfin his robe of sea-otter skin, with a small whistle in hismouth and a rattle in his hand, with which he kept timeto a sort of tune on his whistle. After passing very rapidlyin this order around the house, each of them seatedhimself, except the prince, who immediately began hisdance, which principally consisted in springing up intothe air in a squat posture, and constantly turningaround on his heels with great swiftness in a verynarrow circle.

This dance, with a few intervals of rest, was continuedfor about two hours, during which the chiefs kept up aconstant drumming with sticks of about a foot in lengthon a long hollow plank, which was, though a very noisy,a most doleful kind of music. This they accompaniedwith songs, the king himself acting as chorister, whilethe women applauded each feat of activity in the dancer,by repeating the words,Wocash! Wocash Tyee![58] thatis, Good! very good, Prince!

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As soon as the dance was finished, Maquina beganto give presents to the strangers, in the name of his sonSat-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 peculiarmanner of snatching it from him with a very sternand surly look, repeating each time the words,WocashTyee. This I understood to be their custom, and wasconsidered as a compliment, which, if omitted, wouldbe supposed as a mark of disregard for the present.On this occasion Maquina gave away no less than onehundred muskets, the same number of looking-glasses,four hundred yards of cloth, and twenty casks ofpowder, besides other things.

After receiving these presents, the strangers retiredon board their canoes, for so numerous were they thatMaquina would not suffer any but the chiefs to sleepin the houses; and, in order to prevent the propertyfrom being pillaged by them, he ordered Thompson andmyself to keep guard during the night, armed withcutlasses and pistols.

In this manner tribes of savages from various partsof the coast continued coming for several days, bringingwith them blubber, oil, herring spawn, dried fish, andclams, for which they received in return presents ofcloth, etc., after which they in general immediatelyreturned home. I observed that very few, if any, ofthem, except the chiefs, had arms, which, I afterwards[82]learned, is the custom with these people, whenever theycome upon a friendly visit or to trade, in order to show,on their approach, that their intentions are pacific.[59]

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CHAPTER V

BURNING OF THE VESSEL—COMMENCEMENT OFJEWITT'S JOURNAL

Early on the morning of the 19th the ship was discoveredto be on fire. This was owing to one of thesavages having gone on board with a firebrand at nightfor the purpose of plunder, some sparks from which fellinto the hold, and, communicating with some combustibles,soon enveloped the whole in flames. Thenatives regretted the loss of the ship the more as agreat part of her cargo still remained on board. To mycompanion and myself it was a most melancholy sight,for with her disappeared from our eyes every trace of acivilised country; but the disappointment we experiencedwas still more severely felt, for we had calculatedon having the provision to ourselves, which would havefurnished us with a stock for years, as whatever is curedwith salt, together with most of our other articles offood, are never eaten by these people. I had luckilysaved all my tools, excepting the anvil and the bellows,which was attached to the forge, and from their weighthad not been brought on shore. We had also the goodfortune, in looking over what had been taken from theship, to discover a box of chocolate and a case of portwine, which, as the Indians were not fond of it, proved[84]a great comfort to us for some time; and from one ofthe natives I obtained a Nautical Almanack which hadbelonged to the captain, and which was of great use tome in determining the time.

About two days after, on examining their booty, thesavages found a tierce of rum, with which they werehighly delighted, as they have become very fondof spirituous liquors since their intercourse with thewhites.[60] This was towards evening, and Maquina, havingassembled all the men at his house, gave a feast, atwhich they drank so freely of the rum, that in a shorttime they became so extremely wild and frantic thatThompson 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 arealways very temperate, drinking nothing but water,having quitted the house and gone to the other huts tosleep, so terrified were they at the conduct of the men,who lay all stretched out on the floor in a state of completeintoxication. How easy in this situation wouldit have been for us to have dispatched or made ourselvesmasters of our enemies had there been any ship near towhich we could have escaped, but as we were situatedthe attempt would have been madness. The wish ofrevenge was, however, less strongly impressed on mymind than what appeared to be so evident an interpositionof Divine Providence in our favour. How little canman penetrate its designs, and how frequently is thatintended as a blessing which he views as a curse. Theburning of our ship, which we had lamented so much,as depriving us of so many comforts, now appeared tous in a very different light, for, had the savages gotpossession of the rum, of which there were nearly twentypuncheons on board,[61] we must inevitably have fallen asacrifice 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. Toprevent the recurrence of similar danger, I examined thecask, 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, completelyemptied it.

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By this time the wound in my head began to bemuch better, so that I could enjoy some sleep, which Ihad been almost deprived of by the pain, and though Iwas still feeble from the loss of blood and my sufferings,I found myself sufficiently well to go to work atmy trade, in making for the king and his wives braceletsand other small ornaments of copper or steel, and inrepairing the arms, making use of a large square stonefor the anvil, and heating my metal in a common woodfire. This was very gratifying to Maquina, and hiswomen particularly, and secured me their goodwill.

In the meantime, great numbers from the other tribeskept continually flocking to Nootka, bringing with them,in exchange for the ship's plunder, such quantities ofprovision, that, notwithstanding the little success thatMaquina met with in whaling this season, and theirgluttonous waste, always eating to excess when theyhave it, regardless of the morrow, seldom did the nativesexperience any want of food during the summer. Asto myself and companion, we fared as they did, neverwanting for such provision as they had, though we wereobliged to eat it cooked in their manner, and with train-oilas a sauce, a circumstance not a little unpleasant,both from their uncleanly mode of cooking and manyof the articles of their food, which to a European arevery disgusting; but, as the saying is, hunger will breakthrough stone walls, and we found, at times, in theblubber of sea animals and the flesh of the dog-fish,loathsome as it generally was, a very acceptable repast.

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But much oftener would poor Thompson, who was nofavourite with them, have suffered from hunger had itnot been for my furnishing him with provision. This Iwas enabled to do from my work, Maquina allowing methe privilege, when not employed for him, to work formyself in making bracelets and other ornaments ofcopper, fish-hooks, daggers, etc., either to sell to thetribes who visited us or for our own chiefs, who on theseoccasions, besides supplying me with as much as Iwished to eat, and a sufficiency for Thompson, almostalways made me a present of a European garment,taken from the ship, or some fathoms of cloth, whichwere made up by my comrade, and enabled us to gocomfortably clad for some time; or small bundles ofpenknives, razors, scissors, etc., for one of which wecould almost always procure from the natives two orthree fresh salmon, cod, or halibut; or dried fish, clams,and herring spawn from the stranger tribes; and hadwe only been permitted to cook them after our ownway, as we had pots and other utensils belonging to[87]the ship, we should not have had much cause of complaintin this respect; but so tenacious are these peopleof their customs, particularly in the article of food andcooking, that the king always obliged me to give whateverprovision I bought to the women to cook. Andone day, finding Thompson and myself on the shoreemployed in boiling down sea-water into salt, on beingtold what it was he was very much displeased, and, takingthe little we had procured, threw it into the sea. Inone instance alone, as a particular favour, he allowedme to boil some salmon in my own way, when I invitedhim and his queen to eat with me; they tasted it, butdid not like it, and made their meal of some of it thatI had cooked in their country fashion.

In May the weather became uncommonly mild andpleasant, and so forward was vegetation, that I pickedplenty of strawberries[62] by the middle of the month. Ofthis fruit there are great quantities on this coast, and Ifound them a most delicious treat.

My health now had become almost re-established,my wound being so far healed that it gave me nofurther trouble. I had never failed to wash it regularlyonce a day in sea water, and to dress it with a fresh leafof tobacco, which I obtained from the natives, who hadtaken it from the ship, but made no use of it. This wasall the dressing I gave it, except applying to it two orthree times a little loaf sugar, which Maquina gave me,in order to remove some proud flesh, which preventedit from closing.

My cure would doubtless have been much soonereffected had I have been in a civilised country, where I[88]could have had it dressed by a surgeon and properlyattended to. But alas! I had no good Samaritan, withoil and wine, to bind up my wounds, and fortunatemight I even esteem myself that I was permitted to dressit myself, for the utmost that I could expect from thenatives was compassion for my misfortunes, which Iindeed experienced from the women, particularly thequeen, 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. Imust do Maquina the justice to acknowledge, that healways appeared desirous of sparing me any labourwhich he believed might be hurtful to me, frequentlyinquiring in an affectionate manner if my head painedme. As for the others, some of the chiefs excepted,they cared little what became of me, and probably wouldhave been gratified with my death.

My health being at length re-established and mywound healed, Thompson became very importunate forme to begin my journal, and as I had no ink, proposedto cut his finger to supply me with blood for the purposewhenever I should want it. On the 1st of June Iaccordingly commenced a regular diary, but had nooccasion to make use of the expedient suggested by mycomrade, having found a much better substitute in theexpressed juice of a certain plant, which furnished mewith a bright green colour, and, after making a numberof trials, I at length succeeded in obtaining a verytolerable ink, by boiling the juice of the blackberry witha mixture of finely powdered charcoal, and filtering itthrough a cloth. This I afterwards preserved in bottles,and found it answer very well, so true is it that "necessity[89]is the mother of invention." As for quills, I found nodifficulty in procuring them whenever I wanted, fromthe crows and ravens with which the beach was almostalways covered, attracted by the offal of whales, seals,etc., and which were so tame that I could easily kill themwith stones, while a large clam-shell furnished me withan inkstand.

The extreme solicitude of Thompson that I shouldbegin my journal might be considered as singular in aman 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, hehaving been for many years at sea, and accustomed toconsider the keeping of a journal as a thing indispensable.This man was born in Philadelphia, and at eightyears old ran away from his friends and entered as acabin boy on board a ship bound to London. On hisarrival there, finding himself in distress, he engaged asan apprentice to the captain of a collier, from whencehe was impressed on board an English man-of-war, andcontinued in the British naval service about twenty-sevenyears, during which he was present at the engagementunder Lord Howe with the French fleet in June1794, and when peace was made between Englandand France, was discharged. He was a very strongand powerful man, an expert boxer, and perfectlyfearless; indeed, so little was his dread of danger,that when irritated he was wholly regardless of hislife. Of this the following will furnish a sufficientproof:—

One evening about the middle of April, as I was atthe house of one of the chiefs, where I had been[90]employed on some work for him, word was broughtme that Maquina was going to kill Thompson. Iimmediately hurried home, where I found the king inthe act of presenting a loaded musket at Thompson,who was standing before him with his breast baredand calling on him to fire. I instantly stepped up toMaquina, who was foaming with rage, and, addressinghim in soothing words, begged him for my sakenot to kill my father, and at length succeeded intaking the musket from him and persuading him to sitdown.

On inquiring into the cause of his anger, I learnedthat, while Thompson was lighting the lamps in theking's room, Maquina having substituted ours for theirpine 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 himinto such a passion, that, without caring what he did,he struck the prince so violent a blow in his face withhis fist as to knock him down. The sensation excitedamong the savages by an act which was considered asthe highest indignity, and a profanation of the sacredperson of majesty, may be easily conceived. The kingwas immediately acquainted with it, who, on coming inand seeing his son's face covered with blood, seized amusket and began to load it, determined to take instantrevenge of the audacious offender, and had I arrived afew moments later than I did, my companion wouldcertainly have paid with his life for his rash and violentconduct. I found the utmost difficulty in pacifyingMaquina, who for a long time after could not forgive[91]Thompson, but would repeatedly say, "John,you die—Thompsonkill."

But to appease the king was not all that was necessary.In consequence of the insult offered to their prince, thewhole tribe held a council, in which it was unanimouslyresolved that Thompson should be put to death in themost cruel manner. I however interceded so strenuouslywith Maquina for his life, telling him that if my fatherwas killed, I was determined not to survive him, that herefused to deliver him up to the vengeance of his people,saying, that for John's sake they must consent to lethim live. The prince, who, after I had succeeded incalming his father, gave me an account of what hadhappened, told me that it was wholly out of regard tome, as Thompson was my father, that his life had beenspared, for that if any one of the tribe should dare tolift a hand against him in anger, he would most certainlybe put to death.

Yet even this narrow escape produced not much effecton Thompson, or induced him to restrain the violence ofhis temper. For, not many weeks after, he was guilty ofa similar indiscretion, in striking the eldest son of a chief,who was about eighteen years old, and, according totheir custom, was considered as a Tyee, or chief, himself,in consequence of his having provoked him by callinghim a white slave. This affair caused great commotionin the village, and the tribe was very clamorous for hisdeath, but Maquina would not consent.

I used frequently to remonstrate with him on theimprudence of his conduct, and beg him to govern histemper better, telling him that it was our duty, since ourlives were in the power of these savages, to do nothing[92]to exasperate them. But all I could say on this pointavailed little, for so bitter was the hate he felt for them,which he was no way backward in manifesting both byhis looks and actions, that he declared he never wouldsubmit to their insults, and that he had much rather bekilled than be obliged to live among them; adding thathe only wished he had a good vessel and some guns,and he would destroy the whole of the cursed race; forto a brave sailor like him, who had fought the Frenchand Spaniards with glory, it was a punishment worsethan death to be a slave to such a poor, ignorant,despicable set of beings.

As for myself, I thought very differently. After returningthanks to that merciful Being who had in sowonderful a manner softened the hearts of the savagesin my favour, I had determined from the first of mycapture to adopt a conciliating conduct towards them,and conform myself, as far as was in my power, to theircustoms and mode of thinking, trusting that the samedivine goodness that had rescued me from death, wouldnot always suffer me to languish in captivity amongthese heathens.

With this view, I sought to gain their goodwill byalways endeavouring to assume a cheerful countenance,appearing pleased with their sports and buffoon tricks,making little ornaments for the wives and childrenof their chiefs, by which means I became quite afavourite with them, and fish-hooks, daggers, etc., forthemselves.

As a further recommendation to their favour, andwhat might eventually prove of the utmost importanceto us, I resolved to learn their language, which in the[93]course of a few months' residence I so far succeeded inacquiring, as to be able in general to make myself wellunderstood.

I likewise tried to persuade Thompson to learn it, aswhat 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 gainthe goodwill of these savages, particularly the chiefs,that I scarcely ever failed experiencing kind treatmentfrom them, and was received with a smile of welcome attheir houses, where I was always sure of having somethinggiven me to eat, whenever they had it, and manya good meal have I had from them, when they themselveswere short of provisions and suffering for thewant of them.

And it was a common practice with me, when wehad nothing to eat at home, which happened notunfrequently during my stay among them, to goaround the village, and on noticing a smoke from anyof 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 andunfeeling, whom constant mild treatment, and anattention to please, will not mollify and obtain fromsome return of kind attention. This the treatment Ireceived from these people may exemplify, for notnumerous, even among those calling themselves civilised,are there instances to be found of persons deprivingthemselves of food to give it to a stranger, whatevermay be his merits.

It[94] may perhaps be as well in this place to give adescription of Nootka; some accounts of the tribeswho were accustomed to visit us; and the mannersand customs of the people, as far as I hitherto hadan opportunity of observing them.

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CHAPTER VI

DESCRIPTION OF NOOTKA SOUND—MANNER OF BUILDINGHOUSES—FURNITURE—DRESSES

The village of Nootka is situated in between 49 and50 deg. N. lat.,[63] at the bottom of Friendly Cove, on thewest or north-west side. It consists of about twentyhouses or huts, on a small hill, which rises with a gentleascent from the shore. Friendly Cove, which affordsgood and secure anchorage for ships close in with theshore, is a small harbour of not more than a quarter orhalf a mile in length, and about half a mile or three-quartersbroad, formed by the line of coast on the eastand a long point or headland, which extends as muchas three leagues into the Sound, in nearly a westerlydirection.[64] This, as well as I can judge from what Ihave seen of it, is in general from one to two miles inbreadth, and mostly a rocky and unproductive soil, withbut few trees. The eastern and western shores of thisharbour are steep and in many parts rocky, the treesgrowing quite to the water's edge, but the bottom to thenorth and north-west is a fine sandy beach of half amile or more in extent.

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From the village to the north and north-east extendsa plain, the soil of which is very excellent, and withproper cultivation may be made to produce almost anyof our European vegetables; this is but little more thanhalf 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 theneighbourhood of Nootka is in general low, and butlittle 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 finestwater, the general appearance being the same for manymiles around.

The village is situated on the ground occupied by theSpaniards, when they kept a garrison here; the foundationsof the church and the governor's house are yetvisible, 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, particularlythe turnips, which afforded us nothing butthe tops for eating. Their former village stood on thesame spot, but the Spaniards, finding it a commodioussituation, demolished the houses, and forced the inhabitantsto retire five or six miles into the country.[65] Withgreat sorrow, as Maquina told me, did they find themselvescompelled to quit their ancient place of residence,but with equal joy did they repossess themselves ofit when the Spanish garrison was expelled by theEnglish.

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HABITATIONS IN NOOTKA SOUND.[98]

The[99] houses, as I have observed, are above twenty innumber, built nearly in a line. These are of differentsizes, according to the rank or quality of theTyee, orchief, who lives in them, each having one, of which he isconsidered as the lord. They vary not much in width,being usually from thirty-six to forty feet wide, but areof very different lengths, that of the king, which is muchthe longest, being about one hundred and fifty feet,while the smallest, which contain only two families, donot exceed forty feet in length; the house of the king isalso distinguished from the others by being higher.

Their method of building is as follows: they erect inthe ground two very large posts, at such a distance apartas is intended for the length of the house. On these,which are of equal height, and hollowed out at the upperend, they lay a large spar for the ridge-pole of the building,[100]or, if the length of the house requires it, two or more,supporting their ends by similar upright posts; thesespars are sometimes of an almost incredible size,having myself measured one in Maquina's house, whichI found to be one hundred feet long and eight feet fourinches in circumference. At equal distances from thesetwo posts, two others are placed on each side, to formthe width of the building; these are rather shorter thanthe first, and on them are laid in like manner spars, butof a smaller size, having the upper part hewed flat, witha narrow ridge on the outer side to support the ends ofthe planks.

The roof is formed of pine planks with a broad featheredge, so as to lap well over each other, which are laidlengthwise from the ridge-pole in the centre, to thebeams at the sides, after which the top is covered withplanks of eight feet broad, which form a kind of covingprojecting so far over the ends of the planks that formthe roof, as completely to exclude the rain. On thesethey lay large stones to prevent their being displacedby the wind. The ends of the planks are not securedto the beams on which they are laid by any fastening,so that in a high storm I have often known all the menobliged to turn out and go upon the roof to preventthem from being blown off, carrying large stones andpieces of rock with them to secure the boards, alwaysstripping themselves naked on these occasions, whatevermay be the severity of the weather, to prevent theirgarments from being wet and muddied, as these stormsare almost always accompanied with heavy rains. Thesides of their houses are much more open and exposedto the weather; this proceeds from their not being so[101]easily made close as the roof, being built with planks ofabout ten feet long and four or five wide, which theyplace between stancheons or small posts of the heightof the roof; of these there are four to each range ofboards, two at each end, and so near each other as toleave space enough for admitting a plank. The planksor boards which they make use of for building theirhouses, and for other uses, they procure of differentlengths as occasion requires, by splitting them outwith hard wooden wedges from pine logs, and afterwardsdubbing them down with their chisels, with muchpatience, to the thickness wanted, rendering them quitesmooth.

There is but one entrance; this is placed usually atthe end, though sometimes in the middle, as was that ofMaquina's. Through the middle of the building, fromone end to the other, runs a passage of about eight ornine feet broad, on each side of which the severalfamilies that occupy it live, each having its particularfireplace, but without any kind of wall or separation tomark their respective limits; the chief having his apartmentat the upper end, and the next in rank oppositeon the other side. They have no other floor than theground; the fireplace or hearth consists of a number ofstones loosely put together, but they are wholly withouta chimney, nor is there any opening left in the roof, butwhenever a fire is made, the plank immediately over itis thrust aside, by means of a pole, to give vent to thesmoke.

The height of the houses in general, from the groundto the centre of the roof, does not exceed ten feet, that ofMaquina's was not far from fourteen; the spar forming[102]the ridge-pole of the latter was painted in red and blackcircles alternately, by way of ornament, and the largeposts that supported it had their tops curiously wroughtor carved, so as to represent human heads of a monstroussize, which were painted in their manner. These werenot, however, considered as objects of adoration, butmerely as ornaments.[66]

The furniture of these people is very simple, and consistsonly of boxes, in which they put their clothes, furs,and such things as they hold most valuable; tubs forkeeping their provisions of spawn and blubber in; traysfrom which they eat; baskets for their dried fish andother purposes, and bags made of bark matting, of whichthey also make their beds, spreading a piece of it uponthe ground when they lie down, and using no other bedcovering 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 extremelysmooth and high polished, and sometimes ornamentedwith rows of very small white shells. The tubs are of asquare form, secured in the like manner, and of varioussizes, some being extremely large, having seen themthat were six feet long by four broad and five deep.The trays are hollowed out with their chisels from asolid block of wood, and the baskets and mats are madefrom the bark of trees.

From bark they likewise make the cloth for theirgarments, in the following manner:—A quantity of thisbark is taken and put into fresh water, where it iskept for a fortnight, to give it time to completely soften;it is then taken out and beaten upon a plank, with aninstrument made of bone, or some very hard wood,having grooves or hollows on one side of it, care beingtaken to keep the mass constantly moistened withwater, in order to separate, with more ease, the hardand 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 dyethem black or red, as suits their fancies, their naturalcolour being a pale yellow. In order to form thecloth, the women, by whom the whole of this processis performed, take a certain number of these skeinsand twist them together, by rolling them with theirhands upon their knees into hard rolls, which are afterwardsconnected by means of a strong thread, made forthe purpose.

[103]

INTERIOR OF A HABITATION IN NOOTKA SOUND.[104]

Their[105] dress usually consists of but a single garment,which is a loose cloak or mantle (calledkutsack) in onepiece, reaching nearly to the feet. This is tied looselyover the right or left shoulder, so as to leave the armsat full liberty.

Those of the common people are painted red withochre the better to keep out the rain, but the chiefswear 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, ortheir own cloth wrought or painted with various figuresin red or black, representing men's heads, the sun andmoon, fish and animals, which are frequently executed[106]with much skill. They have also a girdle of the samekind for securing this mantle orkutsack around them,which is in general still more highly ornamented, andserves them to wear their daggers and knives in. Inwinter, however, they sometimes make use of anadditional garment, which is a kind of hood, with a holein it for the purpose of admitting the head, and fallsover the breast and back, as low as the shoulders; thisis bordered both at top and bottom with fur, and isnever worn except when they go out.

The garments of the women vary not essentially fromthose of the men, the mantle having holes in it for thepurpose of admitting the arms, and being tied closeunder the chin instead of over the shoulder. The chiefshave also mantles of the sea-otter skin, but these areonly put on upon extraordinary occasions; and onethat 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 inwarm water, scraping off the hair and what flesh adheresto it carefully with sharp mussel-shells, and spreadingit out in the sun to dry on a wooden frame, so as topreserve the shape. When dressed in this manner itbecomes perfectly white, and as pliable as the bestdeer's leather, but almost as thick again. They thenpaint it in different figures with such paints as theyusually employ in decorating their persons; thesefigures mostly represent human heads, canoes employedin catching whales, etc.

This skin is called metamelth, and is probably got[107]from an animal of the moose kind; it is highly prized bythese people, is their great war dress, and only wornwhen they wish to make the best possible display ofthemselves. Strips or bands of it, painted as above, arealso sometimes used by them for girdles or the borderingof their cloaks, and also for bracelets and ankleornaments 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 capor bonnet in form not unlike a large sugar loaf with thetop cut off. This is made of the same materials withtheir cloth,[70] but is in general of a closer texture, andby way of tassel has a long strip of the skin of themetamelth[71] attached to it, covered with rows of smallwhite shells or beads. Those worn by the commonpeople are painted entirely red, the chiefs having theirsof different colours. The one worn by the king, andwhich serves to designate him from all the others, islonger and broader at the bottom; the top, instead ofbeing flat, having upon it an ornament in the figureof a small urn. It is also of a much finer texturethan the others, and plaited or wrought in black andwhite stripes, with the representation in front of a canoein pursuit of a whale, with the harpooner standing inthe prow prepared to strike. This bonnet is calledSeeya-poks.

[108]

Their mode of living is very simple—their foodconsisting almost wholly of fish, or fish spawn fresh ordried, the blubber of the whale, seal, or sea-cow, mussels,clams, and berries of various kinds; all of which areeaten with a profusion of train-oil for sauce, not exceptingeven the most delicate fruit, as strawberries andraspberries.

With so little variety in their food, no great secretcan be expected in their cookery. Of this, indeed, theymay be said to know but two methods, viz. by boilingand steaming, and even the latter is not very frequentlypractised by them. Their mode of boiling is asfollows:—Into one of their tubs they pour watersufficient to cook the quantity of provision wanted. Anumber of heated stones are then put in to make it boil,when the salmon or other fish are put in without anyother preparation than sometimes cutting off the heads,tails, and fins, the boiling in the meantime being keptup by the application of the hot stones, after which itis left to cook until the whole is nearly reduced to onemass. 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 everythingthey eat, nothing going down with them like broth.

When they cook their fish by steam, which areusually the heads, tails, and fins of the salmon, cod, andhalibut, a large fire is kindled, upon which they place abed of stones, which, when the wood is burnt down,becomes perfectly heated. Layers of green leaves orpine boughs are then placed upon the stones, and the[109]fish, clams, etc., being laid upon them, water is pouredover them, and the whole closely covered with mats tokeep in the steam. This is much the best mode ofcooking, and clams and mussels done in this mannerare really excellent.[72] These, as I have said, may beconsidered as their only kinds of cookery; though Ihave, in a very few instances, known them dress the roeor spawn of the salmon and the herring, when firsttaken, in a different manner; this was by roasting them,the former being supported between two split pieces ofpine, and the other having a sharp stick run through it,with one end fixed in the ground; sprats are alsoroasted by them in this way, a number being spittedupon one stick; and this kind of food, with a little salt,would be found no contemptible eating even to anEuropean.

At their meals they seat themselves upon theground, with their feet curled up under them, aroundtheir trays, which are generally about three feet longby one broad, and from six to eight inches deep. Ineating they make use of nothing but their fingers,except for the soup or oil, which they lade out withclam-shells.

Around one of these trays from four to six personswill seat themselves, constantly dipping in their fingersor clam-shells one after the other. The king and chiefsalone have separate trays, from which no one is permittedto eat with them except the queen, or principalwife of the chief; and whenever the king or one of the[110]chiefs wishes to distinguish any of his people with aspecial mark of favour on these occasions, he calls himand 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 fromseparate trays.

Whenever a feast is given by the king or any ofthe chiefs, there is a person who acts as a master ofceremonies, and whose business it is to receive theguests as they enter the house, and point out to themtheir respective seats, which is regulated with greatpunctiliousness as regards rank; the king occupyingthe highest or the seat of honour, his son or brothersitting next him, and so on with the chiefs according totheir quality; the private persons belonging to the samefamily being always placed together, to prevent anyconfusion. The women are seldom invited to theirfeasts, and only at those times when a general invitationis given to the village.[73]

As, whenever they cook, they always calculate tohave an abundance for all the guests, a profusion inthis 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 hishouse for his family by one of his slaves, as do thechiefs theirs; while those who eat from the same tray,and who generally belong to the same family, take ithome as common stock, or each one receives his portion,which is distributed on the spot. This custom appeared[111]very singular to my companion and myself, and it wasa most awkward thing for us, at first, to have to lughome with us, in our hands or arms, the blubber of fishthat we received at these times, but we soon becamereconciled to it, and were very glad of an opportunityto do it.

NOOTKA SOUND INDIANS.

[112]

CHAPTER VII

APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES—ORNAMENTS—OTTER-HUNTING—FISHING—CANOES

In point of personal appearance the people of Nootkaare among the best-looking of any of the tribes that Ihave seen. The men are in general from about five feetsix to five feet eight inches in height; remarkably straight,of a good form, robust and strong, with their limbs ingeneral well turned and proportioned, excepting thelegs and feet, which are clumsy and ill formed, owing,no doubt, to their practice of sitting on them, thoughI have seen instances in which they were very wellshaped; this defect is more particularly apparent in thewomen, who are for the most part of the time withindoors, and constantly sitting while employed in theircooking and other occupations.[74] The only instance ofdeformity that I saw amongst them was a man ofdwarfish stature; he was thirty years old, and but threefeet three inches high; he had, however, no otherdefect than his diminutive size, being well made, andas strong and able to bear fatigue as what they were ingeneral.[75]

[113]

Their complexion, when freed from the paint and oilwith which their skins are generally covered, is a brown,somewhat inclining to a copper cast. The shape of theface is oval; the features are tolerably regular, the lipsbeing thin and the teeth very white and even; theireyes are black but rather small, and the nose pretty wellformed, being neither flat nor very prominent; theirhair is black, long, and coarse, but they have nobeard, completely extirpating it, as well as the hairfrom their bodies, Maquina being the only exception,who suffered his beard to grow on his upper lip in themanner of mustachios, which was considered as amark of dignity.

As to the women, they are much whiter, many ofthem not being darker than those in some of thesouthern parts of Europe. They are in general verywell-looking, and some quite handsome. Maquina'sfavourite wife in particular, who was a Wickinninishprincess, would be considered as a beautiful woman in[114]any country. She was uncommonly well formed, tall,and of a majestic appearance; her skin remarkably fairfor one of these people, with considerable colour, herfeatures 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 muchsofter than that of the men; in this they take muchpride, frequently oiling and plaiting it carefully intotwo broad plaits, tying the ends with a strip of thecloth of the country, and letting it hang down beforeon each side of the face.

The women keep their garments much neater andcleaner than the men, and are extremely modest in theirdeportment and dress; their mantle, orkutsack, whichis longer than that of the men, reaching quite to theirfeet and completely enveloping them, being tied closeunder the chin, and bound with a girdle of the samecloth or of sea-otter skin around their waists; it has alsoloose sleeves, which reach to the elbows. Though fondof ornamenting their persons, they are by no means sopartial to paint as the men, merely colouring their eyebrowsblack and drawing a bright red stripe from eachcorner of the mouth towards the ear. Their ornamentsconsist chiefly of ear-rings, necklaces, bracelets, ringsfor the fingers and ankles, and small nose-jewels (thelatter are, however, wholly confined to the wives ofthe king or chiefs); these are principally made out ofcopper or brass, highly polished and of various formsand sizes; the nose-jewel is usually a small white shell[76]or bead suspended to a thread.

[115]

The wives of the common people frequently wear forbracelets and ankle rings strips of the country cloth orskin of the metamelth painted in figures, and those ofthe king or principal chiefs, bracelets and necklacesconsisting of a number of strings ofIfe-waw, an articlemuch prized by them, and which makes a very handsomeappearance. ThisIfe-waw, as they term it, is a kind ofshell of a dazzling whiteness and as smooth as ivory; itis of a cylindrical form, in a slight degree curved, aboutthe size of a goose quill, hollow, three inches in lengthand gradually tapering to a point, which is broken offby the natives as it is taken from the water; this theyafterwards string upon threads of bark and sell it by thefathom; it forms a kind of circulating medium amongthese nations, five fathoms being considered as the priceof a slave, their most valuable species of property. It isprincipally obtained from the Aitizzarts, a people livingabout thirty or forty miles to the northward, who collectit from the reefs and sunken rocks with which theircoast abounds, though it is also brought in considerablequantity from the south.[77]

[116]

Their mode of taking it has been thus described tome:—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 tosink it, a stone or some weight is tied, and the other endof the pole suspended to a long rope; this is let downperpendicularly by theIfe-waw fishers in those placeswhere that substance is found, which are usually fromfifty to sixty fathoms deep. On finding the bottom,they raise the pole up a few feet and let it fall; this theyrepeat a number of times, as if sounding, when they drawit up and take off theIfe-waw which is found adheringto the points. This method of procuring it is verylaborious and fatiguing, especially as they seldom takemore than two or three of these shells at a time, andfrequently none.

Though the women, as I have said, make but little useof paint, the very reverse is the case with the men. Indecorating their heads and faces they place theirprincipal pride, and none of our most fashionable beauswhen preparing for a grand ball can be more particular;for I have known Maquina, after having been employedmore than an hour in painting his face, rub the whole off,and recommence the operation anew, when it did notentirely please him.

The manner in which they paint themselves frequentlyvaries, according to the occasion, but it ofteneris the mere dictate of whim. The most usual methodis to paint the eyebrows black in form of a half-moonand the face red in small squares, with the arms andlegs and part of the body red; sometimes one half ofthe face is painted red in squares and the other black;[117]at others dotted with spots of red and black insteadof squares, with a variety of other devices, such aspainting one half of the face and body red and theother black.

But a method of painting which they sometimesemployed, and which they were much more particularin, was by laying on the face a quantity of bear's greaseof about one-eighth of an inch thick; this they raisedup into ridges resembling a small bead in joiner's workwith a stick prepared for the purpose, and then paintedthem red, which gave the face a very singular appearance.

On extraordinary occasions the king and principalchiefs used to strew over their faces, after painting, a fineblack shining powder procured from some mineral, asMaquina told me it was got from the rocks. This theycallpelpelth,[78] and value it highly, as, in their opinion, itserves to set off their looks to great advantage, glitteringespecially in the sun like silver. This article is broughtthem in bags by theNewchemass,[79] a very savage nationwho live a long way to the north, from whom they likewisereceive a superior kind of red paint, a species ofvery fine and rich ochre, which they hold in muchestimation.

[118]

Notwithstanding this custom of painting themselves,they make it an invariable practice, both in summer andwinter, to bathe once a day, and sometimes oftener; butas the paint is put on with oil, it is not much discomposedthereby, and whenever they wish to wash it off, theyrepair to some piece of fresh water and scour themselveswith sand or rushes.

In dressing their heads on occasion of a festival or avisit, they are full as particular and almost as long as inpainting. The hair, after being well oiled, is carefullygathered upon the top of the head and secured by apiece of pine or spruce bough with the green leavesupon it. After having it properly fixed in this manner,the king and principal chiefs used to strew all over itthe white down obtained from a species of large browneagle which abounds on this coast, and which they arevery particular in arranging so as not to have a singlefeather out of place, occasionally wetting the hair tomake it adhere. This, together with the bough, whichis sometimes of considerable size and stuck over withfeathers by means of turpentine, gives them a verysingular and grotesque appearance, which they, however,think very becoming, and the first thing they do, onlearning the arrival of strangers, is to go and decoratethemselves in this manner.

The men also wear bracelets of painted leather orcopper and large ear-rings of the latter, but the ornamenton which they appear to set the most value is the nose-jewel,if such an appellation may be given to the woodenstick which some of them employ for this purpose. Theking and chiefs, however, wear them of a different form,being either small pieces of polished copper or brass, of[119]which I made many for them in the shape of hearts anddiamonds, or a twisted conical shell about half an inchin length, of a bluish colour and very bright, which isbrought from the south. These are suspended by asmall wire or string to the hole in the gristle of thenose, which is formed in infancy by boring it with apin, the hole being afterwards enlarged by the repeatedinsertion of wooden pegs of an increased size, untilit becomes about the diameter of a pipe-stem, thoughsome have them of a size nearly sufficient to admit thelittle finger.

The common class, who cannot readily procure themore expensive jewels that I have mentioned, substitutefor them, usually, a smooth, round stick, some of whichare of an almost incredible length, for I have seen themprojecting not less than eight or nine inches beyondthe face on each side; this is made fast or secured inits place by little wedges on each side of it. These"sprit-sail-yard fellows," as my messmate used to callthem, when rigged out in this manner, made quite astrange show, and it was his delight, whenever he sawone of them coming towards us with an air of consequenceproportioned to the length of his stick, to putup his hand suddenly as he was passing him, so as tostrike the stick, in order, as he said, to brace him upsharp to the wind; this used to make them very angry,but nothing was more remote from Thompson's ideasthan a wish to cultivate their favour.

The natives of Nootka appear to have but littleinclination for the chase, though some of them wereexpert marksmen, and used sometimes to shoot ducksand geese; but the seal and the sea-otter form the[120]principal objects of their hunting, particularly thelatter.

Of this animal, so much noted for its valuable skin,the following description may not be uninteresting:—Thesea-otter[80] is nearly five feet in length, exclusive ofthe tail, which is about twelve inches, and is very thickand broad where it joins the body, but gradually tapersto the end, which is tipped with white. The colour ofthe rest is a shining, silky black, with the exception of abroad white stripe on the top of the head. Nothingcan be more beautiful than one of these animals whenseen swimming, especially when on the look-out forany object. At such times it raises its head quiteabove the surface, and the contrast between the shiningblack and the white, together with its sharp ears anda long tuft of hair rising from the middle of its forehead,which looks like three small horns, render it quite anovel and attractive object. They are in general verytame, and will permit a canoe or boat to approach verynear before they dive. I was told, however, that theyare become much more shy since they have been accustomedto shoot them with muskets, than when theyused only arrows.[81]

The skin is held in great estimation in China, moreespecially that of the tail, the fur of which is finer andcloser set than that on the body. This is always cutoff and sold separately by the natives. The value ofa skin is determined by its size, that being considered[121]as a prime skin which will reach, in length, from aman's chin to his feet. The food of the sea-otter isfish, which he is very dexterous in taking, being anexcellent swimmer, with feet webbed like those of agoose. They appear to be wholly confined to the seacoast,at least to the salt water. They have usuallythree or four young at a time, but I know not how oftenthey breed, nor in what place they deposit their young,though I have frequently seen them swimming aroundthe mother when no larger than rats. The flesh iseaten by the natives, cooked in their usual mode byboiling, and is far preferable to that of the seal, of whichthey make much account.

But if not great hunters, there are few people moreexpert in fishing. Their lines are generally, made fromthe sinew of the whale, and are extremely strong. Forthe hook, they usually make use of a straight piece ofhard wood, in the lower part of which is inserted, andwell secured with thread or whale sinew, a bit of bonemade very sharp at the point and bearded; but I usedto make for them hooks from iron, which they preferred,not only as being less liable to break, but more certainof securing the fish. Cod, halibut, and other sea fishwere not only caught by them with hooks, but evensalmon.

To take this latter fish, they practise the followingmethod:—One person seats himself in a small canoe,and, baiting his hook with a sprat, which they are alwayscareful to procure as fresh as possible, fastens his lineto the handle of the paddle; this, as he plies it in thewater, keeps the fish in constant motion, so as to giveit the appearance of life, which the salmon seeing, leaps[122]at it and is instantly hooked, and, by a sudden anddexterous motion of the paddle, drawn on board. Ihave known some of the natives take no less than eightor ten salmon of a morning, in this manner, and haveseen from twenty to thirty canoes at a time in FriendlyCove thus employed.

They are likewise little less skilful in taking thewhale. This they kill with a kind of javelin or harpoonthus constructed and fitted: the barbs are formed ofbone, which are sharpened on the outer side, andhollowed within, for the purpose of forming a socketfor the staff; these are then secured firmly togetherwith a whale sinew, the point being fitted so as toreceive a piece of mussel-shell, which is ground to avery sharp edge, and secured in its place by means ofturpentine.[82] To this head or prong is fastened astrong line of whale sinew about nine feet in length,to the end of which is tied a bark rope from fifty tosixty fathoms long, having from twenty to thirty sealskinfloats or buoys attached to it at certain intervals,in order to check the motion of the whale and obstructhis diving. In the socket of the harpoon a staff orpole of about ten feet long, gradually tapering fromthe middle to each end, is placed; this the harpoonerholds in his hand, in order to strike the whale,and immediately detaches it as soon as the fish isstruck.

[123]

The whale is considered as the king's fish, and noother person, when he is present, is permitted to touchhim until the royal harpoon has first drawn his blood,however near he may approach; and it would be consideredalmost a sacrilege for any of the common peopleto strike a whale before he is killed, particularly if anyof the chiefs should be present.[83] They also kill theporpoise[84] and sea-cow[85] with harpoons, but this inferiorgame is not interdicted the lower class.

With regard to their canoes, some of the handsomest[124]to be found on the whole coast are made at Nootka,though very fine ones are brought by the Wickinninishand the Kla-iz-zarts, who have them more highly ornamented.They are of all sizes, from such as are capableof 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 onebelonging to Maquina, which I measured, and foundto be forty-two feet six inches in length at the bottom,and forty-six feet from stem to stern. These aremade of pine,[86] hollowed out from a tree with theirchisels solely, which are about three inches broadand six in length, and set into a handle of very hardwood.

This instrument was formerly made of flint, or somehard stone ground down to as sharp an edge as possible,but since they have learned the use of iron, they havealmost all of them of that metal. Instead of a malletfor striking this chisel, they make use of a smoothround stone, which they hold in the palm of the hand.With this same awkward instrument they not onlyexcavate their canoes and trays and smooth theirplanks, but cut down such trees as they want, either forbuilding, fuel, or other purposes, a labour which ismostly done by their slaves.

The felling of trees, as practised by them, is a slowand most tedious process, three of them being generallyfrom two to three days in cutting down a large one; yetso attached were they to their own method, that notwithstandingthey saw Thompson frequently, with oneof our axes, of which there was a number saved, fell atree in less time than they could have gone round itwith their chisels, still they could not be persuaded tomake use of them.

[125]

INDIAN CANOES, VICTORIA, V. I. (TEMP. 1863).[126]

After[127] hollowing out their canoes, which they do veryneatly, they fashion the outside, and slightly burn it, forthe purpose of removing any splinters or small pointsthat might obstruct its passage through the water, afterwhich they rub it over thoroughly with rushes or coarsemats, in order to smooth it, which not only renders italmost as smooth as glass, but forms a better securityfor it from the weather; this operation of burning andrubbing down the bottoms of their canoes is practisedas often as they acquire any considerable degree ofroughness from use. The outside by this meansbecomes quite black, and to complete their work theypaint the inside of a bright red, with ochre or someother similar substance; the prows and sterns are almostalways ornamented with figures of ducks or some otherkind of bird, the former being so fashioned as to representthe head, and the latter the tail; these are separate piecesfrom the canoe, and are fastened to it with small flexibletwigs or bark cord.

Some of these canoes, particularly those employed inwhaling, which will hold about ten men, are ornamentedwithin about two inches below the gunwale with twoparallel 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, butare painted on the outside with figures in white chalk,representing eagles, whales, human heads, etc. Theyare very dexterous in the use of their paddles, which arevery neatly wrought, and are five feet long, with a short[128]handle and a blade seven inches broad in the middle,tapering to a sharp point. With these they will makea canoe skim very swiftly on the water, with scarcelyany noise, while they keep time to the stroke of thepaddle with their songs.

[129]

CHAPTER VIII

MUSIC—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS—SLAVES—NEIGHBOURINGTRIBES—TRADE WITH THESE—ARMY

They have a number which they sing on various occasions—atwar,[87] whaling and fishing, at their marriagesand feasts, and at public festivals or solemnities. Thelanguage of the most of these appears to be verydifferent in many respects from that used in theircommon conversation, which leads me to believe eitherthat they have a different mode of expressing themselvesin poetry, or that they borrow their songs fromtheir neighbours; and what the more particularly inducesme to the latter opinion is, that whenever any of theNewchemass, a people from the northward, and whospeak a very different language, arrived, they used totell me that they expected a new song, and were almostalways sure to have one.

Their tunes are generally soft and plaintive, andthough not possessing great variety, are not deficient inharmony. Their singing is generally accompanied withseveral rude kinds of instrumental music, among themost prominent of which is a kind of a drum. This is[130]nothing more than a long plank hollowed out on theunder side and made quite thin, which is beat upon bya stick of about a foot long, and renders a sound notunlike beating on the head of an empty cask, but muchlouder.

But the two most favourite instruments are the rattleand the pipe or whistle; these are, however, only usedby the king, the chiefs, or some particular persons. Theformer is made of dried sealskin, so as to represent afish, and is filled with a number of small smooth pebbles;it has a short handle, and is painted red. The whistle ismade of bone, generally the leg of a deer; it is short,but emits a very shrill sound. They have likewiseanother kind of music, which they make use of indancing, in the manner of castanets. This is producedby a number of mussel or cockle shells tied togetherand shaken to a kind of tune, which is accompaniedwith the voice.

Their slaves, as I have observed, form their mostvaluable species of property. These are of both sexes,being either captives taken by themselves in war, orpurchased from the neighbouring tribes, and who residein the same house, forming as it were a part of thefamily, 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 themenial offices are performed by them, such as bringingwater, cutting wood, and a variety of others, but they areobliged to make the canoes, to assist in building andrepairing the houses, to supply their masters with fish,and to attend them in war and to fight for them.[131]

None but the king and chiefs have slaves, the commonpeople being prevented from holding them, either fromtheir inability to purchase them, or, as I am rather inclinedto think, from its being considered as the privilegeof the former alone to have them,[88] especially as all thosemade prisoners in war belong either to the king or thechiefs who have captured them, each one holding suchas have been taken by himself or his slaves. There isprobably, however, some little distinction in favour ofthe king, who is always the commander of the expedition,as Maquina had nearly fifty, male and female, inhis house, a number constituting about one half of itsinhabitants, comprehending those obtained by war andpurchase; whereas none of the other chiefs had morethan twelve. The females are employed principally inmanufacturing cloth, in cooking, collecting berries, etc.,and with regard to food and living in general have not amuch harder lot than their mistresses, the principal differenceconsisting in these poor unfortunate creatures beingconsidered as free to any one, their masters prostitutingthem whenever they think proper for the purpose ofgain. In this way many of them are brought on boardthe ships and offered to the crews, from whence anopinion appears to have been formed by some of ournavigators injurious to the chastity of their females,than which nothing can be more generally untrue, asperhaps in no part of the world is that virtue moreprized.[89]

The houses at Nootka, as already stated, are about[132]twenty, without comprising those inhabited by theKlahars, a small tribe that has been conquered andincorporated into that of Nootka, though they must beconsidered as in a state of vassalage, as they are notpermitted to have any chiefs among them, and live bythemselves in a cluster of small houses at a little distancefrom the village. The Nootka tribe, whichconsists of about five hundred warriors,[90] is not onlymore numerous than almost any of the neighbouringtribes, but far exceeds them in the strength and martialspirit of its people; and in fact there are but few nationswithin a hundred miles either to the north or south butare considered as tributary to them.

In giving some account of the tribes that were accustomedto visit Nootka, I shall commence at the southwardwith the Kla-iz-zarts, and the Wickinninish,premising that in point of personal appearance thereprevails a wonderful diversity between the various tribeson the coast, with the exception of the feet and legs,which are badly shaped in almost all of them from theirpractice of sitting on them.

The Kla-iz-zarts are a numerous and powerful tribe,living nearly three hundred miles to the south, and aresaid to consist of more than a thousand warriors.[91] Theyappear to be more civilised than any of the others, beingbetter and more neatly dressed, more mild and affablein their manners, remarkable for their sprightliness andvivacity, and celebrated for their singing and dancing.

[133]

They exhibit also greater marks of improvement inwhatever is wrought by them; their canoes, though notsuperior to those of Nootka in point of form and lightness,are more highly ornamented, and their weaponsand tools of every kind have a much higher finish anddisplay more skill in the workmanship. Their cast ofcountenance is very different from that of the Nootkians,their faces being very broad, with a less prominentnose and smaller eyes, and the top of the headflattened as if it had been pressed down with a weight.Their complexion is also much fairer, and theirstature shorter, though they are well formed andstrongly set.

They have a custom which appears to be peculiar tothem, as I never observed it in any of the other tribes,which is to pluck out not only their beards and the hairfrom their bodies, but also their eyebrows, so as not toleave a vestige remaining. They were also in generalmore skilful in painting and decorating themselves, andI have seen some of them with no less than a dozenholes in each of their ears, to which were suspendedstrings of small beads about two inches in length.Their language is the same as spoken at Nootka, buttheir pronunciation is much more hoarse and guttural.These people are not only very expert in whaling, butare great hunters of the sea-otter and other animals,with which their country is said to abound, and themetamelth, a large animal of the deer kind, the skin ofwhich I have already spoken of, another of a light greycolour, with very fine hair, from which they manufacturea handsome cloth, the beaver, and a species of large wildcat or tiger cat.[134]

The Wickinninish,[92] their neighbours on the north, areabout two hundred miles from Nootka. They are arobust, strong, and warlike people, but considered by theNootkians as their inferiors in courage. This tribe ismore numerous than that of Nootka, amounting tobetween six and seven hundred warriors. Though notso civilised as the Kla-iz-zarts, and less skilful in theirmanufactures, like them they employ themselves inhunting, as well as in whaling and fishing. Their facesare broad, but less so than the Kla-iz-zarts, with adarker complexion and a much less open and pleasingexpression of countenance, while their heads present avery different form, being pressed in at the sides andlengthened towards the top somewhat in the shape of asugar loaf. These people are very frequent visitors atNootka, a close friendship subsisting between the twonations, Maquina'sArcomah or queen,Y-ya-tintla-no,being the daughter of the Wickinninish king.

The Kla-oo-quates[93] adjoining them on the north aremuch less numerous, their force not exceeding fourhundred fighting men; they are also behind them in thearts of life. These are a fierce, bold, and enterprisingpeople, and there were none that visited Nootka, whomMaquina used to be more on his guard against, or viewed[135]with so much suspicion. The Eshquates[94] are aboutthe same number; these are considered as tributaryto Maquina. Their coast abounds with rivers, creeks,and marshes.

UK-LULAC-AHT INDIAN.

To the north the nearest tribe of any importance isthe Aitizzarts;[95] these, however, do not exceed three[136]hundred warriors. In appearance they greatly resemblethe people of Nootka, to whom they are consideredas tributary, their manners, dress, and style of livingalso being very similar. They reside at about fortymiles' distance up the Sound. A considerable wayfarther to the northward are the Cayuquets;[96] theseare a much more numerous tribe than that ofNootka, but thought by the latter to be deficient incourage and martial spirit, Maquina having frequentlytold me that their hearts were a little like those ofbirds.

There are also both at the north and south manyother intervening tribes, but in general small in numberand 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, andfrom some distance inland, as I was told by Maquina,speak quite a different language,[97] although it is wellunderstood by those of Nootka. These were the mostsavage-looking and ugly men that I ever saw, theircomplexion 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 verymorose and surly countenance. Their usual dress is akotsuk made of wolf-skin, with a number of the tailsattached to it, of which I have seen no less than ten onone garment, hanging from the top to the bottom;[137]though they sometimes wear a similar mantle of barkcloth, of a much coarser texture than that of Nootka,the original of which appears to be the same, thoughfrom their very great filthiness it was almost impossibleto discover what it had been.

Their mode of dressing the hair also varies essentiallyfrom that of the other tribes, for they suffer that onthe back of the head to hang loose, and bind the otherover their foreheads in the manner of a fillet, with astrip of their country cloth, ornamented with smallwhite shells. Their weapons are thecheetolth, orwar-club, which is made from whalebone, daggers, bowand arrows, and a kind of spear pointed with boneor copper.[98] They brought with them no furs for sale,excepting a few wolf-skins, their merchandise consistingprincipally of the black shining mineral calledpelpelth,and the fine red paint, which they carefully kept in closemat bags, some small dried salmon, clams, and roes offish, with occasionally a little coarse matting cloth.They were accustomed to remain a much longer timeat Nootka than the other tribes, in order to recover fromthe fatigue of a long journey, part of which was overland,and on these occasions taught their songs to oursavages.

The trade of most of the other tribes with Nootkawas principally train-oil, seal or whale's blubber, fishfresh or dried, herring or salmon spawn, clams andmussels, and theyama,[99] a species of fruit which ispressed and dried, cloth, sea-otter skins, and slaves.[138]From the Aitizzarts and the Cayuquets, particularly theformer, the best Ife-whaw and in the greatest quantitieswas obtained. The Eshquates furnished us with wildducks and geese, particularly the latter. The Wickinninishand Kla-iz-zarts brought to market many slaves, thebest sea-otter skins, great quantities of oil, whale sinew,and cakes of theyama, highly ornamented canoes, someIfe-whaw, red ochre and pelpelth of an inferior quality tothat obtained from the Newchemass, but particularlythe so much valued metamelth, and an excellent rootcalled by the Kla-iz-zartsQuawnoose.[100] This is the sizeof a small onion, but rather longer, being of a taperingform like a pear, and of a brownish colour. It is cookedby steam, is always brought in baskets ready preparedfor eating, and is in truth a very fine vegetable, beingsweet, mealy, and of a most agreeable flavour. It washighly esteemed by the natives, who used to eat it, asthey did everything else, with train-oil. From theKla-iz-zarts was also received, though in no greatquantity, a cloth manufactured by them from the furalready spoken of, which feels like wool and is of a greycolour.

Many of the articles thus brought, particularly theprovisions, were considered as presents, or tributaryofferings, but this must be viewed as little more than anominal acknowledgment of superiority, as they rarelyfailed to get the full amount of the value of their presents.[139]I have known eighteen of the great tubs, in which theykeep their provisions, filled with spawn brought in thisway. 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 Ihave seen five of the largest tubs employed at suchtime, in cooking at the king's house. At these feaststhey generally indulge in eating to an excess, makingup 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 theirgeneral custom to stop a few miles distant, under thelee of some bluff or rock, and rig themselves out in theirbest manner, by painting and dressing their heads. Ontheir first coming on shore, they were invited to eat bythe king, when they brought to him such articles as hewanted, after which the rest of the inhabitants werepermitted to purchase, the strangers being careful tokeep them in their canoes until sold, under strict guardto prevent their being stolen, the disposition of thesepeople for thieving being so great, that it is necessary tokeep a watchful eye upon them.

This was their usual mode of traffic, but wheneverthey wished to purchase any particular object, as, forinstance, a certain slave, or some other thing of whichthey were very desirous, the canoe that came for thispurpose would lie off a little distance from the shore,and a kind of ambassador or representative of the kingor chief by whom it was sent, dressed in their bestmanner, and with his head covered with the white down,would rise, and, after making known the object of his[140]mission in a pompous speech, hold up specimens of sucharticles as he was instructed to offer in payment, mentioningthe number or quantity of each, when, if thebargain was concluded, the exchange was immediatelymade.

On their visits of friendship or traffic, the chiefs aloneused to sleep on shore; this was generally at the houseof the king or the head chief, the others passing thenight on board of their canoes, which was done notonly for the preservation of their property, but becausethey were not permitted to remain on shore, lest theymight excite some disturbance or commit depredations.

All these people generally go armed, the commonclass wearing only a dagger suspended from their neckbehind, with a string of metamelth, and sometimesthrust in their girdles. The chiefs, in addition to thedagger, carry the cheetolth, or war-club, suspended inthe same manner beneath their mantles; this, in thehands of a strong man, is a powerful weapon, in themanagement of which some of the older chiefs are verydexterous. It is made from the bone of a whale, and isvery heavy. The blade is about eighteen inches longand three broad, till it approaches near the point, whereit expands to the breadth of four inches. In the middle,from whence it slopes off gradually to an edge on eachside, it is from one to two inches in thickness. Thisblade is usually covered with figures of the sun andmoon, a man's head, etc.; and the hilt, which is madeto represent the head of a man or some animal, iscuriously set with small white shells, and has a band ofmetamelth fastened to it, in order to sling it over theshoulder. Some of the tribes have also a kind of spear[141]headed with copper or the bone of the sting ray, whichis a dangerous weapon; this is, however, not usual, andonly carried by the chiefs. The bow and arrow are stillused by a few, but since the introduction of firearmsamong them, this weapon has been mostly laid aside.

[142]

CHAPTER IX

SITUATION OF THE AUTHOR—REMOVAL TO TASHEES—FISHINGPARTIES

But to return to our unhappy situation. Though mycomrade and myself fared as well, and even better thanwe could have expected among these people, consideringtheir customs and mode of living, yet our fears lest noship would come to our release, and that we should nevermore behold a Christian country, were to us a source ofconstant pain. Our principal consolation, in this gloomystate, was to go on Sundays, whenever the weatherwould permit, to the borders of a freshwater pond abouta mile from the village, where, after bathing and puttingon clean clothes, we would seat ourselves under theshade of a beautiful pine, while I read some chapters inthe Bible, and the prayers appointed by our Church forthe day, ending our devotions with a fervent prayer tothe Almighty, that He would deign still to watch overand preserve our lives, rescue us from the hands of thesavages, and permit us once more to behold a Christianland.

In this manner were the greater part of our Sundayspassed at Nootka; and I felt gratified to Heaven that,amidst our other sufferings, we were at least allowed the[143]pleasure of offering up our devotions unmolested, forMaquina, on my explaining to him as well as was in mypower the reason of our thus retiring at this time, farfrom objecting, readily consented to it.

The pond above mentioned was small, not morethan a quarter of a mile in breadth, and of no greatlength, the water being very clear, though not of greatdepth, and bordered by a beautiful forest of pine, fir,elm,[101] and beech,[101] free from bushes and underwood—amost delightful retreat, which was rendered still moreattractive by a great number of birds that frequentedit, particularly the humming-bird.[102] Thither we usedto go to wash our clothes, and felt secure from anyintrusion from the natives, as they rarely visited it,except for the purpose of cleansing themselves of theirpaint.

In July we at length thought that the hope of deliverywe had so long anxiously indulged was on the point ofbeing 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 tothe northward, and soon disappeared. I shall notattempt to describe our disappointment—my heart sankwithin me, and I felt as though it was my destiny nevermore to behold a Christian face. Four days after, thereoccurred a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning,during which the natives manifested great alarm andterror, the whole tribe hurrying to Maquina's house,[144]where, instead of keeping within, they seated themselveson 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, beggingQuahootze,the name they give to God, not to kill them, inwhich he was accompanied by the whole tribe; thissinging and drumming was continued until the stormabated.

As the summer drew near its close, we began to sufferfrom the frequent want of food, which was principallyowing to Maquina and the chiefs being out whaling, inwhich he would not permit Thompson and myself to join,lest we should make our escape to some of the neighbouringtribes. At these times the women seldom orever cook any provision, and we were often hungry, butwere sometimes fortunate enough to procure secretly apiece of salmon, some other fish, spawn, or even blubber,which, by boiling in salt water, with a few onions andturnips, the remains of the Spanish garden, or youngnettles or other herbs, furnished us a delicious repast inprivate.

In the meantime, we frequently received accountsfrom the tribes who came to Nootka, both from thenorth 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, werealmost all of them without any foundation, and merelyinvented by these people with a view to get us into theirpower, in order to make slaves of us themselves, or to sellus to others.[145]

But I was still more strongly solicited to leaveNootka by a woman. This was a Wickinninish princess,a younger sister of Maquina's wife, who was there ona visit. I had the good fortune, if it may be so called,to become quite a favourite with her. She appearedmuch interested for me, asked me many questionsrespecting my country, if I had a mother and sister athome, and if they would not grieve for my absence.Her complexion was fairer than that of the women ingeneral, and her features more regular, and she wouldhave been quite handsome had it not been for a defectin one of her eyes, the sight of which had been injuredby some accident; the reason, as Maquina told me,why she had not been married, a defect of this kindbeing by these savages considered as almost an insuperableobjection. She urged me repeatedly to returnwith her, telling me that the Wickinninish were muchbetter than the Nootkians; that her father wouldtreat me more kindly than Maquina, give me betterfood and clothes, and finally put me on board one ofmy own country vessels. I felt, however, little disposedto accompany her, considering my situation withMaquina full as eligible as it would be with Wickinninish,if not better, notwithstanding all she said to thecontrary.

On the 3rd of September the whole tribe quittedNootka, according to their constant practice, in order topass the autumn and winter at Tashees[103] and Cooptee,the latter lying about thirty miles up the Sound, in adeep bay, the navigation of which is very dangerous,[146]from the great number of reefs and rocks with which itabounds.

On these occasions everything is taken with them,even the planks of their houses, in order to covertheir new dwellings. To an European such a removalexhibits a scene quite novel and strange; canoes piledup with boards and boxes, and filled with men, women,and children, of all ranks and sizes, making the airresound with their cries and songs.

At these times, as well as when they have occasionto go some distance from their houses, the infantsare usually suspended across the mother's shoulders,in a kind of cradle or hammock, formed of bark, ofabout six inches in depth, and of the length of the child,by means of a leather band inserted through loops onits edges; this they also keep them in when at home,in order to preserve them in a straight position, andprevent any distortion of the limbs, most probably aprincipal cause of these people being so seldomdeformed or crooked.

The longboat of our ship having been repaired andfurnished with a sail by Thompson, Maquina gave usthe direction of it, we being better acquainted withmanaging it than his people, and, after loading her asdeep as she could swim, we proceeded in company withthem to the north, quitting Nootka with heavy hearts,as we could entertain no hopes of release until ourreturn, 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 theeast in a narrow valley at the foot of a mountain, weproceeded about fifteen miles up this stream to Tashees,[147]between a range of lofty hills on each side, which extenda great distance inland, and are covered with the finestforest trees of the country. Immediately on our arrival,we all went to work very diligently in covering thehouses with the planks we had brought, the framesbeing ready erected, these people never pretending toremove the timber. In a very short time the workwas completed, and we were established in our newresidence.

Tashees is pleasantly situated, and in a most secureposition from the winter storms, in a small vale orhollow on the south shore, at the foot of a mountain.The spot on which it stands is level, and the soil veryfine, the country in its vicinity abounding with the mostromantic views, charmingly diversified, and fine streamsof 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 moreshallow, and is broken into falls and rapids. Thehouses 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 weremuch crowded, and incommoded for room.

The principal object in coming to this place is thefacility it affords these people of providing their winterstock of provisions, which consists principally of salmon,and the spawn of that fish; to which may be addedherrings and sprats, and herring spawn. The latter,however, is always procured by them at Nootka, previousto their quitting it. At the seasons of spawning, which[148]are early in spring and the last of August, they collect agreat quantity of pine branches, which they place indifferent parts of the Cove at the depth of about tenfeet, and secure them by means of heavy stones. Onthese the herring deposit their spawn in immensequantities; the bushes are then taken up, the spawnstripped from the branches, and, after being washedand freed from the pine leaves by the women, isdried and put up in baskets for use. It is consideredas their greatest delicacy, and eaten both cooked andraw; in the former case, being boiled and eaten withtrain-oil, and in the latter, mixed up with cold wateralone.

The salmon are taken at Tashees, principally in potsor wears. Their method of taking them in wears isthus:—A pot of twenty feet in length, and from four tofive feet diameter at the mouth, is formed of a greatnumber of pine splinters, which are strongly secured, aninch and a half from each other, by means of hoopsmade of flexible twigs, and placed about eight inchesapart. At the end it tapers almost to a point, nearwhich is a small wicker door for the purpose of takingout the fish. This pot or wear is placed at the footof a fall or rapid, where the water is not very deep,and the fish, driven from above with long poles, areintercepted and caught in the wear, from whencethey are taken into the canoes. In this manner Ihave seen more than seven hundred salmon caughtin the space of fifteen minutes.[104] I have also sometimesknown a few of the striped bass taken in this manner,but rarely.

[149]

SALMON WEAR NEAR THE INDIAN VILLAGE OF QUAMICHAN, V. I.[150]

At[151] such times there is great feasting and merrimentamong them. The women and female slaves beingbusily employed in cooking, or in curing the fish fortheir winter stock, which is done by cutting off the headsand tails, splitting them, taking out the back bone, andhanging them up in their houses to dry. They also drythe halibut and cod, but these, instead of curing whole,they cut up into small pieces for that purpose, and exposeto the sun.

The spawn of the salmon, which is a principal articleof their provision, they take out, and, without anyother preparation, throw it into their tubs, wherethey leave it to stand and ferment, for, though theyfrequently eat it fresh, they esteem it much morewhen it has acquired a strong taste, and one of thegreatest favours they can confer on any person, is toinvite him to eatQuakamiss, the name they give thisfood, though scarcely anything can be more repugnantto an European palate, than it is in this state; andwhenever they took it out of these large receptacles,which they are always careful to fill, such was the stenchwhich it exhaled, on being moved, that it was almostimpossible for me to abide it, even after habit hadin a great degree dulled the delicacy of my senses.When boiled it became less offensive, though it stillretained much of the putrid smell, and something ofthe taste.

Such is the immense quantity of these fish, andthey are taken with such facility, that I have knownupwards of twenty-five hundred brought into Maquina's[152]house at once; and at one of their great feasts, haveseen one hundred or more cooked in one of theirlargest tubs.

I used frequently to go out with Maquina upon thesefishing parties, and was always sure to receive a handsomepresent of salmon, which I had the privilege ofcalling mine; I also went with him several times in acanoe, to strike the salmon, which I have attemptedto do myself, but could never succeed, it requiringa degree of adroitness that I did not possess. I wasalso permitted to go out with a gun, and was severaltimes very successful in shooting wild ducks andteal, which are very numerous here, though rathershy. These they cooked in their usual manner, byboiling, without any farther dressing than skinningthem.

In many respects, however, our situation was lesspleasant here than at Nootka. We were more incommodedfor room, the houses not being so spacious, norso well arranged, and as it was colder, we were compelledto be much more within doors. We, however,did not neglect on Sundays, when the weather wouldadmit, to retire into the woods, and, by the side of somestream, after bathing, return our thanks to God forpreserving us, and offer up to Him our customarydevotions.

I was, however, very apprehensive, soon after ourarrival at this place, that I should be deprived of thesatisfaction 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 himthat I was keeping an account of the weather, he said it[153]was not so, and that I was speaking bad about him, andtelling how he had taken our ship and killed the crew,so as to inform my countrymen, and that if he ever sawme 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 seeme write.

Not long after, I finished some daggers for him, whichI polished highly; these pleased him much, and he gaveme directions to make a cheetolth, in which I succeededso far to his satisfaction, that he gave me a present ofcloth sufficient to make me a complete suit of raiment,besides other things.

Thompson also, who had become rather more of afavourite than formerly, since he had made a fine sailfor his canoe, and some garments for him out ofEuropean cloth, about this time completed another,which was thought by the savages a most superbdress. This was akotsuk or mantle, a fathom square,made entirely of European vest patterns of the gayestcolours. These were sewed together in a manner tomake the best show, and bound with a deep trimmingof the finest otter-skin, with which the arm-holes werealso bordered; while the bottom was further embellishedwith five or six rows of gilt buttons, placed as near aspossible to each other.

Nothing could exceed the pride of Maquina whenhe first put on this royal robe, decorated, like the coatof Joseph, with all the colours of the rainbow, andglittering with the buttons, which as he strutted aboutmade a tinkling, while he repeatedly exclaimed, in atransport of exultation, "Klew shish Kotsuk—wick kum[154]atack Nootka."[105]—"A fine garment—Nootka can't makethem."

Maquina, who knew that the chiefs of the tribes whocame to visit us had endeavoured to persuade me toescape, frequently cautioned me not to listen to them,saying that, should I make the attempt, and he were totake me, he should certainly put me to death. Whilehere, he gave me a book, in which I found the names ofseven persons belonging to the shipManchester, ofPhiladelphia, Captain Brian—viz. Daniel Smith, LewisGillon, James Tom, Clark, Johnson, Ben, and Jack.These men, as Maquina informed me, ran away fromthe ship and came to him, but that six of them soonafter went off in the night, with an intention to go tothe Wickinninish, but were stopped by the Eshquates,and sent back to him, and that he ordered them tobe put to death; and a most cruel death it was, as Iwas told by one of the natives, four men holdingone of them on the ground, and forcing open hismouth, while they choked him by ramming stones downhis throat.

As to Jack, the boy, who made no attempt to go off,Maquina afterwards sold him to the Wickinninish. Iwas informed by the Princess Yuqua that he was quitea small boy, who cried a great deal, being put to hardlabour beyond his strength by the natives, in cuttingwood and bringing water, and that when he heard ofthe murder of our crew,[155] it had such an effect on him,that he fell sick, and died shortly after. On learningthe melancholy fate of this unfortunate lad, it againawakened in my bosom those feelings that I hadexperienced at the shocking death of my poor comrades.

[156]

CHAPTER X

CONVERSATION WITH MAQUINA—FRUITS—RELIGIOUSCEREMONIES—VISIT TO UPQUESTA

The king, finding that I was desirous of learning theirlanguage, was much delighted, and took great pleasurein conversing with me. On one of these occasions heexplained to me his reasons for cutting off our ship,saying that he bore no ill will to my countrymen, butthat he had been several times treated very ill by them.The first injury of which he had cause to complain, wasdone him by a Captain Tawnington, who commanded aschooner which passed a winter at Friendly Cove, wherehe was well treated by the inhabitants. This man,taking advantage of Maquina's absence, who had goneto the Wickinninish to procure a wife, armed himselfand crew, and entered the house, where there were nonebut 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 werebarbarously killed by a Captain Martinez, a Spaniard.[106]

[157]

That soon after, Captain Hanna, of theSea Otter[107] inconsequence of one of the natives having stolen a chiselfrom the carpenter, fired upon their canoes which werealongside, and killed upwards of twenty of the natives,of whom several wereTyees or chiefs; and that he himself,being on board the vessel, in order to escape wasobliged to leap from the quarter-deck, and swim for along way under water.

These injuries had excited in the breast of Maquinaan ardent desire of revenge, the strongest passion of thesavage heart, and though many years had elapsed sincetheir commission, still they were not forgotten, and thewant of a favourable opportunity alone prevented himfrom sooner avenging them. Unfortunately for us, thelong-wished-for opportunity at length presented itself in[158]our ship, which Maquina finding not guarded with theusual vigilance of the North-West traders, and feelinghis desire of revenge rekindled by the insult offered himby Captain Salter, formed a plan for attacking, and onhis return called a council of his chiefs, and communicatedit to them, acquainting them with the manner inwhich he had been treated. No less desirous of avengingthis affront offered their king than their formerinjuries, they readily agreed to his proposal, which wasto go on board without arms as usual, but underdifferent pretexts, in great numbers, and wait for hissignal for the moment of attacking their unsuspectingvictims. The execution of this scheme, as the readerknows, was unhappily too successful.

And here I cannot but indulge a reflection that hasfrequently occurred to me on the manner in which ourpeople behave towards the natives. For, though theyare a thievish race, yet I have no doubt that many ofthe melancholy disasters have principally arisen fromthe imprudent conduct of some of the captains andcrews of the ships employed in this trade, in exasperatingthem by insulting, plundering, and even killingthem on slight grounds. This, as nothing is moresacred with a savage than the principle of revenge, andno people are so impatient under insult, induces themto wreak their vengeance upon the first vessel or boat'screw that offers, making the innocent too frequentlysuffer for the wrongs of the guilty, as few of them knowhow to discriminate between persons of the same generalappearance, more especially when speaking the samelanguage. And to this cause do I believe must principallybe ascribed the sanguinary disposition withwhich these people are reproached, as Maquina repeatedlytold me that it was not his wish to hurt awhite man, and that he never should have done it,though ever so much in his power, had they notinjured him.

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CALLICUM AND MAQUILLA, CHIEFS OF NOOTKA SOUND.[160]

And[161] were the commanders of our ships to treat thesavages with rather more civility than they sometimesdo, I am inclined to think they would find their accountin it; not that I should recommend to them a confidencein the good faith and friendly professions of thesepeople, so as in any degree to remit their vigilance, but,on the contrary, to be strictly on their guard, and sufferbut a very few of them to come on board the ship, andadmit not many of their canoes alongside at a time; aprecaution that would have been the means of preventingsome of the unfortunate events that have occurred,and if attended to, may in future preserve many avaluable life. Such a regulation, too, from what I knowof their disposition and wants, would produce no seriousdifficulty in trading with the savages, and they wouldsoon become perfectly reconciled to it.

Among the provisions which the Indians procure atTashees, I must not omit mentioning a fruit that is veryimportant, as forming a great article of their food. Thisis what is called by them theYama,[108] a species of berrythat grows in bunches like currants, upon a bush fromtwo to three feet high, with a large, round, and smoothleaf. This berry is black, and about the size of a pistolshot, but of rather an oblong shape, and open at the toplike the blue whortleberry. The taste is sweet, but alittle acrid, and when first gathered, if eaten in any great[162]quantity, especially without oil, is apt to produce colics.To procure it, large companies of women go out on themountains, accompanied by armed men to protect themagainst wild beasts, where they frequently remain forseveral days, kindling a fire at night, and shelteringthemselves under sheds constructed of boughs. Atthese parties they collect great quantities. I haveknown Maquina's queen and her women return loaded,bringing with them upwards of twelve bushels. Inorder to preserve it, it is pressed in the bunches betweentwo 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 quantitiesin the country, of which the natives are very fond,gathering them in their seasons, and eating themwith oil, but the yama is the only one that theypreserve.

Fish is, however, their great article of food, as almostall the others, excepting the yama, may be consideredas accidental. They nevertheless are far from disrelishingmeat, for instance, venison and bear's flesh.With regard to the latter, they have a most singularcustom, which is, that any one who eats of it is obligedto abstain from eating any kind of fresh fish whateverfor the term of two months, as they have a superstitiousbelief that, should any of their people, after tasting bear'sflesh, eat of fresh salmon, cod, etc., the fish, though atever so great a distance off, would come to the knowledgeof it, and be so much offended thereat as notto allow themselves to be taken by any of the inhabitants.This I had an opportunity of observing while[163]at Tashees, a bear having been killed early inDecember, of which not more than ten of the nativeswould eat, being prevented by the prohibition annexedto it, which also was the reason of my comrade andmyself not tasting it, on being told by Maquina theconsequences.

As there is something quite curious in their managementof this animal, when they have killed one, I shallgive a description of it. After well cleansing the bearfrom the dirt and blood with which it is generallycovered when killed, it is brought in and seated oppositethe king in an upright posture, with a chief's bonnet,wrought in figures, on its head, and its fur powderedover with the white down. A tray of provision is thenset before it, and it is invited by words and gestures toeat. This mock ceremony over, the reason of which Icould never learn, the animal is taken and skinned, andthe flesh and entrails boiled up into a soup, no part butthe paunch being rejected.[109]

This dressing the bear, as they call it, is an occasionof great rejoicing throughout the village, all the inhabitantsbeing invited to a great feast at the king'shouse, though but few of them, in consequence of thepenalty, will venture to eat of the flesh, but generallycontent themselves with their favourite dish of herringspawn and water. The feast on this occasion wasclosed by a dance from Sat-sat-sok-sis, in the manner Ihave already described, in the course of which herepeatedly shifted his mask for another of a differentform.

[164]

A few days after, a second bear was taken, like theformer, by means of a trap. This I had the curiosity togo and see at the place where it was caught, which wasin the following manner:—On the edge of a smallstream of water in the mountains which the salmonascend, and near the spot where the bear is accustomedto watch for them, which is known by its track, a trapor box about the height of a man's head is built of postsand planks with a flat top, on which are laid a numberof large stones or rocks. The top and sides are thencarefully covered with turf, so as to resemble a littlemound, and wholly to exclude the light, a narrowentrance of the height of the building only being left,just sufficient to admit the head and shoulders of thebeast. On the inside, to a large plank that covers thetop is suspended by a strong cord a salmon, the plankbeing 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 downthe whole covering with its load of stones upon its head,and is almost always crushed to death on the spot, orso wounded as to be unable to escape.[110]

They are always careful to examine these traps everyday, in order, if a bear be caught, to bring it immediately,for it is not a little singular that these people will eatno kind of meat that is in the least tainted, or notperfectly fresh, while, on the contrary, it is hardlypossible for fish to be in too putrid a state for them, andI have frequently known them, when a whale has beendriven ashore, bring pieces of it home with them in astate of offensiveness insupportable to anything but a[165]crow, and devour it with high relish, considering it aspreferable to that which is fresh.

On the morning of the 13th of December, commencedwhat to us appeared a most singular farce. Apparentlywithout any previous notice, Maquina discharged apistol close to his son's ear, who immediately fell downas if killed, upon which all the women of the house setup a most lamentable cry, tearing handfuls of hair fromtheir heads, and exclaiming that the prince was dead. Atthe same time a great number of the inhabitants rushedinto the house, armed with their daggers, muskets, etc.,inquiring the cause of their outcry. These were immediatelyfollowed by two others dressed in wolf-skins, with masksover their faces representing the head of that animal;the latter came in on their hands and feet in the mannerof a beast, and, taking up the prince, carried him off upontheir backs, retiring in the same manner they entered.We saw nothing more of the ceremony, as Maquinacame to us, and, giving us a quantity of dried provision,ordered us to quit the house, and not return to the villagebefore the expiration of seven days, for that if weappeared within that period, he should kill us.

At any other season of the year such an order wouldby us have been considered as an indulgence, in enablingus to pass our time in whatever way we wished; and evennow, furnished as we were with sufficient provision forthat term, it was not very unpleasant to us, more particularlyThompson, who was always desirous to keepas much as possible out of the society and sight of thenatives, whom he detested. Taking with us our provisions,a bundle of clothes, and our axes, we obeyed thedirections of Maquina, and withdrew into the woods,[166]where we built ourselves a cabin to shelter us, with thebranches of trees, and, keeping up a good fire, securedourselves pretty well from the cold. Here we passedthe prescribed period of our exile, with more contentthan much of the time while with them, employing theday in reading and praying for our release, or in ramblingaround and exploring the country, the soil of which wefound to be very good, and the face of it, beautifullydiversified with hills and valleys, refreshed with the fineststreams of water, and at night enjoyed comfortablerepose upon a bed of soft leaves, with our garmentsspread over us to protect us from the cold.

At the end of seven days we returned, and foundseveral of the people of Ai-tiz-zart with their king orchief at Tashees, who had been invited by Maquina toattend the close of this performance, which I now learnedwas a celebration, held by them annually, in honour oftheir god, whom they callQuahootze,[111] to return him theirthanks for his past, and implore his future favours. Itterminated on the 21st, the day after our return, witha most extraordinary exhibition. Three men, each ofwhom had two bayonets run through his sides, betweenthe ribs, apparently regardless of the pain, traversed theroom, backwards and forwards, singing war-songs, andexulting in this display of firmness.

On the arrival of the 25th, we could not but call tomind that this, being Christmas, was in our country aday of the greatest festivity, when our fellow-countrymen,assembled in their churches, were celebrating the goodnessof God and the praises of the Saviour. What a[167]reverse did our situation offer!—captives in a savage land,and slaves to a set of ignorant beings, unacquainted withreligion or humanity, hardly were we permitted to offerup our devotions by ourselves in the woods, while wefelt even grateful for this privilege. Thither, with theking's permission, we withdrew, and, after reading theservice appointed for the day, sung the hymn of theNativity, fervently praying that Heaven in its goodnesswould permit us to celebrate the next festival of this kindin some Christian land.

On our return, in order to conform as much as was inour power to the custom of our country, we were desirousof having a better supper than usual. With this view,we bought from one of the natives some dried clamsand oil, and a root calledKletsup,[112] which we cooked bysteaming, and found it very palatable. This root consistsof many fibres, of about six inches long, and of the sizeof a crow quill. It is sweet, of an agreeable taste, notunlike theQuawnoose, and it is eaten with oil. The plantthat 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, andcomplete their fishing, taking off everything with themin the same manner as at Nootka. We arrived in a fewhours at Cooptee, which is about fifteen miles, andimmediately set about covering the houses, which wassoon completed.

This place, which is their great herring and spratfishery, stands just within the mouth of the river, on thesame side with Tashees, in a very narrow valley at the[168]foot of a high mountain. Though nearly as secure asTashees from the winter storms, it is by no means sopleasantly situated, though to us it was a much moreagreeable residence, as it brought us nearer Nootka,where we were impatient to return, in hopes of findingsome vessel there, or hearing of the arrival of onenear.

The first snow that fell this season was the day afterour arrival, on New Year's Day; a day that, like Christmas,brought with it painful recollections, but at the sametime led us to indulge the hope of a more fortunate yearthan the last.

Early on the morning of the 7th of January, Maquinatook me with him in his canoe on a visit to Upquesta,chief of the Ai-tiz-zarts, who had invited him to attendan exhibition at his village, similar to the one with whichhe had been entertained at Tashees. This place isbetween twenty and thirty miles distant up the Sound,and stands on the banks of a small river about the sizeof that of Cooptee, just within its entrance, in a valleyof much greater extent than that of Tashees; it consistsof fourteen or fifteen houses, built and disposed in themanner of those at Nootka. The tribe, which is consideredas tributary to Maquina, amounts to about threehundred warriors, and the inhabitants, both men andwomen, are among the best-looking of any people onthe coast.

On our arrival we were received at the shore by theinhabitants, a few of whom were armed with muskets,which they fired, with loud shouts and exclamations ofWocash, wocash!

We were welcomed by the chief's messenger, or master[169]of ceremonies, dressed in his best garments, with his hairpowdered with white down, and holding in his hand thecheetolth, the badge of his office. This man precededus to the chief's house, where he introduced and pointedout to us our respective seats. On entering, the visitorstook off their hats, which they always wear on similaroccasions, and Maquina his outer robes, of which he hasseveral on whenever he pays a visit, and seated himselfnear the chief.

As I was dressed in European clothes, I became quitean object of curiosity to these people, very few of whomhad ever seen a white man. They crowded around mein numbers, taking hold of my clothes, examining myface, hands, and feet, and even opening my mouth to see ifI had a tongue, for, notwithstanding I had by this timebecome well acquainted with their language, I preservedthe strictest silence, Maquina on our first landing havingenjoined 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 toldMaquina that they now perceived that I was aman like themselves, except that I was white, andlooked like a seal, alluding to my blue jacket andtrousers, which they wanted to persuade me to take off,as they did not like their appearance. Maquina in themeantime gave an account to the chief of the schemehe had formed for surprising our ship, and the mannerin which he and his people had carried it into execution,with such particular and horrid details of that transactionas chilled the blood in my veins. Trays of boiled[170]herring spawn and train-oil were soon after brought inand placed before us, neither the chief or any of hispeople eating at the same time, it being contrary to theideas of hospitality entertained by these nations, to eatany part of the food that is provided for strangers, alwayswaiting until their visitors have finished, before theyhave their own brought in.

The following day closed their festival with anexhibition of a similar kind to that which had beengiven at Tashees, but still more cruel; the differenttribes appearing on these occasions to endeavour tosurpass each other in their proofs of fortitude andendurance of pain. In the morning, twenty men enteredthe chief's house, with each an arrow run through theflesh of his sides and either arm, with a cord fastened tothe end, which, as the performers advanced, singing andboasting, was forcibly drawn back by a person havinghold of it. After this performance was closed, wereturned to Cooptee, which we reached at midnight, ourmen keeping time with their songs to the stroke of theirpaddles.

The natives now began to take the herring and spratin immense quantities, with some salmon, and there wasnothing but feasting from morning till night.

The following is the method they employ to take theherring. A stick of about seven feet long, two inchesbroad, and half an inch thick, is formed from some hardwood, one side of which is set with sharp teeth, madefrom whalebone, at about half an inch apart. Providedwith this instrument, the fisherman seats himself inthe prow of a canoe, which is paddled by another, andwhenever he comes to a shoal of herrings, which cover[171]the water in great quantities, he strikes it with bothhands upon them, and at the same moment, turning itup, brings it over the side of the canoe, into which helets those that are taken drop. It is astonishing to seehow many are caught by those who are dexterous atthis kind of fishing, as they seldom fail, when the shoalsare numerous, of taking as many as ten or twelve at astroke, and in a very short time will fill a canoe withthem. Sprats are likewise caught in a similar manner.

[172]

CHAPTER XI

RETURN TO NOOTKA (FRIENDLY COVE)—DEATH OFMAQUINA'S NEPHEW—INSANITY OF TOOTOOSCH—ANINDIAN MOUNTEBANK

About the beginning of February, Maquina gave agreat feast, at which were present not only all theinhabitants, but one hundred persons from Ai-tiz-zart,and a number from Wickinninish who had been invitedto attend it. It is customary with them to give anannual entertainment of this kind, and it is astonishingto see what a quantity of provision is expended, orrather wasted, on such an occasion, when they always eatto the greatest excess. It was at this feast that I sawupwards of an hundred salmon cooked in one tub.The whole residence at Cooptee presents an almostuninterrupted succession of feasting and gormandising,and it would seem as if the principal objectof these people was to consume their whole stockof provision before leaving it, trusting entirely totheir success in fishing and whaling, for a supply atNootka.

On the 25th of February we quitted Cooptee, andreturned to Nootka. With much joy did Thompsonand myself again find ourselves in a place where, notwithstanding[173]the melancholy recollections which itexcited, we hoped before long to see some vessel arriveto our relief, and for this we became the more solicitous,as of late we had become much more apprehensive ofour safety, in consequence of information broughtMaquina a few days before we left Cooptee, by some ofthe Cayuquets, that there were twenty ships at thenorthward, preparing to come against him, with anintent of destroying him and his whole tribe, for cuttingoff theBoston.

This story, which was wholly without foundation, anddiscovered afterwards to have been invented by thesepeople, for the purpose of disquieting him, threw himinto great alarm, and, notwithstanding all I could say toconvince him that it was an unfounded report, so greatwas his jealousy of us, especially after it had been confirmedto him by some others of the same nation, thathe treated us with much harshness, and kept a verysuspicious eye upon us.

Nothing, indeed, could be more unpleasant than ourpresent situation, when I reflected that our lives werealtogether dependent on the will of a savage, on whosecaprice and suspicions no rational calculation couldbe made.

Not long after our return, a son of Maquina's sister,a boy of eleven years old, who had been for some timedeclining, died. Immediately on his death, which wasabout midnight, all the men and women in the houseset up loud cries and shrieks, which, awakeningThompson and myself, so disturbed us that we left thehouse. This lamentation was kept up during the[174]remainder of the night. In the morning, a great firewas kindled, in which Maquina burned, in honour of thedeceased, ten fathoms of cloth, and buried with him tenfathoms more, eight of Ife-whaw, four prime sea-otterskins, and two small trunks, containing our unfortunatecaptain's clothes and watch.

This boy was considered as a Tyee, or chief, beingthe only son of Tootoosch, one of their principal chiefs,who had married Maquina's sister, whence arose thisceremony on his interment: it being an establishedcustom 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 appearsto be a mark of honour appropriate to them.[113] In thisinstance, Maquina furnished the articles, in order thathis nephew might have the proper honours renderedhim.

Tootoosch, his father, was esteemed the first warriorof the tribe, and was one who had been particularlyactive in the destruction of our ship, having killed two of[175]our poor comrades, who were ashore, whose names wereHall and Wood. About the time of our removal toTashees, while in the enjoyment of the highest health,he was suddenly seized with a fit of delirium, in whichhe fancied that he saw the ghosts of those two menconstantly standing by him, and threatening him, so thathe would take no food, except what was forced into hismouth.

A short time before this he had lost a daughter ofabout fifteen years of age, which afflicted him greatly,and whether his insanity, a disorder very uncommonamongst these savages, no instance of the kind havingoccurred within the memory of the oldest man amongstthem, proceeded from this cause, or that it was thespecial interposition of an all-merciful God in our favour,who by this means thought proper to induce thesebarbarians still further to respect our lives, or that,for hidden purposes, the Supreme Disposer of eventssometimes permits the spirits of the dead to revisitthe world, and haunt the murderer, I know not, but hismind, from this period until his death, which took placebut a few weeks after that of his son, was incessantlyoccupied with the images of the men whom he hadkilled.

This circumstance made much impression upon thetribe, particularly the chiefs, whose uniform oppositionto putting us to death, at the various councils that wereheld on our account, I could not but in part attribute tothis cause; and Maquina used frequently, in speaking ofTootoosch's sickness, to express much satisfaction thathis hands had not been stained with the blood of any ofour men.[176]

When Maquina was first informed by his sister ofthe strange conduct of her husband, he immediatelywent to his house, taking us with him; suspectingthat his disease had been caused by us, and that theghosts of our countrymen had been called thither byus, to torment him. We found him raving aboutHall and Wood, saying that they werepeshak, thatis, bad.

Maquina then placed some provision before him, to seeif he would eat. On perceiving it, he put forth his handto take some, but instantly withdrew it with signs ofhorror, saying that Hall and Wood were there, andwould not let him eat. Maquina then, pointing to us,asked if it was not John and Thompson who troubledhim.

"Wik,"[114] he replied,—that is, no; "John klushish—Thompsonklushish"—John and Thompson are both good;then, turning to me, and patting me on the shoulder, hemade signs to me to eat. I tried to persuade him thatHall and Wood were not there, and that none were nearhim but ourselves; he said, "I know very well you do notsee them, but I do."

At first Maquina endeavoured to convince him thathe saw nothing, and to laugh him out of his belief, but,finding that all was to no purpose, he at length becameserious, and asked me if I had ever seen anyone affectedin this manner, and what was the matter with him. Igave him to understand, pointing to his head, that hisbrain was injured, and that he did not see things asformerly.

Being convinced by Tootoosch's conduct that we had[177]no agency in his indisposition, on our return homeMaquina asked me what was done in my country insimilar cases.

I told him that such persons were closely confined,and sometimes tied up and whipped, in order to makethem better.[115]

After pondering for some time, he said that heshould be glad to do anything to relieve him, and thathe should be whipped, and immediately gave ordersto some of his men to go to Tootoosch's house, bindhim, and bring him to his, in order to undergo theoperation.

Thompson was the person selected to administerthis remedy, which he undertook very readily, andfor that purpose provided himself with a good numberof spruce branches, with which he whipped him mostseverely, laying it on with the best will imaginable,while Tootoosch displayed the greatest rage, kicking,spitting, and attempting to bite all who came nearhim. This was too much for Maquina, who at length,unable to endure it longer, ordered Thompson to desistand Tootoosch to be carried back, saying that if therewas no other way of curing him but by whipping, hemust remain mad.

The application of the whip produced no beneficialeffect on Tootoosch, for he afterwards became still morederanged; in his fits of fury sometimes seizing a club[178]and beating his slaves in a most dreadful manner, andstriking and spitting at all who came near him, till atlength his wife, no longer daring to remain in the housewith him, came with her son to Maquina's.

The whaling season now commenced, and Maquinawas out almost every day in his canoe in pursuit ofthem, but for a considerable time with no success, oneday breaking the staff of his harpoon, another afterhaving been a long time fast to a whale, the weapondrawing, owing to the breaking of the shell which formedits point, with several such like accidents, arising fromthe imperfection of the instrument.

At these times he always returned very moroseand out of temper, upbraiding his men with havingviolated their obligation to continence preparatory towhaling. In this state of ill-humour he would giveus very little to eat, which, added to the women notcooking when the men are away, reduced us to a verylow fare.

In consequence of the repeated occurrence of similaraccidents, I proposed to Maquina to make him aharpoon or foreganger of steel, which would be lessliable to fail him. The idea pleased him, and in ashort time I completed one for him, with which he wasmuch delighted, and the very next day went out tomake a trial of it.

He succeeded with it in taking a whale. Great was thejoy throughout the village as soon as it was known thatthe king had secured the whale, by notice from a personstationed at the headland in the offing. All the canoeswere immediately launched, and, furnished with harpoons[179]and sealskin floats, hastened to assist in buoying it upand towing it in.

The bringing in of this fish exhibited a scene ofuniversal festivity. As soon as the canoes appeared atthe mouth of the Cove, those on board of them singinga triumph to a slow air, to which they kept time withtheir paddles, all who were on shore, men, women, andchildren, mounted the roofs of their houses to congratulatethe king on his success, drumming mostfuriously on the planks, and exclaimingWocash—wocash,Tyee!

The whale, on being drawn on shore, was immediatelycut up, and a great feast of the blubber given atMaquina's house, to which all the village were invited,who indemnified themselves for their Lent by eating asusual to excess. I was highly praised for the goodnessof my harpoon, and a quantity of blubber given me,which I was permitted to cook as I pleased; this I boiledin salt water with some young nettles and other greensfor Thompson and myself, and in this way we found ittolerable food.

Their method of procuring the oil, is to skim it fromthe water in which the blubber is boiled, and when cool,put it up into whale bladders for use; and of theseI have seen them so large as, when filled, would requireno less than five or six men to carry. Several of thechiefs, among whom were Maquina's brothers, who,after the king has caught the first whale, are privilegedto take them also, were very desirous, on discoveringthe superiority of my harpoon, that I should makesome for them, but this Maquina would not permit,reserving for himself this improved weapon. He, however,[180]gave me directions to make a number more forhimself, which I executed, and also made him severallances, with which he was greatly pleased.

As these people have some very singular observancespreparatory to whaling, an account of them will, Ipresume, not prove uninteresting, especially as it mayserve to give a better idea of their manners. A shorttime before leaving Tashees, the king makes a point ofpassing a day alone on the mountain, whither he goesvery privately early in the morning, and does notreturn till late in the evening.[116] This is done, as I afterwardslearned, for the purpose of singing and prayingto his God for success in whaling the ensuing season.At Cooptee the same ceremony is performed, and atNootka after the return thither, with still greatersolemnity, as for the next two days he appears verythoughtful and gloomy, scarcely speaking to any one,and observes a most rigid fast. On these occasions hehas always a broad red fillet made of bark boundaround his head, in token of humiliation, with a largebranch of green spruce on the top, and his great rattlein his hand.

In addition to this, for a week before commencingtheir whaling, both himself and the crew of his canoeobserve a fast, eating but very little, and going intothe water several times in the course of each day tobathe, singing and rubbing their bodies, limbs, andfaces with shells and bushes, so that on their return Ihave seen them look as though they had been severely[181]torn with briers. They are likewise obliged to abstainfrom any commerce with their women for the likeperiod, the latter restriction being considered as indispensableto their success.

Early in June, Tootoosch,[117] the crazy chief, died. Onbeing acquainted with his death, the whole village, men,women, and children, set up a loud cry, with everytestimony of the greatest grief, which they continued formore than three hours. As soon as he was dead, thebody, according to their custom, was laid out on aplank, having the head bound round with a red barkfillet, which is with them an emblem of mourning andsorrow. After lying some time in this manner, hewas wrapped in an otter-skin robe, and, three fathomsof Ife-whaw being put about his neck, he was placed ina large coffin or box of about three feet deep, which wasornamented on the outside with two rows of the smallwhite shells. In this, the most valuable articles of hisproperty were placed with him, among which were noless 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 thrustthrough ropes passed around it, to the place of burial,accompanied by his wife and family, with their hair cutshort in token of grief, all the inhabitants joining theprocession.

The place of burial was a large cavern on the sideof a hill at a little distance from the village, in which,after depositing the coffin carefully, all the attendantsrepaired to Maquina's house, where a number of articles[182]belonging to the deceased, consisting of blankets, piecesof cloth, etc., were burned by a person appointedby Maquina for that purpose, dressed and paintedin the highest style, with his head covered with whitedown, who, as he put in the several pieces one by one,poured upon them a quantity of oil to increase theflame, in the intervals between making a speech andplaying off a variety of buffoon tricks, and the wholeclosed with a feast, and a dance from Sat-sat-sok-sis,the king's son.

The man who performed the ceremony of burningon this occasion was a very singular character namedKinneclimmets. He was held in high estimation bythe king, though only of the common class, probablyfrom his talent for mimicry and buffoonery, and might beconsidered as a kind of king's jester, or rather, as combiningin his person the character of a buffoon withthat of master of ceremonies and public orator to hismajesty, as he was the one who at feasts alwaysregulated the places of the guests, delivered speecheson receiving or returning visits, besides amusing thecompany at all their entertainments, with a variety ofmonkey pranks and antic gestures, which appeared tothese savages the height of wit and humour, but wouldbe considered as extremely low by the least polishedpeople.

Almost all the kings or head chiefs of the principaltribes were accompanied by a similar character, whoappeared to be attached to their dignity, and are calledin their languageClimmer-habbee.

This man Kinneclimmets was particularly odious toThompson, who would never join in the laugh at his[183]tricks, but when he began, would almost always quitthe house with a very surly look, and an exclamationof "Cursed fool!" which Maquina, who thoughtnothing could equal the cleverness of hisClimmer-habbee,used to remark with much dissatisfaction, askingme why Thompson never laughed, observing that Imust have had a very good-tempered woman indeedfor my mother, as my father was so very ill-natured aman.

Among those performances that gained him thegreatest applause was his talent of eating to excess,for I have known him devour at one meal no less thanseventy-five large herrings; and at another time, whena great feast was given by Maquina, he undertook, afterdrinking three pints of oil by way of a whet, to eat fourdried salmon, and five quarts of spawn, mixed up witha gallon of train-oil, and actually succeeded in swallowingthe greater part of this mess, until his stomachbecame so overloaded as to discharge its contents inthe dish. One of his exhibitions, however, had nearlycost 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 alarge fire, and burned himself in such a manner that hewas not able to stir for more than four weeks. Thesefeats 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 thedisquietude which his delirium had excited among thesavages, and all those chiefs who had killed our menbecame much alarmed lest they should be seized with[184]the same disorder and die like him; more particularly,as I had told Maquina that I believed his insanity wasa punishment inflicted on him by Quahootze, for hiscruelty in murdering two innocent men who had neverinjured him.

[185]

CHAPTER XII

WAR WITH THE A-Y-CHARTS—A NIGHT ATTACK—PROPOSALSTO PURCHASE THE AUTHOR

Our situation had now become unpleasant in the extreme.The summer was so far advanced that wenearly despaired of a ship arriving to our relief, andwith that expectation almost relinquished the hope ofever 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 additionto our other employments, to perform the laborioustask of cutting and collecting fuel, which we had tobring on our shoulders from nearly three miles' distance,as it consisted wholly of dry leaves, all of which near thevillage had been consumed.

To add to this, we suffered much abuse from thecommon people, who, when Maquina or some of thechiefs were not present, would insult us, calling uswretched slaves, asking us where was our Tyee orcaptain, making gestures signifying that his head hadbeen cut off, and that they would do the like to us;though they generally took good care at such times tokeep well out of Thompson's reach, as they had morethan once experienced, to their cost, the strength of[186]his fist. This conduct was not only provoking andgrating to our feelings in the highest degree, but it convincedus of the ill disposition of these savages towardsus, and rendered us fearful lest they might at some timeor other persuade or force Maquina and the chiefs toput us to death.

We were also often brought to great distress for thewant of provisions, so far as to be reduced to collect ascanty supply of mussels and limpets from the rocks,and sometimes even compelled to part with some ofour most necessary articles of clothing in order topurchase food for our subsistence.

This was, however, principally owing to the inhabitantsthemselves experiencing a great scarcity ofprovisions this season; there having been, in the firstplace, but very few salmon caught at Friendly Cove, amost unusual circumstance, as they generally aboundthere in the spring, which was by the natives attributedto their having been driven away by the blood of ourmen who had been thrown into the sea, which withtrue savage inconsistency excited their murmurs againstMaquina, who had proposed cutting off our ship. Relyingon this supply, they had in the most inconsideratemanner squandered away their winter stock of provisions,so that in a few days after their return it wasentirely expended.

Nor were the king and chiefs much more fortunatein their whaling, even after I had furnished Maquinawith the improved weapon for that purpose; but fourwhales having been taken during the season, whichcloses the last of May, including one that had beenstruck by Maquina and escaped, and was afterwards[187]driven on shore about six miles from Nootka in almosta state of putridity.

These afforded but a short supply to a population,including all ages and sexes, of no less than fifteenhundred persons, and of a character so very improvident,that, after feasting most gluttonously whenever awhale was caught, they were several times, for a weektogether, reduced to the necessity of eating but oncea day, and of collecting cockles and mussels from therocks for their food.

And even after the cod and halibut fishing commenced,in June, in which they met with tolerablesuccess, such was the savage caprice of Maquina, thathe would often give us but little to eat, finally orderingus to buy a canoe and fishing implements andgo 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 themunder 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 athome.

Another thing, which to me in particular provedan almost constant source of vexation and disgust,and which living among them had not in the leastreconciled me to, was their extreme filthiness, notonly in eating fish, especially the whale, when in astate of offensive putridity, but while at their meals,of making a practice of taking the vermin from theirheads or clothes and eating them, by turns thrustingtheir fingers into their hair and into the dish, and[188]spreading their garments over the tubs in which theprovision was cooking, in order to set in motion theirinhabitants.[118]

Fortunately for Thompson, he regarded this much lessthan myself, and when I used to point out to him anyinstance of their filthiness in this respect, he wouldlaugh and reply, "Never mind, John, the more goodthings the better." I must, however, do Maquina thejustice to state, that he was much neater both in hisperson and eating than were the others, as was likewisehis queen, owing, no doubt, to his intercourse withforeigners, 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 relishthis taste in others. Their garments, also, were muchcleaner, Maquina having been accustomed to give hisaway when they became soiled, till after he discoveredthat Thompson and myself kept ours clean by washingthem, when he used to make Thompson do the same forhim.

Yet amidst this state of endurance and disappointment,[189]in hearing repeatedly of the arrival of ships atthe north and south, most of which proved to be idlereports, while expectation was almost wearied out inlooking for them, we did not wholly despond, relyingon the mercy of the Supreme Being, to offer up towhom our devotions on the days appointed for Hisworship was our chief consolation and support, thoughwe were sometimes obliged, by our taskmasters, toinfringe upon the Sabbath, which was to me a sourceof much regret.

We were, nevertheless, treated at times with muchkindness by Maquina, who would give us a plenty ofthe best that he had to eat, and occasionally, somesmall present of cloth for a garment, promising me that,if any ship should arrive within a hundred miles ofNootka, he would send a canoe with a letter from meto the captain, so that he might come to our release.These flattering promises and marks of attentionwere, however, at those times when he thought himselfin personal danger from a mutinous spirit, which thescarcity 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 someof the other tribes, who were irritated with him forcutting off theBoston, as it had prevented ships fromcoming to trade with them, and were constantly alarminghim with idle stories of vessels that were preparingto come against him and exterminate both him andhis people.

At such times, he made us keep guard over him bothnight and day, armed with cutlasses and pistols, being[190]apparently afraid to trust any of his own men. At onetime, it was a general revolt of his people that heapprehended; then three of his principal chiefs,among whom was his elder brother, had conspired totake away his life; and at length he fancied that asmall party of Klaooquates, between whom and theNootkians little friendship subsisted, had come toNootka, under a pretence of trade, for the sole purposeof murdering him and his family, telling us, probably tosharpen our vigilance, that their intention was to kill uslikewise; and so strongly were his fears excited on thisoccasion, that he not only ordered us to keep near himarmed by day, whenever he went out, and to patrolat night before his house while they remained, but tocontinue the same guard for three days after they weregone, and to fire, at one and at four in the morning, oneof the great guns, to let them know, if, as he suspected,they were lurking in the neighbourhood, that he was onhis guard.

While he was thus favourably disposed towards us, Itook an opportunity to inform him of the ill-treatmentthat we frequently received from his people, and theinsults that were offered us by some of the strangertribes in calling us white slaves, and loading us withother opprobrious terms. He was much displeased,and said that his subjects should not be allowed totreat us ill, and that if any of the strangers did it, hewished us to punish the offenders with death, at thesame time directing us, for our security, to go constantlyarmed.

This permission was soon improved by Thompson tothe best advantage; for a few days after, having gone to[191]the pond to wash some of our clothes, and a blanket forMaquina, several Wickinninish who were then at Nootkacame thither, and, seeing him washing the clothes, andthe 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. Thompsonwas highly incensed, and threatened the Indian withdeath if he repeated the offence, but he, in contempt ofthe threat, trampled upon the blanket, when, drawinghis cutlass, without further ceremony, Thompson cut offhis 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, andtaking with him the head, returned and informed theking of what had passed, who was much pleased, andhighly commended his conduct. This had a favourableeffect for us, not only on the stranger tribes but theinhabitants themselves, who treated us afterwards withless disrespect.

In the latter part of July, Maquina informed me thathe was going to war with theA-y-charts,[119] a tribe about[192]fifty miles to the south, on account of some controversythat had arisen the preceding summer, and that I mustmake a number of daggers for his men, and cheetolthsfor his chiefs, which having completed, he wished meto make for his own use a weapon of quite a differentform, in order to dispatch his enemy by one blow onthe head, it being the calculation of these nations, ongoing 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 rightangles in an iron handle of fifteen inches long, terminatingat the lower end in a crook or turn, so as toprevent its being wrenched from the hand, and at theupper in a round knob or head, from whence thespike protruded. This instrument I polished highly,and, the more to please Maquina, formed on the backof the knob the resemblance of a man's head, withthe mouth open, substituting for eyes black beads,which I fastened in with red sealing-wax. This pleasedhim much, and was greatly admired by his chiefs, whowanted me to make similar ones for them, but Maquinawould not suffer it, reserving for himself alone thisweapon.

When these people have finally determined on war,they make it an invariable practice, for three or fourweeks prior to the expedition, to go into the water fiveor six times a day, when they wash and scrub themselvesfrom head to foot with bushes intermixed withbriers, so that their bodies and faces will often be entirelycovered with blood. During this severe exercise,they are continually exclaiming, "Wocash, Quahootze,Teechamme ah welth, wik-etish tau-ilth—Kar sub-matemas—Wik-sish[193]to hauk matemas—I ya-ish kah-shittle—As-smootishwarich matemas"; which signifies,"Good or great God, let me live—Not be sick—Find theenemy—Not fear him—Find him asleep, and kill a greatmany of them."

During the whole of this period they have no intercoursewith their women, and for a week before settingout, abstain from feasting or any kind of merriment,appearing thoughtful, gloomy, and morose, and for thethree last days are almost constantly in the water, bothby day and night, scrubbing and lacerating themselvesin a terrible manner. Maquina, having informedThompson and myself that he should take us with him,was very solicitous that we should bathe and scrub ourselvesin the same way with them, telling me that itwould harden our skins, so that the weapons of theenemy would not pierce them, but as we felt no greatinclination to amuse ourselves in this manner, wedeclined it.

The expedition consisted of forty canoes, carryingfrom ten to twenty men each. Thompson and myselfarmed ourselves with cutlasses and pistols, but thenatives, although they had a plenty of European arms,took with them only their daggers and cheetolths, witha few bows and arrows, the latter being about a yard inlength, and pointed with copper, mussel-shell, or bone;the bows are four feet and a half long, with stringsmade of whale sinew.

To go to A-y-chart, we ascended, from twenty tothirty miles,[120] a river about the size of that of Tashees,the banks of which are high and covered with wood.[194]At midnight we came in sight of the village, which wassituated on the west bank near the shore, on a steep hilldifficult of access, and well calculated for defence. Itconsisted of fifteen or sixteen houses, smaller than thoseat Nootka, and built in the same style, but compactlyplaced. By Maquina's directions, the attack wasdeferred until the first appearance of dawn, as he saidthat was the time when men slept the soundest.

At length, all being ready for the attack, we landedwith the greatest silence, and, going around so as tocome upon the foe in the rear, clambered up the hill,and while the natives, as is their custom, entered theseveral huts creeping on all-fours, my comrade andmyself stationed ourselves without to intercept thosewho should attempt to escape or come to the aid oftheir friends. I wished, if possible, not to stain myhands in the blood of any fellow-creature; and thoughThompson would gladly have put to death all thesavages in the country, he was too brave to think ofattacking a sleeping enemy.

Having entered the houses, on the war-whoop beinggiven by Maquina as he seized the head of the chief andgave him the fatal blow, all proceeded to the work ofdeath. The A-y-charts, being thus surprised, wereunable to make resistance, and, with the exception of avery few who were so fortunate as to make their escape,were all killed, or taken prisoners on condition ofbecoming slaves to their captors. I had the goodfortune to take four captives, whom Maquina, as afavour, permitted me to consider as mine, and occasionallyemploy them in fishing for me. As for Thompson,who thirsted for revenge, he had no wish to take any[195]prisoners, but with his cutlass, the only weapon hewould employ against them, succeeded in killing sevenstout fellows who came to attack him, an act whichobtained him great credit with Maquina and the chiefs,who after this held him in much higher estimation, andgave him the appellation of "Chehiel-suma-har," it beingthe name of a very celebrated warrior of their nation inancient times, whose exploits were the constant themeof their praise.

After having put to death all the old and infirm ofeither sex, as is the barbarous practice of these people,and destroyed the buildings, we re-embarked with ourbooty in our canoes for Nootka, where we were receivedwith great demonstrations of joy by the women andchildren, accompanying our war-song with a mostfurious drumming on the houses. The next day a greatfeast 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 bya number of kings or chiefs to purchase me, especiallyafter he had showed them the harpoon I had made forhim, which he took much pride in, but he constantlyrefused to part with me on any terms. Among these,the king of the Wickinninish was particularly solicitousto obtain me, having twice applied to Maquina for thatpurpose, once in a very formal manner, by sending hismessenger with four canoes, who, as he approached theshore, decorated in their highest style, with the whitedown on his head, etc., declared that he came to buy[196]"Tooteyoohannis," the name by which I was known tothem, for his master, and that he had brought for thatpurpose four young male slaves, two highly ornamentedcanoes, such a number of the skins of metamelth, and ofthequartlack,[122] or sea-otter, and so many fathoms ofcloth and of Ife-whaw, while, as he mentioned the differentarticles, they were pointed out or held up by hisattendants; but even this tempting offer had no influenceon Maquina, who in the latter part of the summer wasagain very strongly urged to sell me by Ulatilla, or, ashe is generally called, Machee Ulatilla, chief of theKlaizzarts,[123] who had come to Nootka on a visit.

This chief, who could speak tolerable English, hadmuch more the appearance of a civilised man than anyof the savages that I saw. He appeared to be aboutthirty, was rather small in his person, but extremely wellformed, with a skin almost as fair as that of an European,good features, and a countenance expressive of candourand amiableness, and which was almost alwaysbrightened with a smile. He was much neater both inhis dress and person than any of the other chiefs, seldomwearing paint, except upon his eyebrows, which, afterthe custom of his country, were plucked out, and a fewstrips of the pelpelth on the lower part of his face. Healways treated me with much kindness, was fond ofconversing with me in English and in his own language,asking me many questions relative to my country, itsmanners, customs, etc., and appeared to take a strong[197]interest in my fate, telling me that if he could persuadeMaquina to part with me, he would put me on boardthe first ship that came to his country, a promise which,from his subsequent conduct, I have good reason tothink he would have performed, as my deliverance atlength from captivity and suffering was, under thefavour of Divine Providence, wholly owing to him, theonly letter that ever reached an European or Americanvessel out of sixteen that I wrote at different times andsent to various parts of the coast, having been deliveredby him in person. So much pleased was I with thisman's behaviour to me while at Nootka, that I made forhim a cheetolth, which I burnished highly, and engravedwith figures. With this he was greatly delighted.I also would have made for him a harpoon, wouldMaquina have consented.

With hearts full of dejection and almost lost to hope,no ship having appeared off Nootka this season, did mycompanion and myself accompany the tribe on theirremoval in September to Tashees, relinquishing in consequencefor six months even the remotest expectationof relief.

[198]

CHAPTER XIII

MARRIAGE OF THE AUTHOR—HIS ILLNESS—DISMISSESHIS WIFE—RELIGION OF THE NATIVES—CLIMATE

Soon after our establishment there, Maquina informedme that he and his chiefs had held council both beforeand after quitting Nootka, in which they had determinedthat I must marry one of their women, urging asa reason to induce me to consent, that, as there wasnow no probability of a ship coming to Nootka torelease me, that I must consider myself as destinedto pass the remainder of my life with them, that thesooner I conformed to their customs the better,and that a wife and family would render me morecontented and satisfied with their mode of living. Iremonstrated against this decision, but to no purpose,for he told me that, should I refuse, bothThompson and myself would be put to death; tellingme, however, that if there were none of the womenof his tribe that pleased me, he would go with me tosome of the other tribes, where he would purchasefor me such a one as I should select. Reduced tothis sad extremity, with death on the one side andmatrimony on the other, I thought proper to choose[199]what appeared to me the least of the two evils,and consent to be married, on condition that, as Idid not fancy any of the Nootka women, I shouldbe permitted to make choice of one from some othertribe.

This being settled, the next morning by daylight,Maquina, with about fifty men in two canoes, set outwith me for Ai-tiz-zart,[124] taking with him a quantity ofcloth, a number of muskets, sea-otter skins, etc., for thepurchase of my bride. With the aid of our paddlesand sails, being favoured with a fair breeze, we arrivedsome time before sunset at the village. Our arrivalexcited a general alarm, and the men hastened to theshore, armed with the weapons of their country, makingmany warlike demonstrations, and displaying much zealand activity. We, in the meantime, remained quietlyseated in our canoes, where we remained for about halfan hour, when the messenger of the chief, dressed intheir best manner, came to welcome us and invite us onshore to eat.[125] We followed him in procession to thechief's house, Maquina at our head, taking care to leavea sufficient number in the boats to protect the property.When we came to the house, we were ushered in withmuch ceremony, and our respective seats pointedout to us, mine being next to Maquina by hisrequest.

After having been regaled with a feast of herringspawn and oil, Maquina asked me if I saw any amongthe women who were present that I liked. I immediately[200]pointed out to a young girl of about seventeen, thedaughter of Upquesta, the chief, who was sitting nearhim by her mother. On this, Maquina, making a signto his men, arose, and, taking me by the hand, walkedinto the middle of the room, and sent off two of hismen to bring the boxes containing the presents fromthe canoes. In the meantime, Kinneclimmets, themaster of ceremonies, whom I have already spoken of,made himself ready for the part he was to act, bypowdering his hair with white down. When the chestswere brought in, specimens of the several articles weretaken out, and showed by our men, one of whom heldup a musket, another a skin, a third a piece of cloth,etc.

On this Kinneclimmets stepped forward, and, addressingthe chief, informed him that all these belongedto me, mentioning the number of each kind, andthat they were offered to him for the purchase ofhis daughter Eu-stoch-ee-exqua, as a wife for me.As he said this, the men who held up the variousarticles walked up to the chief, and with a very sternand morose look, the complimentary one on theseoccasions, threw them at his feet. Immediately onwhich, all the tribe, both men and women, who wereassembled on this occasion, set up a cry ofKlack-ko-Tyee,[126]that is, "Thank ye, chief."

His men, after this ceremony, having returned totheir places, Maquina rose, and, in a speech of morethan half an hour, said much in my praise to the Ai-tiz-zartchief, telling him that I was as good a manas themselves, differing from them only in being white,[201]that I was besides acquainted with many things ofwhich they were ignorant; that I knew how to makedaggers, cheetolths, and harpoons, and was a veryvaluable person, whom he was determined to keepalways with him; praising me at the same time forthe goodness of my temper, and the manner in whichI had conducted myself since I had been with them,observing that all the people of Nootka, and even thechildren, loved me.

While Maquina was speaking, his master of ceremonieswas continually skipping about, making themost extravagant gestures, and exclaiming "Wocash!"When he had ceased, the Ai-tiz-zart chief arose, amidstthe acclamations of his people, and began with settingforth the many good qualities and accomplishments ofhis daughter; that he loved her greatly, and as shewas his only one, he could not think of parting withher. He spoke in this manner for some time, butfinally concluded by consenting to the proposed union,requesting that she might be well used and kindlytreated by her husband. At the close of the speech,when the chief began to manifest a disposition to consentto our union, Kinneclimmets again began to callout as loud as he could bawl, "Wocash!" cutting athousand capers and spinning himself around on hisheel like a top.

When Upquesta had finished his speech, he directedhis people to carry back the presents which Maquinahad given him, to me, together with two young maleslaves to assist me in fishing. These, after having beenplaced before me, were by Maquina's men taken onboard the canoes. This ceremony being over, we were[202]invited by one of the principal chiefs to a feast athis house, ofKlussamit,[127] or dried herring, where, afterthe eating was over, Kinneclimmets amused the companyvery highly with his tricks, and the evening'sentertainment was closed by a new war-song from ourmen, and one in return from the Ai-tiz-zarts, accompaniedwith expressive gestures, and wielding of theirweapons.

After this our company returned to lodge at Upquesta's,except a few who were left on board thecanoes to watch the property. In the morning I receivedfrom the chief his daughter, with an earnestrequest that I would use her well, which I promisedhim; when, taking leave of her parents, she accompaniedme with apparent satisfaction on board of thecanoe.

The wind being ahead, the natives were obliged tohave recourse to their paddles, accompanying themwith their songs, interspersed with the witticisms andbuffoonery of Kinneclimmets, who, in his capacity ofking's steersman, one of his functions which I forgot toenumerate, not only guided the course of the canoe,but regulated the singing of the boatmen. At aboutfive in the morning we reached Tashees, where wefound all the inhabitants collected on the shore toreceive us.

We were welcomed with loud shouts of joy, andexclamations of "Wocash!" and the women, taking mybride under their charge, conducted her to Maquina'shouse, to be kept with them for ten days; it being[203]an universal custom, as Maquina informed me, that nointercourse should take place between the new marriedpair during that period. At night Maquina gave agreat feast, which was succeeded by a dance, in whichall the women joined, and thus ended the festivities ofmy marriage.[128]

The term of my probation being over, Maquinaassigned me as an apartment the space in the upperpart of his house between him and his elder brother,whose room was opposite. Here I established myselfwith my family, consisting of myself and wife,Thompson, and the little Sat-sat-sok-sis, who hadalways been strongly attached to me, and now solicitedhis 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. Iused to take a pleasure in decorating him with rings,bracelets, ear-jewels, etc., which I made for him ofcopper, and ornamented and polished them in mybest manner. I was also very careful to keep him freefrom vermin of every kind, washing him and combinghis hair every day. These marks of attention were notonly very pleasing to the child, who delighted in beingkept neat and clean, as well as in being dressed off inhis finery, but was highly gratifying both to Maquinaand his queen, who used to express much satisfactionat my care of him.

In making my domestic establishment, I determined,[204]as far as possible, to live in a more comfortable andcleanly manner than the others. For this purpose Ierected with planks a partition of about three feethigh between mine and the adjoining rooms, andmade three bedsteads of the same, which I coveredwith boards, for my family to sleep on, which I foundmuch more comfortable than sleeping on the flooramidst the dirt.

Fortunately, I found my Indian princess both amiableand intelligent, for one whose limited sphere of observationmust necessarily give rise to but a few ideas.She was extremely ready to agree to anything that Iproposed relative to our mode of living, was veryattentive in keeping her garments and person neatand clean, and appeared in every respect solicitous toplease me.

She was, as I have said, about seventeen; her personwas small but well formed, as were her features;her complexion was, without exception, fairer thanany of the women, with considerable colour in hercheeks, her hair long, black, and much softer thanis usual with them, and her teeth small, even, andof a dazzling whiteness; while the expression ofher countenance indicated sweetness of temper andmodesty. She would indeed have been considered asvery pretty in any country, and, excepting Maquina'squeen, was by far the handsomest of any of theirwomen.

With a partner possessing so many attractions, manymay be apt to conclude that I must have foundmyself happy,—at least, comparatively so; but farotherwise was it with me. A compulsory marriage with[205]the most beautiful and accomplished person in theworld can never prove a source of real happiness; and,in my situation, I could not but view this connectionas a chain that was to bind me down to this savageland, and prevent my ever again seeing a civilisedcountry; especially when, in a few days after, Maquinainformed me that there had been a meeting of hischiefs, in which it had been determined that, as Ihad married one of their women, I must be consideredas one of them, and conform to their customs,and that in future neither myself nor Thompson shouldwear 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 init as to permit me to wear those I had at present,which were almost worn out, and not to compelThompson to change his dress, observing that, ashe was an old man, such a change would cause hisdeath.

Their religious celebration, which the last year tookplace in December, was in this commenced on the 15thof November, and continued for fourteen days. As Iwas now considered as one of them, instead of beingordered to the woods, Maquina directed Thompson andmyself to remain and pray with them to Quahootzeto be good to them, and thank him for what he haddone.

It was opened in much the same manner as theformer. After which, all the men and women in the[206]village assembled at Maquina's house, in their plainestdresses, and without any kind of ornaments aboutthem, having their heads bound around with the redfillet, a token of dejection and humiliation, and theircountenances expressive of seriousness and melancholy.The performances during the continuance of this celebrationconsisted almost wholly in singing a numberof songs to mournful airs, the king regulating thetime by beating on his hollow plank or drum, accompaniedby one of his chiefs seated near him with thegreat rattle. In the meantime they ate but seldom,and then very little, retiring to sleep late, and risingat the first appearance of dawn, and even interruptingthis short period of repose by getting up at midnightand singing.

The ceremony was terminated by an exhibition of asimilar character to the one of the last year, but stillmore cruel. A boy of twelve years old, with sixbayonets run into his flesh, one through each arm andthigh, and through each side close to the ribs, wascarried around the room suspended upon them, withoutmanifesting any symptoms of pain. Maquina, on myinquiring the reason of this display, informed me thatit was an ancient custom of his nation to sacrifice aman at the close of this solemnity, in honour of theirGod, but that his father had abolished it, and substitutedthis in its place.[130] The whole closed on the evening of[207]the 29th, with a great feast of salmon spawn and oil, atwhich the natives, as usual, made up for their lateabstinence.

A few days after, a circumstance occurred, which,from its singularity, I cannot forbear mentioning. I wassent for by my neighbour Yealthlower, the king's elderbrother, to file his teeth, which operation having beenperformed, he informed me that a new wife, whom hehad a little time before purchased, having refused tosleep with him, it was his intention, provided she persistedin her refusal, to bite off her nose. I endeavouredto dissuade him from it, but he was determined, and, infact, performed his savage threat that very night, sayingthat since she would not be his wife, she should not bethat of any other, and in the morning sent her back toher father.

The inhuman act did not, however, proceed from anyinnate cruelty of disposition or malice, as he was farfrom being of a barbarous temper; but such is thedespotism exercised by these savages over their women,that he no doubt considered it as a just punishment for[208]her offence, in being so obstinate and perverse; as heafterwards told me, that in similar cases the husbandhad a right with them to disfigure his wife in thisway or some other, to prevent her ever marryingagain.

About the middle of December, we left Tasheesfor Cooptee. As usual at this season, we found theherrings in great plenty, and here the same sceneof riotous feasting that I witnessed last year wasrenewed by our improvident natives, who, in additionto their usual fare, had a plentiful supply of wildgeese, which were brought us in great quantities bythe Eshquates. These, as Maquina informed me, werecaught with nets made from bark in the fresh watersof that country. Those who take them make choicefor that purpose of a dark and rainy night, and, withtheir canoes stuck with lighted torches, proceed withas little noise as possible to the place where thegeese are collected, who, dazzled by the light, sufferthemselves to be approached very near, when the netis thrown over them, and in this manner from fifty tosixty, or even more, will sometimes be taken at onecast.

On the 15th of January 1805, about midnight, I wasthrown into considerable alarm, in consequence of aneclipse of the moon, being awakened from my sleepby a great outcry of the inhabitants. On going todiscover the cause of this tumult, I found them allout of their houses, bearing lighted torches, singingand beating upon pieces of plank; and when I askedthem the reason of this proceeding, they pointed tothe moon, and said that a great cod-fish was endeavouringto swallow her, and that they were drivinghim away. The origin of this superstition I could notdiscover.

[209]

INDIAN CHIEF'S GRAVE (TEMP. 1863).[210]

Though,[211]in some respects, my situation was renderedmore comfortable since my marriage, as I lived in amore cleanly manner, and had my food better andmore neatly cooked, of which, besides, I had alwaysa plenty, my slaves generally furnishing me, andUpquesta never failing to send me an ample supplyby the canoes that came from Ai-tiz-zart; still, frommy being obliged at this season of the year to changemy accustomed clothing, and to dress like the natives,with only a piece of cloth of about two yards longthrown loosely around me, my European clotheshaving been for some time entirely worn out, I sufferedmore than I can express from the cold, especiallyas I was compelled to perform the laborious task ofcutting and bringing the firewood, which was renderedstill more oppressive to me, from my comrade, for aconsiderable part of the winter, not having it in hispower to lend me his aid, in consequence of an attackof the rheumatism in one of his knees, with which hesuffered for more than four months, two or three weeksof which he was so ill as to be under the necessity toleave the house.

This state of suffering, with the little hope I now hadof ever escaping from the savages, began to render mylife irksome to me; still, however, I lost not myconfidence in the aid of the Supreme Being, towhom, whenever the weather and a suspension fromthe tasks imposed on me would permit, I neverfailed regularly on Sundays to retire to the wood to[212]worship, taking Thompson with me when he was ableto go.

On the 20th of February, we returned to our summerquarters at Nootka, but on my part, with far differentsensations than the last spring, being now almost indespair of any vessel arriving to release us, or our beingpermitted to depart if there should.

Soon after our return, as preparatory to the whalingseason, Maquina ordered me to make a good numberof harpoons for himself and his chiefs, several ofwhich I had completed, with some lances, when, onthe 16th of March, I was taken very ill with aviolent colic, caused, I presume, from having sufferedso much from the cold, in going without properclothing. For a number of hours I was in great pain,and expected to die, and on its leaving me, I was soweak as scarcely to be able to stand, while I hadnothing comforting to take, nor anything to drink butcold water.

On the day following, a slave belonging to Maquinadied, and was immediately, as is their custom in suchcases, tossed unceremoniously out of doors, fromwhence he was taken by some others and thrown intothe water. The treatment of this poor creature madea melancholy impression upon my mind, as I couldnot but think that such probably would be my fateshould I die among these heathens, and so far fromreceiving a decent burial, that I should not even beallowed the common privilege of having a little earththrown over my remains.

The feebleness in which the violent attack of mydisorder had left me, the dejection I felt at the almost[213]hopelessness of my situation and the want of warmclothing and proper nursing, though my Indian wife,as far as she knew how, was always ready, evensolicitous, to do everything for me she could, still keptme very much indisposed, which Maquina perceiving,he finally told me that if I did not like living withmy wife, and that was the cause of my being so sad, Imight part with her. This proposal I readily accepted,and the next day Maquina sent her back to herfather.

On parting with me she discovered much emotion,begging me that I would suffer her to remain till Ihad recovered, as there was no one who would takeso good care of me as herself. But when I told hershe must go, for that I did not think I should everget well, which in truth I but little expected, and thather father would take good care of her and treat hermuch more kindly than Maquina, she took an affectionateleave, telling me that she hoped I shouldsoon get better, and left her two slaves to take careof me.

Though I rejoiced at her departure, I was greatlyaffected with the simple expressions of her regard forme, and could not but feel strongly interested for thispoor girl, who in all her conduct towards me haddiscovered so much mildness and attention to mywishes; and had it not been that I considered her as analmost insuperable obstacle to my being permitted toleave the country, I should no doubt have felt thedeprivation of her society a real loss. After herdeparture, I requested Maquina that, as I had partedwith my wife, he would permit me to resume my[214]European dress, as, otherwise, from not having beenaccustomed to dress like them, I should certainly die.To this he consented, and I once more became comfortablyclad.

Change of clothing, but, more than all, the hopeswhich I now began to indulge that in the course ofthe summer I should be able to escape, in a shorttime restored me to health, so far that I could againgo to work in making harpoons for Maquina, whoprobably, fearing that he should have to part withme, determined to provide himself with a goodstock.

I shall not, however, long detain the reader with adetail of occurrences that intervened between thisperiod and that of my escape, which, from that dulluniformity that marks the savage life, would be ina measure but a repetition, nor dwell upon thatmental torture I endured from a constant conflict ofhope and fear, when the former, almost wearied outwith repeated disappointment, offered to our sinkinghearts no prospect of release but death, to which wewere constantly exposed from the brutal ignoranceand savage disposition of the common people, who,in the various councils that were held this season todetermine what to do with us in case of the arrival ofa ship, were almost always for putting us to death,expecting by that means to conceal the murder ofour crew and to throw the blame of it on some othertribe. These barbarous sentiments were, however,universally opposed by Maquina and his chiefs, whowould not consent to our being injured. But, assome of their customs and traits of national character[215]which I think deserving of notice have not beenmentioned, I shall proceed to give an account ofthem.

The office of king or chief is, with those people,hereditary, and descends to the eldest son, or, in failureof male issue, to the elder brother, who in the regal lineis considered as the second person in the kingdom. Atfeasts, as I have observed, the king is always placed inthe highest or seat of honour, and the chiefs accordingto their respective ranks, which appear in general to bedetermined by their affinity to the royal family; theyare also designated by the embellishments of theirmantles or kutsaks. The king, or headTyee is theirleader in war, in the management of which he isperfectly absolute. He is also president of their councils,which are almost always regulated by his opinion. Buthe has no kind of power over the property of hissubjects, nor can he require them to contribute to hiswants, being in this respect no more privileged than anyother person. He has, in common with his chiefs, theright of holding slaves, which is not enjoyed by privateindividuals, a regulation probably arising from theirhaving been originally captives taken in battle, the spoilsof war being understood as appertaining to the king,who receives and apportions them among his severalchiefs and warriors according to their rank and deserts.

In conformity with this idea, the plunder of theBostonwas all deposited in Maquina's house, who distributedpart of it among his chiefs, according to their respectiveranks or degree of favour with him, giving to one threehundred muskets, to another one hundred and fifty, with[216]other things in like proportion. The king is, however,obliged to support his dignity by making frequententertainments, and whenever he receives a large supplyof provision, he must invite all the men of his tribeto his house to eat it up, otherwise, as Maquina toldme, he would not be considered as conducting himselflike aTyee, and would be no more thought of than acommon man.

With regard to their religion.—They believe in theexistence of a Supreme Being, whom they callQuahootze,and who, to use Maquina's expression, was one greatTyee in the sky, who gave them their fish, and couldtake 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 inform of prayer to the God above, entreating that hewould preserve them in health, give them good successin fishing, etc. These prayers were repeated with muchmore energy on preparing for whaling or for war, as Ihave already mentioned.

Some of them would sometimes go several miles tobathe, in order to do it in secret; the reason for this Icould never learn, though I am induced to think it wasin consequence of some family or private quarrel, andthat they did not wish what they said to be heard;while at other times they would repair in the samesecret manner to the woods to pray. This wasmore particularly the case with the women, whomight also have been prompted by a sentiment ofdecency to retire for the purpose of bathing, as theyare remarkably modest.[217]

I once found one of our women more than twomiles from the village on her knees in the woods, withher eyes shut and her face turned towards heaven,uttering words in a lamentable tone, amongst which Idistinctly heard,Wocash Ah-welth, meaning "goodLord," and which has nearly the same significationwith Quahootze.

Though I came very near her, she appeared not tonotice me, but continued her devotions. And I havefrequently seen the women go alone into the woods,evidently for the purpose of addressing themselves to asuperior Being, and it was always very perceptible ontheir return when they had been thus employed, fromtheir silence and melancholy looks.

They have no belief, however, in a state of futureexistence, as I discovered in conversation with Maquinaat Tootoosch's death, on my attempting to convincehim that he still existed, and that he would again seehim after his death; but he could comprehend nothingof it, and, pointing to the ground, said that there wasthe end of him, and that he was like that.[131] Nor dothey believe in ghosts, notwithstanding the case ofTootoosch would appear to contradict this assertion,[218]but that was a remarkable instance, and such a oneas had never been known to occur before; yet fromthe mummeries performed over the sick, it is veryapparent that they believe in the agency of spirits,as they attribute diseases to some evil one that hasentered the body of the patient. Neither have theyany priests, unless a kind of conjurer[132] may be so consideredwho sings and prays over the sick to driveaway the evil spirit.

On the birth of twins, they have a most singularcustom, which, I presume, has its origin in some religiousopinion, but what it is, I could never satisfactorily learn.The father is prohibited for the space of two years fromeating any kind of meat, or fresh fish, during whichtime he does no kind of labour whatever, being suppliedwith what he has occasion for from the tribe. In themeantime, he and his wife, who is also obliged to conformto the same abstinence, with their children, live entirelyseparate from the others, a small hut being built fortheir accommodation, and he is never invited to any ofthe feasts, except such as consist wholly of driedprovision, where he is treated with great respect, andseated among the chiefs, though no more himself thana private individual.

Such births are very rare among them; an instanceof the kind, however, occurred while I was at Tasheesthe last time, but it was the only one known since thereign of the former king. The father always appeared[219]very thoughtful and gloomy, never associated with theother inhabitants, and was at none of the feasts, but suchas were entirely of dried provision, and of this he atenot to excess, and constantly retired before the amusementscommenced. His dress was very plain, and hewore around his head the red fillet of bark, the symbolof mourning and devotion. It was his daily practice torepair to the mountain, with a chief's rattle in his hand,to sing and pray, as Maquina informed me, for the fishto come into their waters. When not thus employed,he kept continually at home, except when sent for tosing and perform his ceremonies over the sick, beingconsidered as a sacred character, and one much in favourwith their gods.[133]

These people are remarkably healthful, and live toa very advanced age, having quite a youthful appearancefor their years.[134] They have scarcely anydisease but the colic, their remedy for which isfriction, a person rubbing the bowels of the sickviolently, until the pain has subsided, while the conjurer,or holy man, is employed, in the meantime, inmaking his gestures, singing, and repeating certainwords, and blowing off the evil spirit, when the patient[220]is wrapped up in a bearskin, in order to produceperspiration.

Their cure for the rheumatism, or similar pains, whichI saw applied by Maquina in the case of Thompson, towhom it gave relief, is by cutting or scarifying the partaffected. In dressing wounds, they simply wash themwith salt water, and bind them up with a strip ofcloth, or the bark of a tree. They are, however, veryexpert and successful in the cure of fractured ordislocated limbs, reducing them very dexterously, and,after binding them up with bark, supporting themwith blocks of wood, so as to preserve theirposition.[135]

During the whole time I was among them, but fivenatural deaths occurred, Tootoosch and his two infantchildren, an infant son of Maquina, and the slave whomI have mentioned, a circumstance not a little remarkablein a population of about fifteen hundred; and as respectschild-birth, so light do they make of it, that I have seentheir women, the day after, employed as usual, as if littleor nothing had happened.

The Nootkians in their conduct towards each otherare in general pacific and inoffensive, and appear by nomeans an ill-tempered race, for I do not recollect anyinstance of a violent quarrel between any of the men, orthe men and their wives, while I was with them, that ofYealthlower excepted. But when they are in the least[221]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 afashion 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 theloudest, stamps, tosses himself about, foams, and spitsthe most.[136]

In speaking of their regulations, I have omittedmentioning that, on attaining the age of seventeen, theeldest son of a chief is considered as a chief himself,and that whenever the father makes a present, it isalways done in the name of his eldest son, or, ifhe has none, in that of his daughter. The chiefsfrequently purchase their wives at the age of eight orten, to prevent their being engaged by others, thoughthey do not take them from their parents until theyare sixteen.

With regard to climate, the greater part of the spring,summer, and autumn is very pleasant, the weather beingat no time oppressively hot, and the winters uncommonlymild for so high a latitude, at least, as far as my experiencewent. At Tashees and Cooptee, where we passedthe coldest part of the season, the winter did not set intill late in December, nor have I ever yet known the ice,even on the freshwater ponds, more than two or three[222]inches in thickness, or a snow exceeding four inches indepth; but what is wanting in snow, is amply made upin rain, as I have frequently known it, during the wintermonths, rain almost incessantly for five or six days insuccession.

[223]

CHAPTER XIV

ARRIVAL OF THE BRIG "LYDIA"—STRATAGEM OF THEAUTHOR—ITS SUCCESS

It was now past midsummer, and the hopes we hadindulged of our release became daily more faint, forthough we had heard of no less than seven vessels onthe coast, yet none appeared inclined to venture toNootka.

The destruction of theBoston, the largest, strongest,and best equipped ship, with the most valuable cargoof any that had ever been fitted for the North-Westtrade, had inspired the commanders of others witha general dread of coming thither, lest they shouldshare the same fate; and though in the letters I wrote(imploring those who should receive them to cometo the relief of two unfortunate Christians who weresuffering among heathen), I stated the cause of theBoston's capture, and that there was not the least dangerin coming to Nootka, provided they would follow thedirections I laid down, still I felt very little encouragementthat any of these letters would come to hand;when, on the morning of the 19th of July, a day that willbe ever held by me in grateful remembrance of themercies of God, while I was employed with Thompsonin forging daggers for the king, my ears were saluted[224]with the joyful sound of three cannon, and the cries ofthe inhabitants, exclaiming "Weena, weena—Mamethlee!"—thatis, "Strangers—White men!"

Soon after, several of our people came running intothe house, to inform me that a vessel under full sail wascoming into the harbour. Though my heart boundedwith joy, I repressed my feelings, and, affecting to payno attention to what was said, told Thompson to be onhis guard, and not betray any joy, as our release, andperhaps our lives, depended on our conducting ourselvesso as to induce the natives to suppose we were not veryanxious to leave them. We continued our work as ifnothing had happened, when, in a few minutes after,Maquina came in, and, seeing us at work, appearedmuch surprised, and asked me if did not know that avessel had come.

I answered in a careless manner, that it was nothingto me. "How, John," said he, "you no glad go board?"I replied that I cared very little about it, as I hadbecome reconciled to their manner of living, and hadno wish to go away. He then told me that he hadcalled a council of his people respecting us, and thatwe must leave off work and be present at it.

The men having assembled at Maquina's house, heasked them what was their opinion should be done withThompson and myself, now a vessel had arrived, andwhether he had not better go on board himself, to makea trade, and procure such articles as were wanted. Eachone of the tribe who wished, gave his opinion. Somewere for putting us to death, and pretending to thestrangers that a different nation had cut off theBoston;while others, less barbarous, were for sending us fifteen[225]or twenty miles back into the country, until the departureof the vessel.

These, however, were the sentiments of the commonpeople, the chiefs opposing our being put to death, orinjured, and several of them, among the most forwardof whom were Yealthlower and the young chief Toowinnakinnish,were for immediately releasing us; butthis, if he could avoid it, by no means appeared toaccord with Maquina's wishes.

Having mentioned Toowinnakinnish, I shall brieflyobserve that he was a young man of about twenty-threeyears old, the only son of Toopeeshottee, theoldest and most respected chief of the tribe. His sonhad 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. Hewas one of the handsomest men among them, veryamiable, and much milder in his manners than any ofthe others, as well as neater both in his person andhouse, at least his apartment, without even exceptingMaquina.

With regard, however, to Maquina's going on boardthe vessel, which he discovered a strong inclination todo, there was but one opinion, all remonstrating againstit, telling him that the captain would kill him or keephim prisoner, in consequence of his having destroyedour ship. When Maquina had heard their opinions, hetold them that he was not afraid of being hurt fromgoing on board the vessel, but that he would, however,as it respected that, be guided by John, whom he hadalways found true. He then turned to me, and askedme if I thought there would be any danger in his going[226]on board. I answered, that I was not surprised at theadvice his people had given him, unacquainted as theywere with the manners of the white men, and judgingthem by their own; but if they had been with them asmuch as I had, or even himself, they would think verydifferent. That he had almost always experienced goodand civil treatment from them, nor had he any reasonto fear the contrary now, as they never attempted toharm those who did not injure them; and if he wishedto go on board, he might do it, in my opinion, withsecurity.

After reflecting a few moments, he said, with muchapparent satisfaction, that if I would write a letter tothe captain, telling him good of him, that he had treatedThompson and myself kindly since we had been withhim, and to use him well, he would go.

It may easily be supposed that I felt much joy atthis determination, but, knowing that the least incautionmight annihilate all my hopes of escape, was carefulnot to manifest it, and to treat his going or staying asa matter perfectly indifferent to me. I told himthat, if he wished me to write such a letter, I had noobjection, as it was the truth, otherwise I could nothave done it.

I then proceeded to write the recommendatory letter,which the reader will naturally imagine was of a somewhatdifferent tenor from the one he had required;for if deception is in any case warrantable, it wascertainly so in a situation like ours, where the onlychance of regaining that freedom of which we hadbeen so unjustly deprived, depended upon it; and Itrust that few, even of the most rigid, will condemn[227]me with severity for making use of it, on an occasionwhich afforded me the only hope of ever morebeholding a Christian country, and preserving myself,if not from death, at least from a life of continuedsuffering.

The letter which I wrote was nearly in the followingterms:—

I have been asked how I dared to write in thismanner: my answer is, that from my long residenceamong these people, I knew that I had little to apprehendfrom their anger on hearing of their king beingconfined, while they knew his life depended upon myrelease, and that they would sooner have given up fivehundred white men, than have had him injured. This[228]will serve to explain the little apprehension I felt attheir menaces afterwards, for otherwise, sweet as libertywas to me, I should hardly have ventured on so hazardousan experiment.

On my giving the letter to Maquina, he asked me toexplain it to him. This I did line by line, as he pointedthem out with his finger, but in a sense very differentfrom the real, giving him to understand that I hadwritten to the captain that, as he had been kind to mesince I had been taken by him, that it was my wishthat the captain should treat him accordingly, and givehim what molasses, biscuit, and rum he wanted.

When I had finished, placing his finger in a significantmanner on my name at the bottom, and eyeing mewith a look that seemed to read my inmost thoughts,he said to me, "John, you no lie?" Never did Iundergo such a scrutiny, or ever experience greaterapprehensions than I felt at that moment, when mydestiny was suspended on the slightest thread, and theleast mark of embarrassment on mine, or suspicion oftreachery on his part, would probably have renderedmy life the sacrifice.

Fortunately I was able to preserve my composure,and my being painted in the Indian manner, whichMaquina had since my marriage required of me, preventedany change in my countenance from beingnoticed, and I replied with considerable promptitude,looking at him in my turn, with all the confidence Icould muster,—

"Why do you ask me such a question, Tyee? Haveyou ever known me to lie?"

"No."[229]

"Then how can you suppose I should tell you alie now, since I have never done it?" As I wasspeaking, he still continued looking at me with thesame piercing eye, but, observing nothing to excite hissuspicion, he told me that he believed what I said wastrue, and that he would go on board, and gave ordersto get ready his canoe. His chiefs again attempted todissuade him, using every argument for that purpose,while his wives crowded around him, begging him ontheir knees not to trust himself with the white men.Fortunately for my companion and myself, so strongwas his wish of going on board the vessel, that he wasdeaf to their solicitations, and, making no other reply tothem than "John no lie," left the house, taking four primeskins with him as a present to the captain.

Scarcely had the canoe put off, when he ordered hismen to stop, and, calling to me, asked me if I did notwant to go on board with him. Suspecting this as aquestion merely intended to ensnare me, I replied thatI had no wish to do it, not having any desire to leavethem.

On going on board the brig, Maquina immediatelygave his present of skins and my letter to the captain,who, on reading it, asked him into the cabin, where hegave him some biscuit and a glass of rum, at the sametime privately directing his mate to go forward, andreturn with five or six of the men armed. When theyappeared, the captain told Maquina that he was hisprisoner, and should continue so, until the two men,whom he knew to be on shore, were released, at the sametime ordering him to be put in irons, and the windowssecured, which was instantly done, and a couple of men[230]placed as a guard over him. Maquina was greatly surprisedand terrified at this reception; he, however, madeno attempt to resist, but requested the captain to permitone of his men to come and see him. One of them wasaccordingly called, and Maquina said something to himwhich the captain did not understand, but supposed tobe an order to release us, when, the man returning tothe canoe, it was paddled off with the utmost expeditionto the shore.

As the canoe approached, the inhabitants, who hadall collected upon the beach, manifested some uneasinessat not seeing their king on board, but when, onits arrival, they were told that the captain had madehim a prisoner, and that John had spoke bad about himin the letter, they all, both men and women, set up aloud howl, and ran backwards and forwards upon theshore like so many lunatics, scratching their faces, andtearing the hair in handfuls from their heads.

After they had beat about in this manner for sometime, the men ran to their huts for their weapons, as ifpreparing to attack an invading enemy; while Maquina'swives and the rest of the women came around me, and,throwing themselves on their knees, begged me withtears to spare his life; and Sat-sat-sok-sis, who keptconstantly with me, taking me by the hand, wept bitterly,and joined his entreaties to theirs, that I would not letthe white men kill his father. I told them not to afflictthemselves, that Maquina's life was in no danger, norwould the least harm be done to him.

The men were, however, extremely exasperated withme, more particularly the common people, who camerunning in the most furious manner towards me,[231]brandishing their weapons, and threatening to cut me inpieces no bigger than their thumb-nails, while othersdeclared they would burn me alive over a slow fire suspendedby my heels. All this fury, however, causedme but little alarm, as I felt convinced they would notdare to execute their threats while the king was onboard the brig.

The chiefs took no part in this violent conduct, butcame to me, and inquired the reason why Maquina hadbeen thus treated, and if the captain intended to kill him.I told them that if they would silence the people, sothat I could be heard, I would explain all to them.They immediately put a stop to the noise, when I informedthem that the captain, in confining Maquina, haddone it only in order to make them release Thompsonand myself, as he well knew we were with them; and ifthey would do that, their king would receive no injury,but be well treated, otherwise he would be kept aprisoner.

As many of them did not appear to be satisfied withthis, and began to repeat their murderous threats—"Killme," said I to them, "if it is your wish," throwingopen the bearskin which I wore. "Here is my breast. Iam only one among so many, and can make no resistance;but unless you wish to see your king hanging by hisneck to that pole," pointing to the yard-arm of the brig,"and the sailors firing at him with bullets, you will notdo it."

"Oh no," was the general cry, "that must neverbe; but what must we do?" I told them that theirbest plan would be to send Thompson on board, todesire the captain to use Maquina well till I was released,[232]which would be soon. This they were perfectly willingto do, and I directed Thompson to go on board. Buthe objected, saying that he would not leave me alone withthe savages. I told him not to be under any fear forme, for that if I could get him off, I could manage wellenough for myself; and that I wished him, immediatelyon getting on board the brig, to see the captain, andrequest him to keep Maquina close till I was released, asI was in no danger while he had him safe.

When I saw Thompson off, I asked the natives whatthey intended to do with me. They said I must talk tothe captain again, in another letter, and tell him to lethis boat come on shore with Maquina, and that I shouldbe ready to jump into the boat at the same time Maquinashould jump on shore. I told them that the captain,who knew that they had killed my shipmates, wouldnever trust his men so near the shore, for fear they couldkill them too, as they were so much more numerous,but that if they would select any three of their numberto go with me in a canoe, when we came within hail, Iwould desire the captain to send his boat with Maquina,to receive me in exchange for him.

This appeared to please them, and after some whisperingamong the chiefs, who, from what words I over-heard,concluded that if the captain should refuse tosend his boat with Maquina, the three men would haveno difficulty in bringing me back with them, they agreedto my proposal, and selected three of their stoutest mento convey me. Fortunately, having been for some timeaccustomed to see me armed, and suspecting no designon my part, they paid no attention to the pistols that Ihad about me.[233]

As I was going into the canoe, little Sat-sat-sok-sis,who could not bear to part with me, asked me, with anaffecting 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, forthat no one should injure his father, when, taking anaffectionate leave of me, and again begging me not tolet the white men hurt his father, he ran to comfort hismother, who was at a little distance, with the assurancesI had given him.

On entering the canoe, I seated myself in the prowfacing the three men, having determined, if it waspracticable, from the moment I found Maquina wassecured, to get on board the vessel before he wasreleased, hoping by that means to be enabled to obtainthe restoration of what property belonging to theBostonstill remained in the possession of the savages, which Ithought, if it could be done, a duty that I owed to theowners. With feelings of joy impossible to be describeddid I quit the savage shore, confident now that nothingcould thwart my escape, or prevent the execution of theplan that I had formed, as the men appointed to conveyand guard me were armed with nothing but theirpaddles.

As we came within hail of the brig, they at onceceased paddling, when, presenting my pistols at them, Iordered them instantly to go on, or I would shoot thewhole of them. A proceeding so wholly unexpectedthrew them into great consternation, and, resuming theirpaddles, 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[234]enjoying. All the crew crowded to the side to see me asthe canoe came up, and manifested much joy at my safety.I immediately leaped on board, where I was welcomedby the captain, Samuel Hill, of the brigLydia of Boston,who congratulated me on my escape, informing me thathe had received my letter off Kloiz-zart[137] from the chiefMachee Ulatilla, who came off himself in his canoeto deliver it to him, on which he immediately proceededhither to aid me. I returned him my thanksin the best manner I could for his humanity, though Ihardly knew what I said, such was the agitated state ofmy feelings at that moment, with joy for my escape,thankfulness to the Supreme Being who had so mercifullypreserved me, and gratitude to those whom He hadrendered instrumental in my delivery, that I have nodoubt that, what with my strange dress, being paintedwith red and black from head to foot, having a bearskinwrapped around me, and my long hair, whichI was not allowed to cut, fastened on the topof my head in a large bunch, with a sprig of greenspruce, I must have appeared more like one derangedthan a rational creature, as Captain Hill afterwardstold me that he never saw anything in the form of manlook so wild as I did when I first came on board.

The captain then asked me into the cabin, where Ifound Maquina in irons, with a guard over him. Helooked very melancholy, but on seeing me his countenancebrightened up, and he expressed his pleasure withthe welcome of "Wocash, John," when, taking him bythe hand, I asked the captain's permission to take offhis irons, assuring him that, as I was with him, there was[235]no danger of his being in the least troublesome. Heaccordingly consented, and I felt a sincere pleasure infreeing from fetters a man who, though he had causedthe death of my poor comrades, had nevertheless alwaysproved my friend and protector, and whom I hadrequested to be thus treated, only with a view ofsecuring my liberty. Maquina smiled, and appearedmuch pleased at this mark of attention from me. WhenI had freed the king from his irons, Captain Hill wishedto learn the particulars of our capture, observing thatan account of the destruction of the ship and her crewhad been received at Boston before he sailed, but thatnothing more was known, except that two of the menwere living, for whose rescue the owners had offered aliberal reward, and that he had been able to get nothingout of the old man, whom the sailors had supplied soplentifully with grog as to bring him too much by thehead to give any information.

I gave him a correct statement of the whole proceeding,together with the manner in which my life and thatof my comrade had been preserved. On hearing mystory, he was greatly irritated against Maquina, andsaid he ought to be killed. I observed that, however illhe might have acted in taking our ship, yet that it mightperhaps be wrong to judge an uninformed savage withthe same severity as a civilised person, who had thelight of religion and the laws of society to guide him.That Maquina's conduct in taking our ship arose froman insult that he thought he had received from CaptainSalter, and from the unjustifiable conduct of somemasters of vessels who had robbed him, and, withoutprovocation, killed a number of his people. Besides,[236]that a regard for the safety of others ought to preventhis being put to death, as I had lived long enough withthese people to know that revenge of an injury is heldsacred by them, and that they would not fail to retaliate,should we kill their king, on the first vessel or boat'screw that should give them an opportunity; and that,though he might consider executing him as but an actof justice, it would probably cost the lives of manyAmericans.

The captain appeared to be convinced from what Isaid of the impolicy of taking Maquina's life, and saidthat he would leave it wholly with me whether to spareor kill him, as he was resolved to incur no censure ineither case. I replied that I most certainly should nevertake the life of a man who had preserved mine, had Ino other reason, but as there was some of theBoston'sproperty still remaining on shore, I considered it a dutythat I owed to those who were interested in that ship,to try to save it for them, and with that view I thoughtit would be well to keep him on board till it was givenup. He concurred in this proposal, saying, if there wasany of the property left, it most certainly ought to begot.

During this conversation Maquina was in greatanxiety, as, from what English he knew, he perfectlycomprehended the subject of our deliberation; constantlyinterrupting me to inquire what we had determinedto do with him, what the captain said, if his lifewould be spared, and if I did not think that Thompsonwould kill him. I pacified him as well as I was able,by telling him that he had nothing to fear from thecaptain, that he would not be hurt, and that if Thompson[237]wished to kill him, he would not be allowed to do it.He would then remind me that I was indebted to himfor my life, and that I ought to do by him as he haddone by me. I assured him that such was my intention,and I requested him to remain quiet, and not alarmhimself, as no harm was intended him. But I found itextremely difficult to convince him of this, as it accordedso little with the ideas of revenge entertained by them.I told him, however, that he must restore all the propertystill in his possession belonging to the ship. This hewas perfectly ready to do, happy to escape on suchterms.

But as it was now past five, and too late for thearticles to be collected and brought off, I told him thathe must content himself to remain on board with methat night, and in the morning he should be set on shoreas 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 mehaving been sent back, I hailed the inhabitants and toldthem that their king had agreed to stay on board tillthe next day, when he would return, but that no canoesmust 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 histerrors, that he would not allow me to sleep, constantlydisturbing me with his questions, and repeating, "John,you know, when you was alone, and more than fivehundred men were your enemies, I was your friend, andprevented them from putting you and Thompson todeath, and now I am in the power of your friends, you[238]ought to do the same by me." I assured him that hewould be detained on board no longer than whilst theproperty was released, and that as soon as it was done,he would be set at liberty.

At daybreak I hailed the natives, and told themthat it was Maquina's order that they should bringoff the cannon and anchors, and whatever remainedwith them of the cargo of the ship. This they setabout doing with the utmost expedition, transportingthe cannon and anchors by lashing togethertwo of their largest canoes, and covering them withplanks, and in the course of two hours they deliveredeverything on board that I could recollect, withThompson's and my chest, containing the papers ofthe ship, etc.

When everything belonging to the ship had beenrestored, Maquina was permitted to return in hiscanoe, which had been sent for him, with a presentof what skins he had collected, which were aboutsixty, for the captain, in acknowledgment of hishaving spared his life, and allowed him to departunhurt.

Such was also the transport he felt when Captain Hillcame into the cabin, and told him that he was at libertyto go, that he threw off his mantle, which consisted offour of the very best skins, and gave it to him as a markof his gratitude; in return for which the captain presentedhim with a new greatcoat and hat, with whichhe appeared much delighted. The captain then desiredme to inform him that he should return to that part ofthe coast in November, and that he wished him to keepwhat skins he should get, which he would buy of him.[239]This Maquina promised, saying to me at the same time,"John, you know I shall be then at Tashees, but whenyou come, makepow," which means, fire a gun, "to letme know, and I will come down." When he came tothe side of the brig, he shook me cordially by the hand,and told me that he hoped I would come to see himagain in a big ship, and bring much plenty of blankets,biscuit, molasses, and rum, for him and his son, wholoved me a great deal; and that he would keep all thefurs he got for me, observing at the same time, that heshould never more take a letter of recommendation fromany one, or ever trust himself on board a vessel unless Iwas there. Then, grasping both my hands with muchemotion, while the tears trickled down his cheeks, hebade me farewell, and stept into the canoe, whichimmediately paddled him on shore.

Notwithstanding my joy at my deliverance, and thepleasing anticipation I felt of once more beholding acivilised country, and again being permitted to offer upmy devotions in a Christian church, I could not avoidexperiencing a painful sensation on parting with thesavage chief, who had preserved my life, and in generaltreated me with kindness, and, considering their ideasand manners, much better than could have beenexpected.

My pleasure was also greatly damped by an unfortunateaccident that occurred to Toowinnakinnish. Thatinteresting young chief had come on board in the firstcanoe in the morning, anxious to see and comfort hisking. He was received with much kindness by CaptainHill, from the favourable account I gave of him, andinvited to remain on board. As the muskets were[240]delivered, he was in the cabin with Maquina, where wasalso the captain, who, on receiving them, snapped anumber in order to try the locks; unluckily one of themhappened to be loaded with swan shot, and, going off,discharged its contents into the body of poor Toowinnakinnish,who was sitting opposite. On hearing thereport, I instantly ran into the cabin, where I foundhim weltering in his blood, with the captain, who wasgreatly shocked at the accident, endeavouring to assisthim.

We raised him up, and did everything in our power toaid and comfort him, telling him that we felt muchgrieved at his misfortune, and that it was whollyunintentional; this he told me he was perfectly satisfiedof, and while we dressed and bound up his wounds, inthe best manner we could, he bore the pain with greatcalmness, and, bidding me farewell, was put on boardone of the canoes and taken on shore, where, afterlanguishing a few days, he expired. To me his misfortunewas a source of much affliction, as he had no share inthe massacre of our crew, was of a most amiable character,and had always treated me with the greatest kindnessand hospitality.

The brig being under weigh, immediately onMaquina's quitting us, we proceeded to the northward,constantly keeping the shore in sight, and touching atvarious places for the purpose of trading.

Having already exceeded the bounds I had prescribedmyself, I shall not attempt any account of our voyageupon the coast, or a description of the various nationswe met with in the course of it, among whom were apeople of a very singular appearance, called by the[241]sailors theWooden-lips.[138] They have many skins, andthe trade is principally managed by their women, whoare not only expert in making a bargain, but as dexterousin the management of their canoes as the men are elsewhere.

After a period of nearly four months from our leavingNootka, we returned from the northward to ColumbiaRiver, for the purpose of procuring masts, etc., for ourbrig, which had suffered considerably in her spars duringa gale of wind. We proceeded about ten miles up theriver to a small Indian village, where we heard fromthe inhabitants that Captains Clark and Lewis, fromthe United States of America, had been there about afortnight before, on their journey overland, and had leftseveral medals with them, which they showed us.[139] Theriver at this place is of considerable breadth, and bothsides of it from its entrance covered with forests of thevery finest pine timber, fir, and spruce, interspersed withIndian settlements.

From this place, after providing ourselves with spars, wesailed for Nootka, where we arrived in the latter part ofNovember.[140] The tribe being absent, the agreed signal[242]was given, by firing a cannon, and in a few hours after acanoe appeared, which landed at the village, and, puttingthe king on shore, came off to the brig. Inquiry wasimmediately made by Kinneclimmets, who was one ofthe three men in the canoe, if John was there, as theking had some skins to sell them if he was. I thenwent forward and invited them on board, with whichthey readily complied, telling me that Maquina had anumber of skins with him, but that he would not comeon board unless I would go on shore for him. This Iagreed to, provided they would remain in the brig in themeantime. To this they consented, and the captain,taking them into the cabin, treated them with bread andmolasses. I then went on shore in the canoe, notwithstandingthe remonstrances of Thompson and the captain,who, though he wanted the skins, advised me by nomeans to put myself in Maquina's power; but I assuredhim that I had no fear as long as those men were onboard.

As I landed, Maquina came up and welcomed me withmuch joy: on inquiring for the men, I told him thatthey were to remain till my return. "Ah, John," saidhe, "I see you are afraid to trust me, but if they hadcome with you, I should not have hurt you, though Ishould have taken good care not to let you go on boardof another vessel." He then took his chest of skins, and,stepping into the canoe, I paddled him alongside thebrig, where he was received and treated by Captain Hill[243]with the greatest cordiality, who bought of him his skins.He left us much pleased with his reception, inquiring ofme how many moons it would be before I should comeback again to see him and his son; saying that he wouldkeep all his furs for me, and that as soon as my son, whowas then about five months old, was of a suitable age totake from his mother, he would send for him, and takecare of him as his own.[141]

As soon as Maquina had quitted us, we got underweigh, and stood again to the northward. We continuedon the coast until the 11th of August, 1806,[142] when,having completed our trade, we sailed for China, to thegreat 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 nothingshould again tempt me to return, and as the topsof the mountains sank in the blue waves of theocean, I seemed to feel my heart lightened of anoppressive load.

We had a prosperous passage to China, arriving atMacao in December, from whence the brig proceededto Canton. There I had the good fortune to meet atownsman and an old acquaintance in the mate of anEnglish East Indiaman, named John Hill, whose father,a wealthy merchant in Hull in the Baltic trade, was anext-door neighbour to mine. Shortly after our arrival,[244]the captain being on board of an English ship, and mentioninghis having had the good fortune to liberate twomen of theBoston's crew from the savages, and that oneof them was named Jewitt, my former acquaintanceimmediately 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 entirestrangers to me, to meet thus in a foreign land with onebetween whom and myself a considerable intimacy hadsubsisted, was a pleasure that those alone who havebeen in a similar situation can properly estimate. Heappeared on his part no less happy to see me, whom hesupposed to be dead, as the account of our capture hadbeen 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 aidthat a feeling heart interested in the fate of another couldconfer. He supplied me with a new suit of clothes and ahat, a small sum of money for my necessary expenses,and a number of little articles for sea stores on myvoyage to America. I also gave him a letter for myfather, in which I mentioned my wonderful preservationand escape through the humanity of Captain Hill, withwhom I should return to Boston. This letter he enclosedto his father by a ship that was just sailing, inconsequence of which it was received much earlier thanit otherwise would have been.

We left China in February 1807, and, after a pleasantvoyage of one hundred and fourteen days, arrived atBoston. My feelings on once more finding myself in aChristian country, among a people speaking the samelanguage with myself, may be more readily conceived[245]than expressed. In the post office in that place I founda letter for me from my mother, acknowledging thereceipt of mine from China, expressing the great joy ofmy family on hearing of my being alive and well, whomthey had for a long time given up for dead, and requestingme to write to them on receiving her letter, which Iaccordingly did. While in Boston I was treated withmuch kindness and hospitality by the owners of theshipBoston, Messrs. Francis and Thomas Amory of thatplace, to whom I feel myself under great obligations fortheir goodness to me, and the assistance which they soreadily afforded a stranger in distress.

[246]

[247]

APPENDIX

I.The "Boston's" Crew

[248]

II.War-Song of The Nootka Tribe

Repeated over and over, with gestures and brandishing of weapons.

Ie-yee ma hi-chill signifies, "Ye do not know." It appears to be a poeticalmode of expression, the common one for "You do not know" beingWik-kum-atash; from this, it would seem that they have two languages,one for their songs and another for common use. The general meaning ofthis first stanza appears to be, "Ye little know, ye men of Klahar, whatvaliant warriors we are. Poorly can our foes contend with us, when wecome on with our daggers," etc.

The Nootkians have no songs of an historical nature, nor do they appearto have any tradition respecting their origin.[145]

[249]

III.A List of Words

[252]

[253]

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
[254]

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 theLydia,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
[255]
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 theLydia,232

Tootoosch—
Description of,174
Death of,181
Funeral of,182
Singular Derangement of,176
[256]
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

[257]

The Investors' Review.

Vol. I. (1892) and Vol. II. (1893).Cloth, 21s. each. Vol. III.(January-June 1894), Vol. IV. (July-December 1894), Vol. V.(January-June 1895), and Vol. VI. (July-December 1895).Cloth, 7s. 6d. net.

THE INVESTORS' REVIEW is entirely independent. Itdeals with all subjects which may affect the value ofinvestments, social and political, as well as financial.

Besides articles on economic questions and the economic sideof politics, written from original standpoints, theInvestors'Review contains many notes and hints on subjects of currentinterest to investors, carefully compiled historical analyses ofindividual Joint-Stock Companies, short résumés of the latestpublished Company Balance-Sheets, and occasional Critical Noteson New Investments offered to the public of any plausibilityor importance. These are invariably written from the point ofview of an impartial and experienced observer.

This Review is indispensable to all who desire, not mere markettips, but the actual truth about public securities. It allows them tosee the inside of London finance with a thoroughness and outspokennessno other publication of the kind attempts.

[258]

The Investment Index.

Contains a List of Securities, arranged in the order of theLondon Stock Exchange Official List, and their yields atcurrent prices indicated, in a clear and effective manner, so as toenable investors to see at a glance what stocks pay and what theirposition is. Selections from Provincial Stock Exchange Lists arealso included.

In addition to this List, the Investment Index contains plaincritical notes on balance-sheets, on the finances of foreign states andmunicipalities, and other matters of interest to people with moneyinvested or to invest.

[259]

THE HISTORY OF CURRENCY,
1252-1894.

Being an Account of the Gold and Silver Moneysand Monetary Standards of Europe and America,together with an Examination of the effects ofCurrency and Exchange Phenomena on Commercialand National Progress and Well-being.

English Monetary History,
1626-1730.

[260]

A Glossary of Colloquial, Slang,
and Technical Terms

IN USE ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE AND IN THE MONEY MARKET.

This little Work covers more ground than its title implies, sinceit embraces not only the Language peculiar to the Stock Markets,but often goes beyond that, and offers its Readers valuable counsel.

Labour, Socialism, and Strikes.

[261]

Heroes in Homespun.

Scenes and Stories From the AmericanEmancipation Movement.

THE
SECRET OF WARDALE COURT.
And Other Stories.

[262]

THE LIFE OF
THOMAS WANLESS, PEASANT.

NICOL THAIN, MATERIALIST.

[263]

ROBERT BURNS.

THE POEMS, EPISTLES, SONGS, EPIGRAMS,
AND EPITAPHS.

[264]

THE ADVENTURES OF
JOHN JEWITT,

A CHRISTIAN WITH TWO WIVES.