Note 241 — I. VOCABULARIES OF SOME OF THE TRIBES OF NORTHWESTERN AMERICA, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE

The words from the Blackfoot language given by Gallatin (ibid., p. 373), are for the most part, incorrectly written. We find, for instance, that in the word pistachkan the copyist avoided the guttural sound and wrote pistarkan. I must also remark here that Townsend in his Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, speaks in very exaggerated terms of the Blackfoot Indians. This is due to the fact that his information came from trappers and fur hunters who usually have the greatest respect for those Indians who are their bitterest enemies. On the other hand, what Townsend says of the injustice of the fur hunters towards these Indians is thoroughly justified.—Maximilian.

Comment by Ed. Townsend's Narrative is published in our volume xxi.