Volume 16 / Part 3 — CHAPTER IV. TRANSACTIONS AMONGST THE NATIVES OF NORTH AMERICA; DISCOVERIES ALONG THAT COAST AND THE EASTERN EXTREMITY OF ASIA, NORTHWARD TO ICY CAPE; AND RETURN SOUTHWARD TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.

SECTION I.

The Ships enter the Sound, and moor in a Harbour.—Intercourse with the Natives.—Articles brought to barter.—Thefts committed.—The Observatories erected, and Carpenters set to work.—Jealousy of the Inhabitants of the Sound to prevent other Tribes having Intercourse with the Ships.—Stormy and rainy Weather.—Progress round the Sound.—Behaviour of the Natives at their Villages.—Their Manner of drying fish, &c.—Remarkable Visit from Strangers, and introductory Ceremonies.—A second Visit to one of the Villages.—Leave to cut Grass, purchased.—The Ships sail.—Presents given and received at parting.

The ships having happily found so excellent shelter in an inlet, the coasts of which appeared to be inhabited by a race of people, whose inoffensive behaviour promised a friendly intercourse, the next morning, after coming to anchor, I lost no time in endeavouring to find a commodious harbour where we might station ourselves during our continuance in the Sound. Accordingly, I sent three armed boats, under the command of Mr King, upon this service; and soon after, I went myself, in a small boat, on the same search. I had very little trouble in finding what we wanted. On the N.W. of the arm we were now in, and not far from the ships, I met with a convenient snug cove well suited to our purpose. Mr King was equally successful; for he returned about noon, with an account of a still better harbour, which he had seen and examined, lying on the N.W. side of the land. But as it would have required more time to carry the ships thither, than to the cove where I had been, which was immediately within our reach, this reason operated to determine my choice in favour of the latter situation. But being apprehensive, that we should not be able to transport our ships to it, and to moor them properly, before night came on, I thought it best to remain where we were till next morning; and, that no time might be lost, I employed the remainder of the day to some useful purposes, ordering the sails to be unbent, the top-masts to be struck, and the fore-mast of the Resolution to be unrigged, in order to fix a new bib, one of the old ones being decayed.

A great many canoes, filled with the natives, were about the ships all day, and a trade commenced betwixt us and them, which was carried on with the strictest honesty on both sides. The articles which they offered to sale were skins of various animals, such as bears, wolves, foxes, deer, rackoons, pole-cats, martins, and, in particular, of the sea-otters, which are found at the islands E. of Kamtschatka. Besides the skins in their native shape, they also brought garments made of them, and another sort of cloathing made of the bark of a tree, or some plant like hemp; weapons, such as bows, arrows, and spears; fish-hooks, and instruments of various kinds; wooden-vizors of many different monstrous figures; a sort of woollen stuff, or blanketing; bags filled with red ochre; pieces of carved work, beads, and several other little ornaments of thin brass and iron, shaped like a horse-shoe, which they hang at their noses; and several chisels, or pieces of iron, fixed to handles. From their possessing which metals, we could infer that they had either been visited before by some civilized nation, or had connections with tribes on their continent, who had communication with them. But the most extraordinary of all the articles which they brought to the ships for sale, were human skulls, and hands not yet quite stripped of the flesh, which they made our people plainly understand they had eaten; and, indeed, some of them had evident marks that they had been upon the fire. We had but too much reason to suspect, from this circumstance, that the horrid practice of feeding on their enemies is as prevalent here, as we had found it to be at New Zealand and other South Sea Islands. For the various articles which they brought, they took in exchange knives, chisels, pieces of iron and tin, nails, looking-glasses, buttons, or any kind of metal. Glass-beads they were not fond of, and cloth of every sort they rejected.

We employed the next day in hauling our ships into the cove, where they were moored head and stern, fastening our hawsers to the trees on shore. On heaving up the anchor of the Resolution, we found, notwithstanding the great depth of water in which it was let go, that there were rocks at the bottom. These had done some considerable damage to the cable; and the hawsers that were carried out to warp the ship into the cove also got foul of rocks, from which it appeared that the whole bottom was strewed with them. The ship being again very leaky in her upper works, I ordered the carpenters to go to work to caulk her, and to repair such other defects as, on examination, we might discover.

The fame of our arrival brought a great concourse of the natives to our ships in the course of this day. We counted above a hundred canoes at one time, which might be supposed to contain, at an average, five persons each; for few of them had less than three on board; great numbers had seven, eight, or nine, and one was manned with no less than seventeen. Amongst these visitors, many now favoured us with their company for the first time, which we could guess, from their approaching the ships with their orations and other ceremonies. If they had any distrust or fear of us at first, they now appeared to have laid it aside; for they came on board the ships, and mixed with our people with the greatest freedom. We soon discovered, by this nearer intercourse, that they were as light-fingered as any of our friends in the islands we had visited in the course of the voyage. And they were far more dangerous thieves; for, possessing sharp iron-instruments, they could cut a hook from a tackle, or any other piece of iron from a rope, the instant that our backs were turned. A large hook, weighing between twenty and thirty pounds, several smaller ones, and other articles of iron, were lost in this manner. And, as to our boats, they stripped them of every bit of iron that was worth carrying away, though we had always men left in them as a guard. They were dexterous enough in effecting their purposes; for one fellow would contrive to amuse the boat-keeper, at one end of a boat, while another was pulling out the iron-work at the other. If we missed a thing immediately after it had been stolen, we found little difficulty in detecting the thief, as they were ready enough to impeach one another. But the guilty person generally relinquished his prize with reluctance, and sometimes we found it necessary to have recourse to force.

The ships being securely moored, we began our other necessary business the next day. The observatories were carried ashore, and placed upon an elevated rock on one side of the cove, close to the Resolution. A party of men, with an officer, was sent to cut wood, and to clear a place for the conveniency of watering. Others were employed to brew spruce-beer, as pine-trees abounded here. The forge was also set up, to make the iron-work wanting for the repairs of the fore-mast. For, besides one of the bibs being defective, the larboard trestle-tree and one of the cross-trees were sprung.

A considerable number of the natives visited us daily; and every now and then we saw new faces. On their first coming, they generally went through a singular mode of introducing themselves. They would paddle, with all their strength, quite round both ships, a chief, or other principal person in the canoe, standing up with a spear, or some other weapon, in his hand, and speaking, or rather hollowing, all the time. Sometimes the orator of the canoe would have his face covered with a mask, representing either a human visage, or that of some animal; and, instead of a weapon, would hold a rattle in his hand, as before described. After making this circuit round the ships, they would come alongside, and begin to trade without further ceremony. Very often, indeed, they would first give us a song, in which all in the canoe joined, with a very pleasing harmony.

During these visits, they gave us no other trouble than to guard against their thievish tricks. But, in the morning of the 4th, we had a serious alarm. Our party on shore, who were employed in cutting wood, and filling water, observed, that the natives all around them were arming themselves in the best manner they could; those, who were not possessed of proper weapons, preparing sticks, and collecting stones. On hearing this, I thought it prudent to arm also; but, being determined to act upon the defensive, I ordered all our workmen to retreat to the rock, upon which we had placed our observatories, leaving the natives in quiet possession of the ground where they had assembled, which was within a stone's throw of the Resolution's stern. Our fears were ill-grounded; these hostile preparations were not directed against us, but against a body of their own countrymen, who were coming to fight them; and our friends of the Sound, on observing our apprehensions, used their best endeavours to convince us that this was the case. We could see that they had people looking out on each point of the cove, and canoes frequently passed between them and the main body assembled near the ships. At length, the adverse party, in about a dozen large canoes, appeared off the S. point of the cove, where they stopped, and lay drawn up in a line of battle, a negotiation having commenced. Some people in canoes, in conducting the treaty, passed between the two parties, and there was some speaking on both sides. At length, the difference, whatever it was, seemed to be compromised; but the strangers were not allowed to come alongside the ships, nor to have any trade or intercourse with us. Probably we were the cause of the quarrel; the strangers, perhaps, being desirous to share in the advantages of a trade with us, and our first friends, the inhabitants of the Sound, being determined to engross us entirely to themselves. We had proofs of this on several other occasions, nay, it appeared, that even those who lived in the Sound were not united in the same cause; for the weaker were frequently obliged to give way to the stronger party, and plundered of every thing, without attempting to make the least resistance.

We resumed our work in the afternoon, and the next day rigged the fore-mast; the head of which being rather too small for the cap, the carpenter went to work, to fix a piece on one side, to fill up the vacant space. In cutting into the mast-head for this purpose, and examining the state of it, both cheeks were found to be so rotten, that there was no possibility of repairing them, and it became necessary to get the mast out, and to fix new ones upon it. It was evident, that one of the cheeks had been defective at the first, and that the unsound part had been cut out, and a piece put in, which had not only weakened the mast-head, but had, in a great measure, been the occasion of rotting every other part of both cheeks. Thus, when we were almost ready to put to sea, we had all our work to do over again; and, what was still more provoking, an additional repair was to be undertaken, which would require some time to be completed. But, as there was no remedy, we immediately set about it. It was fortunate for the voyage, that these defects were discovered, when we were in a place, where the materials requisite were to be procured. For, amongst the drift-wood, in the cove where the ships lay, were some small seasoned trees very fit for our purpose. One of these was pitched upon, and the carpenters began, without loss of time, to make out of it two new cheeks.

In the morning of the 7th, we got the fore-mast out, and hauled it ashore, and the carpenters of the ships were set to work upon it. Some parts of the lower standing rigging having been found to be very much decayed, as we had time now to put them in order, while the carpenters were repairing the fore-mast, I ordered a new set of main-rigging to be fitted, and a more perfect set of fore-rigging to be selected out of the best parts of the old.

From the time of our putting into the Sound till now, the weather had been exceedingly fine, without either wind or rain. That comfort, at the very moment when the continuance of it would have been of most service, was withdrawn. In the morning of the 8th, the wind freshened at S.E., attended with thick hazy weather and rain. In the afternoon the wind increased; and, toward the evening, it blew very hard indeed. It came, in excessively heavy squalls, from over the high land on the opposite shore, right into the cove, and, though the ships were very well moored, put them in some danger. These tempestuous blasts succeeded each other pretty quick, but they were of short duration, and in the intervals between them we had a perfect calm. According to the old proverb, Misfortunes seldom come single; the mizen was now the only mast on board the Resolution that remained rigged, with its top-mast up. The former was so defective, that it could not support the latter during the violence of the squalls, but gave way at the head under the rigging. About eight o'clock the gale abated; but the rain continued with very little intermission for several days; and, that the carpenters might be enabled to proceed in their labours, while it prevailed, a tent was erected over the fore-mast, where they could work with some degree of convenience.

The bad weather which now came on, did not, however, hinder the natives from visiting us daily; and, in such circumstances, their visits were very advantageous to us. For they frequently brought us a tolerable supply of fish, when we could not catch any ourselves with hook and line; and there was not a proper place near us where we could draw a net. The fish which they brought us were either sardines, or what resembled them much; a small kind of bream; and sometimes small cod.

On the 11th, notwithstanding the rainy weather, the main-rigging was fixed and got over head; and our employment, the day after, was to take down the mizen-mast, the head of which proved to be so rotten, that it dropped off while in the slings. In the evening we were visited by a tribe of natives whom we had never seen before, and who, in general, were better-looking people than most of our old friends, some of whom attended them. I prevailed upon these visitors to go down into the cabin for the first time, and observed, that there was not a single object that fixed the attention of most of them for a moment; their countenances marking, that they looked upon all our novelties with the utmost indifference. This, however, was not without exception; for a few of the company shewed a certain degree of curiosity.

In the afternoon of the next day, I went into the woods with a party of our men, and cut down a tree for a mizen-mast. On the day following, it was brought to the place where the carpenters were employed upon the fore-mast. In the evening the wind, which had been, for some time, westerly, veered to S.E., and increased to a very hard gale, with rain, which continued till eight o'clock the next morning, when it abated, and veered again to the W.

The fore-mast being by this time finished, we hauled it alongside; but the bad weather prevented our getting it in till the afternoon; and we set about rigging it with the greatest expedition, while the carpenters were going on with the mizen-mast on shore. They had made very considerable progress in it on the 16th, when they discovered that the stick upon which they were at work was sprung, or wounded, owing, as supposed, to some accident in cutting it down. So that all their labour was thrown away, and it became necessary to get another tree out of the woods, which employed all hands above half a day. During these various operations, several of the natives, who were about the ships, looked on with an expressive silent surprise, which we did not expect; from their general indifference and inattention.

On the 18th, a party of strangers, in six or eight canoes, came into the cove, where they remained, looking at us, for some time, and then retired, without coming alongside either ship. We supposed, that our old friends, who were more numerous at this time about us, than these new visitors, would not permit them to have any intercourse with us. It was evident, upon this and several other occasions, that the inhabitants of the adjoining parts of the Sound engrossed us entirely to themselves; or if, at any time, they did not hinder strangers from trading with us, they contrived to manage the trade for them in such a manner, that the price of their commodities was always kept up; while the value of ours was lessening every day. We also found, that many of the principal natives, who lived near us, carried on a trade with more distant tribes, in the articles they had procured from us. For we observed that they would frequently disappear for four or five days at a time, and then return with fresh cargoes of skins and curiosities, which our people were so passionately fond of, that they always came to a good market. But we received most benefit from such of the natives as visited us daily. These, after disposing of all their little trifles, turned their attention to fishing; and we never failed to partake of what they caught. We also got from these people a considerable quantity of very good animal oil, which they had reserved in bladders. In this traffic some would attempt to cheat us, by mixing water with the oil; and, once or twice, they had the address to carry their imposition so far, as to fill their bladders with mere water, without a single drop of oil. It was always better to bear with these tricks, than to make them the foundation of a quarrel; for our articles of traffic consisted, for the most part, of mere trifles; and yet we were put to our shifts to find a constant supply even of these. Beads, and such other toys, of which I had still some left, were in little estimation. Nothing would go down with our visitors but metal; and brass had, by this time, supplanted iron, being so eagerly sought after, that before we left this place, hardly a bit of it was left in the ships, except what belonged to our necessary instruments. Whole suits of clothes were stripped of every button; bureaus of their furniture; and copper-kettles, tin-cannisters, candle-sticks, and the like, all went to wreck; so that our American friends here got a greater medley and variety of things from us, than any other nation whom we had visited in the course of the voyage.

After a fortnight's bad weather, the 19th proving a fair day, we availed ourselves of it, to get up the top-masts and yards, and to fix up the rigging. And, having now finished most of our heavy work, I set out the next morning to take a view of the Sound. I first went to the W. point, where I found a large village, and, before it, a very snug harbour, in which was from nine to four fathoms water, over a bottom of fine sand. The people of this village, who were numerous, and to most of whom I was well known, received me very courteously; every one pressing me to go into his house, or rather his apartment; for several families live under the same roof. I did not decline the invitations, and my hospitable friends, whom I visited, spread a mat for me to sit down upon, and shewed me every other mark of civility. In most of the houses were women at work, making dresses of the plant or bark before mentioned, which they executed exactly in the same manner that the New Zealanders manufacture their cloth. Others were occupied in opening sardines. I had seen a large quantity of them brought on shore from canoes, and divided by measure amongst several people, who carried them up to their houses, where the operation of curing them by smoke-drying is performed. They hang them on small rods, at first, about a foot from the fire; afterward they remove them higher and higher, to make room for others, till the rods, on which the fish hang, reach the top of the house. When they are completely dried, they are taken down and packed close in bales, which they cover with mats. Thus they are kept till wanted; and they are not a disagreeable article of food. Cod, and other large fish, are also cured in the same manner by them; though they sometimes dry these in the open air, without fire.

From this village I proceeded up the west side of the Sound. For about three miles, I found the shore covered with small islands, which are so situated as to form several convenient harbours, having various depths of water, from thirty to seven fathoms, with a good bottom. Two leagues within the Sound, on this west side, there runs in an arm in the direction of N.N.W.; and two miles farther, is another nearly in the same direction, with a pretty large island before it. I had no time to examine either of these arms; but have reason to believe, that they do not extend far inland, as the water was no more than brackish at their entrances. A mile above the second arm, I found the remains of a village. The logs or framings of the houses were standing; but the boards that had composed their sides and roofs did not exist. Before this village were some large fishing wears; but I saw nobody attending them. These wears were composed of pieces of wicker-work made of small rods, some closer than others, according to the size of the fish intended to be caught in them. These pieces of wicker-work (some of whose superficies are, at least, twenty feet by twelve), are fixed up edgewise in shallow water, by strong poles or pickets, that stand firm in the ground. Behind this ruined village is a plain of a few acres extent, covered with the largest pine-trees that I ever saw. This was more remarkable, as the elevated ground, on most other parts of this west side of the Sound, was rather naked.

From this place, I crossed over to the other, or east side of the Sound, passing an arm of it that runs in N.N.E., to appearance not far. I now found, what I had before conjectured, that the land, under which the ships lay, was an island; and that there were many smaller ones lying scattered in the Sound on the west side of it. Opposite the north end of our large island, upon the main land, I observed a village, and there I landed. The inhabitants of it were not so polite as those of the other I had just visited. But this cold reception seemed, in a great measure, if not entirely, owing to one surly chief, who would not let me enter their houses, following me wherever I went; and several times, by expressive signs, marking his impatience that I should be gone. I attempted in vain to sooth him by presents, but though he did not refuse them, they did not alter his behaviour. Some of the young women, better pleased with us than was their inhospitable chief, dressed themselves expeditiously in their best apparel, and, assembling in a body, welcomed us to their village, by joining in a song, which was far from harsh or disagreeable.

The day being now far spent, I proceeded for the ships, round the north end of the large island; meeting, in my way, with several canoes laden with sardines, which had been just caught, somewhere in the east corner of the Sound. When I got on board, I was informed, that, while I was absent, the ships had been visited by some strangers, in two or three large canoes, who, by signs, made our people understand that they had come from the S.E., beyond the bay. They brought several skins, garments, and other articles, which they bartered. But what was most singular, two silver table-spoons were purchased from them, which, from their peculiar shape, we supposed to be of Spanish manufacture. One of these strangers wore them round his neck, by way of ornament. These visitors also appeared to be more plentifully supplied with iron than the inhabitants of the Sound.

The mizen-mast being finished, it was got in, and rigged, on the 21st; and the carpenters were set to work to make a new fore-top-mast, to replace the one that had been carried away some time before.

Next morning, about eight o'clock, we were visited by a number of strangers, in twelve or fourteen canoes. They came into the cove from the southward, and as soon as they had turned the point of it, they stopped, and lay drawn up in a body above half an hour, about two or three hundred yards from the ships. At first, we thought, that they were afraid to come nearer; but we were mistaken in this, and they were only preparing an introductory ceremony. On advancing toward the ships, they all stood up in their canoes, and began to sing. Some of their songs, in which the whole body joined, were in a slow, and others in quicker time; and they accompanied their notes with the most regular motions of their hands; or beating in concert, with their paddles, on the sides of the canoes, and making other very expressive gestures. At the end of each song, they remained silent a few seconds, and then began again, sometimes pronouncing the word hooee! forcibly, as a chorus. After entertaining us with this specimen of their music, which we listened to with admiration, for above half an hour, they came alongside the ships, and bartered what they had to dispose of. Some of our old friends of the Sound were now found to be amongst them, and they took the whole management of the traffic between us and the strangers, much to the advantage of the latter.

Our attendance on these visitors being finished, Captain Clerke and I went, in the forenoon, with two boats, to the village at the west point of the Sound. When I was there before, I had observed, that plenty of grass grew near it; and it was necessary to lay in a quantity of this, as food for the few goats and sheep which were still left on board. The inhabitants received us with the same demonstrations of friendship which I had experienced before; and the moment we landed, I ordered some of my people to begin their operation of cutting. I had not the least imagination, that the natives could make any objection to our furnishing ourselves with what seemed to be of no use to them, but was necessary for us. However, I was mistaken; for, the moment that our men began to cut, some of the inhabitants interposed, and would not permit them to proceed, saying they must "makook," that is, must first buy it. I was now in one of the houses; but as soon as I heard of this, I went to the field, where I found about a dozen of the natives, each of whom laid claim to some part of the grass that grew in this place. I bargained with them for it, and having completed the purchase, thought that we were now at liberty to cut wherever we pleased. But here, again, it appeared, that I was under a mistake; for the liberal manner in which I had paid the first pretended proprietors, brought fresh demands upon me from others; so that there did not seem to be a single blade of grass, that had not a separate owner, and so many of them were to be satisfied, that I very soon emptied my pockets. When they found that I really had nothing more to give, their importunities ceased, and we were permitted to cut where-ever we pleased, and as much as we chose to carry away.

During the time I was at this village, Mr Webber, who had attended me thither, made drawings of every thing that was curious, both within and without doors. I had also an opportunity of inspecting more narrowly, the construction of the houses, household furniture, and utensils, and the striking peculiarities of the customs and modes of living of the inhabitants. These shall be described in another place, in the best manner I can, calling in to my assistance the observations of Mr Anderson. When we had completed all our operations at this village, the natives and we parted very good friends, and we got back to the ships in the afternoon.

The three following days were employed in getting ready to put to sea; the sails were bent, the observatories and instruments, brewing vessels, and other things, were moved from the shore; some small spars, for different uses, and pieces of timber, which might be occasionally sawn into boards, were prepared and put on board; and both ships were cleared, and put into a sailing condition.

Every thing being now ready, in the morning of the 26th, I intended to have put to sea; but both wind and tide being against us, was obliged to wait till noon, when the S.W. wind was succeeded by a calm, and the tide turning in our favour, we cast off the moorings, and with our boats towed the ships out of the cove. After this, we had variable light airs and calms, till four in the afternoon, when a breeze sprung up northerly, with very thick, hazy weather. The mercury in the barometer fell unusually low, and we had every other fore-runner of an approaching storm, which we had reason to expect would be from the southward. This made me hesitate a little, as night was at hand, whether I should venture to sail, or wait till the next morning. But my anxious impatience to proceed upon the voyage, and the fear of losing this opportunity of getting out of the Sound, making a greater impression on my mind, than any apprehension of immediate danger, I determined to put to sea at all events.

Such particulars about the country, and its inhabitants, as came to our knowledge during our short stay, and have not been mentioned in the course of the narrative, will furnish materials for the two following sections.

SECTION II.

The Name of the Sound, and Directions for Sailing into it.—Account of the adjacent Country.—Weather.—Climate.—Trees.—Other Vegetable Productions.—Quadrupeds, whose Skins were brought for Sale.—Sea Animals.—Description of a Sea Otter.—Birds.—Water Fowl.—Fish.—Shell-fish, &c.—Reptiles.—Insects.—Stones, &c.—Persons of the Inhabitants.—Their Colour.—Common Dress and Ornaments.—Occasional Dresses, and monstrous Decorations of wooden Masks.—Their general Dispositions.—Songs.—Musical Instruments.—Their Eagerness to possess Iron and other Metals.

On my arrival in this inlet, I had honoured it with the name of King George's Sound; but I afterward found, that it is called Nootka by the natives. The entrance is situated in the east corner of Hope Bay, in the latitude of 49° 33' N., and in the longitude of 233° 12' E. The east coast of that bay, all the way from Breaker's Point to the entrance of the Sound, is covered by a chain of sunken rocks, that seemed to extend some distance from the shore; and, near the Sound, are some islands and rocks above water.

We enter this Sound between two rocky points, that lie E.S.E., and W.N.W. from each other, distant between three and four miles. Within these points the Sound widens considerably, and extends in, to the northward, four leagues at least, exclusive of the several branches toward its bottom, the termination of which we had not an opportunity to ascertain. But, from the circumstance of finding that the water freshened where our boats crossed their entrance, it is probable that they had almost reached its utmost limits. And this probability is increased by the hills that bounded it toward the land, being covered with thick snow, when those toward the sea, or where we lay, had not a speck remaining on them, though, in general, they were much higher. In the middle of the Sound are a number of islands of various sizes. The depth of water in the middle of the Sound, and even close home to some parts of its shore, is from forty-seven to ninety fathoms, and perhaps more. The harbours, and anchoring-places within its circuit, are numerous; but we had no time to survey them. The cove in which our ships lay is on the east side of the Sound, and on the east side of the largest of the islands. It is covered from the sea, but has little else to recommend it, being exposed to the S.E. winds, which we found to blow with great violence; and the devastation they make sometimes was apparent in many places.

The land bordering upon the sea-coast is of a middling height and level; but within the Sound, it rises almost every-where into steep hills, which agree in their general formation, ending in round or blunted tops, with some sharp, though not very prominent, ridges on their sides. Some of these hills may be reckoned high, while others of them are of a very moderate height; but even the highest are entirely covered to their tops with the thickest woods; as well as every flat part toward the sea. There are sometimes spots upon the sides of some of the hills which are bare; but they are few, in comparison of the whole, though they sufficiently point out the general rocky disposition of these hills. Properly speaking, they have no soil upon them, except a kind of compost, produced from rotten mosses and trees, of the depth of two feet or more. Their foundations are, therefore, to be considered as nothing more than stupendous rocks, of a whitish or grey cast, where they have been exposed to the weather; but, when broken, they appeared to be of a blueish grey colour, like that universal sort which were found at Kerguelen's Land. The rocky shores are a continued mass of this; and the little coves, in the Sound, have beaches composed of fragments of it, with a few other pebbles. All these coves are furnished with a great quantity of fallen wood lying in them, which is carried in by the tide; and with rills of fresh water, sufficient for the use of a ship, which seem to be supplied entirely from the rains, and fogs that hover about the tops of the hills. For few springs can be expected in so rocky a country, and the fresh water found farther up the Sound, most probably arose from the melting of the snow; there being no room to suspect, that any large river falls into the Sound, either from strangers coming down it, or from any other circumstance. The water of these rills is perfectly clear, and dissolves soap easily.

The weather, during our stay, corresponded pretty nearly with that which we had experienced off the coast. That is, when the wind was any where between N. and W., the weather was fine and clear; but if to the southward of W., hazy with rain. The climate, as far as we had any experience of it, is infinitely milder than that on the east coast of America, under the same parallel of latitude. The mercury in the thermometer never, even in the night, fell lower than 42°, and very often, in the day, it rose to 60°. No such thing as frost was perceived in any of the low ground; on the contrary, vegetation had made a considerable progress, for I met with grass that was already above a foot long.

The trees which chiefly compose the woods, are the Canadian pine, white cypress, cypressus thyoides, the wild pine, with two or three other sorts of pine less common. The two first make up almost two-thirds of the whole; and, at a distance, might be mistaken for the same tree, as they both run up into pointed spire-like tops, but they are easily distinguished on coming nearer from their colour, the cypress being of a much paler green, or shade, than the other. The trees, in general, grow with great vigour, and are all of a large size.

There is but little variety of other vegetable productions, though, doubtless, several had not yet sprung up at the early season when we visited the place, and many more might be hid from the narrow sphere of our researches. About the rocks, and verge of the woods, we found strawberry-plants, some raspberry, currant, and gooseberry bushes, which were all in a most flourishing state, with a few small black alder-trees. There are, likewise, a species of sow-thistle, goose-grass, some crow's-foot, which has a very fine crimson flower, and two sorts of anthericum, one with a large orange flower, and the other with a blue one. We also found, in these situations, some wild rose-bushes, which were just budding, a great quantity of young leeks, with, triangular leaves, a small sort of grass, and some water-cresses, which grow about the sides of the rills, besides great abundance of andromeda. Within the woods, besides two sorts of underwood shrubs unknown to us, are mosses and ferns. Of the first of which, are seven or eight different sorts, of the last, not above three or four, and the species of both, are mostly such as are common to Europe and America.

As the season of the year was unfavourable to our gaining much knowledge of the vegetable productions of this country, so our own situation while there, put it out of our power to learn much about its animals. For as the want of water made it necessary that we should enter the Sound at first, unforeseen accidents which happened afterward, though they lengthened our stay, were rather unfavourable to our obtaining any knowledge of this kind. The emergency of the case required, that every person should be constantly employed in the necessary business of the ships, which was the capital object, as the season was advancing very fast, and the success of the voyage depended upon their diligence and alacrity in expediting the various tasks assigned to them. Hence it happened, that excursions of every kind, either on the land, or by water, were never attempted. And as we lay in a cove on an island, no other animals were ever seen alive in the woods there, than two or three racoons, martins, and squirrels. Besides these, some of our people who, one day, landed on the continent, near the S.E. side of the entrance of the sound, observed the prints of a bear's feet near the shore. The account, therefore, that we can give of the quadrupeds, is taken from the skins which the natives brought to sell; and these were often so mutilated with respect to the distinguishing parts, such as the paws, tails, and heads, that it was impossible even to guess at the animals to whom they belonged, though others were so perfect, or at least so well known, that they left no room to doubt about them.

We were clear as to the existence of all the animals already mentioned, but there are two others besides, which we could not distinguish with sufficient certainty. Of the first of these we saw none of the skins, but what were dressed or tanned like leather. The natives wear them on some occasions; and from the size as well as the thickness, they were generally concluded to belong to the elk, or mouse-deer, though some of them perhaps might belong to the buffalo. The other animal, which seems by no means rare, was guessed to be a species of the wild cat or lynx. The length of the skins, without the head, which none of them had, was about two feet two inches. They are covered with a very fine wool or fur, of a very light-brown or whitish yellow colour, intermixed with long hairs, which on the back, where they are shortest, are blackish; on the sides, where they are longer, of a silver white; and on the belly, where they are longest, of the colour of the wool, but the whitish, or silver hairs, are often so predominant, that the whole animal acquires a cast of that kind. The tail is only three inches long, and has a black tip. The whole skin being, by the natives, called wanshee, that, most probably, is their name for this animal. Hogs, dogs, and goats, have not as yet found their way to this place. Nor do the natives seem to have any knowledge of our brown rats, to which, when they saw them on board the ships, they applied the name they give to squirrels. And though they called our goats eineetla, this, most probably, is their name for a young deer or fawn.

Birds, in general, are not only rare as to the different species, but very scarce as to numbers; and these few are so shy, that, in all probability, they are continually harassed by the natives, perhaps to eat them as food, certainly to get possession of their feathers, which they use as ornaments. Those which frequent the woods, are crows and ravens, not at all different from our English ones, a blueish jay or magpie, common wrens, which are the only singing bird that we heard, the Canadian or migrating thrush, and a considerable number of brown eagles, with white heads and tails, which, though they seem principally to frequent the coast, come into the Sound in bad weather, and sometimes perch upon the trees. Amongst some other birds, of which the natives either brought fragments, or dried skins, we could distinguish a small species of hawk, a heron, and the alcyon, or large-crested American king-fisher. There are also some, which, I believe, are not mentioned, or at least vary, very considerably, from the accounts given of them by any writers who have treated professedly on this part of natural history. The two first of these are species of wood-peckers. One less than a thrush, of a black colour above, with white spots on the wings, a crimson head, neck, and breast, and a yellowish olive-coloured belly, from which last circumstance it might, perhaps, not improperly be called the yellow-bellied wood-pecker. The other is a larger, and much more elegant bird, of a dusky brown colour, on the upper part, richly waved with black, except about the head, the belly of a reddish cast, with round black spots, a black spot on the breast, and the under-side of the wings and tail of a plain scarlet colour, though blackish above, with a crimson streak running from the angle of the mouth, a little down the neck on each side. The third and fourth, are a small bird of the finch kind, about the size of a linnet, of a dark dusky colour, whitish below, with a black head and neck, and white bill; and a sand-piper, of the size of a small pigeon, of a dusky brown colour, and white below, except the throat and breast, with a broad white band across the wings. There are also humming-birds, which yet seem to differ from the numerous sorts of this delicate animal already known, unless they be a mere variety of the trochilus colubris of Linnæus. These, perhaps, inhabit more to the southward, and spread northward as the season advances; because we saw none at first, though, near the time of our departure, the natives brought them to the ships in great numbers.

The birds which frequent the waters and the shores, are not more numerous than the others. The quebrantahuessos, gulls, and shags, were seen off the coast, and the two last also frequent the Sound. They are of the common sorts, the shags being our cormorant or water-crow. We saw two sorts of wild-ducks; one black, with a white head, which were in considerable flocks, the other white, with a red bill, but of a larger size; and the greater lumme, or diver, found in our northern countries. There were also seen, once or twice, some swans flying across the Sound to the northward, but we knew nothing of their haunts. On the shores, besides the sand-piper, described above, we found another, about the size of a lark, which bears a great affinity to the burre, and a plover differing very little from our common sea-lark.

Fish are more plentiful in quantity than birds, though the variety is not very great; and yet, from several circumstances, it is probable, that even the variety is considerably increased at certain seasons. The principal sorts, which we found in great numbers, are the common herring, but scarcely exceeding seven inches in length; a smaller sort, which is the same with the anchovy, or sardine, though rather larger; a white, or silver-coloured bream, and another of a gold-brown colour, with many narrow longitudinal blue stripes. The herrings and sardines, doubtless, come in large shoals, and only at stated seasons, as is common with that sort of fish. The bream of both sorts, may be reckoned the next to these in quantity; and the full-grown ones weighed, at least, a pound. The other fish, which are all scarce, are a small brown kind of sculpin, such as is found on the coast of Norway, another of a brownish red cast, frost-fish, a large one, somewhat resembling the bull-head, with a tough skin, destitute of scales; and now and then, toward the time of our leaving the Sound, the natives brought a small brownish cod, spotted with white, and a red fish of the same size, which some of our people said they had seen in the strait of Magalhaens, besides another differing little from the hake. There are also considerable numbers of those fish called the chimæræ, or little sea-wolves, by some, which is akin to, and about the size of, the pezegallo, or elephant-fish. Sharks, likewise, sometimes frequent the Sound, for the natives have some of their teeth in their possession; and we saw some pieces of ray, or scate, which seemed to have been pretty large. The other marine animals that ought to be mentioned here, are a small cruciated medusa, or blubber, star-fish, which differ somewhat from the common ones, two small sorts of crabs, and two others which the natives brought, one of them of a thick, tough, gelatinous consistence, and the other a sort of membranaceous tube or pipe, both which are probably taken from the rocks. And we, also, purchased from them once a very large cuttle-fish.

There is abundance of large muscles about the rocks, many sea-ears, and we often saw shells of pretty large plain chamæ. The smaller sorts are some trochi of two species, a curious murex, rugged wilks, and a snail, all which are, probably, peculiar to this place, at least I do not recollect to have seen them in any country near the same latitude in either hemisphere. There are, besides these, some small plain cockles, limpets; and some strangers, who come into the Sound, wore necklaces of a small blueish volute or panamæ. Many of the muscles are a span in length, and some having pretty large pearls, which, however, are both badly shaped and coloured. We may conclude, that there is red coral in the Sound, or somewhere upon the coast, some thick pieces, or branches, having been seen in the canoes of the natives.

The only animals of the reptile kind observed here, and found in the woods, were brown snakes two feet long, with whitish stripes on the back and sides, which are harmless, as we often saw the natives carry them alive in their hands; and brownish water-lizards, with a tail exactly like that of an eel, which frequented the small standing pools about the rocks.

The insect tribe seem to be more numerous. For though the season, which is peculiarly fitted to their appearing abroad, was only beginning, we saw four or five different sorts of butterflies, none of which were uncommon, a good many humble-bees, some of our common gooseberry moths, two or three sorts of flies, a few beetles, and some musquitoes, which, probably, may be more numerous and troublesome in a country so full of wood, during the summer, though at this time they did little mischief.

As to the mineral substances in this country, though we found both iron and copper here, there is little reason to believe that either of them belong to the place. Neither were the ores of any metal seen, if we except a coarse, red, earthy, or ochry substance, used by the natives in painting themselves, which probably may contain a little iron, with a white and a black pigment used for the same purpose. But we did not procure specimens of them, and therefore cannot positively determine what are their component parts.

Besides the stone or rock that constitutes the mountains and shores, which sometimes contains pieces of very coarse quartz, we found amongst the natives, things made of a hard black granite, though not remarkably compact or fine grained, a greyish whetstone, the common oil-stone of our carpenters, in coarser and finer pieces, and some black bits which are little inferior to the hone-stone. The natives also use the transparent leafy glimmer, or Muscovy glass, a brown leafy or martial sort, and they sometimes brought to us pieces of rock-crystal, tolerably transparent. The two first are, probably, found near the spot, as they seemed to be in considerable quantities; but the latter seems to be brought from a greater distance, or is very scarce; for our visitors always parted with it reluctantly. Some of the pieces were octangular, and had the appearance of being formed into that shape by art.

Their colour we could never positively determine, as their bodies were incrusted with paint and dirt; though, in particular cases, when these were well rubbed off, the whiteness of the skin appeared almost to equal that of Europeans; though rather of that pale effete cast which distinguishes those of our southern nations. Their children, whose skins had never been stained with paint, also equalled ours in whiteness. During their youth, some of them have no disagreeable look, if compared to the generality of the people, but this seems to be entirely owing to the particular animation attending that period of life; for, after attaining a certain age, there is hardly any distinction. Upon the whole, a very remarkable sameness seems to characterize the countenances of the whole nation; a dull phlegmatic want of expression, with very little variation, being strongly marked in all of them.

The women are nearly of the same size, colour, and form with the men, from whom it is not easy to distinguish them, as they possess no natural delicacies sufficient to render their persons agreeable; and hardly any one was seen, even amongst those who were in the prime of life, who had the least pretensions to be called handsome.

Their common dress is a flaxen garment, or mantle, ornamented on the upper edge by a narrow strip of fur, and, at the lower edge, by fringes or tassels. It passes under the left arm, and is tied over the right shoulder, by a string before and one behind, near its middle, by which means both arms are left free, and it hangs evenly, covering the left side, but leaving the right open, except from the loose part of the edges falling upon it, unless when the mantle is fastened by a girdle (of coarse matting or woollen) round the waist, which is often done. Over this, which reaches below the knees, is worn a small cloak of the same substance, likewise fringed at the lower part. In shape this resembles a round dish-cover, being quite close, except in the middle, where there is a hole just large enough to admit the head, and then, resting upon the shoulders, it covers the arms to the elbows, and the body as far as the waist. Their head is covered with a cap, of the figure of a truncated cone, or like a flower-pot, made of fine matting, having the top frequently ornamented with a round or pointed knob, or bunch of leather tassels, and there is a string that passes under the chin, to prevent its blowing off.

Besides the above dress, which is common to both sexes, the men frequently throw over their other garments the skin of a bear, wolf, or sea-otter, with the hair outward, and tie it as a cloak near the upper part, wearing it sometimes before and sometimes behind. In rainy weather, they throw a coarse mat about their shoulders. They have also woollen garments, which, however, are little in use. The hair is commonly worn hanging down loose; but some, when they have no cap, tie it in a bunch on the crown of the head. Their dress, upon the whole, is convenient, and would, by no means be inelegant, were it kept clean. But as they rub their bodies constantly over with a red paint, of a clayey or coarse ochry substance, mixed with oil, their garments, by this means, contract a rancid offensive smell, and a greasy nastiness; so that they make a very wretched dirty appearance, and what is still worse, their heads and their garments swarm with vermin, which, so depraved is their taste for cleanliness, we used to see them pick off with great composure and eat.

Though their bodies are always covered with red paint, their faces are often stained with a black, a brighter red, or a white colour, by way of ornament. The last of these gives them a ghastly, disgusting aspect. They also strew the brown martial mica upon the paint, which makes it glitter. The ears of many of them are perforated in the lobe, where they make a pretty large hole, and two others higher up on the outer edge. In these holes they hang bits of bone, quills fixed upon a leathern thong, small shells, bunches of woollen tassels, or pieces of thin copper, which our beads could never supplant. The septum of the nose, in many, is also perforated, through which they draw a piece of soft cord; and others wear, at the same place, small thin pieces of iron, brass, or copper, shaped almost like a horse-shoe, the narrow opening of which receives the septum, so as that the two points may gently pinch it, and the ornament thus hangs over the upper lip. The rings of our brass buttons, which they eagerly purchased, were appropriated to this use. About their wrists they wore bracelets or bunches of white bugle beads, made of a conic shelly substance, bunches of thongs, with tassels, or a broad black shining horny substance, of one piece. And about their ancles they also frequently wear many folds of leathern thongs, or the sinews of animals twisted to a considerable thickness.

The only dress amongst the people of Nootka, observed by us, that seems peculiarly adapted to war, is a thick leathern mantle doubled, which, from its size, appears to be the skin of an elk or buffalo, tanned. This they fasten on, in the common manner, and it is so contrived, that it may reach up, and cover the breast quite to the throat, falling, at the same time, almost to the heels. It is, sometimes, ingeniously painted in different compartments; and is not only sufficiently strong to resist arrows, but, as they informed us by signs, even spears cannot pierce it, so that it may be considered as their coat of mail, or most complete defensive armour. Upon the same occasion, they sometimes wear a kind of leathern cloak, covered with rows of dried hoofs of deer, disposed horizontally, appended by leathern thongs, covered with quills, which, when they move, make a round rattling noise, almost equal to that of many small bells. It seems doubtful, however, whether this part of their garb be intended to strike terror in war, or is only to be considered as belonging to their eccentric ornaments on ceremonious occasions. For we saw one of their musical entertainments, conducted by a man dressed in this sort of cloak, with his mask on, and shaking his rattle.

Though these people cannot be viewed without a kind of horror, when equipped in such extravagant dresses, yet, when divested of them, and beheld in their common habit and actions, they have not the least appearance of ferocity in their countenances; and seem, on the contrary, as observed already, to be of a quiet, phlegmatic, and inactive disposition, destitute, in some measure, of that degree of animation and vivacity that would render them agreeable as social beings. If they are not reserved, they are far from being loquacious; but their gravity is, perhaps, rather a consequence of the disposition just mentioned, than of any conviction of its propriety, or the effect of any particular mode of education. For, even in the greatest paroxysms of their rage, they seem unable to express it sufficiently; either with warmth of language, or significancy of gestures.

Their orations, which are made either when engaged in any altercation or dispute, or to explain their sentiments publicly on other occasions, seem little more than short sentences, or rather single words, forcibly repeated, and constantly in one tone and degree of strength, accompanied only with a single gesture, which they use at every sentence, jerking their whole body a little forward, by bending the knees, their arms hanging down by their sides at the same time.

Though there is but too much reason, from their bringing to sale human skulls and bones, to infer that they treat their enemies with a degree of brutal cruelty, this circumstance rather marks a general agreement of character with that of almost every tribe of uncivilized man, in every age, and in every part of the globe, than that they are to be reproached with any charge of peculiar inhumanity. We had no reason to judge unfavourably of their disposition in this respect. They seem to be a docile, courteous, good-natured people; but, notwithstanding the predominant phlegm of their tempers, quick in resenting what they look upon as an injury, and, like most other passionate people, as soon forgetting it. I never found that these fits of passion went farther than the parties immediately concerned, the spectators not troubling themselves about the quarrel, whether it was with any of us, or amongst their own body, and preserving as much indifference as if they had not known any thing about it. I have often seen one of them rave and scold, without any of his countrymen paying the least attention to his agitation; and when none of us could trace the cause, or the object of his displeasure. In such cases they never discover the least symptom of timidity, but seem determined, at all events, to punish the insult. For, even with respect to us, they never appeared to be under the least apprehension of our superiority; but when any difference happened, were just as ready to avenge the wrong, as amongst themselves.

Their other passions, especially their curiosity, appear in some measure to lie dormant. For few expressed any desire to see or examine things wholly unknown to them; and which, to those truly possessed of that passion, would have appeared astonishing. They were always contented to procure the articles they knew and wanted, regarding every thing else with great indifference; nor did our persons, apparel, and manners, so differ from their own, or even the extraordinary size and construction of our ships, seem to excite admiration, or even engage attention.

One cause of this may be their indolence, which seems considerable. But, on the other hand, they are certainly not wholly unsusceptible of the tender passions; if we may judge from their being so fond of music, which is mostly of the grave or serious, but truly pathetic sort. They keep the exactest concert in their songs, which are often sung by great numbers together, as those already mentioned, with which they used to entertain us in their canoes. These are generally slow and solemn; but the music is not of that confined sort found amongst many rude nations, for the variations are very numerous and expressive, and the cadence or melody powerfully soothing. Besides their full concerts, sonnets of the same grave cast were frequently sung by single performers, who keep time by striking the hand against the thigh. However, the music was sometimes varied, from its predominant solemnity of air; and there were instances of stanzas being sung in a more gay and lively strain, and even with a degree of humour.

The only instruments of music (if such they may be called) which I saw amongst them, were a rattle, and a small whistle, about an inch long, incapable of any variation, from having but one hole. They use the rattle when they sing; but upon what occasions they use the whistle I know not, unless it be when they dress themselves like particular animals, and endeavour to imitate their howl or cry. I once saw one of them dressed in a wolf's skin, with the head over his own, and imitating that animal by making a squeaking noise with one of these whistles, which he had in his mouth. The rattles are, for the most part, made in the shape of a bird, with a few pebbles in the belly; and the tail is the handle. They have others, however, that bear rather more resemblance to a child's rattle.

In trafficking with us, some of them would betray a knavish disposition, and carry off our goods without making any return. But, in general, it was otherwise; and we had abundant reason to commend the fairness of their conduct. However, their eagerness to possess iron and brass, and, indeed, any kind of metal, was so great, that few of them could resist the temptation to steal it, whenever an opportunity offered. The inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, as appears from a variety of instances in the course of this voyage, rather than be idle, would steal any thing that they could lay their hands upon, without ever considering, whether it could be of use to them or no. The novelty of the object, with them, was a sufficient motive for their endeavouring, by any indirect means, to get possession of it; which marked that, in such cases, they were rather actuated by a childish curiosity, than by a dishonest disposition, regardless of the modes of supplying real wants. The inhabitants of Nootka, who invaded our property, cannot have such apology made for them. They were thieves in the strictest sense of the word; for they pilfered nothing from us, but what they knew could be converted to the purposes of private utility, and had a real value according to their estimation of things. And it was lucky for us, that nothing was thought valuable by them, but the single articles of our metals. Linen, and such like things, were perfectly secure from their depredations, and we could safely leave them hanging out ashore all night, without watching. The same principle which prompted our Nootka friends to pilfer from us, it was natural to suppose, would produce a similar conduct in their intercourse with each other. And, accordingly, we had abundant reason to believe, that stealing is much practised amongst them, and that it chiefly gives rise to their quarrels, of which we saw more than one instance.

SECTION III.

Manner of Building the Homes in Nootka Sound.—Inside of them described.—Furniture and Utensils.—Wooden Images.—Employments of the Men.—Of the Women.—Food, Animal and Vegetable.—Manner of preparing it.—Weapons.—Manufactures and Mechanic Arts.—Carving and Painting.—Canoes.—Implements for Fishing and Hunting.—Iron Tools.—Manner of procuring that Metal.—Remarks on their Language, and a Specimen of it.—Astronomical and Nautical Observations made in Nootka Sound.

The two towns or villages, mentioned in the course of my journal, seem to be the only inhabited part of the Sound. The number of inhabitants in both might be pretty exactly computed from the canoes that were about the ships the second day after our arrival. They amounted to about a hundred; which, at a very moderate allowance, must, upon an average, have held five persons each. But as there were scarcely any women, very old men, children, or youths amongst them at that time, I think it will rather be rating the number of the inhabitants of the two towns too low, if we suppose they could be less than four times the number of our visitors, that is, two thousand in the whole.

The village at the entrance of the Sound stands on the side of a rising ground, which has a pretty steep ascent from the beach to the verge of the wood, in which space it is situated.

On the inside, one may frequently see from one end to the other of these ranges of building without interruption. For though, in general, there be the rudiments, or rather vestiges, of separations on each side, for the accommodation of different families, they are such as do not intercept the sight; and often consist of no more than pieces of plank, running from the side toward the middle of the house; so that, if they were complete, the whole might be compared to a long stable, with a double range of stalls, and a broad passage in the middle. Close to the sides, in each of these parts, is a little bench of boards, raised five or six inches higher than the rest of the floor, and covered with mats on which the family sit and sleep. These benches are commonly seven or eight feet long, and four or five broad. In the middle of the floor, between them, is the fire-place, which has neither hearth nor chimney. In one house, which was in the end of a middle range, almost quite separated from the rest by a high close partition, and the most regular, as to design, of any that I saw, there were four of these benches, each of which held a single family, at a corner, but without any separation by boards, and the middle part of the house appeared common to them all.

Their furniture consists chiefly of a great number of chests and boxes of all sizes, which are generally piled upon each other, close to the sides or ends of the house, and contain their spare garments, skins, masks, and other things which they set a value upon. Some of these are double, or one covers the other as a lid, others have a lid fastened with thongs, and some of the very large ones have a square hole, or scuttle, cut in the upper part, by which the things are put in and taken out. They are often painted black, studded with the teeth of different animals, or carved with a kind of freeze-work, and figures of birds or animals, as decorations. Their other domestic utensils are mostly square and oblong pails or buckets to hold water and other things, round wooden cups and bowls, and small shallow wooden troughs, about two feet long, out of which they eat their food, and baskets of twigs, bags of matting, &c. Their fishing implements, and other things also, lie or hang up in different parts of the house, but without the least order, so that the whole is a complete scene of confusion; and the only places that do not partake of this confusion are the sleeping-benches, that have nothing on them but the mats, which are also cleaner, or of a finer sort, than those they commonly have to sit on in their boats.

The nastiness and stench of their houses are, however, at least equal to the confusion. For as they dry their fish within doors, they also gut them there, which, with their bones and fragments, thrown down at meals, and the addition of other sorts of filth, lie every where in heaps, and are, I believe, never carried away till it becomes troublesome, from their size, to walk over them. In a word, their houses are as filthy as hog-sties; every thing in and about them stinking of fish, train-oil, and smoke.

The chief employment of the men seems to be that of fishing, and killing land or sea animals for the sustenance of their families; for we saw few of them doing any thing in the houses; whereas the women were occupied in manufacturing their flaxen or woollen garments, and in preparing the sardines for drying; which they also carry up from the beach in twig-baskets, after the men have brought them in their canoes. The women are also sent in the small canoes to gather muscles, and other shell-fish, and perhaps on some other occasions; for they manage these with as much dexterity as the men; who, when in the canoes with them, seem to pay little attention to their sex, by offering to relieve them from the labour of the paddle; nor indeed do they treat them with any particular respect or tenderness in other situations. The young men appeared to be the most indolent or idle set in this community; for they were either sitting about, in scattered companies, to bask themselves in the sun, or lay wallowing in the sand upon the beach, like a number of hogs, for the same purpose, without any covering. But this disregard of decency was confined to the men. The women were always properly clothed, and behaved with the utmost propriety; justly deserving all commendation for a bashfulness and modesty becoming their sex; but more meritorious in them, as the men seem to have no sense of shame. It is impossible, however, that we should have been able to observe the exact mode of their domestic life and employments, from a single visit (as the first was quite transitory) of a few hours. For it may be easily supposed, that, on such an occasion, most of the labour of all the inhabitants of the village would cease upon our arrival, and an interruption be given even to the usual manner of appearing in their houses, during their more remiss or sociable hours, when left to themselves. We were much better enabled to form some judgment of their disposition, and, in some measure, even of their method of living, from the frequent visits so many of them paid us at our ships in their canoes; in which, it would seem, they spend a great deal of time, at least in the summer season. For we observed, that they not only eat and sleep frequently in them, but strip off their clothes and lay themselves along to bask in the sun, in the same manner as we had seen practised at their village. Their canoes of the larger sort are, indeed, sufficiently spacious for that purpose, and perfectly dry; so that, under shelter of a skin, they are, except in rainy weather, much more comfortable habitations than their houses.

Though their food, strictly speaking, may be said to consist of every thing animal or vegetable that they can procure, the quantity of the latter bears an exceeding small proportion to that of the former. Their greatest reliance seems to be upon the sea, as affording fish, muscles, and smaller shell-fish, and sea-animals. Of the first, the principal are herrings and sardines; the two species of bream, formerly mentioned, and small cod. But the herrings and sardines are not only eaten fresh, in their season, but likewise serve as stores, which, after being dried and smoked, are preserved, by being sewed up in mats, so as to form large bales, three or four feet square. It seems that the herrings also supply them with another grand resource for food; which is a vast quantity of roe, very curiously prepared. It is strewed upon, or as it were incrustated about small branches of the Canadian pine. They also prepare it upon a long narrow sea-grass, which grows plentifully upon the rocks, under water. This caviare, if it may be so called, is kept in baskets or bags of mat, and used occasionally, being first dipped in water. It may be considered as the winter bread of these people, and has no disagreeable taste. They also eat the roe of some other fish, which, from the size of its grains, must be very large; but it has a rancid taste and smell. It does not appear that they prepare any other fish in this manner, to preserve them for any length of time. For though they split and dry a few of the bream and chimæræ, which are pretty plentiful, they do not smoke them as the herrings and sardines.

The next article, on which they seem to depend for a large proportion of their food, is the large muscle; great abundance of which are found in the Sound. These are roasted in their shells, then stuck upon long wooden-skewers, and taken off occasionally as wanted; being eat without any other preparation, though they often dip them in oil as a sauce. The other marine productions, such as the smaller shell-fish, though they contribute to increase the general stock, are by no means to be looked upon as a standing or material article of their food, when compared to those just mentioned.

Of the sea-animals, the most common that we saw in use amongst them as food is the porpoise; the fat or rind of which, as well as the flesh, they cut in large pieces, and having dried them, as they do the herrings, eat them without any farther preparation. They also prepare a sort of broth from this animal, in its fresh state, in a singular manner, putting pieces of it in a square wooden vessel or bucket, with water, and then throwing heated stones into it. This operation they repeat till they think the contents are sufficiently stewed or seethed. They put in the fresh, and take out the other stones, with a cleft stick, which serves as tongs; the vessel being always placed near the fire for that purpose. This is a pretty common dish amongst them, and, from its appearance, seems to be strong, nourishing food. The oil which they procure from these and other sea-animals, is also used by them in great quantities; both supping it alone, with a large scoop or spoon made of horn, or mixing it with other food, as sauce.

It may also be presumed, that they feed upon other sea-animals, such as seals, sea-otters, and whales; not only from the skins of the two first being frequent amongst them, but from the great number of implements of all sorts intended to destroy these different animals; which clearly points out their dependence upon them; though perhaps they do not catch them in great plenty, at all seasons; which seemed to be the case while we lay there, as no great number of fresh skins, or pieces of the flesh, were seen.

The same might, perhaps, be said of the land-animals, which, though doubtless the natives sometimes kill them, appeared to be scarce at this time; as we did not see a single piece of the flesh belonging to any of them; and though their skins be in tolerable plenty, it is probable that many of these are procured by traffic from other tribes. Upon the whole, it seems plain, from a variety of circumstances, that these people procure almost all their animal food from the sea, if we except a few birds, of which the gulls or sea-fowl, which they shoot with their arrows, are the most material.

As the Canadian pine-branches and sea-grass, on which the fish roe is strewed, may be considered as their only winter vegetables; so, as the spring advances, they make use of several others as they come in season. The most common of these, which we observed, were two sorts of liliaceous roots, one simply tunicated, the other granulated upon its surface, called mahkatte and koohquoppa, which have a mild sweetish taste, and are mucilaginous, and eaten raw. The next, which they have in great quantities, is a root called aheita, resembling, in taste, our liquorice; and another fern root, whose leaves were not yet disclosed. They also eat, raw, another small, sweetish, insipid root, about the thickness of sarsaparilla; but we were ignorant of the plant to which it belongs; and also of another root, which is very large and palmated, which we saw them dig tip near the Village, and afterward eat it. It is also probable, that, as the season advances, they have many others, which we did not see. For, though there be no appearance of cultivation amongst them, there are great quantities of alder, gooseberry, and currant bushes, whose fruits they may eat in their natural state, as we have seen them eat the leaves of the last, and of the lilies, just as they were plucked from the plant. It must, however, be observed, that one of the conditions which they seem to require, in all food, is, that it should be of the bland, or less acrid kind; for they would not eat the leek or garlic, though they brought vast quantities to sell, when they understood we were fond of it. Indeed, they seemed to have no relish for any of our food; and when offered spirituous liquors, they rejected them as something unnatural and disgusting to the palate.

Though they sometimes eat small marine animals in their fresh state, raw, it is their common practice to roast or broil their food; for they are quite ignorant of our method of boiling; unless we allow that of preparing their porpoise broth is such; and indeed their vessels being all of wood, they are quite insufficient for this purpose.

Their manner of eating is exactly consonant to the nastiness of their houses and persons; for the troughs and platters, in which they put their food, appear never to have been washed from the time they were first made, and the dirty remains of a former meal are only sweeped away by the succeeding one. They also tear every thing solid, or tough, to pieces, with their hands and teeth; for, though they make use of their knives to cut off the larger portions, they have not, as yet, thought of reducing these to smaller pieces and mouthfuls by the same means, though obviously more convenient and cleanly. But they seem to have no idea of cleanliness; for they eat the roots which they dig from the ground, without so much as shaking off the soil that adheres to them.

We are uncertain if they have any set time for meals; for we have seen them eat at all hours in their canoes. And yet, from seeing several messes of the porpoise broth preparing toward noon, when we visited the village, I should suspect that they make a principal meal about that time.

Their weapons are bows and arrows, slings, spears, short truncheons of bone, somewhat like the patoo patoo of New Zealand, and a small pick-axe, not unlike the common American tomahawk. The spear has generally a long point, made of bone. Some of the arrows are pointed with iron; but most commonly their points were of indented bone. The tomahawk is a stone, six or eight inches long, pointed at one end, and the other end fixed into a handle of wood. This handle resembles the head and neck of the human figure; and the stone is fixed in the mouth, so as to represent an enormously large tongue. To make the resemblance still stronger, human hair is also fixed to it. This weapon they call taaweesh, or tsuskeeah. They have another stone weapon called seeaik, nine inches or a foot long, with a square point.

From the number of stone weapons and others, we might almost conclude, that it is their custom to engage in close fight; and we had too convincing proofs that their wars are both frequent and bloody, from the vast number of human sculls which they brought to sell.

Their manufactures and mechanic arts are far more extensive and ingenious, whether we regard the design or the execution, than could have been expected from the natural disposition of the people, and the little progress that civilization has made amongst them in other respects. The flaxen and woollen garments, with which they cover themselves, must necessarily engage their first care; and are the most material of those that can be racked under the head of manufactures. The former of these are made of the bark of a pine-tree, beat into a hempen state. It is not spun, but, after being properly prepared, is spread upon a stick, which is fastened across to two others that stand upright. It is disposed in such a manner, that the manufacturer, who sits on her hams at this simple machine, knots it across with small plaited threads, at the distance of half an inch from each other. Though, by this method, it be not so close or firm as cloth that is woven, the bunches between the knots make it sufficiently impervious to the air, by filling the interstices; and it has the additional advantage of being softer and more pliable. The woollen garments, though probably manufactured in the same manner, have the strongest resemblance to woven cloth. But the various figures, which are very artificially inserted in them, destroy the supposition of their being wrought in a loom; it being extremely unlikely that these people should be so dexterous as to be able to finish such a complex work, unless immediately by their hands. They are of different degrees of fineness; some resembling our coarsest rugs or blankets; and others almost equal to our finest sorts, or even softer, and certainly warmer. The wool, of which they are made, seems to be taken from different animals, as the fox and brown lynx; the last of which is by far the finest sort, and, in its natural state, differs little from the colour of our coarser wools; but the hair, with which the animal is also covered, being intermixed, its appearance, when wrought, is somewhat different. The ornamental parts or figures in these garments, which are disposed with great taste, are commonly of a different colour, being dyed, chiefly either of a deep brown or of a yellow; the last of which, when it is new, equals the best in our carpets as to brightness.

To their taste or design in working figures upon their garments, corresponds their fondness for carving in every thing they make of wood. Nothing is without a kind of freeze-work, or the figure of some animal upon it; but the most general representation is that of the human face, which is often cut out upon birds, and the other monstrous figures mentioned before; and even upon their stone and their bone weapons. The general design of all these things is perfectly sufficient to convey a knowledge of the object they are intended to represent; but the carving is not executed with the nicety that a dexterous artist would bestow even upon an indifferent design. The same, however, cannot be said of many of the human masks and heads; where they shew themselves to be ingenious sculptors. They not only preserve, with great exactness, the general character of their own faces, but finish the more minute parts with a degree of accuracy in proportion, and neatness in execution. The strong propensity of this people to works of this sort, is remarkable, in a vast variety of particulars. Small whole human figures; representations of birds, fish, and land and sea-animals; models of their household utensils and of their canoes, were found amongst them in great abundance.

The imitative arts being nearly allied, no wonder that, to their skill in working figures in their garments, and carving them in wood, they should add that of drawing them in colours. We have sometimes seen the whole process of their whale-fishery painted on the caps they wear. This, though rudely executed, serves, at least, to shew, that, though there be no appearance of the knowledge of letters amongst them, they have some notion of a method of commemorating and representing actions in a lasting way, independently of what may be recorded in their songs and traditions. They have also other figures painted on some of their things; but it is doubtful if they ought to be considered as symbols, that have certain established significations, or only the mere creation of fancy and caprice.

Their canoes are of a simple structure; but, to appearance, well calculated for every useful purpose. Even the largest, which carry twenty people or more, are formed of one tree. Many of them are forty feet long, seven broad, and about three deep. From the middle, toward each end, they become gradually narrower, the after-part, or stern, ending abruptly or perpendicularly, with a small knob on the top; but the fore-part is lengthened out, stretching forward and upward, ending in a notched point or prow, considerably higher than the sides of the canoe, which run nearly in a straight line. For the most part they are without any ornament; but some have a little carving, and are decorated by setting seals' teeth on the surface, like studs, as is their practice on their masks and weapons. A few have, likewise, a kind of additional head or prow, like a large cut-water, which is painted with the figure of some animal. They have no seats, nor any other supporters, on the inside, than several round sticks, little thicker than a cane, placed across, at mid depth. They are very light, and their breadth and flatness enable them to swim firmly, without an out-rigger, which none of them have; a remarkable distinction between the navigation of all the American nations and that of the southern parts of the East Indies, and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. Their paddles are small and light; the shape, in some measure, resembling that of a large leaf, pointed at the bottom, broadest in the middle, and gradually losing itself in the shaft, the whole being about five feet long. They have acquired great dexterity in managing these paddles, by constant use; for sails are no part of their art of navigation.

Their implements for fishing and hunting, which are both ingeniously contrived, and well made, are nets, hooks and lines, harpoons, gigs, and an instrument like an oar. This last is about twenty feet long, four or five inches broad, and about half an inch thick. Each edge, for about two-thirds of its length, (the other third being its handle,) is set with sharp bone-teeth, about two inches long. Herrings and sardines, and such other small fish as come in shoals, are attacked with this instrument; which is struck into the shoal, and the fish are caught either upon or between the teeth. Their hooks are made of bone and wood, and rather inartificially; but the harpoon, with which they strike the whales and lesser sea-animals, shew a great reach of contrivance. It is composed of a piece of bone, cut into two barbs, in which is fixed the oval blade of a large muscle-shell, in which is the point of the instrument. To this is fastened about two or three fathoms of rope; and to throw this harpoon, they use a shaft of about twelve or fifteen feet long, to which the line or rope is made fast; and to one end of which the harpoon is fixed, so as to separate from the shaft, and leave it floating upon the water as a buoy, when the animal darts away with the harpoon.

As to the materials, of which they make their various articles, it is to be observed, that every thing of the rope kind is formed either from thongs of skins and sinews of animals, or from the same flaxen substance of which their mantles are manufactured. The sinews often appeared to be of such a length, that it might be presumed they could be of no other animal than the whale. And the same may be said of the bones of which they made their weapons already mentioned; such as their bark-beating instruments, the points of their spears, and the barbs of their harpoons.

Their great dexterity in works of wood, may, in some measure, be ascribed to the assistance they receive from iron tools. For, as far as we know, they use no other; at least we saw only one chisel of bone. And though originally their tools must have been of different materials, it is not improbable that many of their improvements have been made since they acquired a knowledge of that metal, which now is universally used in their various wooden works. The chisel and the knife are the only forms, as far as we saw, that iron assumes amongst them. The chisel is a long flat piece, filled into a handle of wood. A stone serves for a mallet, and a piece of fish-skin for a polisher. I have seen some of these chisels that were eight or ten inches long, and three or four inches broad, but, in general, they were smaller. The knives are of various sizes; some very large; and their blades are crooked, somewhat like our pruning-knife, but the edge is on the back or convex part. Most of them that we saw were about the breadth and thickness of an iron-hoop, and their singular form marks that they are not of European make. Probably they are imitations of their own original instruments, used for the same purposes. They sharpen these iron tools upon a coarse slate whetstone, and likewise keep the whole instrument constantly bright.

Iron, which they call seekemaile, (which name they also give to tin and all white metals,) being familiar to these people, it was very natural for us to speculate about the mode of its being conveyed to them. Upon our arrival in the Sound, they immediately discovered a knowledge of traffic, and an inclination for it; and we were convinced afterward, that they had not received this knowledge from a cursory interview with any strangers, but, from their method, it seemed to be an established practice, of which they were fond, and in which they were also well skilled. With whom they carry on this traffic, may, perhaps, admit of some doubt. For though we found amongst them things doubtless of European manufacture, or at least derived, from some civilized nation, such as iron and brass, it by no means appears that they receive them immediately from these nations. For we never observed the least sign of their having seen ships like ours before, nor of their having traded with such people. Many circumstances serve to prove this almost beyond a doubt. They were earnest in their enquiries, by signs, on our arrival, if we meant to settle amongst them, and if we came as friends; signifying, at the same time, that they gave the wood and water freely, from friendship. This not only proves, that they considered the place as entirely their property, without fearing any superiority; but the enquiry would have been an unnatural one, on a supposition that any ships had been here before; had trafficked, and supplied themselves with wood and water; and had then departed; for, in that case, they might reasonably expect we would do the same. They, indeed, expressed no marks of surprise at seeing our ships. But this, as I observed before, may be imputed to their natural indolence of temper, and want of curiosity. Nor were they even startled at the report of a musquet; till one day, upon their endeavouring to make us sensible, that their arrows and spears could not penetrate the hide-dresses, one of our gentlemen shot a musquet-ball through one of them, folded six times. At this they were so much staggered, that they plainly discovered their ignorance of the effect of fire-arms. This was very often confirmed afterward, when we used them at their village and other places to shoot birds, the manner of which plainly confounded them; and our explanations of the use of shot and ball were received with the most significant marks of their having no previous ideas on this matter.

Of the political and religious institutions established amongst them, it cannot be supposed that we should learn much. This we could observe, that there are such men as chiefs, who are distinguished by the name or title of Acweek, and to whom the others are, in some measure, subordinate. But I should guess, the authority of each of these great men extends no farther than the family to which he belongs, and who own him as their head. These Acweeks were not always elderly men; from which I concluded that this title came to them by inheritance.

I saw nothing that could give the least insight into their notions of religion, besides the figures before mentioned, called by them Klumma. Most probably these were idols; but as they frequently mentioned the word acweek, when they spoke of them, we may, perhaps, be authorised to suppose, that they are the images of some of their ancestors, whom they venerate as divinities. But all this is mere conjecture; for we saw no act of religious homage paid to them; nor could we gain any information, as we had learned little more of their language than to ask the names of things, without being able to hold any conversation with the natives, that might instruct us as to their institutions or traditions.

In drawing up the preceding account of the people of this Sound, I have occasionally blended Mr Anderson's observations with my own; but I owe every thing to him. that relates to their language; and the following remarks are in his own words.

"Their language is by no means harsh or disagreeable, farther than proceeds from their using the k and h with more force, or pronouncing them with less softness than we do; and, upon the whole, it abounds rather with what we may call labial and dental, than with guttural sounds. The simple sounds, which we have not heard them use, and which, consequently, may be reckoned rare, or wanting in their language, are those represented by the letters b, d, f, g, r, and v. But, on the other hand, they have one, which is very frequent, and not used by us. It is formed, in a particular manner, by clashing the tongue partly against the roof of the mouth with considerable force, and may be compared to a very coarse or harsh method of lisping. It is difficult to represent this sound by any composition of our letters, unless somehow from lszthl. This is one of their most usual terminations, though we sometimes found it in the beginning of words. The next most general termination is composed of tl; and many words end with z and ss. A specimen or two of each of these is here put down: