257. Poole's Q. Char. Isl., p. 269, and cuts on pp. 121, 291; Mackenzie's Voy., p. 335; Simpson's Overland Journ., vol. i., p. 204; Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 303; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. cxxv; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 174; Reed's Nar.; Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., p. 113, with plate. The Bellabellahs 'promised to construct a steam-ship on the model of ours. … Some time after this rude steamer appeared. She was from 20 to 30 feet long, all in one piece—a large tree hollowed out—resembling the model of our steamer. She was black, with painted ports; decked over; and had paddles painted red, and Indians under cover, to turn them round. The steersman was not seen. She was floated triumphantly, and went at the rate of three miles an hour. They thought they had nearly come up to the point of external structure; but then the enginery baffled them; and this they thought they could imitate in time, by perseverance, and the helping illumination of the Great Spirit.' Dunn's Oregon, p. 272. See also, p. 291. 'A canoe easily distanced the champion boat of the American Navy, belonging to the man-of-war Saranac.' Bendel's Alex. Arch., p. 29.
258. Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 219; Macfie's BC, pp. 429, 437, 458; Simpson's Overland Journ., vol. i., p. 206; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 174; Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., p. 74; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 279, 281–3, 292; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. cxxv.
259. Mackenzie's Voy., pp. 374–5; Tolmie and Anderson, in Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 240–2, 235; Macfie's BC, p. 429; Simpson's Overland Journ., vol. i., p. 205; Dixon's Voy., p. 227. 'There exists among them a regular aristocracy.' 'The chiefs are always of unquestionable birth, and generally count among their ancestors men who were famous in battle and council.' 'The chief is regarded with all the reverence and respect which his rank, his birth, and his wealth can claim,' but 'his power is by no means unlimited.' Bendel's Alex. Arch., p. 30.
260. Dunn's Oregon, pp. 273–4, 283; Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 263; Bendel's Alex. Arch., p. 30; Kane's Wand., p. 220.
261. 'Polygamy is universal, regulated simply by the facilities for subsistence.' Anderson, in Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 235. See pp. 231–5, and vol. i., pp. 89–90. The women 'cohabit almost promiscuously with their own tribe though rarely with other tribes.' Poole, spending the night with a chief, was given the place of honor, under the same blanket with the chief's daughter—and her father. Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 312–15, 115–16, 155. 'The Indians are in general very jealous of their women.' Dixon's Voy., p. 225–6. 'Tous les individus d'une famille couchent pêle-mêle sur le sol plancheyé de l'habitation.' Marchand, Voy., tom. ii., p. 144. 'Soon after I had retired … the chief paid me a visit to insist on my going to his bed-companion, and taking my place himself.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. 331. See pp. 300, 371–2. Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 263. 'On the weddingday they have a public feast, at which they dance and sing.' Dunn's Oregon, pp. 252–3, 289–90. 'According to a custom of the Bellabollahs, the widow of the deceased is transferred to his brother's harem.' Simpson's Overland Journ., vol. i., p. 203–4. 'The temporary present of a wife is one of the greatest honours that can be shown there to a guest.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 95.
262. 'The Queen Charlotte Islanders surpass any people that I ever saw in passionate addiction' to gambling. Poole's Q. Char. Isl., p. 318–20. See pp. 186–87, 232–33. Mackenzie's Voy., pp. 288, 311. The Sebassas are great gamblers, and 'resemble the Chinooks in their games.' Dunn's Oregon, pp. 25–7, 252–9, 281–3, 293. 'The Indian mode of dancing bears a strange resemblance to that in use among the Chinese.' Poole's Q. Char. Isl., p. 82. Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 258; Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 263; Ind. Life, p. 63.
263. Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 223; Duncan, in Mayne's BC, pp. 285–8, and in Macfie's Vanc. Isl., pp. 434–7; White's Oregon, p. 246; Simpson's Overland Journ., vol. i., p. 205; Hutchings' Cal. Mag., Nov. 1860, pp. 222–8; Ind. Life, p. 68; Reed's Nar.; Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., p. 79.
264. The Indians of Millbank Sound became exasperated against me, 'and they gave me the name of "Schloapes," i.e., "stingy:" and when near them, if I should spit, they would run and try to take up the spittle in something; for, according as they afterwards informed me, they intended to give it to their doctor or magician; and he would charm my life away.' Dunn's Oregon, pp. 246–7. See pp. 279–80; Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 320–1.
265. Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 32–4, 53–4; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 367, 274–5.
266. Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., pp. 385–9.
267. Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 109–10, 116; Anderson, in Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 242.
268. At about 52° 40´, between the Fraser River and the Pacific, Mackenzie observed the treatment of a man with a bad ulcer on his back. They blew on him and whistled, pressed their fingers on his stomach, put their fists into his mouth, and spouted water into his face. Then he was carried into the woods, laid down in a clear spot, and a fire was built against his back while the doctor scarified the ulcer with a blunt instrument. Voy., pp. 331–33; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 258, 284; Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 316–18; Duncan, in Mayne's BC, 289–91; Reed's Nar., in Olympia Wash. Stand., May 16, 1868.
269. At Boca de Quadra, Vancouver found 'a box about three feet square, and a foot and a half deep, in which were the remains of a human skeleton, which appeared from the confused situation of the bones, either to have been cut to pieces, or thrust with great violence into this small space.' … 'I was inclined to suppose that this mode of depositing their dead is practised only in respect to certain persons of their society.' Voy., vol. ii., p. 351. At Cape Northumberland, in 54° 45´, 'was a kind of vault formed partly by the natural cavity of the rocks, and partly by the rude artists of the country. It was lined with boards, and contained some fragments of warlike implements, lying near a square box covered with mats and very curiously corded down.' Id., p. 370; Cornwallis' New El Dorado, pp. 106–7. On Queen Charlotte Islands, 'Ces monumens sont de deux espèces: les premiers et les plus simples ne sont composés que d'un seul pilier d'environ dix pieds d'élévation et d'un pied de diamètre, sur le sommet duquel sont fixées des planches formant un plateau; et dans quelques-uns ce plateau est supporté par deux piliers. Le corps, déposé sur cette plate-forme, est recouvert de mousse et de grosses pierres' … 'Les mausolées de la seconde espèce sont plus composés: quatre poteaux plantés en terre, et élevés de deux pieds seulement au-dessus du sol portent un sarcophage travaillé avec art, et hermétiquement clos.' Marchand, Voy., tom.