Note III'-53 — Chapter III · COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

Gibbs' Chinook Dic., p. 6; San Francisco Evening Bulletin, June 15, 1866. 'Chinook is a jargon which was invented by the Hudson's Bay Company for the purpose of facilitating communication with the different Indian tribes. These were so numerous, and their languages so various, that the traders found it impossible to learn them all, and adopted the device of a judicious mixture of English, French, Russian, and several Indian tongues, which has a very limited vocabulary; but which, by the help of signs, is readily understood by all the natives, and serves as a common language.' Milton and Cheadle's N. W. Passage, p. 344. 'The jargon so much in use all over the North Pacific Coast, among both whites and Indians, as a verbal medium of communicating with each other, was originally invented by the Hudson's Bay Company, in order to facilitate the progress of their commerce with Indians.' Stuart's Dictionary of Chinook Jargon, p. 161. 'Chinook is a jargon, consisting of not more than three or four hundred words, drawn from the French, English, Spanish, Indian, and the fancy of the inventor. It was contrived by the Hudson's Bay Company for the convenience of trade.' Brunot, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1871, p. 124. Sproat disputes the invention of the jargon, and says: 'Such an achievement as the invention of a language, is beyond the capabilities of even a chief factor.' Scenes, p. 139. 'I think that, among the Coast Indians in particular, the Indian part of the language has been in use for years.' Swan's N. W. Coast, p. 307. Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 635, et seq.