Note 270 — Chapter III · COLUMBIANS.

On the coast, at 52° 12´, Vancouver found them 'civil, good-humoured and friendly.' At Cascade Canal, about 52° 24´, 'in traffic they proved themselves to be keen traders, but acted with the strictest honesty;' at Point Hopkins 'they all behaved very civilly and honestly;' while further north, at Observatory Inlet, 'in their countenances was expressed a degree of savage ferocity infinitely surpassing any thing of the sort I had before observed,' presents being scornfully rejected. Voy., vol. ii., pp. 281, 269, 303, 337. The Kitswinscolds on Skeena River 'are represented as a very superior race, industrious, sober, cleanly, and peaceable.' Ind. Aff. Rept., 1869, p. 533. The Chimsyans are fiercer and more uncivilized than the Indians of the South. Sproat's Scenes, p. 317. 'Finer and fiercer men than the Indians of the South.' Mayne's B. C., p. 250. 'They appear to be of a friendly disposition, but they are subject to sudden gusts of passion, which are as quickly composed; and the transition is instantaneous, from violent irritation to the most tranquil demeanor. Of the many tribes ... whom I have seen, these appear to be the most susceptible of civilization.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. 375, 322. At Stewart's Lake the natives, whenever there is any advantage to be gained are just as readily tempted to betray each other as to deceive the colonists. Macfie's Vanc. Isl., pp. 466-68, 458-59; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 174. A Kygarnie chief being asked to go to America or England, refused to go where even chiefs were slaves—that is, had duties to perform—while he at home was served by slaves and wives. The Sebassas 'are more active and enterprising than the Milbank tribes, but the greatest thieves and robbers on the coast.' Dunn's Oregon, p. 287, 273. 'All these visitors of Fort Simpson are turbulent and fierce. Their broils, which are invariably attended with bloodshed, generally arise from the most trivial causes.' Simpson's Overland Journ., vol. i., p. 206. The Kygarnies 'are very cleanly, fierce and daring.' The islanders, 'when they visit the mainland, they are bold and treacherous, and always ready for mischief.' Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 219. The Kygarnies 'are a very fierce, treacherous race, and have not been improved by the rum and fire-arms sold to them.' Dall's Alaska, p. 411. Queen Charlotte Islanders look upon white men as superior beings, but conceal the conviction. The Skidagates are the most intelligent race upon the islands. Wonderfully acute in reading character, yet clumsy in their own dissimulation.... 'Not revengeful or blood-thirsty, except when smarting under injury or seeking to avert an imaginary wrong.' ... 'I never met with a really brave man among them.' The Acoltas have 'given more trouble to the Colonial Government than any other along the coast.' Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 83, 151-2, 185-6, 208, 214, 233, 235, 245, 257, 271-72, 289, 309, 320-21. 'Of a cruel and treacherous disposition.' Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 197. They will stand up and fight Englishmen with their fists. Sproat's Scenes, p. 23. Intellectually superior to the Puget Sound tribes. Reed's Nar. 'Mansos y de buena indole.' Crespi, in Doc. Hist. Mex., s. iv., vol. vi., p. 646. On Skeena River, 'the worst I have seen in all my travels.' Downie, in B. C. Papers, vol. iii., p. 73. 'As rogues, where all are rogues,' preëminence is awarded them. Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., pp. 74-5.