Open Collections

     *   3TI0
3fes
'p&ttict of Ctmnectt'cut as.     ^
; \ ftBE IT REMEMBERED; That on the eighth
L      li ^y °f Mo^fh in the thirty-ninth year of the In-
dependenee^f the United States of America, John
R. Jew itt, of the said District hath deposited in this office,
the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the w0rds following, to wit: S
A narrative^ the adventures and sufferings of John R.
Jewitt ; only survivor of the crew of the ship Boston,
during a captivity of nearly three years among the savages
of Nootka Sound : with an account of the manners, mode
of living, and religious opinions of the natives. Embellish'
ed with a plate, representing the ship in possession of the
savages. ,
" Dire scenes of horror on a savage shore,
J9 " In which, a witness sad, a part I bore."      J|J
In conformity to an act of the Congress of the United
States, entitled, | An actfor theencottragentent of learning,
| by securing the copies of Maps, Cnarts and Books, to the
*4 authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times
u therein mentioned " 11
#        HENRY W. EDWARDS, Cl||k
of the District of Connecticut
A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me9
t HENRY WfEDWARDS, Clerk
ef the District of Connecticut
m
a i 1
Names of the Crew of the   Ship Boston, belonging io Boston in
Massachusetts, oivned by Messrs. F. & T. Jlmor§? Merchants
of that place—All of -whom excepting two,  -were on the 22nd of
MarchfilSQS, barbarously murdered by the savages of Nootka,
John Salter,
B. Delouissa,
William Ingraham,
Edward Thompson,
Adam Siddle,
Phi|ip Brown,
John Dor thy,
Abraham Waters,
Francis Duffield,
John Wilson,(blackmaf )of Virginia,
William Caldwell, of Boston,
Joseph Miner,
William Robinson,
Thomas Wilson,
of Boston,
Do.
of New-York,
of Blyth, (England,)
of Hull,        Do.
of Cambridge, (Mass.)  Joiner.
of Situate, Do.        Blacksmith
of Philadelphia,
of Penton, (Eng.)
Captain.
Chief-Mate,
Second-Mate,
Boatswain.
Carpenter.
Andrew Kelly,
Robert Burton,
James M'Clay,
Thomas Platten,
Thomas Newton,
Charles Bates,
Johnjtlall,
Samuel Wood,
Peter Alstrom,
Francis Marten,
Steward.
Tailor.
Cook.
Seaman.
mm
Do.
Dfe
Do.
Do.
Do.
of Netjrburyp/Ort,
of Leigft^Scotland,)
of Air, Do.
Do. Do,
of the Isle of Man,
of Dublin,
of Blakeney, Norfolk, Eng^
of Hull, J    Do. Do.
of St. James Deeping, Do. Do,
of New-Castle, Do. Do,
of Glasgow, (Scotland)     Do.
Norwegian,
Do.
Do.
R - «
Sail-Maker,
Portuguese,
Jupiter Senegal (blackman)
John Thompson, Philadelphia,
whoescaped^-since dead.
John R. Jewitt, of Boston in England,    Armourer,
the waiter of the Journal from whence this Narrative is taken^
and who at present, July, 1815,3 reside|pn Mid$||town, in the
state of Connecticut,
*\
*\
I
m
mm A list of Words in the Nootkian Language^
the most in use.
Gheck-up,
Klootz-mah,
Noowexa,
Hooma-hexa,
Tanassis.
Katlahtik,
Kloot.chem-up,
Tanassis-check-up,
Man. Toop-helth, Cloth.
Woman. Cham-mass, Fruit.
Father. Cham-mas- C Sweet or pleasant
Mother, sish, \ to the taste.
Child.Moot-sus, Powder-
Brother. Chee-pokes, Copper.
Sister.'Hah-welks, Hungry.
Son.jNee-sim-mer-hise,       Enough.
Tanassis-kioots-mah, Daughter. Chit-ta-Yek5
Tau-hat-se-tee,
Rassee,
Hap-»e-up,
Neetsa,
Parpee,
Ohee-chee.
Choop,
Xook-a-nik*sa,
Klish-klin,
Oophel%
Tar-toose,
Sie-yah,
Toop-eltb,
Ghahak,
Meetla,
Queece,
Head. Klick-er-yek,
Eyes.Quish-ar,
Hair.
Nose.
Ears.
Teeth.
Tongue.
Hands.
Mar-met-ta,
Pook-shit-tie,
Knife or dagger.
Rings.
Smoke.
Goose or duck.
To blow.
Een-a-qui-sluUle. {H^
Ar-teese, To bathe.
Ma-mook-su-mah, To go to fish.
A warrior.
^ooFchee,     Mountain or hill
Klat-tur-miss,
Een-nuk-see,
\ Mook-see,
Muk-ka-tee,
Wik,    "%
?Ie-ho,
j£ftk-koekh,
tfah-I}ack,
Klack-e-miss,
Quart-iak,
Coo-coo-ho-sa,
Moo-watch,
So-har,
Toosch-qua,
Pow-ee,
Ktoos-a-mit,
Chap-at z,
Oo-wha-pa,
Chee-me-na,
Chee-men,
Sick-a-minnv»
Feet. Ar-smootish-
Sun or Moon.'check-up,
&        Stars, Cha-alt-see-klat-tur- C Go off, or
Sky.wah, ego away.
Stea.|Ma-kook, To sell.
Fresh water.L- ,    u 1 »    t .,-.   C   Give me
™        t> -~ iKah-ah-pah-chilt, <    _ .v. _
Kamj r '  £ something.
Oo-nah, How many.
f-yah-ish, Much.
Kom-me-tak,        I understand.
Snow.
Earth.
Fire or fuel.
Rock.
House.
No.
Yes.
r I ,    CI do notnnder-
Em-ma-chap,
Kle-whar,
To play.
fo laugh.
rs»
ci ** MTkT"?DoyouwanUobuy*
Slave, mah-sish, 5
Whale. Kah-ah-coh,
Oil. Sah-wauk,
Seaotter.
Seal.
Bear
Salmon
Cod.
Halibut
Herring.
Canoe
Paddle.
A fish-hook.
Fish-hooks
Iron.
Att-la,;
Kat-sa,
Mooh,
Soo-chah,
Noo-pop,
At-tie-rpoo,
At-lal^quelth,
Saw-wauk«4uelth,
Hy-o,&'
Sak-aitz,
Soo-jewk,
Sev<
Eight.
Nine.
fen.
Twenty.
Or>e hundred.
Hy-e-oak,
One th<flk&$fc& NARRATIVE
OF
JOHNR. JEWITT
p I wSsl^
borough town in Lincolnshire, in Great-Britain, on the 21st of May, 1783.    T% fa£M
Edward Jewifk*w||s by trade a blac|smiii,
and esteemed among  the Ipt in^^^Hine
of business in tltat pjace.    At the a^|k)f
three years I had ^le^nisfbrtune to -|||^tp^
mother, a most excellen||wor||tri, who d||d
in childbed, leaving an pfant ^^h^r, who,
with myself and an eld^r brother by a fo|fS
mer marriage of my fathel col^tipted the
whole of our family. Hy fatlwpr, w|to J|on-
sidered a good education as |he g?|^tpt
bltessing he could bestow on his children,
was very particular in paying e||§y attl|||§
ti-on tolis in that respect, always exh^^ig
uj|to behave well, and endeatour%g t(Mm~
^ress an our minds the principles of virtue
and morality, and no expense la his power
was spared to havepus instpact^p in whatev-
^fcniight render i^iuseful and respegtablll
ic^society. :   My  brother,   v|ho ^l^|»ir
years older than myself, ||and off a^ore
a\ 6
m-
■
K-;
^V     ,W;
hardy constitution, he destined| for his owfi
trade, but to me he had resolved to givetin
education superior to that which is to be obtained in a common school, it being his|$|l
tention that J should adopt one of the learned professions. Accordingly at tfte age of
twelve he took me from the school in which
imd been taught the first prudimentsfof
leanHJig, and placed me under the^arefbf
Mr. Mo£esT*-€f^^ aead-
en|y af Donnirt^ton, about twenty miles
from Boston, in order to be instructed iq the
Latffci language, and in somefbf the higher
brandHes of tie Mathematics. I there made
considerable profici^iy % writing, reading,
ai$f arithme^c^^pid^obtained a pre^f good
knowledge of Navigation and of survey*
ing ; but my progress in Latin was slow*
not only owingflo tfee liftlelinclination I
felt for learning that language, but to a na^
tural impediment i#my speech, which rendered it extremely difficult foif me to pro-
no uf^e it, so that in a ^iort time, with my
father's consent, I wholly relinquished the
study.     ?    '|f     §""'';:': ''f^'-lt ^':iW::;K
The period of my stay at this place was
the most happy of my life. My preceptor,
MrjfMoses, was not only a^learned, but*||
virtuous, benevolent, and amiable man, universally beloved by his pupils, who took delight in his instruction, and to whom he allowed every proper amusement* l&at consisted with attention to their studies.
'.■•.
*¥*• .:.■'■. "■!'* ■ \     - 7    :  '|/'    '   :: ... *"■'"■■ "
WbM pip I
0neo| the principal pleasures I enjoyed
was in attending the fair, which is regularly
hel&itwiee a,year at Donnington, in the
spring and in the fall; the second day being i«r4|#ly^idev0ted to selling horses, a prodigious number of which are brought thither for that purpose. I As the scholars on
these occasions were always in^lged with a
holidayJ|I cannot express with what eaogr-
qess of youthful expectation |iiisMJ$o anticipate these fairs, no#what deli^^^elt at
the various shows, exhibitio^ of w||itbeastsv
and mother entepainments that tll|y present*
ed. I was frequently visiteclfby vjsy father*
who always discovered Q|uc§i joy on seeing
me, p^s^d me foAniy acqi^^aiente, and
ustikU^lefts-me a small sum fbrpny pcpkefc
expenses./ ' ^|| :W$Y--:-*lfp- - ; jf||- - ■ •:
Among the scholars a| thfe academy* them
wasonenaAed Charles lltief, with whoi||:I
fbrm^cka particular intimacy, which co^fcin-
ued coring the whole of my st|y..*| He wa§|
my class and room mate, and as the town
he came from, Ashby, was more thaij^xty
miles off, instead of returning hon^ hgu^d
frequently during ithe vao|tion, t^g^w|th
me to Boston, where he always met with a
cordiapwelcome from my fethe^wh^lcei^
ed me on these occasions ^thphe f||at|^fr
affection, apparently taking much pifpe§n
tn^^KMy ^itend in return :useq^ ^^fcnie
w^pprn toa|ui|cleof fcls in Donnin^toi^^
1 ft*
very wealthy man, who, having no children
of his own, was very fond of his nephew^and
on his account I was always a welcome visitor at the house. I had a good voice, and an
ear for music, to which I was always passionately attached, though my father endeavou|r
ed to discourage this propensity, considering
it, (as is too frequently the case) but an introduction to a life of idleness and dissipation, and haviftg been remarked for my singing at church, which was regularly attended
on Sundays and Festival days by the scholars, MrJlMorfchrop* my friend Rice's uncle,
Ifsed frequently to request me to sing ; Hie
|pas always pleased with my-ixhibitions of
this kind, *and If was no doubt one of |be
means that secured me so gracious a reception at his house. A number of othe| gen-
tleflfenfn the place would somet&ies send for
me to sing at their houses, anddls I wa#not
a llfte v^jb of mjP!vocfj powei^I waimucf
gratified on receiving these invitatiorft, and
accepted them with the greatest pleasure.
Thus passed away the two happiest years
of m.]pitfe, when my father, thinking fhat I
had received a sufficient education for the
profession he intended lite for, took me
from school at Donningtou in order to apprentice me to Doctor Mason, a surgeon of
eminence at Reasby, in^the Mneighbour^oodl
oi|the celebrated Sir JosephfcBanks. With
regftlt did 1f part from my school acqu^i^i "   ■ '  '■■''■' W '*     -t-
tance, particularly my f^jtendJRice and|*e*
returned home with my father, on a short
visi^to my family, preparj^ofy to my intended apprenticeship, fphe disinclination I
ever had felt for the profession my father
wished me to pursue, was still further increased on my return. When a child I was
always fond of being in the shop, among the
workmen, endeavouring to imitate what I
saw them do ; this dispositio^po f|r increased after my leaving the academy, that I
could not bear to hear the least mention
made of my being apprf||ieed to a a^rgeoiij|
and 1 used so many intreaties wi|h my father to persua(|§ him to give up this plan
and learn me his own trade, that he atllast
consented. More fortunate would it probably have been for me, had I gratifie^^e
wishes of this affectionate parent, in adopting the profession he had chosen for me,
than thus induced him to sacrifice them to
minelt However it might hav^een, I|*vas
at length introduced into the shop, and my
natural turn of mind corresponding wit^the
employment, I became in a short tim^nife
commonly expert at the work tOr|wh^»I
was set. I now felt myself well contented,
pleased with im occupation, a|td tpgtted
with jftmch affection by n|y father ^id kindness by my step-mother^my fatherpiaving
IMice more entered the state of matrimony,
with a widow much younger tha$hifoself?
t*y m
ijsjr
'     M*
fm*
I
who had been brough§ up in a superior manlier, and was an  amiable and sensible  wo-
man.f§;. I;   .  ,t    iV^V ..'.-||.'.' ;;-M
|| About a year after I had commenced this
apprenticeship, my father finding that he
could carry on his business to mo|e advantage in Hull, removed thither with his family. An event of no little importance to me,
as it in a great measure influenced rny future destiny.! Hull leing one oMthe best
ports in England, and a place of great trad||
my father had there full employment for
his numerous workmen, particularly in|yes-
sel work. This naturally leading me to an
acquaintance w|th t|e sailors on board some
of t|e ships, the many remarkabl^ptories
they told me of their voyages andgadven-
tures, and of the manners gM^customs of
the nations they had seen, excited a strong
wish in me to visit foreign couiflries, which
was encreased by my reading the ;||D>yages
of Capt. dook, and some other celelratecji
navigators.   M, It; .;.. :^fe fffl
T^u^passed the four years that I lived at
Hull, where mypather^ was esteemed by a|t
w^o knew him, as a worthy, industrioi||, and
thriving mam Atfthis periodica e||cum-
stance occurred which afforded me,the o|||
portuniiy I had for some time wished, of gra*
tifying my inclination of going a^r^a(J^^^S
Among our principal custom^g^^H||^p
l^ere the Americans who freqti^:ed §h^ 11
V
*
port, and from whose conversation, mi
father as well as myself formed the most favorable opinion of that country, a^ffording
an excellent field for the exertions of indus-
tryjand a flattering prospect for the establishment of a young man in life, fin the
summerpf the year 1802, during the peace
between England and France, the ship Boston, belonging to Boston, iu Massachusetts,
and commanded by Capt John Salter, arrived at Hull, whither she came to take oil
board a cargo of such goods as were want*
ed for the; trade, Iwith the Indianipon the
North-West coast of America, from whence,
after|having taken in a lading of furs and
skins, she was to proceed to China, and from
thence home to America. 1 The ship, having
occasion for many repairs and iterations, necessary for so long # Voyage, the captain ||>*
plied to my father to do the smith \#rk,
which was very considerable. That genfpf
manjwho was of a social turn, Used often fjj|
call „at my father's hciasif wher^he^^issdi
many of his evenings, with his cm^ aid s^
#3hd mates, Mr. B. J^felouisa, and Mi§^|§
fara Ingraharn, the lattela fifj|* yoi|jf*g man
§jf about twenty, of a most amia^^mii^r,
and $ such affable tnann^|||feis g^ln^phi^
thl lo% and attachment oflff^^hdm^dvm^
These gentlemen used occasi%ia3W to tlpe
n^l wip them to the theatre, an aiapuseuient
i$fj$L 1 was very fond of, and which mjf|k~
-;iSg
■m
I
SBS
^^^^££|jdfjfl "   ■
12
*>&-<
ther father encouraged than objected to, as
he thought it a good means of ^feventing
young men who are naturally Inclined to
seek for something|to|amuse them, from
frequenting taverns, ale houses, and places
of bad resor|^fequally destructiveSof§the
health and morals, while the stage frequently
furnishes excellent lessons of morality and
good conduct.   "-•.      ■'%■■'■'    W-'W^'^-''-
In thcfjpevenings that he passed at my father's Captain Saltar, who h|d for a great
number of years been at sea, and seen almost all parts of the world, used sometimes
to speak of his voyages, fand observing me
listen|with much attention to his relat||)nil
he one day ifwhen 1 had brough^him some
work, said to me in rather a jocose manner,
Jcifrn, how Ihould you like to go with me?
Answered thatiit would give megrest plea-
^are, that I had for a long time wished to
visit foreign countries, particularly America,
which I had been told so many fine stories
of, and that if myffather would give his
eonsen^and he was willing to tfke me witK
S|Hp|woi)ld go. I shall be very glad to do
it, said he if your fathfr can be prevailed on
to l^p|u go, and as I want an expert smith;
for an armourer, the one I have shipped for
that purpose not beiftg sufficiently mastef|
m l^l&trade, I have no doubt that youj^ll
$|p^ver my turn well, as;ft perceive j^i^&i^
both act^^uid: :i^e«ioiJg^; au«§ ^^^^ turn to America, I shall probably be abl6-to
do something much better for }Ou,in|?Bos|
ton ; I will take the first opportunity of speaking to your father about it, &nd try to persuade him to consent. He accordingly the
next evening that he called at Our house introduced the subject: my father at first would
not listen to the proposal. That best of parents, though anxious for my advantageous
establishment in life, could not bear to think
of parting with me, but on Capt: Salter's
telling him of what benefit it would be to me
to go the voyage with him, and that it was
a pity|to keep a promising a^^igenious
young fellow, like myself confift^l^pa small
shop in England, whin if I had tolerable
success, I might do so much better in America, where wages were much higher and
living cheaper, he at length gave up his ol|f
jections and consented t^at i should ship on
board the Boston as an arr§ourer, at the rate
of thirty dollars per mcfeth ; with an agreement that the amount due me, together with
a certain sum of money which my father gave
Capt. Salter for that pufeose, should hjp lai|§
out by him on the North-West Coast iifthe
purchase of furs on my account, topb^lais-
posed of in China for such goods as :|SMcl
jpeld a profit on the return of the sh^^tny
father being solicilous to give me e*i|y advantage in his powfr, of well establi^^g
Myseplin my trade in Boston or ^sbe^otli^r
m :*■.■■■ 1 "W    mm
Ma
mm i
14
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£*_
r«
maritime town of America. Such were the
flattering expectations which this good man
indulged respecting me. Alas! thefataldis-
aster that befel us, not only blasted all these
hopes, but involved me in extreme distress
and wretchedness for a long period after. J|
The ship having undergone a thorough repair and been well coppered,  proceeded to
take on board her cargo, which consisted of
English   cloths,   Dutch  blankets,   looking
glasses, beads,   knives,  razors, &c.  which
were received from  Holland,  some sugar
and molasses, about twenty hogsheads  of
rum,  including stores for the ship, a great
quantity of ammunition, cutlasses,  pistols,
and three  thousand Juuskets and fowling
pieces.    The ship being loaded and ready
for sea, as I was preparing for my departure,
my father came to me, and taking me aside,
said to me with much emotion, John, I am
;pw going to part with you, and heaven only knows if we shall ever again meet.    But
in whatever part of the world you are, always bear it in mind, that on your own con-
(lluct will depend your success infife.    Be
^onest, industrious, frugal, and temperate,
#nd you will not fail, in whatsoever country
it may be your lot to be placed, to gain
yourself friends.     Let the Bible be  yoijf
glpde, and your reliance in any fortune fftat
may befal you that Almighty Being, :'|wfa^
knows how to bring forth goad jfroni^p. 15
and  who never deserts those who put#their
trust in him. file repeated his exhortations
to me to lead an honest and a christian life,
and to recollect that I had a father, a mother, a brother, and sister, who could not but
feel a strong interest in my welfare, enjoining me to write him by the first opportunity
that should offer to England, from whatever
part of theHvorld I might be injmore particularly oh my arrival in Bistonf    This I
promised to do, but long unhappily was it
before I was able to fulfil this promise.    I
then took an affectionate leave ofimy wlift
thy parent, whose  feelings* would baldly
permit him to speak, and bidding an affecp
tionate farewell to my brother, sister, and
Step-mother, who expressed the greatest solicitude for my future fortune, went on board
the ship, which proceeded to the Downs to
be ready for the first favourable wind.    I
found myself well accommodated on bogld
as regardedlray work, al iron forg^i^^ng
been erected on deck ; this my fath^^|d^
made for thft ship on a new plan, foiwpb^
he  afterwards obtained a patent:; wipe a
corner of the steerage was appropr^te^^o
my viceffench, so that i^Sad:pveatheij^
could work below.   "        '^^^^^m^'^m!' m
0|h the third day of S^ptembeif 1802, w||
salted from thel^owns withfafa^^^^pn
d^npany with twenty-four sail of Americ||j|.
iflSSBete, most of whifh were boundlba^^K
WW
•
• ■■-
"...  A im
L •, >   ;
m<i
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-
&f!fc-#
If;
I was sea-sick for a few of the first days,
butpt was of short continuance, and on my
recovery I found myself in uncommonly fine
health and spfrits, and went to work witli
alacrity at my forge, in putting in order some
of the muskets, and making daggers, knives,
and small hatchet# for the Indian trade,
while in wet and stormy w|ather I was oc-
eupied§t>elow in filing and polishing them.
This was my employment, having but little
to do with sailing the vessel, though I used
occasionally to lend a hand in assisting the
seamen in taking in and making: sail. As I
had gever before been out of sight of land,
I cannot describe my sensations, after I had
recovered from the distressing effects of seasickness, on viewing the nighty ocean by
wftich I was surrounded, bourfded only by
the sky; while its waves rising in mountains,
seemed every moment to threaten our ruin*
Manifest as is the hand!of Providence in
preserving its creatures from destruction, in
no instince is it more so than %n the great
deep|| for whethewwe consider in its tumultuary motions the watry deluge that each
moment menaces to overwhelm us, the immense violence of its shocks, the little that
interposes between us and-dea|:h,|a si||fle
plank fuming ourfohly security/p^feh,
shotilMt unfortunately be loosened ^ipd
plu^pis .at once into the abyss,;&ufppt^
||jde|bught. strongly to be exct§ed towaps 17
£1
that superintending Deity who in so wonderful a manner sustains our lives amid|the
waves.   ^  ■§ ■        %'■% . - ' :- ■■ ;■'.
We had a pleasant and favorable passage
of twenty-nine day^to the Island of St. Catherine on the coast of Brazils, where the
Captain had determined to stop for a few
days to wood and water. This place belongs to the Portuguese. On entering the
harbor we were saluted bv the fort which we
returned. The next day the> Governqf of the
Island came on board of us with his smite ;
Cfptain Salter received him with much, rfg-
pect and invited him to dine with him, whi§h
he accepted. The ship remained at Sj|.Car
tharine's fourgdays, d||ringiwhich timeJ^wJj^
were busily employed in taking inwood, wa-
ter,-anjc||fresh|provisions, Captain JSalter
thinking it be&tpo<< furnish himself here with
a ful^§upply for his voyage to the .:||orai--
West coast, so as not to be obliged to ^p
at the Sandwich Islands. St. C^arineSs
a very commodious place for vessels to stop
at that are bound round Cape HornJ^a|fit
abounds with|sp|ijngs of fine water, ^i|h excellent oranges, plantains, and ba|iana^^li
^^pBaving completed opr stores ^^'p^l||M>
s^pind on the twenty-ffth of B^^^ipit
Wbgtfk passed. Cape Hirr^^ysii^^Ja^
'W0^e no less than thirty-|i||^^rs be%re, Ipi
I repeatedIj^forced ba|k by  contna&P
mi
B 2/
ssngL.   <m&
m
iV mm
m
»
-
mi
winds, experiencing very rough and tempestuous weather in doubling it. p.
Immediately aftergpassing Cape Hornf a||
our dangers and difficulties seemed to be at
an end ; the weather becani|| fine and so
little labour was necessary onboard thefehip
that the men soon recovered from their fatigue and were in excellent spirits. %A few
days afterfwe fell in wi^i an Engli|J|> South
Sea Whaling Ship, homeward bound, wfaiph
wasfthe only vessel we§ spoke with on our
voyage. We now took the trade wind fer
monsoon, during whifh we enjoyed the finest weather possiWe, so that for the space
lm& fortnight we were not obliged J^^eve
a topsail op to j^ake a tack, and so light was
the duffr and easy the life of the sail#rs during this time, that they appeared the hipp§g
est of|any people in thefworld. ^ ^
f| Captain Salter, who had been forpnany
years in the East-India trade, #as a most
axcellent seaman, an# preserved the strict-
estJfrder and discipline on boar# his ship,
though lie was a man of mlldite&per^d
conciliating manners, and dispose^to apow
every indulgence to his men, not incon#stent
w$|£ their duty. We had of board || fine
bandfof music, with which on Saturday
i)|^i'^ when the| weather was pleasant^re
werepccust|med to be regaled, the Curtain
^d^p^ th#n to ploy for severaf h^^p|||
tliefaniusement of the crew>SFhis^ to^i» was most del%htful^especiaHy dmlng the
serene evenings we ex|rerietlced||^tr£p^ing
the Southern Oceanl! As for myself, duli^g
the day |I was constantly occupied at my
forge, in re-fittfcg or repairing some of the
iron work of the vessel, but principally in
making tomahawks, daggers, &c. for the
North West coast§ ^' :.<Jflp7' v r- " ' '
louring tlse first part of our voyage wf|
saw scarcely fany^p fish, fexceptingf some
whales, a few sharks, and flying flfllf but
after weathering Cape H^frn wee^^t#ith
n#nerous shoals of sea jprpoise^ s^erp of
whom we^caught, and as we had bellf for
some time without fresh provisions, I found
it not only a palatable bili^eally a very ex^
cellent food. To one wl^ha^ never before
seen th^ai, a shoal of these fish presents a
very striding and fingular appearance ; b^
held #t a distance coming towards a vessel
they look not unlike a great number ofttsuia||
black waves rolling over oneianother Hi a
confused manner and approaching witli|§reat
swiftness. As soon as a shoal is seen^il^^
bustle and activity |||ii board the shipj|tbe
gi^is and the harpoons are inmedia|e!y got
ready, and those*|who are besl skilled in
throwing them take their stand atfthe bdw
and along the gunwale anxiously awaitinp
t|^£velcome trollp aAhey |)me gambtfiin||
a|jp Wowing a^und th#ves|el,i|n sear^p^f
feod# When pierced witbillo hai#oonmn4
Am -
■m
^w-^Ws.
"ft
i
drawn on board, unless the fish is instantly
killed by the stroke, Which rarely happeg||
it utters most pitiful cries*greatly resembling
those of an infant.    The flesh cut into steaks
and hipled, is not unlike very coarsejpbeef*
and the harslet in appearance and taste is so>
much like that of a hog, that it would be
no ea|y matter to distinguish the one from
the other ;   from this c^rcf instance the sailors have given the nameibf the^irring hog
to this fish ^ I was told by some of the^ew,
that if one of them happens tofpee itself
from the grains or harpoons, when struck,
all the others,   attracted ^ the blood^pji^
mediately quit the ship and give cj|ace to
the wounded o$t, aid as soon as they overtake j|t immejjialply . tegr it i|||pieces.     We
-*too caught a larse shark, which had follow-
ed the ship for several days with  a hook
which  I  made for the||purpose,|f and  air-
though the flesh was by no means equal to*
that of the hearing hog, yet to those dest§l
tuteas we hereof any thing fresh* I found
it eat very welk    After passing the Cape
when the sea had become calm we sa\#great
ni|mbers o||§Albateosses, a large browin and
white bird of th$ goos#kind,  one of which
Q|ptain Salter shot, wfeose wings measured
from their   extremities fifteen  feet.     One
thing, however, I must not omit mefl^ip^,
as it struck me in a most singular andfex-
^aordinarf manoef;  §T|fis wai^^Hid^fe 21
passing Cape H(§nin December, which was
mid summed in that cliliate, tie nights were
so light, without any moon, that we found
no difficulty whatever intreading small
printplhich we frequently did during our
watches.    * ';     ':%:
In thi# manner, with a fair„ wind ami-easy
weather from the 28th of December, the period of our passing Cape Horn, we pureed
ourfiroyage to the Northward until the 12th
of March, 1803, when%e made Woody Point
in Nootka Sound on the North West Coast
of America. We immediately stood up the
Soundlfor Nootka, where Captain Salter had
determined to stop, in orderJtto supply the
ship with wood and water before proceeding
up the coast to trade. But in order to avoid
the risque oU any molestation or interruption
to his men from the Indians, while tjfus evM
ployed, he proceeded with the ship about five
mVes to the North wifrd of the village, which
is situated on Friendly Covei and sent out
his chief mate with several of thefcrewlfn
the boat to find a goo|r place foi||§ich#ing
her.—After sounding for sime time they i§|
turned with information that they hail discovered a secure place fo^anchorage!o^thp
Weitern side of an inlet or small bay ai$bcpp;
h$f a mile from the coas|, tf|ar a small|pl-
and which protected j| ffolh the seagull
pplere there was a plenty of w$od an#^c|l-
fejf|t water. flThe Sh|p accordingl^pcame to km
Mm
anchor in this place, at twelve o'clock at
night, in twelve fathom water, muddy bottom,
and so near the^hore thalNto prevent the ship
from winding weSsecured her by a hauser to
the trees. On thefemorning of the next day,
the thirteenth, several of the natives came on
board hi a canoe fr#m the village of Nootka,
with their king, citled Maquina,fwho ap*
peared much pleased on seefltig us, and with
great seeming cordiality, welcomed (lapt.
Salter and his officers to his country. AS I
had never before beheld a savage of any ia-
tion, it map readily be supposed that the novr
el^jpf their||||3eara^ce, so diffe*#it from any
people that I had hitherto seen,texcited in
:^e strong feelings of surprizellnd curiosity.
I i^spiowever, particularly struck with the
Upcs of their king, who was a man of a dignified aspect, about six feet in heighth and
extremely strait and will proportioned ; Sis
features w|re in general good and his face
was rendered remarkable by a large Roman
nose, a very uncommon form of feature
a^ong these people; his^pomplexion was of
a d^irk copper huefthough his face, legs, and
arms were on this occasion, so covered with
r3ct§paint, that their natural colour could
scarcely be^perceived, his eye-brows were
paij^icl black in two broad stripes likif^a
ue\% moon, and his long black hair, whtfeh
shone with oi&lrwas fastened in a bunch on
the top of his head and Strewed or powde#|
•w*&* ed all over with white down, which gave
him§a most curious and extraordinary appearance.    He wgts dressed in a large mantle^ or cloak of the black sea otter skin,
which reached to his knees, and was fastened around fis middle by a broad belt of the
clothlof the country,  wrought, or painted
with figures of several colours ;   this dress
wa%by no means unbecoming,|but on the
contrary had an air of savage magnificence.
His men were habit|d in  mantles offphe
same cloth, which is made from the bark of
a tre^ and hasf some|fres€fnblance to straw
matting, th|se are nearly square and have
two holes in the upper part large enough t|o
admit the arms—they reach as low as the
knees anc^are fastened around their belies
with a beIt|§about four inches broad of J|ie
same cloth.     ||||. $|   .  --;-.. ■    I r P^&
From bif| having frequently  visited %e
English and American ships that trapet^^
the coast, Maquina had learned the signllN
cation of a number of English words, and in
general could make himself prettypvell ufff
derstood by us in our own language^ ^[e
was  always the first to go on %oard sifch
s|ips agi came to Pfeotka, which ^^^^M
much pleased in visiting, even l^hfn hJihad
no trade to offer, as he almfst always received some small present, and was ^%eite^
extremely wefiftreftted by the commanders,
fi^^n^ne#on bolrd of us for i&wM tliae 24
if!
*s
during which the captain took him into the
cabin and treated him with a glass of rum ;
these people being very fond of distilled spirits, and some biscuit and molasses which
they prefer to any kind of food that we can
offer them. ■■ >   A  SI--"
|kAs there are seldom many furs to be purchased at this place aud it was not fully the
season, Capt Salter had put in here not so
much with an expectation^of trading as to
procure an ample stock of wood adp water
for the supply of th| ship on the coaf^ think^#
ing it more prudent to take it on board ai^
Nootka, from the generally frigndly disposition of the people, than to endanger the safety of his men in sending them on shore|for
that purpose among the more ferocious natives of the north. With this v$aw, we immediately set about getting our water casks
in readiness, and the next and two succeeding days part of the crew were sent on shore
to cut pine timber and assist the carpenter
m making it into yards and spars for the ship,
while those on board were employed in refitting the riggipg, repairing the sails, &c.
when we proceeded to take in our wood and
water as expeditiously as possible, during
which time I kept myself busily employed
ixilrepairing the muskets, making knives,
tomaxes, &c. and doip$. such iron w^ork jas
was wanted for the ship. Meantime more
or less of the natives came ou beard of u$fe *
daily, bringing with them fresh salmon with
which they supplied us in great plenty, receiving if* return some trifling articles. Capt.
Salter was always very particular before admitting these people on board to see that they
had no arms about them, by obliging them indiscriminately to throw off their garments, so
that he felt perfectly secure from any altack.
On the fifteenth the king came on board
W^th several of his chiefs ; he was dressed
as before in his magnificent otter skin: robe,
having his face highly painted, and hffijhair
tossed off with the white down wbicMpok-
ed like snow | his chiefs were dressetfpn
mantles of the countrf clothfof its natural
colour, which is a pale yellow ; these were
ornamented with a broad border painted or
wrought in figure^of several colours representing men's he^ds, various animals, &c.
and secured around them by a belt likeMlrat
of the king from which it was distinguished-
only by being narrower : the dress of| the
common people is of the same fashion and
differs from that of the chiefs in being of a
coarser texture and painted ped, of onlllmi-
form colour. «
Captain Salter invited Maquina and his
chiefs to dine with hinif and  it was curioull
to me how these people (when they eat) seat
piemselves  (in their country -'fashidji '.upon
oui*}hairs) with their feet und^ them ^j^M
sedilike Turks.* They cannot endurej^fe;1
C it
,
taste of salt, and the only thing they would
&at with us was the ship bread which they
were very fond of especially when dipped in
molasses, they had also a great liking fof tea
and coffee when well sweetened. As iron
weapons and tools of almost every kind are
in much request among them, whenever they
came on board they were alays very attentive to me, crowding around me at the
forge, as if to see in what manner I did my
work, and in this way became quite familiar,
a circumstance, as will be seen in the end,
of great importance to me. The salmon
which they brought us furnished a most delicious treat to menwh§ for a long time had
lived wholly on salt provisions excepting
such few sea fish as we had the good fortuii|i
Occasionally to take,* We indeed feasted
most luxuriously, and flattered ourselves
that we should not want while on the coast
fof plenty of fresh provisions, little imagining tie fate that awaited us, and that this
dainty food was to prove the unfortunate lure
to our destruction 1 On the nineteenth, the
king came again on board and was invited
bv the Captain to dine with him. He had
much conversation with Capt. Salter, and
informed him that there were plenty of wild
ducks and geese near Friendly Cove, on
which the Captain made him a preseiffc of a
double-barreled fowling tijboe with^iiie^^e
appeared to be greatly pipised and som:a||
ter went on shore. ■" % ;--v        .  Jsi^l €*
Oijfthe 20th we were nearly ready for ojir
departure, having taken in what wood and
water we were in want of A   J|
T§ie next day Maquina came outboard
with f|ine pair of wild ducks, as a present,
at the same time he brought with him the
gun one of the locks of which he had broken, telling the Captain that it was peshak,
that is bad ; Capt. Salter was very much of-
fendedlat|this observation, and considering
it as a mark of contempt for his present, he
called the king a liar, adding other opprobrious terms, and taking the gun from hinp
tossed it^indignantly into the cabin and calling me to him said, | John, this fellow has
broken this beautiful fowling piece, see if
you can mend it :' on examing it 1 told him
that it could beftdone.—As J have already
observed, Maquina knew a number of English words, and unfortunately understood but
Ipto well the meaning of the reproachful
terms that the Captain addressed to him.—
He saiel not a word in reply, but his countenance sufficiently expressed the-rage he felt,
though he|xerted h^pself to suppress it, and
I observed him while the Captain wa| speaking repeatedly put his hand to his throat and
rub it upon his bosom, which hepfterwards
told me was to keep dowp his^^art |rh||fa
was rising into his throat a|d^ioak]§g:^^.
Uf soon after went on shore iwitji his men
evidently much discomposed. §     jj ,
li
mm
It
28    -
On the morning of the 22d the natives
came off to us as usual with salmon, and remained on board, when about noon Maquina came along side with a considerable number of his chiefs and|lmen in their canoes,
who, after going through the customary examination were admitted into the ship. He
had a whistle in his hagd, and over his face
a very ugly mask of wood representing the
head of some wild beast, appeared to be remarkably good fpiumoured and gay, and
whilst his people sung and capered about the
|pfbk, entertaining us with a variety of antic tricks and gestures, he blew his whistle
to a kind of tune which seemed to regulate
their motions. As Capt. Salter was walking on the quarter deck amusing himself with
their dancing, the king came up to him and
enquired when he intended to go to sfa ?—j
he answered, to-morrow.—Maquina then
said, I you love salmon—much in Friendly
Cove, why not go then and catch some ?'—
The Captain thought that itfwould be very
desirable to have a good supply of these fish
for the voyage, and on consulting with Mr.
Delouisa it was agreed to send part of the
l^rew on shore after dinner with the seine i|*
order to procurer quantity—Maquina s^bd
hm chiefs staid and dined on board, and $fter
dinner the chief mate went off wt||& n|^e
men in the jolly boat and yawl t(3|fi^ at
friendly Cove, having set the stewar§€| W6^. -   --J^pfSfH^I
;.  -   ■ , w . .  , f.
shore at our watering place to wash the captain's clothes. I Shortly after the departure
of the boats I went down to my vice bench
in the steerage, where I was employed in
cleaning muskets.    I  had not been there
more than an hour  when I heard the men
hoisting in the long boat, which, in a few minutes after, was succeeded by a great bustle
and confusion on deck.    I immediately ran
up the steerage stairs, but scarcely wa|my
head above deck, when I was caught by the
hair by one of the savages, and lifted from
my feet § fortunately for me, my hair being
short, and the ribbon with which it was tied
slipping, I fell from his hold into the steerage.
As I was falling, he struck at me with an axe,
which cut a deep gash in my forehead, and
penetrated the skull, but in consequencegof
his losing his hold, I luckily escapee^the fup
force of the blow ; which, otherwise, would
have cleft my head in two.    I fellj stunned
and senseless upon the floor—how long I
continued in this situation I know not, but:
on i§c#ering my senses the first thing that||
did, was to try to get up ; but so weak was
Is fromlthe loss of blood, that I fainted aj|d
fellJL I was however soon recalled to mv re-
collection by three loud shouts or yells from
the savages, whicfi convincedfjie that th|p
had goipossession of the ship.    It is irn^os-
sfjftte for me to descipbe my feelings |tt Ibis
^lifte sound .-—Some feint idea mayfjae for-
C.  As- •IS
.
Till 'M
H'-t
!
med of them by those who have known what
it is to half waken from a hideous dream and
still think it real. Never, no, never, shall I
lose from my mind, the impression of that
dreadful moment. I expected every instant
to share the wretched fate of my unfortunate
companions, and when I heard the song of
triumph, by which these infernal yells was
succeeded, my blood ran cold in my veins.
Having at length sufficiently recovered my
senses to look around me after wiping the
blood from my eyes, I saw that the hatch of
the steerage" was shut. This was done, as
I afterwards discovered, by order of Maquina, who, on seeing the savage strike at
me with the axe, told bin not to hurt me,
for that I was the armourer, and would be
useful to them in repairing their arms ; while
at t|fe iitme time to prevent any of his gtnen
from injuring me, he had the hatch clqIWI
But t|> me this circumstance wore a very different appearance, for I thought that these
barbarians had only prolonged my life in or-
$|er to deprive me of it by the most cruel tortures. I remained in thil horrid state of
suspence for a very long time, when at length
the hatch was opened, and Maquina, calling
me byname, ordered me to comeup| I
groped my way up as well as I was a^^
being almost blinded with the bipod that
flowed from my wound, and so weak;a$|:'vi|||^'
difficulty to walk.   The king, oiiperce^^g
.■; ^
■nil mm-"-  '■
-
my situation, ordered one of his men to bring
a pot of water to wash  the blood from my
face, which having done, 1 was able to see
distinctly with one of my eyes, but the other was so swollen from my wound, that it was
closed *fb But what a terrific spectacle met
my eyes ;   six naked savages, standing in w
circle around me, covered with the blood*of
my murdered comrades, with their daggers
uplifted in their hands, prepared to strike.
I now thought my last moment had come,
and recommended my soul to my Maker.—
The king, who, as I have already observed,
knew enough of English to make himself
understood, entered the circle, and plaelf^
himself before me, addressed me neaply in
John—I speak—f
-daggers
say   no
the  following  words—-"
you  no   say  no—You
come Vy   He then askedime if I w%uld %a
his slave during my Hfe—If I woup^fi^p
for him in his battles—If I would repair his
muskets and make daggers and knive§| for
him—with several other questions, t| all q|
which I was careful to answer, yes. He l^ln
told me that he would spare my life, a||d ordered me to kiss his hands and feeflto show
my submission to him, which I did—In th|f
mean time his people were very c!amor<||s
to have me put to dea^so that there shfuld
be  nine of us left to tjafi our story to=Jfouai
llountrymen and prevent them from coming
ip trade with them : but the kin&fiiu. the most determined manner opposed their wishes, and to his favour am I wholly indebted
for my being yet among the living. As I
was busy at work at the time of the attack,
I was without my coat, and what with the
!#oldness of the weather, my feebleness from
loss of blood, the pain of my wound and the
extreme agitation and terror that I still felt,
I shook like a leaf, which the king observe
ing, went into the cabin and bringing up a
great coat that belonged to the captain, threw
it over my shoulders, telling me to drink some
rum from a bottle which he handed me at
the same time, giving me to understand that
it would be good for me and keep me frlui
trembling as I did*| I took a draught ofSit,
after w]Wihy§taking me by the hand, he led
me to the quarter deck, where the most horrid sig^lpresented itself that ever my eyes
witnessed—the heads of our unfortunate
Captain and his crew, to the number of twenty-five, were all arranged in a line, and Maquina ordering one of his people to bring a
head, asked me whose it was : I answered,
the Captain's; in like manner the others
Were shewed me, and I told him the names,
excepting a few that were so hoiribly man*
gled that I was notable to recognize theuife
I now discovered tblt all our unfortunate
crew had been massacred, and learned &ha$r
after getting possession of the ship, the savages had broke op<?h the arm chest and maga*
'* zine, and supplying themselves with ammunition and arms, sent a party on shore to attack our men who had gone thither to fish,
and being joined by numbers from the village, without difficulty, overpowered and
murdered them, and cutting off their heads,
brought them on board, after throwing their
bodies into the sea.| On looking upon the
deck, I saw it entirely covered with the blood
of my poor comrades, whose throats half
been cut with their own jack-knives, the savages having seized the opportunity while they
were busy in hoisting in the boat to grapple
with them and overpower them by their numbers ; in the scuffle the captain was throwffi
overboard and dispatched by those in the ca|§
noes who immediately cut off his head :
What I felt on this occasion, may be more
readily conceived than expressed.
After I had answered his questions, J\|&-
quiiia took my silk handkerchief from my
neck and bound it around my head, placing
over the wound a leaf of tobacco, of whic|r
we had a quantity on board. This wasdone
at my desire, as 1 had often found from personal experience the benefit of this application to cuts. j£v
Maquina then ordered me to get the ship
under weigh for friendly Cove.    This I did
by cutting the cables and sending #mejbf
the natives aloft to loose the sails, which they
l^erforaied in a very bungling manner,f Iltet u
they succeeded so far in loosing the jib and
topsails, that, with the advantage of a fair
wind, I succeeded in getting the ship into
the Cove, where, by order of the king, I ran
her ashore on a sandy beach, at 8 o'clock at
night.      M •   • . |||! ■■ •    •*••■.. ,,
We were received by the inhabitants of
the village, men, women, and children, with
loud shouts of joy, and a most horrible
drumming with sticks upon the roofs and
sides of their houses, in which they had also stuck a great number of lighted pine torches, to welcome their king's return antf
congratulate him on the success of his en-
^#rprize.f^' - . * .,     .^-VM>.--;..,: • ; : ■ 'm^
Maquiiia then took me on shore to his
house which was very large and filled with
people—where I was received with mpch
kindness by the women, particularly those
belonging to the king, who had no less than
nine wives, all of whom came around me expressing mjLich sympathy for my misfortune,
gently stroking andf patting my head in ao
encouraging and soothing manner, with
words expressive of condolence. How
sweet is compassion even from savages ?—
Those who have been in a similar situation,
can alone truly appreciate its value.
In the mean time, all the warriors of the
tribe, to the number of five hundred, had asr
sembled at the king's house to rejoice foj*
their success.    They exulted g^eatj^^P)^ ving taken our ship, and e&eh one bested of
his own particular exploits in killing our
men, but they were in general much dissatisfied with my having been suffered to live,
and were very urgent with Maquina to.deliver me to them to be put to death, #hic^h^
obstinately refused to do, felling lem that
he had promised me my life and would|not
break his word ; and that besides, I knew
how to repair and to make arms, and should
be of great use to them.
The king then seated me by him and |f|
dered his women to bring him something to
eat, when they set before him some dried
clams and train oil, of which he ate very
heartily, and  encouraged me to follow his
example, telling me to eat much and take a
great deal  of oil  which would make me
strong and fat; notwithstanding his praise
of this new kind of food,   I felt no disposition to indulge in it, both %e ^ell and taste
being loathsome  to me ; |§md|had it been
otherwise, such wa^h|y>ain I endured, the
agitation of my mind^Kj the gloominess <||
my reflections, that I shg|||d have felt very
little inclination for eatii^^^Not satisfied
withfhis first refusal to deliver! me^pSto
them the people agai^ bfcame c$amoroi|f|
that Maquina should^ons^it t&ri0 being!
killed, saying that not one dills ouglt to B^
left alive to give information to others of our
*||untrymen and prevent them from cofpiri§f m
.*.*
w
A im
m^i
^
%
36
'mm
to trade or induce them to revenge the destruction of our ship, and they at length be-
camCso boisterous that he caught up a large
club in a passion and drove them all out of
the house. During this scene a son of the
king, of about eleven years old, attracted no
doubt by the singularity of my appearance
came up to me : I caressed him ; he returned my attentions with much apparent pleasure, and considering this as a fortunate opportunity to gain the good will of the fethe||
I took the child on my knee, and cutting the
metal buttons from off the coat I had on, I
tied them around his neck. fAt this he was
highly delighted, and became so much attached to me that he would not quit me.
The king appeared much pleased with my
attention to his son, and telling me that it
was time to go to sleep directed me to lie
with his son next to him, as he was afraid
lest some of his people would come while
he was asleep and kill me with their daggers.! I lay down as he ordered me,|but
neither the state of my mind nor the pain I
felt would allow me to sleep. About midnight 1 was greatly alarmed by the approach
of one of the natives, who came to give information to the king that there was one of
the white men alive, who had knocked hfm-
down as he weifct on board the ship at nj^t.
This Maquina communicated to meLgiving;
tne to understand that as soon as the sun
sMa 37
lose he should kill hifn. I endeavoured to
persuade him to spare his life, hut he bade
me be silent and go to sleep* I^aid nothing
more but lay revolving in my mind fwhat
method I could devise to save the life of this
man. What a consolation thought I, what
a happiness would it prove to me^in my for-
lorfr state among these heathen,! to have a
Christian and one of myfown countrymen
for a companion, and how greatly would it
alleviate and lighten the burden of my slavff
ery. /f As I was thinking of some plan for
his preservation, it alllat once came into my
mind that this man waslprobably the sail-
maker of the ship, named Thompson, as I
had not seen his head among those on deck
and knew that he was below at work upon
the sails not long before the attack. The
more I thought of it the more probable it appeared to me, and as Thompson fas a man
nearly forty years of age, and hada| old
look, I conceived it would be easy?tolmak||
him pass for my father, and bv this ml ani?
prevail on Maquina to spare his life. . Towards morning J fell into a doze*but was
awakened with the first beams of the suf by
the king, who told me that he was g^ig to
kill the man who was on board the ship, an4l
ordered me to accompany him.| I rose and
gpowedfhim, leading with me the voun
prkieefhis son.      f     ■' W:      $
■mm    '     "":     d   :: .; :  '.-!,'" ¥i
—
fS&ti&ki:..
I     I
!    ■
,.
On  coming to the beach I found all the -i
men of the tribe assembled.    Thejking ad-  *
dressed them, saying that one of tie white
men had been found alive on board the ship,   ■ j
and requested their opinion as to saving his    j
life or putting him to death.    They were
unanimously for the first:   This determination he made known to me.    Having arrang-   J
ed my plan, I asked him,   pointing to the
boy whom I still held by the hand, if he \m-   ?
ed his son, he answered that he did ;  I then   |
asked the child if he loved his father, and   1
on his replying in the affirmative, I said and   |
11 also love mine."  f I then threw myself 4
on my knees at MaquinaVffeet and implor- .'J
||1 htm with tears in my eyes to spare my fa-   -
thlr's life, if the man onboard should prove   :2
lo billiini, telling him that if he killed my M
fathfpit was my wish that he should k|toue
too, and that if he did not I wouldSki§ tny-   f
self,—-afid that h-3 would thus lose my services ;^7hereas, by sparing my father's life%e
would preserve mine,   which would be  of   j
great advantage  to him by my reparing and   j
making arms  for him.    Maquina appeared '
moved by my entreaties and promised no$| m
to put the man to death % he should bem|
father.     He then explained toi his people   j
what I had said, and ordered me to go oif|  §
board and tell the man to come o|i .^ore;'|j
To my unspeakable joy on goin^pltCr^p^M
hold, I foundfthat my coi^ectura wasftru^M Thompson, was/there, he had escaped without any injury, excepting a slight wound in
the nose, given him by one of the savages
with-a-knife-as he- attempted to come on
deck, duringIfehe scuffle. Finding the savages in possession of the ship, as he afterwards
informed me, he secreted himself in the hold,
hoping for some chance to make his escape
—but that the Indian who came on board in
the nidfit approaching the place where he
was, he sfpposed|himself discovered, aj|d
being determined to sell his life as dearlmas
possible, as soon as he came within his reach,
he knocked him down, but the Indian immediately springing up ran off at full speed.—j
I informed him in a few words that all our
men had been killed ; that the king had preserved my life, and had consented to spare
his on the supposition that he was my father,
an opinion which he must be careful nft to
undeceive them in, as it was his only safety.
After giving him his cue, I weift on shore
with him and presented him to Maquina,
who immediately knew him to be the sill-
maker and was much pleased, olfeerving
that he could make sails for his canoe.—He
then tookps to his house and ordered something for us toeat^:'',^. •. -; ' '. .. ^|p|
m On the 24th and 25th the natives were busily employed in taking the cargo out of the
slip, stripping her of her sails and rigging,
cutting away the spars and masts, |an|Sn Mfi
-
short rendering her as complete a wreck as
possible, the muskets, ammunition, cloth and
all the principal articles taken from her, being deposited in the king's house. If |§
gp; While they were thus occupied, each one
faking what he liked, my companion and
myself being obliged to aid them, I thought
it best to secure the accounts and papers of
the ship, in hopes that on some future day I
might have it in my power to restore |hem to
the owners. With this view I tdbk posse^
sion 'of the Captain's writing desk which con-
joined the most of them together with some
paper and implements for writing. I had
also the good fortune to find a blank account
book, in which I resolved, should it be permitted me to write an an account of our capture and th& most remarkable occurrences
that I should meet with during my stay
^mong these people, fondly indulging the
hope that it would not be long before some
vessel would arrive to release us.M I like-
Wise found in the cabin, a small volume of
sfpmons, a bible, and a common prayer book
of the Church of England, which furnished
me and my comrade great consolation in the
midst of our mournful servi|ude, and enabled me, under the favor of divine provir
dence, to support, with firmness, the miseries of a life which I might otherwise haj§e
found beyond my strength to dndure. ||A|i|
these people set no value upon things of tmi \2
kind, I found no; difficulty in appropriating
them to myself, by putting them in n|| chest,
which thought had been broken ope9| and
rifled by the savages, as mti\\ had the key, i
without much diffitultv secured* In this I
also put some small tools belonging to the
ship, with several other articles, particularly
a journal kept by the sec(|}d 'm^t^^i#In-
graham, and a collection of drav^^^^md
views of places taken by hira^ %hich I had
the good fortune to preserve, and on my arrival at Boston, I gave thenr§;o ft connection
of his, the honourable Judge Jpawes, who
sent them to his family in New-lfork.^ I
On the 26th, two ships were seenlstand-
ing in for Friendly Cove. Atftheir first appearance the inhabitants were thrown into
great confusi^, but soo^cc^^^^^i lumber of muskets and blunderb^^^^yan to
the shore, from whence they kept upfb l|^^
a fire at them, thatf they were evidently
afraid to approach nearer, and after firing a
few rounds of grape shot which did no ha#n
to any one, they wore ship and stood outfb
sea. These ships, as I afterwards learned,
w<Jjre the Mary and Juno of Boston?*
^ They were scarcely out of sig|ft when Maquina expressed much regret §ha| he had
pefmitted his people to fire at; them, being
apprehensive that they .would give informa-
im tk others in what manner they had been?
2F)Kifi«''       •"<■$/£••'■■■■ iv»
*:
lv
received, and^prevent them from coming to
trade with him. ^ *
A few days after hearing of the capture of
the ship, there arrived atfNootka a great
number of canoes filled with savages from
no less than twenty tribes to the North
and South. Among those ftpm the North
were the Ai-tiz-zafts,*Schoo-mad-its, Neu-
wit-ties, Savin-nars, Ah-owzjerts, Mo-watch-
its, Suth-setts, Neu-chaJpts, Mich-la-its
and Cay-u-quets ; the most of whom were
considered as tributary to Nootka. From
the South; the Aytch-arts and Esquiates
also tributary, with the Kla-oo-quates, and
the Wickanninish, a large and powerful tribe
about two hundred miles distantfl|These
last were better clad than most of the others, and their canoes wrought with much
greater skill ; they are furnished with sails
as well as paddles, and with the advantage
of a fair breeze, are usually but twenty-four
hours on their passage.
Maquina, who was very proud of his new
$fequisition, was desirous of welcoming these
visitors in the European manner. He ac-
cordingfy ordered his men, as theJfenoes approached, to assemble on the beach wtih
loaded muskets and blunderbusses, placing
Thompson at the cannon which had|been
brought from the ship and laid upon two
long sticks of timber in front of the village,
then taking a speaking-trumpet in fojp*hand ■■;. - v   ,,: .. • 43-\        -'.;;/., '■■;■■■
he ascended with me, the roof af his house
and began drumming or beating upon the
boards with a stick most violently. Nothing could be more ludicrous than the appearance of this motly group of savages collected on the shore, dressed as they were, with
their ill-gotteii finery, in the most fantastic
manner, some in women's smocks, taken
from our cargo, others in Kotsaeks, (or
clttaks) of bluef reu or yellowgbroadcloth,
with stockings drawn over their heads, and
their necks hungc round with numbers of
powder-horns, shot-bags, and cartpuch-box-
es, some of them having no less than ten
muskets a piece on their shoulders, and five
or six daggers in their girdles. j|Diverting
indeed was it to see them all squatted upon
the beach, holding their muskets perpendicularly, with the butt pressed upon the sand
instead of against their shoulders, and in this
position awaited the order to fire. Maquina, at last, called to thein with his trumpet
to fire, which they did in the most awkward
and timid manner, with their muskets hard
pressed upon the ground as above mentioned. At tim same moment the cannon were
fired by Inompson, immediately on which
they threw themselves back and began to
roll and tumble over the sand as if they had
beej| shot, when suddenly springing up
|he|| began a song of triumph and running
backward and   forward   upon the  shot^- Ml
%-a-m
mi
■
MM
■ i# 'il' Hi!f
wi^hr the wildest gesticulations, boasted: of
their exploits and exhibited aslrophies what
they had  taken from us.    Notwithstanding
the unpleasantness of my situation, and the:
Idlings that this display of our spoils ex-
pied, I could  not aviid laughing at the
strange appearance of these savages, theii?
awkward movements§and the singular contrast of their dress and arms.   I §   8
When the ceremony was concluded! Maquina invited the strangers to a feast at his
house, consisting of whale blubber, smoekd
herring spawn, and dried fish and train oil,,
ef whiclftthey eat mosftplentifully.     The
feast being over, the trays out of which they
eat, and other things were immediately! removed to make room for the dance which*
was to close the entertainment!  This was
performed  by Maquina's   son,   the  y^ung
prince Sat>sat-sok-sis, whom I have already
spoken of in the following manner—Threes
of the principal chiefs, drest in their otter-
skin mantles, which they wear only on extraordinary occasions and at festivals, having their heads covered over with white down
and their faces highly painted, came forward
into the middle offthe room, e&m furnished
with a bag filled with the white down, which
they scattered around in such a manner a&t
to represent a fall of snow.    These were fo§|
lowed by the young prince, who was d|fesse||
in a long piece of yellow  cloth, wrapped 45
loosely around him, and decorated with
small bells, with a cap on his head, fe^ which
was fastened a curious mask in imitation of
a wolf's head, while the rear was brought
up by the king himself in his robe of sea-
otter skin, with a small whistle in his mouth
and a rattle in his hand, with which he kept
time to a sort of tune on his whistle. After
passing very rapidly in this order around the
house, each of them seated himself, except
the|prince, who immediately^ began his
dance, which principally consisted in springing up into the air in a squat posture, and
constantly turning around on his heels with
great swiftness in a very narrow circle. This
dance, with a few intervals of rest, was continued for about Iwo hours, during which
the chiefs kept j|ip a constant drumming
with sticks of about a foot in length on a
long hollow pla|k, which was, though a
very noisy, a most doleful kind of music,
This they accompanied with songs, the king
himself acting as chorister, while the women
applauded each feat of activitjfig the dancer by repeating the words, Woca%! Wocash
Tyee ! that is good ! very good pri||fp. || As
soon as the dance was finished Maqiifna began to give presents to the strangers in thig
name of his son Sat-sat-sok-sis. These were
pieces of European cloth generally of a fa-
t^m|n length, muskets,|powder; shot, &ea
Whenever he gave them any thing, they had
;•££, ¥    •;..,
a* peculiar manner of snatthiag ittfrom him
with a very stewl and surly look, repeating
each time the words, Wocash Tyee. This I
understood to be their custom, and was eoiil
sidered as a cinnpliment which if omitted
woilid be supposed as aimark of disregard)
for the present. On pis occasion Maquina;
gafe away no less* than one hundred muskets* the same number of looking glasses,
four hundred yards of cloth, and twenty
oasksjof powder besides other things*
|§ After receiving these presents, the strangers retired on; board their canoes, for so numerous were they thatlfMaquina would not
suffer any but the chiefs to. sleep in; the houses ; and in order: to prevent the|property
from being pillaged by them, he ordered
Thompson and myself to keep guard, during
the night, armed, withi cutlasses and pistols.
S? In this manner tribes of savages from various parts of the coast, Continued coming for
several days, bringing with them, blubber,
oil, herring spawn, dried fish and clams, for
which they received in return, presents of
cloth, &c. after which they in general imme*
diately returned home; I observed that very few, if any of them, exdfjpt the chiefs^ had
arms, which I afterwards learned is the custom with these people whenever they come
upon a friendl) visit or to trade, in order to
shew, on their approach, tiiattheif intentions
are pacific.
m Early on thermorning of the 10th the ship
was discovered to be on fire. § This was owing to one of the savages hating gone on
Aboard with a fire brand at night for the purpose of plunder, some sparks from whjjf h
fell into the hold, and communicating wit||
some combustibles soon enveloped §the
whole in flames. The natives regretted the
loss of the ship the more as a great part of
her cargo still remained on board. JpTo my
companion and myself it was a most melancholy sight, for with her disappeared from
our eyes every§race of a eivijped country ;
but the disappointment we experi@|ced was
still more severely felt, for we had -calculated on having the provision to ourselves,
which would have furnished us with a stock
for years, as whatever is cured with salt, together with most of our other arti^es of food,
are never eaten by these people. I had luckily saved all my tools excepting the anvil,
and the bellows T|hieh was attached to me.
forge and from their weight had not been
brought on shore. We had also the good
fortune in looking over what had been taken
from the ship to discover a box of chocolate
and a case of port wine, which as the Indians were not fond of it proved a great coin-
fort tous for sometime, and from one of |be
natives I obtained a nauticalalmanaSk, which
hadpbelonged to the Captain, and whiclpraa
of great use to me in determining fied^^^i
Bt M
fflik'c
.
.
I
Mi
m About twc> days afterjion examing their
booty, the savages found a tierce of rum with
which they were highly delighted, as they
have become very fond of spirituous liquors
sinceStheir intercourse with the whites.—
This was towards evening, and Maquina
having assembled all the men at his house,
gave a feast, at which they drank so freely
of the rum,|that in a short time, thev be-
came so extremelygwild and frantic that
Thompson and myself, apprehensive for our
safety, thought it prudent to retire privately
into the woods, where we continued till past
midnight. On our teturn we fou&d the women gone, whoarip always very temperate,
prinking|3Qot^^ but wate^rlhavinp quitted
the hous^ai^l gone to the other |uts to
sleep, sojtefrified were they at the conduct
of the men, who all lay stretched out on the
floor in M state of complete intoxication.
How easy in this situation would it have
been for us to have dispatched or made ourselves master! of our enemies, had there
been any ship^near to which we could have
escaped, but as we were situated, the attempt
would have been madness. The wish of revenge was however less strongly impressed
on my mind, than what appeared to be so
evident an interposition of divine Providencll
in our favour. How little can man p^ne®
trate its designs, aud how frequentlyfis^^^t
intended as a blessing which he views aim mirse. The burning of our ship which we
had lamented so much, as depriving us of so
many comforts, now appeared to us in a very different light, for had the savages got possession of the rum of which there were nearly twenty puncheons on board, we must inevitably have fallen a sacrifice to their fury
in some of their moments of intoxication.
This cask fortunately and a case of gin was
all the spirits they obtained from the ship.
To prevent the recurrence of similar dan*
ger 1 examined the cask, and finding Jlill a
considerable quantity remaining, I hypred a
small hole in the bottomf with a g||fhlet,
which before morning to my great joy completely emptied it. W ■■
|§By this time the wound in my head began
to be much better, so that I could enjoy
some sleep which I had been almost deprived of by the pain, and thougfclJ was stittlfee-
ble from the loss of blood and my sufferings,
I found myself sufficiently well to go tolfvork
at my trade, in making for the king and his
wives bracelets and other small ornaments
of copper or steel, and in repairing the arms,
making use of a large square stone for $$&
anvil and heating my metal in a common
wood fire. This was very gratifying lo Ma-
quina andfiis women particularly, and
cured me their good will. -^'.l''^^^^ -
M^||he mean time great nulbbers fromltl
other tlfeesfkept continually  flocking to
■K 1 e
se-*
10 wMM
fr^.mLW
SV*.'
s
'
. li
!».£
Nootka, bringing with them in exchange for
the ship's plunder such quantities of provision, that notwithstanding the little success
that Maquina met with in whaling this season, and their gluttonous waste, always eating to excess when they have it, regardless
of the morrow, seldom did the natives experience any want of food during the summer.
As to myself and companion we fared as
they did, never wanting for such provision as
they had, though we were obliged to eat it
cooked in their manner and with train oil as
a sauce, a circumstance not a little unpleasant, both from their uncleanly mode of cooking, and many of the articles of their food
whith to an European are very disgusting,
but, as the saying is, hunger will break
through stone walls, and we found at times
in the blubber of sea animals and the flesh
of the dog fish, loathsome as it in general
was, a very acceptable repast. But much
oftener would poor Thompson, who was no
favorite with them, have suffered from hunger, had it not been for my furnishing him
with provision—T^his I was enabled to do
from my work, Maquina allowing me the
pi^ilege, when not employed for him, to
w^k for myself in making bracelets and other ornaments of copper|fish-hooks, dag^^,
&c. either to sell to the tribes vrao visited|us^
or for our own chiefs, who on these occtp^n|§
besides supplying me with as much as I &
:
•   5i   ;' >   :
wished io eat, and a sufficiency for Thompson, almost always made me a present of an
European garment taken from the ship or
some fathoms of cloth, which were iriade up
by my comrade, and enabled us to go comfortably clad for some time, or small bundles of penknives, razors, scissors, &c. for
one of which we could almost always procure frpm the natives two or three fresh salmon, cod, or halibut; or dried fish, clams
and herring spawn from the stranger tribes ;
and had we only been permitted to cook;
them after our own way, as we had pots, an$
other utensils belonging to the ship, we
should have not had much cause of complaint in this respect, but so tenacious are
these people of their customs, particularly in
the article of food and cooking, that the
king always obliged me to give whatever provisions I bought to the women to cook—and
one day finding Thompson and myself on
the shore employed in boiling down sea-water into salt, on being told what it was, he
was very much displeased, and taking the
little we<had procured, threw it into the sea.
In one instance alone, as a particular favour,
he allowed me to boil some salmon in my
own way, when I invited h|m and his queen
to eat with me ; they taste|f|t, but did not
like it, and made their meal of some of it
that I had cooked in their country fashion.
.. iff.!
52
In May, the weather became uncommonly mild and pleasant, and so forward was vegetation that I picked a plenty of strawberries by the middle of the month. Of this
fruit there are great quantities on this coast,
and I found them a most delicious treat.—
My health now had become almost re-established, tny wound being so far healed that it
gave me no farther trouble. I had never failed to wash it regularly once a day in sea
water, and to dress it with a fresh leaf of tobacco, which I obtained from the natives,
who had taken it from the ship, but made
no use of it.J| This was all the dressing I
gave it, except applying to it two or three
time||| a little loaf sugar, which Maquina
gave rtoe, in order to remove some proud flesh
which prevented it from closing. My cure
would doubtless have been much sooner effected had I have been in a civilized country,
where I could have had it dressed by a surgeon and properly attended t§. But alas !
Thad.no good Samaritan with oil alld wine
to bind up my wounds, and fortunate might
I even esteem myself that I was permitted
fojldress it myself for the§utmost|that I
could expect from the natives was compassion for my misfortune, which I indeed ex-
perienced from the women, particularly the
queen, or favorite wife of Maquina,#he
mother of Sat-sat-sok-sis, who used frequently to point to my head and manifest o
much kindness and solicitude for me. §1
must do Maquina the justice to acknowledge
that he always appeared desirous of sparing
me any labour which he believed might be
hurtful to me, frequently enquiring in an affectionate manner, if my head pained me.
As for the others, some of the chiefs excj|pt-
ed, they cared little what became of me, and
probably would have been gratified with my
death. *    ";; ^j|    :.  p^-;-;«
.    My health  being at length re-established
and my wound healed, Thompson became
very importunate for me to begin my journal, and as I had no ink, proposed to cut his
finger to supply me with blood for the purpose whenever I should  want it.    On the
first of June I accordingly commenced a
regular diary, but had no occasion to make
use of the expedient suggested by my comrade, having found a much better substitute
in  the expressed juice of a certain plant|^
which furnished me with a bright green colour auclMfcer making a number of trials I at
length succeeded in obtaining m,. very tolerable ink, by boiling the juice of .pie blacklj
berry with  a mixture of finely powdered
charcoal and filtering it through  a cloth.
l'hf||I afterwards preserved  in bottler and
found it answer very well, so true is it th^ti-
| necessity is the mother offinvention."  S^o-
for Quills I found no difficulty^ procuriffty
them,  whenever I wanted, frdpi^ the crowfe^
# m
a*id ravens wfth which the beach was almost
always*covered, attracted by the offal of
whales, seals, &c. and which were so tame
that I could easily Mil them with stones,
while a large clam shell furnished me with
an ink stand. w
The extreme solicitude of Thompson that
I should begin my journal, might be considered as singular in a man, who neither knew
how to write or read, a circumstance by the
|way, very uncommon in an American, were
|fwe less  acquainted with the force of llabit,
be having been for many years at sea,  and
accustomed toSconsider the keeping of a
ffjournal as a thing indispensable.    This man
was born in Philadelphia, and at eight years
old ran away from his friends and entered
as a cabin boy on board a ship bound to
London, on hh arrival there finding himself
in distress,  he engaged as an apprentice to
the captain of a Collier, ffom whence he was
pmpressed on board an English man of war,
and  continued in the British naval service
&bout twenty-seven years,  during which he
was present at the engagement under Lord
Howe with the French fleet iri June, 1794,
and when peace wag1 made between England
an# France was discharged.    He was &a||iy
FNrong and powerful man, an expert^|^^|^
^^Hd perfectly fearless, indeed so lit^^^||
m(?s dread of danger, that when heated hf|
Avas wholly regardless of 4ns 1^^* ^fpn^
the following will furnish a su^ientira^
.. One evening about tfee middle of April,
as I was at the house of one of the chiefs,
where I had been employed on some work
for him, word was brought me that Maquina was going to kill Thompson. I immediately hurried home, where I found the king-
in the act of presenting a loaddf musket at
Thompson, § who was standing before him
with his breast bared and calling on him to
fire. If instantly steppedfup to Maquina,
who was foaming with rage, and addressing
him in southing words; begged him for my
sake not to kill my father, and at length succeeded in taking the musket from him and
persuading him to sit down. On enquiring
into the cause of his anger, I learnec^ that
while Thompson was lighting the lamps in
the king's room, Maquina having substituted
our's for their pine torches, some of |be
boys began to teaze him, running around
him and pulling him by #he trowsers,
among the most forward of|§whora was the
young prince. This caused Thompson to
spill the oil, which threw him into such
a passion,f|that without caring wll^^be
did, he struck the prince so vidBspl-a
blow in his face with his fist as to kifll^
him down. The sensatioip^BXC^ed ame#g
•iheflsavages by an act^|whi^^^^^^nsiefe
erefpis the highest indignit^^^a^ppa profanation of the sacred person of m|jesty
-may  be easily conceived,    The king was
H
WJ§   un
■■m A 56
HI
i.
imme^ately  acquainted with it, w|o, on
coming in and seeing his son's face covered with blood, seized a musket and began to
load it, determined to take instant revenge
on the|audacious offender, and had|I arrived a few minutes later than I did, my companion would certainly have paid with his
life for  his rash and violent conduct.     I
found the utmost difficulty in pacifying Maquina, who for a long time after could not
forgive Thompson,   but would repeatedly
say, ■£* John, you die—Thompson kill."—
But to appease the king was not all that was
necessary.     In consequence of the insult
offered to theirfprince, the whole tribe held a
council, in which it fUs unanimously resolved t^a-t Thompson should be put to death in
the most cruel manner.     I however interceded so strenuously with Maquina, for his
life, telling him that if my father was killed,
1 was determined not to survive him, that
he refused to  deliver him up to the vengeance of his people, saj^ng, that for John's
sake they must consent to let him live.  The
prince, who, after I had succeeded in calming his father, gave mean account of A^hat
had happened, told me that it was who]|y
out of regard to me,  as Thompson was|my
father, that his life had been spared, for that
if any one of the tribe should dare'||p Yi§&®
hand against him in anger, he would mos|
certainly be put to death. 'M$3&:-- 1 57
iTet even this narrow escape produced
not much effect on Thompsonjfor induced him to restrain the violence of his temper. For not manyfweeks after, he was
guilty of a similar indiscretion, in striking the eldest son of a chief, who was
about eighteen years old, and according to
their custom was considered as a Tyee, or
chief himself, in consequence of his having
provoked him by calling him a white slave.
This affair caused great commotion in the
village, and the tribe was very clamorous for
his death, but Maquina would not consent.
I used frequently to remonstrate with him
on the imprudence of his cojgduct andjbeg
him to govern his temper belter, telling him
that it was our duty since our lives were in
the power of these savages, to do nothing
to exasperate them. But all I coulillsay
on this point availed little, for so biier
was the|hate he felt for them, wh|ph he
was no way backward in manifesting both
by his looks and actions, that he declared
he never would submit to their insults, and
that he had much rather be killed than bte
obliged to live among them, addifig that
he only wished he had a good vessel and
some guns, and he would destroy the whole
of the pursed race ; for to a brave sailor
like him, who had fought the French and
Sp^iiards with glory, it waia punish-
meri$pyorse   than   death   to b# a slave 58
o
such a poor, ignorant, despicable set of be*
ings. ;
As for myself I thought very differently.
After returning thanks to that merciful Being who had in so wonderful a manner softened the hearts of the savages in my favour,
I had determined from the first of my capture to adopt a conciliating conduct towards
them, and conform myself, as far as was in
my power, to their customs and mode of
thinking, trusting that the same divine goodness that had rescued me from death, would
not always suffer me to languish in captivity
among these heathen. With this view I
sought to gaiti^their good will by always endeavouring to assume a cheerful countenance, appearing pleased with their sports
and buffoon tricks, making little ornaments
for the wives and children of the chiefs, by
which means I became quite a favourite with
them, and fish hooks, daggers, &c. for themselves. As a farther recommendation to
their favour and what might eventually prove
of the utmost importance to us, I resolved
to learn their language, which in the course
of a few months residence I so far succeeded in acquiring as to be able in general to
make myself well understood. I likewise
tried to persuade Thompson to learn it as
what might prove necessary to him|||put he
refused, saying, that he hated bot}|theni and
their cursed lingo and would ffaviit nothing
to do with it.
Suites ■
mm, *59
|f' By pursuing this conciliatory plan, so far
did I gain the good will of the savages, particularly the chiefs, that I scarcely ever fail-
ed experiencing kind treatment from them?
and was received with a smile of welcome
at their houses, where I was always sure of
having something given me to eat, whenever they had it, and many a good meal
have I had from them, when they themselves
were short of provisions and suffering for
the want of them. And it was a common
practice with me when, we had nothing to
eat at home which happened not unfrequent-
ly during my stay among them, to go around
the village, and en noticing a smoke from
any of the houses, which denoted that they
were! cooking, enter in without ceremony
and ask them for something, §which I was
never refused. Few nations indeed Jlare
there, so very rude and unfeeling, whom cfiti-
stant mild treatment and an attention |to
please, will not mollify and obtain from them
some return of kind attention. This, the treatment I received from these people may exemplify, for not numerous, even among t|ose
calling themselves civilized, are ther||^^^
ces to be foun§ of persons deprivpgpien||
selves j|f food toSfgive it to a sti^l^^|wh§t-
ever m|y be his llierits. - 'fit, ;f|» : '^K :
^^p may perhaps be as well in |his placelto
g^a description of Nootka, som^|coifl|l^
dftheftribes who iwere accust(?iffi^> visil ■■'■'•■
!**•
A
us and the manners and, customs of t%e people as far as Ijbitherto had an opportunity
of observing them* §
§§ The village of Nootka, is situated in between 49 and 50 deg. N. lat. at the bottom
of Friendly Cove, on the West or North
W^t side. It consists of about twenty
houses or huts, on a small hill which rises
with a geutle ascent from the shoref FHenel-
ly Cove which affords good and secure anchorage fof ships close in with the shore is
a small harbour of not more than a quarter
or half a mile in length, and about half a
mile or three quarters broad, formed by
the )imb of coast on the East, aid a long
pointf or heiad land which extends as much
as tfiree leagues into the sound in nearly a
Westerly direction. This as well as I can
judge from what I have seen of it, is in general from one to two miles in breadth, and
mostly a rocky and unproductiveloil with
but few trees. The Eastern andpWestern
shores of this harbour are steep and hi many partsf rocky the trees growing quite to
the water's edge, but the bottom to the North
and North-West is a fine sandy beach of
half a mile or, more in extent.lt Front the
village to the North and North East extends a plain, the soil of whffch is vdr^^-r
cellent, andlfwith proper cultivation ina||pe
made to produce almost any of our Eueq^|S
an vegetables ;   this is but- little more ..tkfflfc
.
&i&&>&feh.-.Lz $  '--.Tr &
.'*
half a mile in breadt|jand is terminated
the sea poast, which in this place is lined
with rocksfandfl reefs and cannot be approached by ships. The coast in the neighbourhood of JNootka is in general low and
but little broken into hills and vallies. The
soil is good, well covered with fin6|foreste
of pine, spruce, beach and other trees*:-and
abounds with streams of the fpest water,
the general appearance being the same for
many miles round. • # *
The village is situated||on the ground occupied by the Spaniards, fvhen they kept a
garrison here ; the foundations of the church
and the governor's house aj§p ^et visible, and
a few European plants are '|§j|l t§ be found,
which continue to be self propagated, such
as onions, peas, 3flid turnips, but the two
last are quite smai, particularlytthe turnips, which afforded us nothingpbutf-jthe
tops for eating. Their former village stood
on the same spot, but the Spaniards finding
it a commodious lituation, demolished the
houses andiforced the inhabitants to J retire
five or six miles into the country.J^.^^h
great sorrow, as Maquina told me, did they
fin^|hemsel#s cornpellM to qu^ftheir an-
^^n^^lace of resilience, but wil^eqjlal
p|^N they repossess themselves of ilwfifen
;pii| Spanish garrison was expellei| l^^tbe
U
yiaK?K.* a
7 BfUi:
li The houses as I have observed are above
twenty in number, Jbuilt n|ariya|t a line.
These^re o^i^^erent sizes according to the
rank or quality of the Tyee, or chief, who
live|in them, each having one, of which he
is ۤbnsidered as the lord. They varyjnot
muchiin width beingusually from thirt^six
to fiity fee^wide, but are of very different
lengths, that of the king which is much the
longest being about one hundred and fifty
feet, f^hiJe the smafest which contain only
|p^ families do not exceed forty feet in
length, the house of the king is also distinguished from the others by being higher.
Their|tnethod of building,jps as follows,
they erect j|n the ground two #ery large
po^ts a| s^§i a distance apart as is intended for the length of the house. On these,
whipi are of equal height, and hollowed (|pt
at the upper And, t||ey lay a large spar for
the ridgepole of the building, or if the
length of t]S| house requires it, two or more,
supporting their ends%by similar upright
posts ; §these spars are sometimes of an almost incredible size, jiaving myself measured <Spe in Maquina's house which I found to
be one hundred fe^t long and eight feet four
inches in circumference. At equal dista^^s
frgm these two posts two others ai|e f^^d
on ea$fh side, to form the width of t|^^3^
ing^ these are rather shorter than the j|N||
and oaSfthera are laid in like manner •H^^i but of a smaller sizp having thepippdr part
hewed flat, with a narrow ridge offfhe outer
side to support the ends of the planks. Tike
roof is formed of pine planks with a broa<|
feather edge, so as tlflap well over each other, which are laid lengthwise from the ridgel
pole in the centre, to the beams at the sides,
after#hich the top is covered with planks
of eight feet broad, whicjt form a kind of covering projecting so far over the ends ofthe
planks, that form the||oo£ as completely to
exclude the rain. On these they lajlparge
stones to prevent their being displaced by
the wind. The ends of the planks are not
secured to the beams on which fbeyare laid
by any fastening, so that infii high J^tornft I
have often known all|thejpen obliged %o-
turn out and go upon the roof to prevent
them from being blown off^lcarrying large
stones and pieces of rock with mem to secure |he boards, always sf^ppin^^iemselv^
naked on these occasions whateveinraay;||p
the severity of the weather, to prevent their
garments from being wet and |luddie(||
as these storms are almostffitlwal^s accompanied with heavy rains. '■■:.-TJ|b sides§f #|§ir
houslfe are much more |tpen andftexposed
;^^P;' weather, this proceeds from their
n^^^^fe° easily ma|p close as the |fro^
b^^^^lt with planks of abiut^n Jjeet
l^^pp four or five wide, whicl theyf||ac§i
ile^^^^tancheons 'or smal^-posts^of^e .   .
i
height of the roof, of these there are four
to each range of boards, two at each end
anclfso near each other as to leave space
enough for adngitting a plank. The planks
or boards which they make use of fefr build-
ingtheir houses, and for other uses, they procure of different lengths as occasion requires,
by .flitting them out, with hard wooden
wedges fr<3|n pine logs, and afterwards dubbing ||hei!| down with their chizzels, with
much patience, m the the thickness wanted,
rend^ing them quite smooth. ||||
There is but one entrance; this is placed
usually at the end, though sometimes in the
middlej|is v^as that of Maquina's. Through
the middle df the building; from one end to
the other, runs a passage of about eight, or
nine feet broad, on each side of which, the
several families that occupy it, live, each having its particular fire place, but without
any kind of wall or separation to mark
their respective limits ; the ^hief having his
apartment at the upper end, and the next in
rank opposite on the other side. They have
no other floor than the ground ; the fire place
or hearth consists of a number of stones
loosely putgtogether, but they are wholly
without a chimney, nor is there any opening
1eftf|i the roof, but whenever a fire is made,
the§plank immediately over|it isfp§hriist
aside, by means of a pole, to give vent to
the smoke.   The height of the houses in ge- neral, from the ground to the center of the
roof does not exceed ten feet, that of Maqui-
na's was not Jfer from fourteen ; the spar
forming the ridge pole of the latter was painted in red and black circles alternately by
way of ornament, and the large posts that
supported it had their tops curiously wrought
or carved, so as to represent human heads
of a monstrous size, which were painted in
their manner. These were not, however,
considered as objects of adoratiott| but merely as ornaments.. ;?"   ;        '§||f .-fJPjf   •
The furniture of these people is very lim-
pie, and consists only of boxes in which
they put their clothes, furs, and such things
as they hold most valuable ; tubs for keeping their provision of spawn and blubber in ;
trays from which they eat 1 baskets forthfeir
dried fish and other purposes, and bags made
of bark matting, of whifh they also make
their beds, spreading a piece of it upon tl#
ground when they lie down and using no
other bed covering than their garments.
The boxes are of pine, with a top that shuts
over, and instead of nails or pegs are fastened with flexible twigs, they are extremely
smooth and high polished, and sometimes
^^pptoented with rows of very smlll \#ite
Jpi^s.i The tubs are of a square form, se-
^ji^d in the likJP manner, and of various
ii^01Iie being extremely large, having
seeu^toem  that were six feet long by fotu
F 2
•*-    mi. lr
*M&
broad and five deep. The Trays are hollowed out witlpitieir chizzels from a solid
block of wood and the baskets and mats are
made lorn Hie bark of trees. From this
they likewise make the cloth for their garments, in the following manner. A quantity of this bark is taken and put into fresh
water where it is kept for a fcrtnightjto give
it time to completely softerf; it is then taken out #id beaten upon a plank, with an instrument made of bone or some very hard
wood, having grooves or hollows on one side
of it, care being taken to keep the|mass
^natantl^moistened with water, in order
to^epihite with more ease theibard and
wtipd yip fro m§ the soft! and fibrous parts,
whiih, whin completed, they parcel out into skeins, like thread. These they lay in
the air to bleach, and afterwards dye them
black or red as suits their fancies, their natural colour being a pale yellliwff In order
to form the cloth, the women by whom the
whole of this -process is performed, take a
certain number of these skeins and twist
them together by rolling them with their
hands upon their knees, into hard rolls which
are afterwards connected by means of a
stfbng thread made for the purpose.
Their dress usually consists of but a;$U^|
gle garment,* which is a loose cloak of^par^
tie (called Kutsack) in one piece, reaching
nearly to the feet,     Thisf is X\^T^sssdLX~ m
over the right or left shoulder so as f^leave
the arms at folliiJ^rty. M;:% ■#^ JIb!
Those of the common people are painted
red withfpchre the better to keep out the
rain, but the chiefs wear them of theif native colour, which is a pale yellow, ornamenting them with borders M thefpea otte§|
skin, a kind of grey cloth made of fhejaair
of some anima|which they procure from the
tribes to the South, or their|i own cspoth
wrought or paintecSwith variola figures in
red or black, representing|nen's heads, the
sun and moon, fish and animals, which are
frequently executed with much skill. IfFIley
have also a girdle of the same kind for se-?
curing this mantle, or Kutsack, around then),
which is in generaMstiJl more highly ornar
mented and serves them to wear their daggers and knives in|| In winter however, they
sometimes make use#of an additional garment, which is a kind of hood,;with a hole
in it for the purpose of admittinggthe
head, and falls over the breast|and back
as low as the shoulders ; this is holered
both at top and bottom with fur ani^pi
never worn, except when they go o?i|| The
garments of Jhe women vary not essentially from those of the men, the mantle having^ oles Is it for the pu|pose of admitting
th^aistis, and|fbeing tim close under the
di^p^stead cipher the shouldeif fpThe
chiefs Ibave also mantles of the sea otter
r¥, Pi A-   68
skin, but these are only put on upon extraordinary occasions, and one that is made
from the skinlof a certain large animal,
which 4s brought|from the South by the
Wickanninish and|Kla-iz-zartsl This they
prepare? by dressing it in warm water, scrap-
tig off the hair and what flesh adheres to it
carefully with sharp muscle shells, and
spreading it out in the sun to dry, on a wooden frame so as to preserve the shape. When
dressed in this manner it becomes perfectly
white and as pliable as the best deer's leather, b§t almost as thick again. They then
paint it in different figures with such paints
as they usually employ in decorating their
persons : these figures mostly represent
human heads, canoes employed in catching whales, Ike. This skin is called Meta-
melth and is probably got from an animal
of the moose kind, it is highly prized by
these people, is their great war dress, and
only worn when they wish to make the best
possible display of themselves. Strips cm
bands of it, painted as above, are also sometimes used by them for girdles or the bordering of their cloaks, and also for bracelets and ancle ornaments by some of the inferior dass.
On their heads when they go out upon
any excursion particularly whaling orafish-
'iug, they wear a kind of cap or bonnefefin
form not unlike a large sugjar loa|l$Hti|tl#| 19
B-lCt*
top cut off.- -This is made of the same m
terials with their cloth, but is in generic of
a closer texture and by way of tassel has a
long strip of the skin of the Metamelth at-
tach^fl to it, covered §vith rows of small
white shells or beads. Those worn by the
common people are painted entirely red, the
chiefs having Jtheirs of different colours.
The one worn by the king and which serves
to designate him from all the others, 0s
longer and broader at th# bottom ; the top,
instead of being flat, having upon it an ornament in the figure of a small urn. It is also
of a much finer texture than the others and
plaited or wrought in-black and white stripes
with the representation in front of ft catibe
in pursuit of a whale with the harpooner
standing in the prow prepared to ijtrike.
. This bonnet is called 8eeya-pok$. :-•' %^^^^
Their mode of living is very simple—their
food consisting almost wholly of fish, or fish
spawn fresh or died, the blubber oif§the
whale, seal, or sea-cow|feiuscles, clams, and
berries of various kinds fj all of whicfc^^e
emen with a profusion of train oil for sauce,
notSexceptfog efen the most delkate|fri$$:t,
as strawberries and raspberries,! Witj| so
little variety in their food, no great can N§
expected, in their cookery. Of this, indeed,
the|r may be said to k§ow but two methods,
^^^^^by^boiling and steaming, and eveilphe
\^^$'^ root y:my frequently^practised ,'fcS|
xfet 70
liem
mode of boiling; is as follows
into one of their tubs,
ficient to  cook the <
pour water suf-
tity of provision
wanted.'- A number of heated stoneware
then put in to make it boil, when the salmon or other lish are put in without any
other preparation than sometimes cutting
ipf the hea*§s, tailsf&nd fins, the boiling in
the mean time being kept up by the application of the hot stones, after which i#is
left to cook until the whole is nearly reduced to one mass. It is then taken out and
distributed in the trays. In a similar man-
ner they eook their blubber and spawn,
smoked or dried fish, and in fine, almost every thifg they eat, nothing going down with
them like broth. § lr
When they cootetheirfish bysteam,which
are usually ithe heads, tails, and finf of the
salmon, cod and halibut, a large fire is kindled, upon which they place a bed of stones,
Wfich, when the wood is burnt down, becomes perfectly heated. Layers of green
leaves or pine boughs, are then placed upon
the stones, and the fish, clams, &c. being laid
upon them, water is poured over them, and
the whole closely covered with mats to keep
in the steam. This is much the best i|j(ode
of cooking* and clangs and muscles dongr>in
this manner, are really excellent. ;^thiis^
as I have said, may be considered as thet§
only kinds of cookery ;   though I have in & 71
very few instances known themfdress the
roe or spawn of the salmon and the herring,
when first taken, in a different manner; this
was by roasting them, the foimer behSg supported between two split pieces of pine, and
the other having a sharp stick run through
it, with one end fixed in the ground ; sprats
are also roasted by them in this wayifa
number being spitted on one stick ; and this
kind of food, with a little salt, wodid be
found no contemptible eating even to a European. IfN ; |' • ■■'^..w:- '-*•;■■■'■•:-'.'■'_ ...
At their meals they seat themselves upon
the ground, with their feet curled up ufider
them, around their trays, which are generally about three feet long by one broad, and
from six to eight inchesfdeep. |3i#eating
they make use of|nothing but their fingers,
except forfthe soup or oil, which they lade
out with clam shells. Around one of^these
trays, fromffour to six persons will seat
themselves, constantly dipping in their fingers or clam shells, one after the other.—
The |Mng and chiefs alone have separate
trays, from which no one is permitted to eat
with tltem, except the queen, or principal
wife of^the chief, and whene^pr the king or
one of the chiefs wishes to distinguish any
0^1 is people with a special maik of favour
on Jfchese occasions, he calls him and gives
hii^s(|ttie of the cj^ce bits from his fray.
Ifhlfcslaves eat afcthe same time, aillf of the -Ǥ
■i& G
W:
rhI 11.
»*'
^ame pro^ions,; Jfereing in ,p|^||espect as
well as their masters, being sea^&with the
family and only feeding from separate trays.
Whenever a feast is given by the king or any
jj^lhe chiefs, tltere is a persem who acts as a
master of ceremonies, and who^e business it
is to ireceive the guests as  they  enter the
house and point out to them their respective
seats, which is regulated with great punctiliousness as regards rank ; the king occupying the highest or the seat of honour, his son
or brother sitting next him, and so on with
the chiefs according to their quality; the private persons belonging tofthe same family
being always placed together to prevent any
contusion.    The women a|e seldom invited
to their feasts, and only at those times when
a general invitation is given to the village.
j||^s whenever they cook, they always 01-
culate  to have   an abundance for all jpie
guests, a profusion|in this respect being considered  as the highest luxury, much more
is usually set before them than they can eat.
That which is left in the king'g|t«ay he sends
to his house for his family,  bj| ipn^ of his
slaves,   as do the chiefs theirs, w^ptlj|^e
who |iat from the same tjpy and wh#gener-
aiy belong to the same family, take it home
as common stock, or each one rec^^^is
portion, which is distributed on tl^®p|^
This custom appeared very l^ular |^^^
companion |and mys|l£ anf| ifc^feas ^^^p '    f.:      .' -      -.73.    ■* •
awkward thing for|us at jjrsf| to have tQ|hig
home with us,gin our hands or armsjphe
blubber  or fish that we received at th§|e
times, but we soon became reconciled tof||;
and  were veryfglad  of an opportiinit^^p
do it.^; -   ,.. ,;#- -    , ■: &m^^: •:    ;^^^^
In point of personal appearance the people of Nootka are among the best looking
of any of the tpbes that I have seen| The
men ajfe in general from about|fiv| feet six
to five feet eight inches^height; remarkably strait, of a good form, robust, and strong,
with their limbs ^general well turnec| and
proportioned excepting the legs and feet?
which are clumsy and ill formed ,|| owing
no doubt to their piactice of|sitlii)g on
them; though I have seen instances in which
they were very wj|ll shaped, ||hj| defect fis
more particularlyjapparent^P^he^w^men,
who are for the most part of tie |bie within
doors, and constantly sitting whil^employ-
ed in their cooking and other occupations.
The only igistancfj of deformity that I saw
among thi^p was a mapof dwarfish stature;
he was thirty years old and but three feet
three inches high, he had however no other
defeat than his diminutive; size being well
ma|e, and as strong and |abI#to§bear fa-
$gue|asgwhat they were in gei|Bralf; Their
$femplexion, when freed fronif th^iaint and
j^/with which their skins are generally'cav-
^^d,Jis a brown, somewhat inclig^g t&M cop
r
g^pp per cast. The shape of the face is ovd;
the features j are tolerab^regulap, the lips
being thin and the teeth very white and even : their eyes are black but rather small,
and the nose pretty welfftbrmed, being nep
ther flat nor very prominen^ft their hairjis
black, long dfid coarse, but they have no
beafcl, completely? extirpating it, as well as
thf hair from their bodies, Maquina being
the only e||ception, who suffered his bealrd
to grow %i his upper lip, in the manner fof
inustachios, which was considered as almark
of dignity. As to the women they are much
whiter, many of them not being darker than
those in some of the Southern parts of Europe. The|f are in general very well looking and so^^qi§te|&andsome. ^ffaquina's
favolite wife in particular, who was a Wick-
inninish princes^^vould be considered as
a beautiful woman fiti any country. She
was uncommonly wellfformed, tall, and of
a majestic appearanc||; herpskin remarkably fair for one of thesf people, with considerable colour, her features handsome and
her eyes black, soft, and languishing ; her
hair was very long, thick, and black, as is
that of the females in general, which is much
softer than that of the^men ; in this thj&y
take much pride, frequently oiling and plaiting it carefully into two broad plaits, tying
the ends with a strip of the cloth of the
country and letting it hang down before |n
**ach side of the face. W   Wm': 75
The women keep their garments muofe
neater and clearer than the men, and are
extremely modest in their deportment and
dress; .their mantle or Katsack, which is
longer than that of the men, reaching quite
to their feet, and completely!* enveloping
them, being tied close under the chin, and
bound with a girdle of the|same cloth or of
sea otter skin around their waists ; it has also loose sleeves which r^ch to the elbows.
Though fond of ornamenting their persons
they are by no means so partial to paint as
the men, merelyleolouring^their eye-brows
black and drawing a bright red stripe from
each corner of the mouth towards the ear0
Their ornaments consist chiefly of ear rings,
necklaces, bracelets, rings for the fingers
and ancles, and snjjall nose jewels|(the latter are however wholly confined to|he wives
of the king or chiefs) these arelpi|hcipal~
ly rilade out §f copper oi| brasi| hig|ly polished and of vafious§ forms and sizes :
the nose jewel is usually a small white
shell or bead suspended to a thread. The
wives of the common people frequently
wear for bracelets and ancle rings, i^plgof
the country cloth or skin of the Metamelth
painted in figures, and those of the king
or principal chiefs bracelets and necklaces,
consisting of a number of strings of Jfe-
waw9 an article much prized by them, and
whlfch makes a very handsome apg^^nce. '■-§;  m~   :':W;    76  ■'    '"- ~ '"'■■ "
This " Jfe-waw,i&s they term it, H a k|bd
of shell of a dazzling vd^enefe, and as
smooth as ivory, mm of ^cylindrical form*
in a slightgdegree curved, about the size of
«god|e quill,fhollow, three iniphes in lefgth
and g|adually tapering to a poifit, which is
broken off by the natifes as fMs taken from
the water || this they afterwards stifing upon
threads of bark,|and sell it by thepathom |
it forms a kind of circulating medium among
these nations,Vfive fathoms being coi^idered
as the |price of a slave|their most valuable
species of prop|rty| It is principallylob-
pined from the Aitizzarts, afpeople lililg
about th||ty or forty mif^s to the NoA ward,
who collect it from the reefs and sunken
rocks with which their coast abofjnds, though
it is also brought in considerable quantity
from thelSouth. Their mode of taking it
has been thus described to me. To one end
of a pole is fastened a piece of plank in
which a consfflerable number of p|ne j|egs
are inserted made sharp at the ends ; above
the plank in ordeiSto sinl#it,' a s|bne or
sQj&ieJjweight is tied, |lnd the othcrpnd of
the pole suspended to a long rope ; this is
Jet down perpendicularly by theMlfe-itmw
fishers in those places where that substance
is found which are usually from .fifty to sixty fathoms deep ; on finding thg bottom
they raise the poie up a few |eet arid lej|jt
fall, this they repeat afiumber of time!: afll| sounding, when they draw it upl^d take off
the Ife-waw wiich is foundpdhering to tb|
~pointsJ| This method of procuring it is very
laborious and fatiguing, especially as the||
seldom take more than two or three of these
shells at a time, and^qu^tly none. ^ *
Though the women, as f have said, make
but little use of paiifpthe very reverse is the
case with the men. In decorating their
heads and fads they placqf their principal
pride, and none of our ^pit fashionable
beaus, when preparing f&fa grailp ball can
be more particular : For I hate knowfi Maquina after having been employe<ftfo^pore
than an7hour in painting his face, rub the
whole off and recommence the operation
anew when it did not entirely please him.
The mannerfin which theyfpaint themselves
frequently varies, according to the occasion,
but it oftener is tie mere dicl^e offwlfirn.—
The most usual method is to paint thp eyebrows black, in form of a halff n^od| and
th|t face red in small squares, with the arms
and legs and part of the bodied ; sometimes one half of the face is painted red in
squares, and the ottllr black ; atothA;pot-
ted with red spots, or red and-black^tead
of squares, with a variety off other devices,
such as minting one half o§^e%ee and bol
dy red, and the other black. But a method
o%painiing whiclf they sometimes empfof^d,
and which they were much more particular
' ' : if   ; :  a2 W- •  H H
%r.;--'i: i i!4>
in, was by laying on the face a quantity of
bear's grease of about one eig^thpf an inch
thick ; this |^ey raised up into ridges resembling a small bqa<§ in joiner's work^witl|a
stick ^epared fo| thc§ piiif>osej|and ^lin
paired t§em j|ed, whicl|gave the face a very
sing^^ ajp>e|rance^ On Extraordinary occasions, the kin^au&principal chiefs used
to strew ove||their facps, af^painting, a fine
black shining*)owdei|: procured fnrai some
mineral, as p[a|puina told mۤit was got from
the rocks. Thisfthey call pelpelth, aiid
value it highly, as, in thegr opinion, it serves
to set off the|| looks to grea§advantage, gli||
tering, Specially |n the sun,||ike silver.—
This artic^^brought then! in bags by the
ISf&wchemass, %very savage nation^|ho live a
long j|ay to the North, from whom they likewise receive a superior kind of red paintga
species of very fine and rich ochre, which
they hold in much estimation. ;t§
If Notwithstanding this custom of|painting
themselves, they make it an|lnvariable poetic e, both in|sumnG|er and W|hterJ|to bathe
once a day, apd sometimes oftener ; but as
the paint is put on \^th oil, it is not much
discomposed thereby, and whenever &he|jjj
wish to wash it oflf they repair to some piece
of fresh water and scour themselves vig||
sand 0£ rushes. f'. ■ i- :J|: Jpf j ''Htt|
|pn dressing their heads on occpion^^p
festival or visit, theyiare full as part^p^
& 1
and almost as long, as in painting. The
hair, after being well oiled, is carefully gathered upon the top of the head and secured
by a piece of pine or spruce bough with the
green leaves upon it. After having it properly fixed in this manner, the king and principal chiefs used to strew all over it thelfi'hite
down obtained from a species of large brown
eagle, ^#ich abounds on thisffeoast, which
they are very particular in arranging so as
not to have a single feather out of place, occasionally wetting the hair to make it adhere,
This, together with the bough, which is some
times of considerable size, and slick o?er
with feathers by means of turjjlntine, gives
them a very singular and grotesque appearance, which they, heweverjlthink very becoming, and the first thing they do on learning the arrival of strangers is to go and decorate themselves in this manner; f
The men also wear braifeiets of ppnted
leather or copper, and largi ear-rings of the
latter—but the ornament on which they appear to set the most value^ is the nose-jewel,
if such an appellation may be given to the
wooden stick, which soi|te of them employ
for thisj|purpose. The kingfand chiefj^
however, wear them of a different form, being either small pieces of polished coppe&m
brass, of which I made many for them, ia
the|shape of heartslandf diamonds, or a?
twisted conical shell about half an inchlfo;
ti lengthlof a blueidh: colour and very bright,
which is brottght from the South.    These
are suspended by ai small wire or string to
ifhe hole, in the gristle of the nose, which is
formed itrittfaney, by boreing it v#th a pin,
the hole feeing afterwards enlarged ^by the repeated insertion flof wooden pegs of an increased size, until it becomes about the diameter of a pipe stem, though some have
them of a size neariy sufficient to admit the
little finger.—The common class who carifl
not Readily procure the more expensive jewels $iat I havementioned, substitute for them,
ustfllly, a smooth round stick, some of which
are of an almost incredible length, for I have
seen them projecting not less than eight or
nine inches beyond the face on each side;
t&fc is made fast or secured in its place by
little wedges on each side of it. f These
sprit-sail-yard fellows, as my mess-rrfate used lb call them, when rigged out in this
manner made quite a  strange  show, and
it was his delight whenever he saw one of
them coming towards us with an air of consequence proportioned to the length of his
stick, to put up his hand suddenly as he was
passing him, so as to strike the stick,fn oi||
der, as he said, to brace him up sharp t^ffi^
wfrid ;   this used to make them very^^ip
but nothing was more remote from r3|p^p^
mn*& ideas than the wish to cul%a|Kth^^
<f&vour« m H The hatives of Nootka appear to have b
tittle inclination for the ehace, though some
of them were expert markesmen, and use<||
sometimes to shoot duckf and geese, but the
seaLand the sea otter forga the principal objects of their hunting, particularly the latter.
Of this animal, so much noted for its valuable skin the foliowin§ description may not
be janinteresting. The sea-otter is nearly
five feet in length, exclusive of the tail, which
is about twelve inches, and is very thick and
broad where it joins the body, but|gradually
tapers to the end Jwhich is tipped with white*
The colour of the rest is a shining silky
black, with the exception of a bfoad white
stripe on the top of the head. Nothing can
be more beautiful than one of these animals
w7hen seen swimming, especially when on
the lookout for any object. At such tgjbies
it raises its head quite above the surface,and
the contrast between the shining blackf&nd
the white, together with its sharp ears and a
long tuft of hair rising from the middle of
its forehead, whichjpook like three small
horns, render it quite a novel and attractive
object. They are in general very tame, and
will permit a canoe or boat to approach very
near before they diveil I wa| told, however,
that they are become much more shy since
fbey j$$ve been accustomed Ifto shoot them
withi^skets, than when they used only ai%
tow^^The skin is held in great esti action
infClpaa, more especially that of the tail, the ...     I
fur of which is finer and close^set than that
on the body. This is always cut off aj|d
sold separately by the natives. The value
c£- a skin is deteraiined by its size, that being consideredfas a piirne skin which* will
reach, in length, from a man's chinib his feet
The food of the sea-dtter ,|s fish, which he
is very dexteroul^in taking, being an excellent swimmer, with feet webbed like those
of a goose.—They appear to bepvholly confined to the sea-coast, at least to the salt water. 1 They have usfially three or four young
atatime,butl know not Sow ofteh they breed,
nor in what places they deposit their young,
though If have frequently seen them swimming around the mother when no larger than
rats, ifhe flesh is eatenjbythe natives, cooked in their usual mode by boiling^and is far
preferable to that of thefeal of which they
make much account.
But if not great hunters there are few people more expert in fishing^ftTheir lines are
generally made from the sinew of t||e whale,
and are extremely, strong. For the hook,
they usually make use of a strait piece of
hard wood, in the lower part of which is inserted and welll^ecured, with thread or
whale sinew, a bit of bone made very sharp
at the point andf bearded ;|but loused to
make for them hooks from iron, which they
preferred, not only as fbeing less liab^ to
break, but more certain of securing the fish,
m
t-Si Cfd, halibut, ande%r s^tfish were notdn-
ly caught by thei| with hooks, but even salmon.   To take this latter fish^hey practise
the following^ nfethod—One  person  seats
himself in a small |anoe, ah| baitingfhis
hook with a sprat, which theatre  always
careful to procure as frgsh a| posiable, fastens
his line to the hafdle off the paddle; this, ag
he plies it in the watgr^ keeps the||sh in constant motion, so as to give it the appgarance
of life, which the salmon sejfingjpeaps at J|
and is instantly hoolled, fnd by a sudden
and dexterous motion off the Jmdple, drawn
on board. J& have known somejpf the natives take no less than §ightor tlfh salmon of
a morningfin this manner, and |have seen
from twenty to thirty canoes at a time in
Friendly Co|e thuf employed.    They are
likewise littleness skilful in taking the whale.
This they kill with a kind of javelin or haf»
poon, tn«#constffited|and  fitted. | The
barbs are formed o* bone which are sharpened on the oftter side and hiplowed within
for the purpose offfojbiig a socket for the
stair'; these are then Jec^edlfinnly togelb-
er fag whale sinew, thf point being fitted
so as to receive a piece ofniuscjl shell which
iC ground  to a v|r| sharp edge, and §e-
cu|ed in its place JjpWans of turpentine
To this head or prong is fastened a strong
line o%vhale sinew aboulnine feet in length,
*° t^ma^ oi^vhkms tied a bark rope from
V, ,;/> I /- r 5   '...
84
lifty  to^«ixtyi^^rt^ long,  having from
twenty to thirty sealskin floats or |>uoys,
attached to it at certain intervals, in order
to check the motiongef the w&ale and obstruct his diving. £Jn the soek^&f the harpoon a staff or pole of ahout§fen feet long,
gradually tapering from the middle t^ each
end, is placed   thi^theSarpooner holds in
his hand in order to Strike the whale, a^d immediately detachesgt astsoon as the fish is
struck.     The whale Is  considered  as  the
king's fish^ and no other person, when he is
present, is permitted to to&ch him until the
royal harpoon hasfir&fdrawn hiCblood, how*
ever near he may approach ; and it would be
considered almost as sacrilege %r any of the
comraojji people to strike a whale, before he
is killed, particularly  if anylpf the chiefs
should be present.    They also kill the porpoise and sea cow with harpoons, but this
inferior game is not interdicted|the lower
•class./.-    •:.,'-i-    . m ■■,..   --■#■■■''■•■   #  *
Iff With regard to their canoes, som^of the
handsomest to be found on the whole coast
are made at Njjotka, though very fine ones
are brought by the Wickanninish and the
KJaiz-zarts, who have them more highly ornamented. They are of all sizes, from such
as are capable of holding only one person to
their largest wrar canoes which will carry
forty men, and are extremely lightjg Of
these,  the largest of any that I ever sa\^ was one%belonging to Maquina, whiehll
measured and found to be forty-two feet six
inches in length at the bottom, and ffirty-six
feet from stem to stern. These are made of
pine hollowed out fromia tree with their
chizzels solely, which are about three inches broad and six in length, and set into a
handje of very hard wood. This instrument
was formerly made of flint or some hard
stone ground down to as sharp arf edg| as
possible, but since they have learned the use
of iron, they have almost all of them of that
metal. Instead of a mallet forstriking this
chizzel, tt^ey make'^jpe.^^p-smooth round
stone, which theypiold iiifthe palm of the
hand. With this same awkwai^J instrument
they not only excavate their canoes and
trays and smooth their plank, %x\t cut down
such trees as they want, Hither for building,
fuel, or other purposes, aSlabour which is
mostly done by their slaves. Jf
The falling of trees as practised by them
is a slow and most tedious process, three of
them being generally from two to three days
in cutting down a large one, yet so attached
were ihey to their own method, that notwithstanding they saw Thompson frequent-
lyiwith one of our axes, of which there was
a number saved, fall a tree in less time th|ti
$fey #^uld have gone round it with their
el|fzz^s, still they could not be persuaded to
^^c#ti3e of thefiiPw ' •   '%     I      #
'¥ ^ - ' M        H    1   • f    •..
ii
hflfffh^r
m fiter hollowingiout theiif canoes, which
they do very neatf§r, they fashion the outside, and slightly burn it for the purpose of
removing any splinters or small point s that
might obstruct its passage through the water, after which they rub i#o^r thoroughly
with rushes or coarse mats in ofder to
smooth it,fwhich not only rendeH it almost
as smooth as glass, but forms a better security for it from the weather; this operation
of burning and rubbing down the bottom^
of their canoesiis practised as often as the§|
acquire any considerable degree of rough-
ne§s from use. f The outside, by tb|s means,
becomes quite black, and to complete their
work tliey|paint the inside of a bright red,
^vith ochre or some other similar substance;
the prowls and stefts are almost always ornamented with figures of ducks or some other kind of bird, the former bling so fashioned as to represent the head and the litter the
tail, these are separate pieces from t) le canoe
and are fastened to it with smalft flexible
twigs or bark cord. Some of thedp canoes,
particularly those employed in whaling,
which will hold about ten men, are ornamented within about two inches below the
gunwale, with two parallel Jines onjeach
side of very small white shell! runningJbre
and aft, which has a very pretty effect.
Their war canoes have no ornament of this
kind but are painted on fhe outside* w||§| figures in white chalk representing eagles,
whales, human heads, &V> They are very
dexterous in the use q| tlieir paddles, which
are very neatly wrought, and are five feet
long with a short handle and a blade seven
inches bread in the middle tapeigng to a
sharp point. With these they will make a
canoe skim very swiftly on the wate^with
scarcely any noise, while they keep time to
the strok^pf the^addle with their songs.
With regard to these they have a number
which they |sing on various occasions ; as
wrar# whaling, and fishing, at their marriages
and feasts, and at public festivals or solemnities. The language of the most of them
appears to be veryidifferent, imfrnany respects, from that used in their common conversation, which l^ads me to believe either
that they have a different modf of expressing themselves in poetry, or Jthat the§ borrow their songs from|ftheir neighbours, and
what the more particularly induces me to the
latter opinion, is, that whenever any of the
Newchemass, a people from the North ward
and who speak a very different language, ar*
rived, they used to tell me that they expected a gew song, and were almost always sure
•to have one.
> A specimen of one of their war songs wilt be found at the
lpj'8 of 0m. work.. Their tunes are ge|^allj§soft and plain-v
live, and though np| pressing great varie-
tyfare not deficient i| hdlmony.—Their singing is generally accompanied with several
rude kinds of instrumental music ; among
the most prominent of which is^ kind of
drum. This is nothing more|§han along
plank hollowed out on the under side and,
made quite thin, which |s |eat upon by a
stick of about a foot long and renders a
sound not unlike beating on the head of an
empty cask, lliit much louder. Bi^ the two
tnostfevouritepnstruments are the rattle and
the |ipe or whistle ;ithese ar^Jiowevei only
used by the king, the chiefs, or some particular persons ; the former Jwipade of dried
seal-skin, so as to represent afishJpnd is
filled with a nj^ger^ ssnt||li smooth pebbles, it has a short handle and is painted red.
The whistle il made of bone, generally the
leg of a deer, it is short but emits a illry shrill
sound. Tl*ey haveJikewise another kind of
music, whiclilhey make use of in dancing,
in the manner of castanet% this is produced
by a numbefof muscle or cockle shells tied
together and shaken to a kind of tujle, which
is accompanied with the voice. M      . J|
q Their slaves, as I have observed, form
their most valuable species of property.—
These are of both sexes, being ei|hef captives taken by themselves i| war, o^purchas-
ed  from the neighbouring fribes, and wfil V
reside in the same house, forming as itgwere
a part of the family, are usually kfpdly tr^t-
ed, eat of the same food, and livei^s ilpllfas
their masters. They are compelled however at times to labour severely, las not only
all the menial offices are performed by them,
such as bringing water, cutting wood and a
varietytof othefs, but they are obliged to
make the canoes, to assist in building an||
repairing the houses, to supply thei| masters
with fish, and to attend #iem^^var and to
fight for them* None but the king and
chiefs have slaves, the common people being
prevented from holding them either from
their inability toffpurchase them, or as I am
the rather inclined to think from its being
considered as the privilege of the formei
alone to have them, especially as all those
made prisoners in war belong either to j|||
king or tHeifehiefs, who have eaj^red thenjf
each one holding such* as havefbeen taken
by himself or his slaves. There % probably
however some little distinction in favour of
the king, who is always the commander of
the expedition* as Maquina had*nearly fifty,
male and female, in his house, a numb# constituting about one half of its inhabitaifts,
comprehending those obtained b§ war f|ind
purchase, whereas none of the other chiefs
Iifd more than %welve. The females are
employed principally in manufacturing clotft.
in cooking, collecting berries, &c, and with
BSv3t."        "•§.    Hi M    ' %M regard to food and living in general have not
a much harder lot than their mistresse^p
the ^principal difference consisting, in these
poor unfortunate5Sereatures being considered
as free to any one, their masters prostituting
them whenever they think proper for the
purpose of gain. In fhis way many of them
are brought on board|the ships and offerejf
to the crews, from whence an opinion appears to hatfcTbdfn -formed by somefof 4m
navigators, injurious to the chastity 0f th$ir
females, than which nothing can be more
generally #ntrue, as perhaps in no part of
the world is tlat virtue more prized.
The houses at Nootka as already stated,
are about |wenty, without comprising those
inhabited by the Kiahars, a small tribe that
has been conquered and incorporated i§nto
that of Noofka, though they must be con*
sidered as in a state of vassalage a#they are
not permitted to have any chiefs among
them, and live by themselves in a cluster of
small houses at a little distance from the village. The Noolka tribe which consists of
about five hundredlwarriors, is not only more
numerous than almost any of the neighbouring tribes, but far exceeds them in the
strength and martial spirit of its people 4
and in fact there are but few nations within, a
hundred miles either to the North or l&outli
but are considered as tributary to them.^lill
In giving some account of the tribes i!$&
were accustomed to visit Nootka, I shall commence at the Southward wi|h the Ip&e
ig-zarts, and &ke Wickinninish, gpremi|ing
that^n point of personal appearance there
prevails a wonderful diversity betwl|n t||e
various tribes on ih^ coast, with thepxcegS
^cm o£the feet and legs* which ar^bad%
shaped in j|fpost all of them|fram their prac*
lice of sitting OR them. T|m3 J£Ja-iz-zarts
are a numerous and powerful tribe, living
nearl y three bundr^i m^s4o the So uth, and
are said to consist of #aoieiha» a thousang?
warriors. They appear |& be more civilized than|any^|of ^h^^thers^ being betfe||
and more neatly dressed, uupe npd and affable in their manners, remarkable§|br their
sprightliness and vivacity, and celebrate^
for their singing and dancing. They es^g^.-.
it also great quacks, of improvement in whatever is v*§ought by them ; their canoes,
though, not superior to t|iose of Nc^ka m
poiut of forni and lightness, being«iore highly ornamented, and thei^veapoi# aa^|fco||te
of every kind hav| a much higher fini^^^d
display more skill in the workmanship,
Their cast of ^ujjtenanee is very different
from that of the Nootkians, theijt faces being
very broad, with a less pominent nose and
-smaller eyes, amtfthe top of the head flattened as if|it had been pressed|down with &
.jveight§ 0$kew jcomple^on is also muck
fairer, andith(|ir statfre shorter, though they
#re w^| formed and singly ^et    They
U
m
M ;      i
m
have a custom which appears to be pecuP
iafto them, as I never observed it int-any of
the other tribes, whichflis to pluck out not
only their beards,!!and the Sair froii their
bodies, but also their eye-brows, so as not to
leave af vestige rem fining. ^They were also
in general more skilful in painting and dedf
orating themselves, aid I have seen soriteef
them with no less than #a dozen holes in
each of their ears to which were suspended
stringslof small beads about two inches in
length.f Their language is the same as spoken attNootka, but their pronunciation is
much more hoarsef and guttural. These
people are not only very expert in Iwhaling,
but are great hunters, of the sea otter and
otherfpnimals, with whiih their country! is
said to abound, as the Metamelfh a large animal of the deer kind, the skin of which I
have already spoken of, another of a light
grey colour, with very fine hair from#hich
they manufacture a handsome cloth, the
beaver, and*a species of large wild cat, or
tygercafcff     . $ :'^|| 'm
ThefWiekinninish, their neighbours on the
North, are about two hundred miles from
Nootka. They are a robust, strong and
warlike people, but considered by the Noot-
kians as their inferiors in courage. This
tribe is more numerous than that oftiNoot-
ka, amounting to between six and sei^^un-
warriors.   Though not so civilized m. the Kla-iz-zarts a|*d less skilful in theii|rna§i*
'tyfactures, like |hem they empiDj^them-
selves in hunting as well as in whalinglimd
fishing. The|jr faces areMroad but less go
than the Kla-iz-zarts^^ith a darker com-
ple^on, and a ji^Mjfess open and pleasing
©fpression of countenance, M|hile the|| heads
present a very diluent form, beipg pressed
in at the sides ^d|lengthen|d towards the
top, somewhat in the shape of m sugar loaf
These people are very frequent visitors at
Nootka, a close friendship subsisting between the two nations, Maquina's Arcomah,
W Queen, Y-ya-tintla-no, being the daughter of the Wickinninish king. The KJ^foo-
quates adjoining them 01^ the Northlare
much less numerousMheir force not exceed-
ing||bur hundred fighgng men ; they are
also behind them in the arts of life. These
%re a fierce, bold, andMenterpri^ng peo-
plejbid there were none tha^fsited Nootka, whom Maquina used to he more on his
guard against, or viewed wllh so much|sus-
picion. The Eshquates are about the same
*nuo|ber; these are considered as tribu|a~
ry to Maquina : Their coast abounds with
river^ creeks, and marshes. To the North
the nearest tribe of any importance is the
Aitizzarts; these however do not exceed
tlyree hundred^walllprs. ||n J appearance
they greatly resemblej the people of Nooff
lia, to whom they are considered as trib|h tary, their manners, dregs, and #yl<gof living also being very similar. ||They reside at
about forty miles distance up the sound. |A>
considerable way farther to the northward
are the Cayuquets ; these are a much more
numerous tribe than that* of ^ootka but
thought by the latter to be deficient in courage and martial spirit, Maquina having frequently told me that their hearts were little
like those of birds.
There are also both at the North Iftnd
South many other intervening tribes, but in
general small in number and insignificant, all
of whom as well as the above meu|jk>ned'
speak the same language. But the Newche^
mass who come frou|k a great waylto the
Northward, and from some distance inland,
as I was told by Maquina, speak quite a different language, although it is well understood by those of Nootka. These were the
most savage looking and fjgly men that I ever saw, their complexion being much darker,
their stature* shorter, and their hair coarser,
than that of the other nations, and their
dress and appearance dirty in an extreme.
They wear their beards long like Jews, and
have a very morose and surly countenance.
Their usual dress is a Kootsuck madejpf
wolf skin, with a number of the tails attached to it, of which IfhaJle seen no less than
ten on one garment, hanging from the toj^feo
the bottom ;   though they sometime&iwear jfe similar mantle of barfej cloth* ^of^a much
coarser texture than that of^ootte^the off-
ginal coliur of which appears to be the same,
though from their very great filthiness it was
almost impossible|to discovef what it had
been^Their mode of dressing their hair also varies essentially from that of the other
tribes, for they suffer that on the back of the
headpo hang loose, and bind the other over
their foreheads in the manner of a fillet, with
a strip of their country |cloth, ornamented
with small white shells. Their weapols are
the Cheetoolthy orfwar club, which is made
from whale bone, daggers, bows and arrows,
and a kind of spear pointed with bone or
copper. They brought with them no furs
for sale, excepting a few wolf skins, their
merchandize consisting principally of the
black shining mineral called pelpelth, and
the fine red paint which they carefully kept
in close mat bags, some small dried salmon,
clams, and roes of fish, with occasionally a
little coarse matting cloth. They were accustomed to remain a much longer time at
^footkathan the other |ribes, in order to recover from the fatigu#of a long journey,
part of which was over landJfand on these
occasions taught their songs to our savages.
The trade of n|pst of the <||her tribes with
]N||Otka, wastorinclpfliy train oil, seal or
whale's blubber, fish fresh or dried, helping
Qr salmon spawn, clams, and muscles,' anl
wm
I 4h$$ania, a species 4>f fruit which is pressed
and dried, cloth, sea otter skins, and slaves.
From the Aitizzatfts, and thefCiyuquets,
particularly fthe former, the best l-w%aw
*and in the greatest quantities was obtained.
The Eshquates ftirnished us withjfwild
ducks and geese, particularly the latter.
The Wk kinninish and Kta-iz-zarts brought
to market many slaves, the best sea etfer
skins, great quantities of oil, wha§e sinew,
and cakes of the yama, highly ornamented
canoes, some 1-whaw, red ochre and pel-
pelth of an inferior quality to that obtained
from the Newehemass, but particularly the
so much valued Metamelth, and an excellent
root called by the Kla-i^zartspQwa^^oo^.
This is the size of a small onion, but rather
longer, being of a tapering form^like a pear,
and of a brownish colour. It is cooked by
steam, is always brought in baskets ready
prepared for eating, and is in fmthfa very
fine vegetable, being sweet, mealy and of a
l^nost agreeable flavour. It was highly esteemed by the natives who used to eat it as
they did every thmg else with train oil.—
pFrom the Kla-iz-zarts was also received*
though in no great quantity, a cloth manufactured by them from the fur already spol"
ken of, which feels like wool and is of a gri|y
colour. •"' j|   , #   110 •
Many of the articles thus brought, pat^
tkularly the provisions, were considered as presents* or tributary offerings, but this must
be viewed as little^ore lian alaoml&al ac^
knowledgment of superiority, as they rarely
failed to get the full amount of the value of
their presents. ^ have knowrifeighteen of
the great tubs, % which theytkeep their
provisions^ filled vtlth spawnf brought if
this way. On these occasions! a great
fefest is always madp,mo whiclf not only the
strangers, but the wjhole village, men, women, andlfhildren ar6^e|eraJly%ivited, and
I have seen ftive if thelargest tubs employed at such time in^cookjng at the iing's
house. At these feasts they generally indulge in eating to an%xcess, making up in
this respect for their want of inebriating
liquors, which they know ho method of preparing in any form, their only drink beirjg
water. - -       '#    ■ "fV    \   ;■' ' -^   .'% i
Whenever tley%ame to visit o^trad^pit
was their general custom, to stop a few miles
distant under the lee of some bluff or rock,
and rig themselves out in their belt manner,
by painting and dressing their heads. On
theirifirst coming on shore, they were invited ta eat by the king, 4hen tley brought to
hitn, such articles as helwanted, after which
the rest of the inhabitant^ were permitted to purchase, fhe sl:raj^^s being careful to keep them in their canoes until sold,
under strict guard to prevent their being
$tQ&en$the disposition of these people for .   '
fheiving tpin§sb great, that it is necessary
to keep a waiHiftl eyeiapon th§m^^p^^p
This was their usual mode if traffick, l|at
whenever tb£y wishedfto purchase any particular obj^f, as for instance, a certain
slave, or sofbe otifer thing itf whief| tliey
were vei^pesirou^ the oafife that came for
this purpose would lie jffi a little ^ptance
from thejfehire, and a kind of embadpdor or
fepres^|atiye of theii^por chief Jhy fvhom
it was sent, dressed ji} their b€$ipm§nner,
and with Hpheadffcjeered wjy^the white
down, would rise, ai|3 after miking known
the object of his mission^n^a pompous
speech, hold up specimens jC^puchiar^cles
^j§| he was instricted tofjolfer in payment,;
mentioning the number or ljuantity of each,
when if the bargain was^cott^udedjthe exy|
change was immediately made.
On their visits of friendship or traffick,
the chiefs alone ifsed to sleep on shore, this
was generally at the hous#of the king or
head chief, the others passilg the night on
board of their canoes, which was done not
only for the preservation of their property,
but because they were not permitted to rf|
main on shore, lest they might excite some
disturbance or commit deprecations.    #
All these people generalljNgo armed^ the
common class wearing; only a daggef ^fe-
pended from their lieck behind, with a siring
of metamelth, and sometimes thrust in their girdles. The chiefs in addition to the dagger carry the chetoolthj^or war-club sus~
prided in thf samef maitne# beneath |their
^Bantles,|this iia^he hands of a strong man
is a powerful weapon^in§he management of
irhich, some of the olderlhiefs are very dexterous. It is made from the bone of a whale,
and is||ve|y heavy. ^The blade is about
eighteenl^inehes long and^three broad, till
it approaches near J|he point,§wher<| it expands to the breadth o§ four inches. In
the middle, from whence it slop^| off||f|ad~
uallyfto an edge|pn each side^it is fr|l§|
one to two inches in thickness. § This blade
is usually covered with figures of the sun
and moon, a man's head, &c. and the hilt
which is made to represent the head of a
man or some animal, is curiously set with
small white shells, and has a band of meta-
melth fastened to |t in order to sling it over
the shoulder. Some of the tribes have also
a kind of spear headed with copper or the
bone of the sting ray, which is a dangerou||
weapon ; this is however not usual, and oiil
ly carried by the chiefs. The bow and arrow am still used by a few, but since the in-
.traduction of fire arms among th#), this
weapon has been mostly laid asidef
But to return to our unhappy situation.
Though mg comrade and myself fared as
well, and even better than we could have ex-
pect^p among these people, considering their
?>#
m mi
customs and #ode of living, yetlfour feaipl
lest no ship would come to#ur rillease, and
that we should neveilmore behold ^Christian countrjl were to us a souffce of ionstant
$)&m. Oir principalflconsolation in ^bis
gloomy state, was to g# on Sunday% whenever theiweather would permit, to the boii
ders.ofp fresh lwater||pond, about it mile
from the village, where, after bathing, aUd
jputting on clean #othes§ we would seat
ourselves underithe shade of, a beautiful
pin||p^h|lte I ^a#some chapters inlth#Bi-
ble, and the prayers appointed by our Ohurch
for the day, Riding our devotions witlfafe^
vent prayer to the Almi^j^K. that he would
deign JtiH to watch over and preserve our
lives, rescue 'il^rom the hands of the savages, and permitius once moiftr-to behold a
■C^ristia# land. % In ..this manner were the
greater part of our Sundays^assed at Ncfet-
ka ; and I feltgratefuilto heaven, that amidst
our other sufferings, we wire at least allowed the pleasufb of offering up our devotions
unmolested, for Maquina, on my explaining
to him as well as was in my power Hie reason of our this retiring at this time, far from
objecting, readily consented tofeit. The
pond above mentioned was small not more
than a quarter of a mile in breadth and of
no great leu§th, the water being very clear,
though not of great depth, and bordered by
a beautiful forest of pine, fir, elrrt and beicll* pree front bushes and underwood-—a m§pfc
delightfull^etreat, which was rendered still
moi*e attractive by a great number of birds
that frequented it, particularly the humming
bird.# Thitherfwe used to go to wash our
clothes, anil felt secure from any intrusion
fromflhe natives, as they rarely visited it except for the purpose of cleansing themselves
of their paint. §   I^P^''-^^^'■ i?t? z
In July we at length thought that th<|hope
of deliveryflwe had so lon^ anxiously indulged, was on the point of being%ratified.
A ship appeared in the offing, but alas, our
fond hopes vanished almost as soon as formed ; for instead of standing if for the shore
she passed to the northwardjlnd soon disappeared! I shall not attempt to describe our
disappoiitmen#~my hear|sunfeivithin me,
and I felt as though it was my destiny nevermore to behold a Ghffstian face. Four
days^after there occi^ed^ap;remendous
sto#n of thunder and^ghtning,%luring
whiih the natives manifested great alarm and
terror, the lihole tribe, hurrying to Maqui-
na's house, where, instead of keeping within,
thiy seatei themselves on the roof amid the
severest of the tempest, drumming upon
the boards, and looking up to heaven, while
the king beat the long hollow plank, Ringing
an||, as he afterwards told me, begging Qua-
hootze, the name they give to God, not to
k^ttitem, in which he was accompanied
&'t|
; *3KT
by the whole tribe ; this singing and drumming was continued until the storm abated.
As ihe summer drew^inear its closer, we
began to s$ffer from the frequent want of
food, whieih was principally owing to Maquina and #ie^hiefs be^ig^ilt whaling,|in
which he would not permft Thompson and
B^seljf to join, lest we should make our escape to some of the iaeigbbouring tribes.
At these times the #»nien seldom or fper
cook any provision, aftid we were often hungry, but were sometimes fortunate enottgh to
procure secretly, a piece of salmon, some
other fish, spawn, or even Rubber, which,
by boiling in salt water, wi# a few onions
and turnips, tjpe remains of the|Spanish
garden, or young fettles #nd other herbi^
fbinished us a delicious repast in private.
In the mean time, we frequently received adlf
counts from the tribes who came Io Nootka,
both from the north and south, of there be||
mg fessels on the coast, andiwere advised^
|$r their chiefs to make our escape, who also
promised us Jlheir aid, and to put us on
board. These stories, however, as I afterwards! learned, were almost #11 of them
without any foundation^and meiely invent-
edlby these people with a view to get us into
their power in order to make slaves of us
themselves, tor to till us to others. But I
was still more strongly solicited to leave
Nootka by a woman. * TM$ was alWiefci^ 19S
ninish princess, a younger sister of Ma-
quina's wife, who was there on a vfeit.^pl^
had the good fortune, ill it may be so called,
to be|»me^uitea||^ourite with heft She
appeared iBiuch in terestedfe for no^e-^asked
me many q&es#o©s respecting ,§ny country,
if I had a wether and sister at home, and if
they would not griefe for mp afosenee. Her
complexso&§was fairer than that &f the women in general, andlter features more regular, and she would havefbeen q^ll^bfa^d:---
some had it not been for a defect in orite of
her eyes, the sight of which had been injured byisome aceltent, the reason, as JMaqui-
na told me ^N^he had not beenfmarried, a
defect of this kind |being byljiese savages
considered as almost an in^^eral#e object
tion. Sheiurged me repeatedly to return^
with her, telling me thafphe Wickinninish
were much better than the Nootkians ; thai*
herfath^l wouldjfereat me more kindly than
Maquina, give me better food and clothes,
Ijjnd finally pulp me tin board oife of my owi
country vessels. §1 folt^ howeierpittle disposed toir accompany her#cou|idering my
situation with Maquina full as eligible as it
wocrtd begwith the Wicpnninlfh, if not bet-
tei| notwithstandingpallshe said to the contrary.    ;:^^^fe■■ - ^  J|. - - i^i^M^'' ■ '^^^- -
|§p)& the|$hird of September, the whole
tribe quitted^footka, Recording  ti$. their
constant practice, in order to pass^je.aift
i.S
m '%
104    A  :'
tumn and winter at Tfshees and Cooptee,
the latter If ing about thir^^miles up the
Sound |n apeep bay, <pe navigation of fwhich
is very dangerous from the great number of
reefs 4nd rocksfwith^whi^ft abounds. || On
;$$iese occasion^ every thing is^takeu with
them, even the planks of their bouses, in order to cover fheir i|ew dwellings* To an
European, sucfo a removal exhibits a scene
quite novel and strange : canoesgjiled up
with boards and boxes, and filled with men*
wTomen and children of all ijmks and sizes,
making the air resound with their cries and
so§gs. At these times, as well as when they
have occasion |to go some distance from
thei|houses, the infants are usualiy^spend-
ed across thegnother's shoiilders, in a kind
of cradle or hammock, fogued of bark, of
about|six inchesJpdepth^and of the length
of the child, by means of a leather band inserted through loops on its edges ; this they
also keep them in when at home,, in order
to preserve them in a#trait position, and
prevent any distortion||bf the limbs,|most
probably a principal ^ause of these people
being so seldom deformed^ or^crooked.—
The longboat of our ship having been repaired and furnished with a sail by Thompson, Maquina gave usfhe direction d^|t, we
being better acquainted with managingfit
than his people, and|after loa^ingjfier as
deep as she 40U^ swim, we pr#ceeded$ri* mm
,        \   10%       ; I;
company #ith them to the »©rtk, ^xMimg
Nootka with heavy hearts, as we could entertain no|he|ies of release uirfil our refeirn,
no ships ever coming Jte^tbat jmrtfof thfe
coast. Passing Coopte<| which islsituated
lin the southern bank, just within lie mouth
of a small %iver flowing from tire east |§n &
narrow valley at theWbet of a molntain, we
proceeded ^bOut ^fifteen miles:^ this stream
to Tashees, between a range offfofty hills on
igach side, which ffex tend a great distance in-
lahd, and are covered with the finest forest
trees of the country. Immediately on our
arrival, we all went to worklvery diligently
in cOveringlhe houses with the planks we
had brought, the frames being ready erected,
these people never pretending to remove the
timber. In a very short time the work was
completed, and we were established in our
new residence. -: ^Ip-;-^p::- -,--•• ;■'*
Tashees idfpleasantly situated and in*a
most secure position from the winter storms,
in a small vale or hollow on the sotilh shore,
at the foot ofllt mountain. fThe spot on
which itlfetands is level, and the «oil very
fine, the country in its vicinity abounding
w?th the most romantic views, charmingly
diversified, and fine streams of water falli^
in beai^iful cascades from the mountains-
The #ver at this place is about twentjgrods
m width,land| in its decppst part,|from nine
to iwellb feet.   This village is the extreilfc * .    -irV
point|pf|riavi|jation, as immediately beyond,
the rivei^becomes mu§h more shadow, and
is broken into rapids and falls* 1§|e houies
here fre placed in a line like those at Noot|
ka, h^Lt closer together, the situatioflflbeing
more confined, they are also smaller, it consequence of wh|eh we were much crowded,
and incommoded for room. f| m
&, Thelprincipal object iu§ coming to this
placl|is the facility it affords th|se people
of providing their winter stock oi^^ovisions,
which consists principally of |almon, and
the spawn .of .that fish ; to which may be
added herringand sprats, and herfing spawn.
The latter, however, is always procured by
them at Nootka, previoi|s to^|eir quitting
it. At the season| o%spa^ning, whi#i are
early in |he spring and the last of§Augusl|
they collect a great quantity of pine branches, which they place p differentfpa||§of the
Cove at the depth of about ten feet and secure them by means of heavy ston|s. On
these the herring deposiftheir spawn m im-
||iense quantities; the bi||hes are then taken
up, the |pawn stripped from th# branches,
ai|d after being washed and fre#l from the
pine Reaves by the women, is dried and put
.flip in baskets for usc|i It is considered as
their greatest delicacy, and eaten both cook-
ed and raw : in the former case, being bailed and eaten |vith train oil, and in thel^^r^
mixed up with cold water alc^e,     ^ ^^S
fr   Jvk-
SSltA, The salmon are taken at #asfees, principally in pots ortwears.    Their method of
taking tfcem in wears is thus :—A pof of
twenty feet i# length, and from four to five
feet diameter at the mouth, is formed of
a great number oft^pine splintlrs which are
strongly^ecured, an inch and  a§ half from
each other, by means offfhoops made of flexible twigs§ and placed  about ei|htiinches
apart.     At the end it tapers almost to $'
point, nearlirhicb is afsmall wilker doir,
for the purpose of taking out the fish.    This
pot or Swear is place<ffat the foot of a fall
or rapid, where the water is not very deep>
and the fish driven from above withf long
poles, are intercepted and caughi|l the wear,
from whence they are taken into the canoes.
In this manner I have seen more thanlleveii
hundred salmon caught in the space of fifteen minutes.    Ilhav^ilsoii>me#mes known
a few of the striped bassf aken in tMs manner, but rarely.    #' ,^^^>      "' .^;V:p:-:^
At such timeslthere is great feasting and
merriment among them. The women and
female slavesfbeing busily employed in
cooking, oriin curing the fishffor fieir winter stock, which is done by cutting oflf the
heads and tails, splitting them, taking out
the back bone, and hanging thlm up in their
houses to dry. They also dry the halibut
and cod, but these instead of curing whole,
they cut up info small pieces for tha#|>urpose, 108
till!'' expos*j|to the sua. The spawmpl Jhe
salmon, which is a principal article of their
pre vision, they take out, and without any
ether preparation, throw it into their $ubs,
where they leaye it teptand and ferment, for
though mey frequently eat it freshv they es-
teenJIt much more when It has acquired a
strong taste, and one of the greatest favours
they can confer on an$F person, is to;-- incite
him to eat Quakamissr the name |hey give
this food, Jthough scarcely any thing can be
more repugnant to a European palate, than
it is in this state ; and whenever they took it
out of these large receptacles, which they
are always careful to filipsucb was tiie stench
which it exhaled, on belig mo#d, that it
was almost impossibl#for me to abide it,
even after habit, had in a greatfdegiiee dulled the deliifecy of my senses.—-When boiled it becaibe less offensive, though it still retained much of the putrid smell and some*
thing: of thetaste.lt
Such is the immenseft^aiiPy of thes^
fish, and they are takin with such facilit^p
that I have knwvn ^wards of twenty-five
hundred brought into Maqulha's .house at
once, and at &ne of their great feasts, have
seen one hundred or more cooked^one o$p
their largest tubsr. |p
I used frequently to go out wilh Maquina
upon these fishing parties, and was always
^are to itfSeeive a handsome present^ salp :.-...■§■■■■ ■'•        109  "    ■ :     *
mon, w|ich Ilhad||he privilege of calling
jinine ; I also went with him several tujiesin
a canoe, to strike the salmon,  whichf^have
attempted  to do myself, but could never
succeed, it requiring a degree oCadroilness
that I did not pos|pss.    I was also permitted to go out with a gun, and was several
times very successful in shooting wild ducks,
and teal,  which are very  numerous here,
though  rather shy.    These^hey cooked in
||heir usual manner, by boiling, without any
farther dressifg than skinning them.    In many respectsghowever, our situation w^|sless
pleasant here than at Nootka. |We were
more incommoded for room, Jfie houses not
being so spacious, nor so well arranged, and
as it was colder, we were compellcp to be
much more within doors.    We however, did
not neglect on Sundays, gwhen the weather
would admit, to retire into the woods, and
by the side of some stream, after bathing,
return our thanks to God for preserving us,
and offer up to him our customary devotions.     1 was however,  v^ry apprehensive,
soon after our arrival  at this placeJthat I
should||be  depri|ed of thelsatisfection  of
keeping my journal, asypaquina one day
observing me writingpl it, enquired of me
what I was doing, and when I endeavoured
to ^plap it,  by  telling jaim tha||l was
keeping  an   account   of the  wea§her,   he
^atid;i§ wfs not so, and that I was speaking:
.<?.. :./;
'<! J._i' ; I : ■I   ■ "; I
bad about him, and^elling how |e had taken
our ship and killed the crew, so as to inform
my countrymen, and that if he ever saw me
writing in it again, he would throw it into
the fire. I was much rejoiced that he did
no more than|threaten, and became very
cautious afteiwards nq| to let him see me
write.
g|; Not long after I finished some daggers for
him, which I polished highly ; these pleas-
lid him much, and he gave me directions||o
make a cheetoolth, in which I succeeded so
far topis satisfaction, that he gave me a
presen#of cloth sufficient to make me a
Complete suit |of raiment, besides other
things^^p'hompson, also, who had become
rather more of a favourite than formerly,
since he had made a fine sail for his canoe,
and some garments for him out of European cloth, about this time completed another,
which was thought by. the savages a most
superb dress. This was z^Kootsuk or mantle, a fathom square, made entirely of European vest patterns of the gayest colours.
These were sewed together, ina^nanner to
make the best show, and bound with a deep
trimming of the finest otter skin, with
which the arm-holesfwere also bordered ;
while the bottom was farther embellished
with five or six rows of gilt buttons, placed
as near as|§possible to each other. ^Nothing
could exceed the pride of Maquina when he
—_> first pat on this royal robe, dectfrated like
the coat #f Joseph, with all the colors of
the rainbow, and glittering with the buttons,
which as he strutted about made a tinkling,
while he repeatedly exclaimed in a transport of exultation, Klew skis^f^^suck—
wick kum atack Nootka. J^fi^||§arment—
Nootka can't make him. -^^^H|j
Maquina, who knew that^he chiefs of
the tribes who came to vis||u^ha^endeavoured to persuade me to escape, fr^uently
cautioned me not to listen ^them, saying
that should I make the atteript, and he
were to take v$e, he should certainlylput me
to death. While here he gav^Bie afjpbook
in which I found the nameslof^even persons belonging to the shipol|Eanchestd| of
Philadelphia, Captain Brian, Jpz.-4|Daniel
Smith,§Lewis Gillon, Jac|esfTom, Clark,
Johnson, Ben and Jackf! Tbfoe men, as
Maquina informed me, ran|bwaylffrom the
ship, and came to him, but that #t ofithem
soon after went off in the night, with an intention to go to the Wibkinfinish, but were
stopped by the Eshquiates, and sent back,
to him, and that he ottered them to bejjlput
to death ; and a mosfa^cruel death ||| was^
as I was told by one of Jne natives, fo^neri
holding one of them on the ground, and
forcing open his mouth, while they choak-
ed him by ramming stones down his throat^
$& to Ja§k the boy, who made no attempt r-
P'-
i$:
to gooff, Maquina afterwards sold him to
the Wickinninish, 1 I was informed by §J|e
||fincess Yuqua, that he was quite a small
boy||who cried a great deal, befcg put to
hard labour beyond his strength by the natives, in cutting wood and bringing water,
and that when he heard of the ^urder of
our crew, it had such an effect on him that
he fell sick and died shortly after. On
learning the melancholy fate of this unfortunate lad, it again awakened in my bosom
those feeling! that I had experienced at the
shocking death of my poor comrades.
The king finding that I was desirous of
learning their language, was much delight!!
ed, and took gfeat pleiiure in conversing
with me. On one of these occasions, he
explained to me his reasons for cutting off
our ship,|saying that he bore no ill will to
my countrymen, but that he had been several times treated very ill by themtf" The first
injury of which he had cause to complain,
was done him by a Captain Tawnington, .
who commanded a schooner which passed
a winter at Friendlv Cove, where the was
well treated by the inhabitants. This man
taking advantage of j^aquina's absence, who
had gone to the Wickinninish to procure a
wife, armed himself and crew, andfentered the house where there were none but
woiAn, wh(|m he threw into the greatest
eonsternation, al|d searching the chests, took away all the skins, of which KJaquinf had
no less than forty of the best;. and  that
aboi|t the  same time,  four of their  chief|f
were barbarously killed by a Captain Martinez, a Spaniard.    That soon after Captpn
Hanna, of the Sea-Otter, in consequence of
$$ke of the natives having stolen a chizzel
from the carpenter, fired upon their canoes
which were along sideband killed upwards
of twenty of the natives, ofSvl^||&everal
were Tyees or chiefs, and th^^^e himself
being on board the vessel, in orc|^|to escape
was obliged to leap from the ^quarter deck,
and swim for a long way under water.
These injuries had excitedlin the breast
of Maquina, an ardent desire of revenge,
the strongest passion of the savage heart,
and though many years had elapsed since
their commissio|i, still they were mm forgotten, and the want of a^favourable opporti||
nity alone prevented him from sooner avenging them. Unfortunately for us, the long
wished for opportunity at lengfh presented
itself in our ship, which Maquina finding not
guarded with the usual vigilance of the
North West Traders, and feeing his desire
of revenge rekindled jby the insult offered
him by Capt. Salter, formed a plan fo| attacking, and on his return, called a council
of his chiefs, and communicated it to them,
acquainting them with the manner in which
H k 2
B he had been treated. No less desirous of
avenging this a'^|pnt offered their king, than
the former injuries, they readily agreed to
his proposal, which was to go on board
without arr^s a| usual,| but under different
pretexts, in|g^|ater numbers,! and wait bif
signal for thej^ment of attacking their unsuspecting .^pi|^. ^h^executionfof this
schem^pis the reader knows, was unhappily too successful. And here I cannot but
indulge a reflection that has frequently occurred to me on the manner in which our
people behave'towards the natives. For
though the^are a thievish race, yet 1 have
no doubt that many of the melancholy disasters have principally arisen from the imprudent GO|idu|lPbf fome of the captains
ancS crews of the ships employed in this
trade, in exasperating them by insulting,
plundering, and even killing them on slight
grounds. This, as nothing is more sacred
with a savage than the principle of revenge,
and no people are so impatient under insult, induces them to wreak their vengeance
upon the first vessel or boat's crew that offers, making the innocentgtoo frequently
suffer for the wrongs of the guilty, aslfew
of them know to discriminate between persons of the same general appearance, more
especially when speaking the same language.! And to this cause do I believe,
must principally be ascribed  the sangui- 115
nary disposition with wMch th#e people
are reproached, as Maquina repeatedly told
me that it was, not his wish to hurt a white
man, and that he never should have done It,,
though ever so much in his power, had they
not injured him..    And were the commanders of our ships to treat the savages with
rather more civility than pey sonptimes do^
I am inclined to think they would find their
account in it;   not that I should reftaiuiend
to them a confidence in the goodlpth and
friendly professions of these people, so a&
in any degree to remit their vigilance, but
on the contrary, to be strictly on theifguard^
and suffer but a very few of them to come
on board the ship, and admit not many of
their canoes along side at a time ; a precau*
tion that would have been the mea^ijof preventing some of the unfortunate e\|pts that
Jiave occurred, andlif attended to, Imay in
future, preserve many avalufbl41ife^^ueb
a regulation too, from what I know of fheir
disposition  and wants, would produce no^
serious difficulty in trading with the savages*
and they would soon become perfectly reconciled tO it.     - M   r^^^,- .:
Among the provisions whiclfthe Indians
procure at Tashees, f must not omit mentioning a fruit that is very important,, as
forming a great article of their food. I This
^J$ what is called by them the Yamay a specks of berry that grows infbunches like
I*.
; 116    /
currants, upon a bush from two to three feet
high, with a large, round and smooth leaf.
This berry is black, and about the size of
a pistol shot, but of rather an oblong shape,
and open at the top like the blue whortleberry. The taste is sweet but a little acrid,
and when first gathered, if eaten in any great
quantity, especially without oil, is apt to
produce cholics. To procure it, large companies of women go out on the mountains,
accompanied by armed men, to protect
them against wild beasts, where theyifre*
quently remain for several days, kindling a
fire at night, and sheltering themselves under sheds constructed of boughs. At
these parties, they collect great quantities.
I have known Maquina's queen and her women return loaded, bringing with them upwards of twelve bushels. In order to preserved, it is pressed in the bunches be-
tweefc£ t|ro planks, and dried and put away
in baskets for use.    It is alw7ays eaten with
Oil.       -^j& ■:'%■     ' ' *
Of berries of various kinds, such as strawberries, rasp-berries, black-berries, &c. there
are great quantities in the country, of which
the natives are very fond, gathering them
in their seasons, and eating them with oil,
but the yama is the only one that they preserve.   -       ::f| : J|
^p Fish is,  however, their great article||pf
fopd, as almost all the others, excepting the \   H7 K.;/, ■
yama, maybe considered as accidental.-—*
fffey nevertheless are far from disrelishing
meat, for instance, venison and bear's flesh.
With regard to the latter, they have a most
singular custom, which is, that any one who
eats of it is obliged to abstain from eating
any kind of fresh fish whatever, for the term
of two months, as they have a superstitious
belief, that should any of their people after
tasting bear's flesh, eat of fresh salmon, cod,
&c. the fish, though at ever so great a distance off, wrould come to the knowledge of
it, and be so much offended thetfat, as not
to allow themselves to be taken by any of
the inhabitants. This I had an opportunity
of observing while at Tashees, a bear having been killed early in December, of widely
not more than ten of the natives would eat,
being prevented by the prohibition annexed
to it, which also was the reason of my comrade and myself not tasting it, on being told
by Maquina the conseqpience.
As there is something quite curious hi
their management of this animal, when they
have killed one, I shall give a description of
it. lAfter well cleansing the bear from the
dirt and blood, with which it is generally
covered when killed, it is brougft in apd
seated opposite the king in an upitght pos-
^^e, with a chief's bonnet, wrought ill
figures on its head, and its Wfpowdered
over with the white down.    A tray of pro-
m
•-■   .-. lis
vision is then set|before it, and it is invited
by words and gestures to eat. This mock
ceremony over, the reason of which I could
never learn, the animal is taken and skinned,
^iffid the flesh^and entrails boiled up into a
soup, no part, but the paunch being rejected.- -|jp|
f This dressing the bear as they call it, is
an occasion of great rejoicing throughout
the village, all the inhabitants being invited
to a great feast at the king's house, though
but few of them, in consequence of the penalty, will ventureN|to eat of the flesh, but
generally content themselves with |heir favourite dish of herring spawn and water.
The feast ou this occasion was closed by a
dance from Sat-sat~sak-sis, in the manner I
have already described, in the course of
which he repeatedly shifted his mask for
another of a different fopm.
A few days after a second bear was taken, like the former by means of a trap. ThisJ
I had the curiosity to go and see at the place
where it was caught, which was in the following manner. On the edge of a small
streamtof water in the mountains, which
the salmon ascend, and near the spot where
the bear is accustomed to watch for them,
which is known by its track, a trap or box
about the height of a man's head is built of
posts and planks with a flat top, on which
are laid a number of large stones or roejts. •VI
lid
The top and sides are then carefully covered with turf, so as to resemble a little moundg.
and wholly to exclude thl light, a narrow^
entrance of the height of the building only
being left, just suffillent to admit the head
and shoulders of the beast. On the inside,
to a large plank that covers the top, is suspended by 1 st&ng cord a salmon, the plank
being left loose so that a forcible pull will
bring itfdowrii On coming to its usual
haunt,|rthe bear enters the trap, and in endeavouring to pull away the fish, brings down
the whofe covering with its load of stones
upon its head, and is almost always crushed
to death on the spot, or so wounded as to be
unable to escape. They are always careful
to examine these traps every day, in order if
a bear be caught, to bring it away, and cook
it immediately, for it is not a little singular,
that these people will eat no kind of meat
that is in the least tainted, or not perfectly
fresh, while, on the contrary, it is hardly
possible for fish to be in too putrid a state
for them, and I have frequently known
them when a whale has been driven ashore,
bring pieces of it home with them in a state
of pffensiveness insupportable to any thing
but a crow, and devour it with high relish,
considering it as preferable to that which is
fresh. |' '"^^^''V'':       "'''W^^M   IB
On the morning of the 13th of December,
nenced  whatpfco us appeared a most
\M
m 120
singular farce. Apparently without any
previous notice, Maquina discharged^ pistol close to his son's ear, who immediately
fell down as if killed, upon whicttfall the
w&men of the house set up a most lamentable cry, tearing handfuls of hair from their
heads, and exclaiming that the p#ince was
dead, at the same time a great number of
the inhabitants, rushed into the house armed with their daggers, muskets, &c. enquiring the cause of fbeir outcry, these were immediately followed by two others dressed in
wolf skins, with masks over their faces re-
presenting the head of that animal; the latter came in on their hands and feet in the
manner of a beast, and taking up the prince
carried him off upon their backs, retiring in
$he same manner they entered. We saw
nothing more of the ceremony, as Maquina
came to us, and giving us a quantity of dried provision, ordered us to quit the house
and not return to the village before the expiration of seven days, for that if we appeared
within that period, he should kill us.
At any other Season of the year such an
order would by us have been considered as
an indulgence, inf enabling .us to pass our.
time in whatever way we wished, and even
now, furnished as we were,lwith Sufficient
provision for that term, it was not very unpleasant to us, more particularly Thompson,
who was always desirous to keep as much
^j 121
zs possible ou| of the society and sight of
the natives, whom he detested. Taking
with us our provisions, a bundle of clothes,
and our axes, we obeyed the directions of
Maquina, and withdrew into the woods,
where we built ourselves a cabin to shelter
us, with the branches of trees, and keeping
up a good fire, secured ourselves pretty well
from the coldfc Here we passed the prescribed period of our ejMe9 with more content than much of the time while with them,
employing the day in reading and praying
for our release, or in rapibling around and
exploring the country, tie soil of which we
found to be very good, and the face of it,
beautifully diversified with hills and vallies,
refreshed with the finest streams of water,
and at night enjoyed comfortable repose upon a bed of soft leaves, witlfour garments
spread over us to protect us from the cold.
jj|- At the end of seven dayspve returned,
and found several of the people of A-i-ti^-
zart with their king or chief at Tashees, who
had been invited by Maquina to attend the
close of this^ performance, which I now
learnt was a celebration, held by them annually, in honour vf their god, whom they
call Quahootte, to* return him their thanks
for his past, and implore his future favors.
It terminated on the 21st, the dav after our
return, with a most extraordinary exhibition*    Three men, each of whom had.twg ' 122 .;
bayonets run through his sides^between
the ribs, apparently regardless of the pain,
traversed the room, backwards and forwlrds,
singing war songs, and exulting in this display of firmness.    § J| If
On the arrival of the 25th, we could not
but call to mind, that this being Christmas,
was in our country a day of the greatest festivity, when our fellow countrymen assembled in their churches, were celebrating the
goodness of God, and the praises of the
Saviour. What a reverse did our situation
offer—captives in a savage land, and slaves
to a set of ignorant beings, unacquainted
with religion or humanity, hardly were we
permitted to offer up our devotions by ourselves in the woods, while we felt even grateful for this privilege. Thither with the
king's permission, we withdrew, and after
reading the service appointed for the day,
sung the hymn of the Nativity, fervently
praying that heaven in its goodness, would
permit us to celebrate the next festival of
this kind in some Christian land. On our
return, in order to confonji as much as was
in our power to the custom of our country,
we were desirous of having a better supper
than usual. With this view we bought irom
one of the natives, some <lried clnmp and
oil, and a root called Ktetsup, wh|ch we
cooked by steaming, and found it very palatable.    This root consists of man jit.fibres,,. ' ''I   !%3    v
of about six inches long, and of the size of
a crow quill.   It is sweety of an agreeably
taste, not unlike the  Quanoose, and it is eaten with oil.    The plant that produces it I
have never seen.     if il
On the 31st, all the tribe quitted Tashees
for Cooptee, whither they go to pass the re-
mainderjpf the winter, and complete their
fishing, taking off every thing, with them in
the same manner as at Nootka.* We arrived
in a few hours at Cooptee, which is about
fifteen miles, and immediately set about
covering the houses, wh|ch wfas soon completed.        i|i; ;, ,_:■■/■
This place, which is  their gpfffrt herring
and sprat fishery,   stands! just within| the
mouth of||he river, on  the same side with
Tashees, in a very narrow valley at the foot
of a high mountain. |Thoug||nearly as se^
cure as Tashees froip the winter!storms, ip
is  by   no  means   so   pleasantly   situate^
though to us it was a much more agreeable
residence, as it brought us nearer Nootka,
where we were impatient to return, in hopes
of finding some vessel there, or bearing of
the arrival of one near.   || M
The first jmow that fell this season, was
the day after our arrival, on New-Years ; a
day that like  Christmas, brought will i||
painful recollections, but at the same tim^
led us to indulge the hope of a|more fortunate year than the last..     |§.; .-. ;_ .. t : J|ii§ 434
Early on the morning of the 7 th of January, Maquina took-jgie with him in his canoe on a visit to Upquesta, chief of the A-i-
tiz-zarts, who had invited him to attend an
exhibition at his village, similar to the one
with which he had been entertained at Tashees. This place is between twenty and
thirty miles distant up the sound, and stands
on the banks of a small river about the
size offithat of Cooptee, just within ijjs entrance, in a valley of much greater extent
than that of Tashees ; it consists ^fourteen or fifteen houses, built and disposed i&
the manner of those at Nootka. Thpt|ibe,
which is considered as tributary to Maquina, amounts to about! three hundred warriors, artd the inhabitants, both niejjjt and
women, are among the best looking of any
people on the coast.
On our arrival we were received at the
shore by the inhabitants, a few of whom
were armed with muskets, which they fired,
with loud shouts and exclamations of Wo-
cash, wocash. |§
We were welcomed by the chief's messenger, or .master of ceremonies, dressed in his
best garments, with his hair powdered with
white down, and holding in his hand the
cheetoolth, the badge of his office. > This
man preceded us to the chiefs house, where
he introduced and pointed out to us our respective seats.   On entering, the visitore too|| 125
off theiAats, wh|ph thecal wgys we«| on
similar oJlasions, and Maquina his outer
robes, of whicf| he has several on whenever
he pays a visit, and seated himself near the
chief. As I was dressed in European
clothes I became quite an object of curiosity to these people, very few of whom had
ever seen a whitepnanl They crowded
around me in numbers, taking hold of my
clothes, examining my face, hands and feet,
and even opening my mouth to see if I had
afengue, for not^ths#nding I had by this
time become well acquainted with their language, I preserved the strictest silence, Maquina^ on our first landing having enjoinedi
me not to speak0ntil he should direct. Having undergone this examination for som|
time, Maqufnafat length made a sign to me
to speak to them. On hearing me address
them in their own language, they weregreat-
ly astonished and delighted, and told Maquina that they now perceived that I^a&,a
man like themselves, ekcept that 1 was white
and looked like a seal, alluding tomy blue
jacket and trowsers, which they wanted to
persuade me to takd|of£ as they did not like
thew appearance. Maquina§jn the mean
time gave an account to the chief, of the
scheme he had formed for||surpriziog our
sh§p, and the manner in which he and hip
||eople had carried it into execution,§with
such particular and horrid details of ..that
'        '   ;':'    '      Mm ¥ '    ' M: ¥ 1IMB1 im
i|ansaction as filled the blood in mucins.
Trays of boiled herring spawfl and train oil
were soon after brought in and placed before
us, neither the chief or any of his peopSI
eating at the same|time, it being contrary to
the ideas of hospitality entertained by these
nations, to eat any part of the food that is
provided for strangers, always waiting until
their visitors have finished, before they have
their own brought in. If; fl
The following day closed their festival
with an exhibition fof a similar kind, to
that which had been given at Tashees, but
still more cruel, the different tribes appearing on these occasions to endeavour to surpass each other, in their pfoofs of fortitude
and endurance of pain.|| In the morping
twentyf men enteredlthe chief's house, with
each an arrow run through theyftesh of his
side!, and either arm, with a cord fastened
to the end, which astthe performers ad«*
>2<ueed, singing and boasting, was forcibly
drawn' back by a person having hold of
it. After this performance was closed we
returned to Cooptee, fwhioh we reached at
midnight, our men keeping time with their
songs to the stroke of their paddles.
The natives now began to take the herring
and sprat in immense quantities, with some
salmon, and there was nothing but feasting
from morning till night. The following is
the method they employ to take the faer%ng A stifk of about seven feet long, |wo inches
broad, and half an inch thick, is fo|med lom
some hard wood, one side of winch is set
with sharp teeth, made from whale bone, at
about half an inch apart. Provided with
this instrument, the fisherman seats himself
in the prow of a canoe, which is paddled
by another, and whenever he comes to If
shoal of herring,Awhich cover lie water in
great* quantities, he strikes it with both
hands upon them, and at the same moment
turning it up, brings it over the side of the
canoe, into which he lets those that are taken drop. Iris astonishing to see how
many are caught by those who areidexte-
rous at this kind of fishing, as they seldom
fail when the shoals are numerous, of taking
as many as ten or twelve at a stroke, and if£
a very sh<$t time will fill a canoe with them.
Sprats are likewise caught in a similar man-
-ner. W ;■ ,'/-:•
About the beginning of February, Maquina gave a great feast, at which were present not only all the inhabitants, but one
hundred persons from A-i-tiz-zart, and a
number fromfW^kinnii&h, who had| been
invited^ attend it. It is customary with
ifhem to gife an annual entertainmer#of this
kind, and it is astonishingf to see what a
Quantity of provision is expended, or rathej|
wa|ied on si*ch an occasion, when they al-
%^S§eat to the greatest excess. I It was afc i2#
this feasithat I Jaw upwards of a hundred
salmon cooked in one tub. Thl whole residence atfCooptee presents an almosttuninterrupted succession fof feasting and gor-
mondizing, and it would seem as if the
principal object of these people was to consume their whole stock of provisior^before
leaving it, trusting entirely to their stppess
in fishing and whaling, for fa supply at
Nootka. Iff
On the 25th Jbf Fefbruary, we quitted
Cooptee, and returned to Nootka. With
much joy did Thompson and myself again
find ourselves in a place, where not#th§
standing the melancholy recollections which
it excited, we hoped Before long to see some
vessel arrive to our relief, and for this we
became the more solicitous, as of late we
had becon|e much more apprehensive of our
safety in consequence of information brought
Maquina a few days before we left Cooptee,
by some of the Cayuqilets, that there were
twenty ships at the northward preparing to
come against himt with an§intention of
destroying him and his whole tribe, for cutting off the Boston. This story which was
wholly without foundation, and discovered
afterwards to have been invented byipese
people, for the purpose of disquietirt^||im,
threw him into great alarm, and i^twith-
standing all I could say to convince him th^|
it was an unfounded  report, so great W^-
'mf. SMRSis
W9
hi? jealousy of us, especially after || had
peen confirmed toifiim^by some others of the jj
csame nation, that he|treated us with much
parshness, and kept a very suspicious eye
upon us.     Nothing indeed could|be more
unpleasant than our present $§uation, when
I reflected that 0|r live^ were altogether de- |j
pendent on the  will of a savage, on whose
caprice and suspicions no rational calculation could be made.; i^p. .
Not long after our|return, a son of Ma-
quina's sister, a boy of|eleve|| years old,
who had been for Jom^^^ie declining,
died. I^medi^ely on his death, which
was about midnight, all the men and women
in th^house, set uppoud cries and shrieks,
which awakening Thompson and|payself so
disturbed us that we left the|house. This
lamentation was k||pt up during the remainder of the night, ||ln #ie|mornin0 a great "
fire was kipdied, in which Maquina burn&d §
in honour of the deceased,|ten fathoms of
^|loth, and buried with him ten fathops
more, eight of I-wh^gp four prime sea otter
skins, anjl two small trunks, containing our
unfortunate captain's clothes and watfho
This boy was considered as a Tyee or chief,
b^ng the only son |pf Tootoosch, one of
^pir principal chiefs, who had married Ma-
|$j|}tia's sister, whence arose this ceremony %
i^p"Jii«||nterment; it being an established
;^ustom with these people, $hat whene^pra ^^HHBHH
m'
cbiefldies, his&most valuable property Mb
burned or buried with him ; it is, howeijiwv
wholly confined to the chiefs, and appears
to be a mark of honour appropriate to
theml In this instance Maquina furnished
the articles, in order that his nephew might
have thelproper^honours rendered him.
Toot^osch his father, was esteemed the firsp
warrior of the tribe, $nd was one who had
been particularly active in the destruction of
our ship, having killed two of our poor comrades, who were ashore, whose names were
Hall and Wood; About thejtime of our
removal to Tashees, while in the enjoyniejpt
of the highest health, he was suddenly seized with a fit of delirium, in wj|p|ihe fancied that hif saw the ghosts of those two
men constantly standing by him, and threatening him, so that he would take no food,
except what was forced into his mouth. A
short time before this, hejiad lost a daughter of about fif|een y|jars of age, which afflicted him greatly, and whether his insanity,
|| disorder very uncommon amongst these
savages, no instance of the kind having occurred within the memory of the dldest man
amongst them, proceeded from this cause, or
that it was the special interposition of an all
merciful God in our favour, who by this
means thought proper to induce these barbarians still farther to respect our§ives, jg>r
that forbidden purposes, the Supreme ppr- 131'
poser of events, sometimes permits the spirits of the dead to revisit the world, and
haunt the murderer I know not, but his mind
from this period unti his death, which took
place but a few weeks after that of his son,
was incessantly occupied with the images of
the men whom he had killed. ^This circumstance made mucl§ impression uponfthe
Ijribe, particularly the chiefs, whose uniform
opposition to pitting us to dfath, at the various councils that were hep on our account, I could not but in part attribute to
this cause, and Maquina used frequently in
speaking of Tootoosch's sickness, to express
much satisfactionythat his hands had not
been stained with the blood of a|y of our
men. When Maquina was first informed
by his sister, of the strange conduct of her
husband, he immediately went to his house,
taking us with him; suspecting that hisfdis-*
ease had been caused by us, and that t§ie
ghosts of our countrymen had been called
thither by us, to torment him. We found
him raipg about Hall and Wood, saying
that they were peskak, that is bad. Maquina then placed some provision before
him to see if fie would eat. On perce^ig
it, he put forth his handjtto take soraejbut
instantly withdrew it with signs of horror,
saying that Hall and Wood were there, and
wofld n^fc let him eat.f Maquina tl&i
p€8b^ng|to us, lisked if it was not Johji
II *;.   l
and Thompson who troubled hinj||- Wik> he
replied, that is, no, Jk>An klushish—Thomp*
son Mushish—John and Thompson ane both
goodfl then turnihgffto me, and patting me
on the shoulder, he made signs to me to eat.
I tried to persuade him that Hall and Wood
werepnol tliere, andpha^rione were near
him but ourselves : he said, I ki^v very
well you do not see them, but II do. At
first Maquina endeavoured to convince him
tliltt he saw nothing, and to laugh him!out
of his belief, but finding that all wa| to no
purpose, he at length became serious, and
asked me if I had ever seen any one affected in this manner, and what was the matter
with him."lit gave him to understand, pointing to his head, that his brain wall injured,
and that he did not gee things as formerly.
Beihg convinced by Tootoosch's conduct,
that we had no agency in his indisposition,
on our return home, Maquina asked me
what was done in my country in similar cases. I told him that such persons were
closely confined, and fometimes tied up and
whipped, in order to #iakef them better.
After pondering for some time, he said that
he should be glad to do any thing to relieve
him, and that he should be whipped, fend
immediately gave orders to some of p#?men,
to go to Tootooseh's house, bind^hi#, and
bring him to his, in order to l^dergo the
<J$>eratio«if Thompson was the pJera^fiB let?ted to administer this remedy, wh|ph be
undertook very readily, and for that purpose pjipvided himself with a good number
of spruce branches, witli^whichJhe whipped
him most severely, laying it on with the best
will imaginable, while r%oto.ipcj|L displayed
the|greatest rage, kicking, setting, and attempting to #ite all who came near him,
This was fcfo much fo§ Maquina, who, at
length, unable^to endqre it|longer, ordered
Thompson to desist, and Tootoosch|to be
carried back| saying that if there was no
other %ay of curing pm but by whipping,
he must remain mad. .Jp|.":
The application of thegwhip, produced
no beneficial effect on Tootoosch, for he afterwards became still more deranged ; in his
fits of fi|ry sometj|iies seizing a club, and
beating his slaves in a most dreadful manner,
and striking and spitting at all who came
|pear him, till at length his wife no longer
daring to|remain in the house with him,
came with her son to Maquina's.   <jjjjjk:,'    yJm
The whaling season now commenced, and
Maquina was out almost every day in his
canoe in pursuit of them, but for a considerable time, with no success, one day breaking the staff of his-iiarpoon, another, after
having been a long time fast to a whale, the
weapon drawing, owing to the breaking of
the shell which formed its point, with sever4
alffsuch like accidents, arising from the im-
m I'll *        'Ml    I I
■fflh M
m
perfection of the^^trjpuent. A| these
times he always returned very morose and
out of temper, upbraiding his |be# with ha#
ingApiolat^| their obligation to continence
preparatory to whaling, fin this stafelof ill
humour he would give us veryllittle to eat,
which added to the women n#jt cookingffrhdil
ipe men a|e away, feducec^ls to very low
fare.". ' ; • ,.'■■-.; jjk. w'~ : -'lllf -£l '
In Inconsequence of the repeated occurrence of similar accidents, I prop wed to Ma*
quina to make him a harpoon||or foreganger
of steel, which would be less liable to§i|ul
him. The idea pleased him, and in a short
time*I completed on#for himp with which hll
^as much delighted|and the verj^iext day,
w#nt out to makegtrial of it. He succeeded with it in taking a whale. Great was
thefjoylpiroughout the village as soon as it
was known that the king had secured the
whale, by notice from a person stationed at
the head-land in the offing. All the canoe%
w^e|mmediateiy§aunched, and, furnished
with harpoons and seal skin floats, hastened
to assist in buoying it up and in towin^itln.
The bringing in of this fiih exhibited a
scene of universal festivity. A saloon as
the canoes appeared at the mouth of Ike
cove, those on board offthem singing a jfong
of triumph to a slow air, to which tliey^pp
timf with their paddles, all wl^^^^ii°&
shore, men, women and childre^|^i€ilrtte||
the roofs of their houses,  to  congratulate the king on bfe su(^ess|;drumHfiig most furiously on the planks, and exclaiming Wo-
eash—wocash jTyee. ^^p
The whale on being drawn on «hore,^ras
immediately cut up, and a great feast ofphe
blubber given at Maquina's house, to which
all the village were invited, who indemnified
themselves for their lent, by eating as usual
to excess. If was highly praised for the
goodness of my harpoon, aili a quantity of
blubber given m«| which I was permitted to
cook as I pleased, this 1 boiled in salt water
with some young nettles and other greens
for Thompson and myself, and in this way
we found it tolerable food.i||'' m J
The|f method of procuring the oil, is to
skim it from the water in which the blubber
isftboiled, and when cool, put it up into
whale bladders for use, and of these 1 have
seen them so large as, when filled, would require no less than five or six men"%o ca^y.
Several of the chiefs, among whomSwere
Maquina's brothers, who after the king has
caught the fir|t whale, are privileged to take
them also, were very desirous, on discovering the superiority of my harpoon, thai J
should make|some for them, but this Maquina wotjld not permit, reserving for himself this improved weapon. He however
gave me directions to make a number more
for himself whifch I executed, and also made ISO
htm several lances, with whiefrhe was greatly pleased.    -%r^^:   "   •-■-..'': ■■
As these people have some very singular
observances preparatory to whaling, an account of them will, I presume, not prove uninteresting, especially as it may serve to
give I better idea of their manners. A short
time before leaving Tashees, the king makel
I point of passing a day alone on the mountain, whither he goes very privately early
in the morning, and does not return till
late in the evening. This is done, as I afterwards learned, for the purpose of singing
and praying to his God for success in whaling the ensuing season. At Cooptee the
same ceremony is performed, and at Nootka
after the return thither, with stiflf greater solemnity, as for the next two days he appears
vejjy thoughtful and gloomy, scarcely speaking to any one, and observes a most rigid
fast. On these occasions, he has always a
broad red fillet made of bark, bound around
his head, in token of'humiliation, with
a large branch of green spruce on the top,
and his great rattle in his hand. s|In addition to this, for a week before commencing
their whaling, both himself and the crew of
his canoe observe a fast, eating but very little, and going into the water several times in
the course of each day to bathe, singing and
rubbing their bodies, limbs and faces with
shells and bushes, so that on their return 137
I hav|| seenjhem look as though they||f$
been severely torn with briers. |They are
likewise > obliged to abstain from any commerce with their women for the like period,
the latter restriction be|pg considered as
indispensible to their succfp||
g§ Early in June Tootooscl| the crazy chief,
died. On being acquainted with his death
the whole village, men, women|und children
set up a loud cry, with every testimony of
the greatest grief, which they continued for
more than thre<| hours. As soon* as he^vas
dead, the bodjg according to|th||ir c^tom,
was laid <§ut on a plank, having§hd|bead
bound round w|th a red bark fillet, whiitfcis
with them an emblen^of ^ourning and sorrow. After laying some time in this manner, he was wrapped in an Jotter skin robe,
Ifnd thr§e fathoms of 1-whaw being put
ahput his neckpie^vas placed in a large cof-
firi|or box of about three feel deep, which
was ornamented on the outside liHth two
rows of the small white shells. Infhis, the
mostiyaluable articles of hi4 pibperty were
placed with him, among w;hicl§ were no less
than twenty-four prime $|a-otter skins. At
night, wh|ch is their tipe for interringtthe
dead, the coffin was borne by eight men with
two poles, thrust through ropes passed
around it, to the place of burial, accompanied by his wife and family, with t|eir hair
cut short, in token j|gg grief, all the inhabi-
p:-;..tr-i 13S
tants joining the procession. The place of
burial was a larg^Ccavern on the side of a
hill at a little distance from the village, in
which, after depositing the coffin caref^ly,
all the attendants repaired to Maquina's
house, where a number of .art%les belonging
to the deceased, consoling of blankets, pieces of cloth, &c. were burned by a person
appointed by Mag|uina for that purpose,
dressed and painted in the highest style,
with his head covered witbgwhite down,
who, as he put in the several pieces,||one by
one, poured upon them a quantity of oil to
increase the flame, in t||e intervals between,
making a spfech and playing off a variety
of buffoon tricks, and the whole closed with
a feast, and a^danfe from Sat-sat sak-sis,
the king's son, ^ J|> ' -' ffl&: * '■** •*•■■"■■'
if The man who performed the ceremony of
burning on this occasion, was a very singular
character,|narnied Kinneclimmets. He was
held in high estimation by the king, though
only of the common class, probably from
his talentMfor mimicry and buffoonry, and
might be considered as a kind of king's
jester, or rather as combining in his person
the character of a buffoon with that of master of ceremonies, and public orator to his
majesty, as he was the one who at feast always regulated the places of the guests, delivered speeches on receiving or returning
visits, besides am using the company at all ^
130 ':■;,::.
tliiirenterfaint^t^ with a variily of mom*
key pranks anit antic gestures, winch ap4
peaked to theses savages the height of^fffc
and humour, but would be considered as extremely low by the feast poliiled people;
Almost all the kings or head lehiefs of the
principal tribes, were a<J|oiipanied by a sim§|
ilar character, who appeared to be attached*
toiheMf dignity, and are called in thei# language, Climmer-habbee*     #
m This man, Kinneclimmefe, was particular-
ly^odious to Thom|feon||who would never
joinfin the laugh aft his tricks, bft ^fhenhe
began, would almost always quit tie fioifse
with a very sully look, and an exclamation of,,
cursed fool!   which MaquinaJJ who thought
nothing could equal^the Cleverness of his
Glimmer-hahbee, used to remark with -%iuch*
dissatisfaction, asking  me why Thompson
never laughed, observing that Ifpust have
had a very gcfbd teniperedlfwoman indeed
for my mothl^; as my father was so very
lll-naftuiedi§ man. §Among those performances that gained him the greatest applause,
was  his talent of eating; t§^excess,ifor I
have known him  devour at one meal,  no
less than seventy-five large herring, and at
another time when a great feast was given
by Maquina|tte undertook, after drinking
twree points of oil  by way of whet,  to eat
four dried salmon, and five quarts of spawrt,
mif ed up with a gallon ofjtrain oil; audi ac~
*3,
m
ftewf
■mm
W"i.
f tually succeeded^ in swallowing the ggeatei*
part of this mess, until his itomach became
so overloaded, as to discharge itsfbolltents
in the#sh.1§ One of his exhibitionsj^pifefev-
er, had i|fearly cos#him his life, this was on
occasion of Kla-quak-ee-na, one of th| chiefs,
having bought him a new wife, in celebration
of which he ran three times through a large
||re, and burned hpiself in such a manner,
that he was not able to sti#for more than
fofir wjeeks. These feats of savagelskill,
yvere mi#h praised by Maquina, whomever
failed to n|ake him a present, of cloth, muskets, &c. on such occasions..Mfr; ...;--,^--J^M
The deat|fc)f Tootoosch increased still
more the dilquietude wiiich his delirium had
excited among #ie savages, and all those
chiefs whof|§§ad killed our men became
much alarmed, lest they should be seized
with the same disorder and die like him ;
more particularly, as§I had told| Maquina,
that I believed his insanity !?as a punishment inflicted on him by Quahootze, for his
cruelty in murdering two innocent men, who
had never injured him.     :^
Our situation had now become unpleasant in the extreme;| The summer was so
far advanced, that we nearly despaired of a
ship arriving to our relief, a#l with that .djJK-
pectation,^almost relinquished the l^pcj0f
eve# having ft i» our power to quiffthis savage land. 1 We were treated too with les$ t4'fe.'
■*.-■
Indulgence than before, both Thompson and
myself being obliged, in addition to our other employments,  to perform  the laborious
task of cutting and  collecting fue^fwhiili
we  hadfto  bring  on our shoulders|fi*om
nearly three miles distant, as it consisted
wholly of dry trees, all of which near the
viiage, had  been consumed .J| To add to
this, we suffered much abuse from the common people, who, when Maquina or some
of the chiefs were not present, would insult
us,  calling us wretched slaves,  asking  usv
where  wlis our  Tyee  or captain^piaking
gestures signifying that hisffhead had been
cut off,  and that they would do the like to
us; though they generally took  good care
at such times to keep well out of Thompson's reach, as they had more than once experienced to their cost the strength of his
fist.jp This conduct was not only provoking
and grating to our feelings in the highest degree, but it convinced  us of the ill disposition of these savages towards uigggtid rendered us fearful lest they 'might at^nifte time or
other persuade  or force Macpli^pfiad  the
chiefs, to put us to death.       'W^m:''''  l       7
m We were also, often brought to great distress for the want of provision, so far as to be
reduced to collect a scanty supply of muscles and limpets from the rocks, and sometimes evenv. compelled to part with some of
■flBJlfr^ most   necessa^fartilles   of clothing,
•.* 142
xy
in order to purcbasfe food for our subsistence. This was, however, principally ow«
ingf to the inhabitants themselves expert^
encing a great scarcity of provisions this
season ; there having been, in the first place,
but vety few salmon caught at Friendly
Cove, a most unusual circumstance, as they
generally abound there in the spifhg, which
was by the natives attributed toftheir having
been driven away by the blood of our men,
who had been thrownfinto the sea, hvhich
with true savage inconsistency, excited their
murnjfurs against Maquina, who had proposed cutting off our ship. Relying on this
supply, they had in the most inconsiderate
manner squandered a#ay their winter stock
of provisions, so that in a few days after
their return, it was entirely expended.^ Nor
were the king and chiefs much more fortunate in their whaling, even after I had fur-
hishedpMaquina with the improved weapon
for that purpose ; but four whales having
been taken during the seasoit, which closes
the last of May, including one that had
been struck by Maquina and escaped, and
was afterwards driven on shore about six
miles from Nootka, in almost a state of putridity. These afforded but a short supply,
to a population, including all ages and
sexes, of no less than fifteen huudred persons, and of a character so very^improv^
dent, that after feasting most gluttonously •§.'.- ' '     > '     14& ^;    -       ■
whenever a whale was caught, they wfere several times for a week together, Reduced to th#
necessity of eating but once a day, and of
collecting cockles and muscles from the
rocks for their food. And even after the
cod and halibut fishing commenced in June,
in which thgy met with tolerableitsuccess,
such was t|p| savage caprice of Maquina
that he would often give us but little to eat,
finally ordering us to buy a canoe and fishing implements, and go out ourselves and
fish, or we|should have nothing. ||To do
this, we were compelled to part with our
great coats, which were not only important
to us|as garments, but of which we made
our beds, spreading them under us when we
slept. ||From our want of skill, however, in
this new employ, wen|et with no success,
0n discovering which, Maquina ordered us
Wfr remain at homc^^ ■■•^':'W^^ t§^ - W- "
Another thing, which to me in particular,
proved an almost constant source of voia-
tion and disgust, and whfch living among
them had not in the least reconciled me to,
was their extreme filthiness, not only in eating fish, especially the whale|j|§hen in a state
of offensive putridity, but while at their
meals of making a practise of taking the
vermin fromEtheir heads or clothes, and
eatjng themj by tu|ns thrusting their fingers
int^th|ir hair, anc§into the dish, and spreading tf$eir garments over the tubs in which *a£
144
the provision was cooking Jin order to set in
motion their inhabitants.     Fortunately for
Thompson, he regarded this much less than
myself^ and when I used to point out to ll|m
any  instance ofytheir filthiness in j this respect,  he   would laugh and reply,  Never
mind John, the more good things the better.
I must however do  Maquina the justice to
state, that he was much  neater both in his
personland eating than were the others, as
was likewise his queen, owing no doubt to
his intercourse &ith  foreigners, which had
givenfjfim ideas pf cleanliness,  fori never
saw either of them eat any of these animals,
but on the contrary they appeared not much
to relish this taste in otheiw   Their garments, also, were much Heaner,   Maquina
having been  accustomed  to give his away
when  they became soiled,  till after he discovered that Thompson and myself kept ours
clean by  washing them, when he  used to
make Thompson do the same for him.
H Yet amidst this state of endurance and
disappointment, in hearing repeatedly of the
arrival of ships at the north and south, most
of which  proved  to be idle reports, while
expectation was almost wearied out in looking for them, we did not wholly despond, relying on the mercy of the Supreme Being,
to offer up to whom our devotions or^the
days appointed for his   worship,   was our
chief con jolation and support,  though  we
h-ffifnm-HllWifr i Hi V were sometimes obliged by our t#k-masters
to infringe upon the Sabbath, which was to
me a source of much regret.
We were nevertheless, treated at times,
with much kindness by Maquina who would
give us a plenty of the best that he had to
eat, and occasionally, some small present of
cloth for a garment, promising me, that if
any ship should arrive within a hundred
miles of Nootka, he would send a canoe
with a letter from me to the captain, so that
he might come to our release. These flat-
flbring promises and marks of attention were
however, at those times, whenfhe thought
himself in personal danger from a mutinous
spirit, which the scarcity of provision had
excited among the natives, who, like true
savages, imputed all their public calamities,
of whatever kind, to the misconduct of their
chief, or when he was apprehensive of an attack from some of the other tribes who were
irritated with him for cutting off' the Boston,
as it had prevented ships from coming to
trade with them, and who were constantly
alarming him with idle stories of vessels that
were preparing to come against him, and exterminate both him and his peoplefihe Cay-
uquets. jgAt such times, he made us keep
guard over him both night and day, armed
with cutlasses and pistols, being apparently
afifud to trust any of his own men. At one
time, it was a general revolt of his Ipeople
N
.
hi
MPa
¥M i:
140
that he apprehended—then three offh^
principal chiefs, among whom was l||s elder
brother, had conspired to take away his liftj|
and at length he fanciedfthat a small paftjp
<>f Klaooquates, between whom and the
Nootkians, little friendship subsisted, had
come to Nootka, under a pretence of trade,
for the sole purpose of murdering him and
his family, telling us, probably to sharpen
our vigilance, that theiijintention was to kip
|§s likewise, and so strongly were his fears
excited on this occasion, that he not only ordered us tofkeep near him armed by day,
whenever he went out, and to patrole at
night before his house fphile they remained,
but||to continue the same guard forfcthree
dayf after they were gone, and to fire at one
and at four in the morning, one of the great
guns, to let them know, if, as he suspected,
they were lurking in the neighbourhood,
that he was on his guard. While he was
thus favourably disposed towards us, I
took an opportunity to inform him of the
ill treatment that we frequently!received
from his people, and the insults that were
offered us by some of the stranger tribes in
calling us white slaves, and loading us with
other opprobrious terms. He was much
displeased, and said that his subjects should
not be allowed to treat us ill, and that if any
of the strangers did it, he wished us to punish the offenders with death, at th^isame
»-;i.
•**"'*( Liutm U7
time directing us for our security, to go
ponstantly armed.     This permission   was
soon improved by Thompson to the best advantage ;   for a few days after, having gone
to the pond to wash some  of our  clothes,
and blanket for Maquina, several Wickinnin-
ish who were then at Nootka, came thither,
and seeing him washing the clothes, and the
blanket spread upon the grass to dry, they
began according to custom   to insult him,
and one of them bolder than  the others,
walked over the blanket.     Thompson was
highly incensed, and threatened the Indian
with death  if he repeated the offence, but
he,  in contempt of the threat, trampled upon the blanket,   when drawing  his cutlass,
without farther ceremony,  Thompson  cut
off his head, on seeing which the others ran
off at full speed ;   Thompson  then gathering up the clothes and  blanket on which
were the marks of the Indian's dirty feet,
and taking with him the head, returned and
informed the king of what had passed, who
was much pleased,  and highly commended his conduct.    This had a favourable ef
feet for us, not only on the stranger tribes,
but the inhabitants themselves, who treated
us afterwards with less disrespect, i
In the latter part of July, Maquina informed me|thathe was going to war with
the A-y-charts, a tribe living at about fifty
miles to the south, on account-of some co«^
M troversy that had arisen the preceding sum*
mer, and that I must make a number of daggers for his men, and cheetoolths for ml
chiefs, which having completed, he wished
me to make for his own use a weapon of
quite a different form, in order to dispatch
his enemy by one blow on the head, it being
the calculation of these nations on going to
wari to surprize their adversaries while
asleep. fThis^as a steel dagger, or more
properly a^pik^of about six inches long
made very sharf, set at right angles in an
iron handle of fifteen inches long, terminating at the lower end in a crook or turn, so as \
to prevent its being wrenched from the
hand, and at the upper, in a round knob or
head, from whence, the spike protruded.
This instrument I polished highly, and the
more to please Maquina, formed on the
Hack of the knob, the resemblance of a
^kn's head, with the mouth open, substituting for eyes, black beads, which I fastened
in with red sealing wax. This pleased him
much, and was greatly admired by his chiefs,
who wanted me to make similar ones for
them,|but Maquina would not suffer it, reserving for himself alone this weapon.
When these people, have finally determined on war, they make it an invariable practice For three or four weeks prior to the expedition, to go into the water five or six
times a day, where they wash and scrub themselves from head to fool with bushes
intermixed with briars, so that their bodies
and faces will often be entirely covered with
blood. During this severe exercise, they
are continually exclaiming, | Wocash Qua-
hootze, Teechamme ah welth, wik etish tau*
ilth—Kar-sab-matemas—Wik-sish to hauk
matemas—/ ya-ish kah-shittle-MAssmootish
warich matemas—-Which signifies, Good, or
great God, let me live-—Not be sick—Find
the enemy—Not fear him-~3fim^l^^^ep,
and kill a-great manv ofiffliB^p^^^^^ 1
During the whole off thi^p^riod, they
have no intercourse withfth^ women, and
for a week, at least, S^^^^ setting out,
abstain from feasting ogpuy kind of merriment, appearing thoughfl§d,, gloomy, and
morose, and for the three last days, are almost constantly in thefvater, both day and
night, scrubbing and laceratinglhemselves
in a terrible manner. Maquina having in^
formed Thompson and myself that he should
take us with him, was very solicitous that
we should bathe and scrub ourselves in the
same way with§thei|i, telling me that it
would harden our skins so that the weapons
of the enemy would not pierce them, but as
we felt no great inclination to amuse ourselves in this manner, we declined it.
The expedition consisted of forty canoes,
carrying! from ten to twenty men each,
Thompson and myself armed ourselves with
n 2        ,ri:      wk
mm
S3;*
.      £
Ll^dtxWi 1   m      ■■■%■■:■
■-. . :     .   - 4501: v \:ip
cutlasses and pistols, but the natives, although they had a plenty of European arms,
took with them only their daggers and
cheetoolths, with a few bows and arrows,
the latter being about a yard in lelgth, and
pointed with copper, muscle shell, or bone :
the bows are four feet and a half long, with
strings made of whale sinew. 1
To go to A-y-chart, we ascended from
twenty to thirty miles, a river about the
size of that of Tashees, the banks of which
are high and covered with wood. At midnight, we came in sight of the village, which
was situated on the west bank near the
shore, on a steep hill difficult of access,
and well calculated for defence. It consisted £>f fifteen or^ixteen houses, smaller than
those at Nootka, and built in the same style,
but compactly placed.! By Mgtquina's directions, the attack was deferred until the
first appearance of dawn, as he said that
was the time when men slept the soundest.^
r At length all being ready for the attack,
we landed with the greatest silence, and going around so as to come upon the foe in the
rear, clambered up the hill, and while the
natives, as is their custom, entered the several huts, creeping on all fours, my comrade
and myself stationed ourselves without, to
intercept those who should attempt to escape, or come to the aid of their friends. I
wished if possible, not to stain my hands m
Isi
in the blood of an^ fellow creature, and
though Thompson would gladly have put to
death all the savages in the co&try, he was
too brave to think of attacking a sleeping
enemy. Having entered the^nouses, on the
war-whoop being given by Maquina, as he
seized the head of the chieff^and gave him
the fatal blow, all proceeded to the work of
death. The A-y-cbarts being thus surprised, were unable to make resistance, and
with the exception of a ve|y few, who were
so fortunate as to make their escape, were
all killed or taken prisonpra^on condition
of becoming slaves to th^Jcaptors. fr also
flad the good fortune to fliki^Toi^ captives,
whom Maquina, as a favds per|||tted me to
consider as mine, and occasi^^py employ
pien^jn fishing foilme ;^^^9||^Thon]p*
son, who thirsted for revenge, he had no
wish to take any prisoners, but with his cutlass, the only weapon he would employ
against them, succeeded in killing seven
stout fellows, who came to attack him, an
act which obtained him great credit with
Maquina and the chiefs, who after this, held
him in much higher estimation, and gave
him the appellation of Chehiel-suma-har, it
being the name of a very celebrated warrior
of their nation in ancient times, whose exploits were the constant theme of their
praise. :;.|§ ;—•  ; •  *v..//-■ : - .-■• <. M 152
After having put to death all the old and
infirm of either se^, as is the barbarous gpc*
jise of these people, and destroyed the
buildings, we re-embarked with our booty
in our canoes, for Nootka, where we were
received with great demonstrations of joy by
the women and children, accompanying our
war song with a most furious drumming on
the houses. The next day a great feast was
given by Maquina, in celebration of his victory, which was terminated as usual with a
dance bv Sat-sat-sak-sis.     "*:<
Repeated applications had been made to
Maquina, by a number of kings or chiefs, to
purchase me,|especially after he had shewed them the harpoon I had made for him,
which he took much pride in, but he constantly refused to part with me on any terms.
—Among these, the king of the Wickinnin-
ish was particularly solicitous to obtain me,
having twice applied to Maquina for that
purpose, once in a very formal manner, by
sending his messenger with four canoes,
who as he approached the shore, decorated
in their highest style, with the white down
on his head, &c. declared that he came to
buy Tooteyooliannis, the name by which I
was known to them, for his master, and that
he had brought for that purpose four young
male slaves, two highly ornamented canoes,
such a number of skins of the metamelth,
and of the quartlacky or sea otter, and so ma- 153
ny fathoms of cloth and of I-whaw, while as
he mentioned the different articles, they
wete pointed out or held up by his attendants, but even this tempting offer had no influence on Maquina ; who in the latter part
of the summer, was again very strongly
urged to sell me by Ulatilla, or as he is generally called, Machee Ulatilla, chief of the
Klaizzarts, who had come to Nootka on a
visit. f :'V- p
This chief, who could speak tolerable
English, had much more the appearance of
a civilized man, than any of the savages that
I saw. He appeared to be about thirty, was
rather small in his person, but extremely
well formed, with a skin almosttasifair as
that of an European, good feautures, and a
countenance expressive of candour and ami-
ableness, and which was almost always
brightened with a smile. He was much
neater both in his dress and person than any
of the other chiefs, seldom wearing paint,
except upon his eye-brows, which after
the custom of his country, were plucked
out, and a few strips of the pelpelth on the
lower part of his face. He always treated
me withlbuch kindness, was fond of coil-
versing with me in English and in his own
language, asking me many questions relative
to my country, its manners, customs, &c.
and appeared to take a strong interest in my
fate, telling me, that if he could persuade 134
uinato part with mfe, he would put me
on board the first ship that came t6 his
.country ; a promise, |which from his sub**
sequent conduct, I have good reason to
think he would have performed, as my deliverance, at length, from captivity and suffering was, under the favour of divine providence, wholly owing to him, the only letter
that ever reached an European or American
vessel, out of sixteen that 1 wrote at different times, and sent to various parts of the
coast, having been delivered by him in person. § So much pleased was 1 with this
man's behaviour to me while at Nootka, that
I made for him a Cheetoolth, which I burn-
ishedf highly, and engraved with figures ;
with this he was greatly delighted, 1 also
would have made for him a harpoon would
Maquina have consented.
Wi|h hearts full of dejection and almost
lost to hope, no ship having appeared off
Nootka this season, did my companion and
myself accompany the tribe on their remo-
vol in September to Tasheesjfrelinquishing
in consequence, for six months, even the remotest expectation of relief.
Soon after our establishment there, Maquina informed me, that he and his chiefs
had held council both before and after quitting Nootka, in which they had determined
that I must marry one of their women, urging as a reason to induce me to consent, that as thereiwas no^ no probabil|
ship coming to Nootka to release me, tlgit
I must consider myself as destined to pass
Hie remainder of my life with them, that &
sooner I conformed to their customs t|e
better, and that a wife and family would ren-
derfme more contented and satisfied with
their mode of living. I remonstrated against
this decision, but to no purpose, for he told
me that should I refuse, both Thompson
and myself would be put to death, telling
me however, that if there were none of the
women of his tribe that pleased me, he
would go with me to some of die other
tribes, where he would purchase for me such
an one as I should select. Reduced, to this
sad extremity, with death on the one side,
and matrimony on the other, I||thought
proper to choose what appeared to me the
least of the two evils, and consent to be married, on condition, that as I did not fancy
any of the Nootka women, I should be permitted to make choice of one from s§me
other tribe. , -M    •c|| Jf-..../ -,-\'*    ■
This being settled, the next morning by
day light Maquina with about fifty men iM
two canoes, set out with me for A-i-tiz-zart,
taking with him a quantity of cloth, a num-
bertof muskets, sea-otter skins, &c. for the
pu Aase of my bride. With the aid of^ir
pnw^and sails, being favoured wittma
foiibribze, we arrived some time before sun
II
«
w&m *■   .'--■' 1 ..•§- 136 .
set at the village. Our arrival excited a
general alarm, and the men hastened to the
shore, armed with the weapons of their coin-
try, making many warlike demonstrations,
and displaying much zeal and activity.
We in the mean time remained quietly seated in our canoes, where we remained for
about half an hour, when the messenger
of the chief, dressed in their best manner,
t>ame to welcome us, and invite us on shore
to eat. We followed him in procession to the
chief's house, Maquina at our head, taking
care to leave a sufficient number in the boats
to protect the property. When we came to
the house, we were ushered in with much,
ceremony, and our respective seats pointed
out to us, mine being next to Maquina by
his'request.  */p     .   ||:     \ ■
After having been regaled with a feast of
herring spawn and oil, Maquina asked me if
I saw any among the women who were present that I liked, I immediately pointed out
to him a young girl of about seventeen, the
daughter of Upquesta, the chief, who was
sitting near him bv her mother. On this
Maquina making a sign to his men, arose
and taking me by the hand, walked into the
middle of the room, and sent off two of his
men to febring the box^J|>ntaining the presents fro^i th^cll^lP^^^the meantime
Kinneclimmets, the master of ceremonies,
whom I have already spoken of, made hi$p|| self ready for the part he was to act, by
powdering his hair with the white down.—~
When the chests were brought in, specimens
of the several articles were taken but, and
shewed by our men, one of whom ^held Jap
a musket,|arf)ther a skin, ajlhird a1 piece of
cloth, &c. On this Kinneclimmets stepped
forward, and addressing the chief, informed
him that all these belonged to me, mentioning the number of eaSii kind,Jand that they
|pvere offered him|gfol| the purchase of his
daughter Eursto^ti-ee-exqua, as a wife for
me. As he said this, the men who held up
the various articles,j|walkedfnp to the chief,
and with a very stern and morose look, the
complimentaryl one on these occasions,
threw them at his feel. Immediately on
which, all the tribe, both men and women*
who were*assembled on this occasion, set
up a cry of Klack-ko-Tyee, that is, Thank
ye chief. His men, after this ceremony,
having returned to|their places, Maquina
rose, and in a speech of more than half an
hour, said much in my praise to the A-i-tiz-
zart chief||telling him that I was as good a
man as themselves, differing from them only
in being ld|ite, that I was besides acquainted J^h^ii^ftythings of which they were
ignorlrot|p that M new how to make daggers,
cheetoolths, andliarpoons, and was a very
valuable|person, whom he was determined
to keep always with him ; praising  me at
§ '    St f     S~
$Jli 158
'
the same time for the goodness of iny temper, and the lianneffin which I had conducted since I had been with them, o%serv-
ing that all the people of Nootka, and even
the children loved me. ^     §|
While Maquina was speaking, his master
of ceremonies! was continually skipping
about,fmaking the§most extravagant gestures, and exclaiming Wocash. When he
had ceased, the A-i-tiz-zart chief arose amidst
the acclamations of his people, and began
with setting forth|the many goodJfoualities
and accomplishments of his daughter ; that
he loved her greatly, and as she was his only one, he could not think of parting with
her. He spoke in this manner for some
time,Jbut finally concluded by consenting to
the proposed union, requesting that she
might be well used and kindly treated by
herfhusband. At the close of this speech,
when the chief began to manifest a disposition to consent to our union, Kinneclimniets
again began to call out as loud as he could
bawl, Wocash, cutting a thousand capers
and spinning himself around on his heel like
a top.
| When Upquesta had finished his speech,
he directed his people to carry back the
presents whichlMaquina hafl given him, to
me, together*with two young male slaves to
assis^ne in fishing. These, after having
been placed before me, were&y Maquina^ men taken on board the canoes.f This cere,,
mony being over,J§we were invited by one of
the principal chiefs to a feast, at his house,
of Khs^samit, or dried herring, where after
the eating was over, Kinneciimmet^amused
the company very highly with his tricks, and
the evening's|entertainment was closed by
a neif vgar-song from our men, and one in
return from the A-i-tiz-zarts, accompanied
with expressing gestures, and wielding of
their weapons, -M , "% M^^m-~%: $Cfefi
After this, our company returned to lodge
atlUpcfuegta's, except a few who were|$eft
on bo#d the cai|oes to watch the property.
In the morning I received from the chief his
daughter, with an earnest requestflthat I
w§uld use her well, which I promised him,
when takiagjeave of her parents, she accompanied me with apparer|^atisfaction on
lj§pard ofgthe canoe. |      f|   :  '*W$fe-        .• -
The wind being ahead, the natives werft
obliged to have recourse to their paddles,
accompanying them with their Jgongs, interspersed with the witticisms and^iffi§)nry of
Kinneclimmets, who, inyif c^^ity of
king's steersman, one of his fun^^§is wf&h
^forgotJto enumerate, not only ||uided|the
course of the canoe, but regulated the singing of the boatmen. At about five injtthe
morning, we reached Tashees, where we
found all the inhabitants collected on the-
shqili to receive us.     We Werejwelcorned *r
H
M
1
!
$60   ' *     •
with loud shouts of joy^and|exclamations
§if Wocash, and the women taking my bride
undfr their charge, conducted her to Mai
quina's house, to be kept with them for tel|
days ; illbdbg an universal custom as Maquina informed me, that no intercourse
should take place between the new mfrri-
ed pair during that period. At night Maquina gave a gfeat feast, which was succeeded by a dance, in which all the women
joined, and thus ended the festivities of my
marriage.
The term of my restriction over, Maquina
assigned me as an apartment, the space in
the upper part of his house, between him
and his elder brother, whose roomflwas opposite. Here I established myself with my
family, consisting of myself and wife, Thompson and the Ifttle Sat-sat-sak-sis, who had
always been strongly attached to me, #n#
now solicited his father to letlbim live* with
me, to which he consented. This boy was
handsome, extremely well formed, amiable,
and of a pleasant, sprightly disposition. I
used to take a pleasure in decorating him
with rings, bracelets, ear jewels, &c. which
I made for him of copper, and ornamented
and polished them in my best manner. I
wag also very careful to kegphim free from
vermin off every kind, washing him and
combing his hair every day. These marks
of attention were $ot on% very pleasing to fjf -"  161 •:
the child, who delighted in being kept neat
and clean, as well ^s in being dressed off in
his finery, but was highly gratifying both to
Maquina and his queen, who used to express much satisfaction at my care of him.
In making my domestic establishment, I
determined, as far as possible, to live in a
more comfortable and cleanly manner than
the others. For this purpose, I erected with
planks, a partitior&pf about three feet high,
between mine and the adjoining rooms, and
made three bedsteads of the same, which
I covered with boards, for my family to
sleep on, w|hiclL^found much jnore corn-
fortablej|than sleeping on thejfloor amidst
the dirt. ■£ .        "M
Fortunately I found my Indian princess
both amiable and intelligent, for one whose
limited sphere of observation must necessarily give rise to but a few ideas. She was
extremely ready to agree tetany thing that I
proposed relative to our mode of living, was
very attentive in keeping her garments and
person neat and clean, and appeared in every respect, solicitous to please me. She
was, as I have said, about seventeen || her
person was small, but well formed, as were
her features, her complexion was, without
exception, fairer than any of the women,
with considerable colour in her cheeks, her
hair long, black, and much softer than is
usual with Ithem, and her teeth small,
I    ; 02 ' "  f
• iven, and of a dazffting whiteness, whflpthe
expression of her pountenance, Ibdicltted
sweetness (p temper and itiodesty. She
woi|id,||ide#l, have been cf nsidered as very
pretty in any country, and excepting Mip
qttina's queen, was by|far the handsomest
of any of thei|^ofien.^     ■ .:^^' ' -■■■■■'.■>■:
With a partner possessing sofhany attractions, many|may be apt to conclude, that 1
must have found myself happy, at least
comparatively so| but far otherwise was it
with me, a compulsory marriagefwith the
most beautiful and accomplished person in
the world, can never prove a source of real
happiness, and in my situation, I could nti|
but view this connection as a chain that w|as
to|fbind me down to this savagefland, and
prevenfl my ever again seeing a ciwlized
country; especially, when in a few days||f
ter, Maquina informed me that there had
been a meeting of his chiefs in which it was
determined, that as I had married one of
their women, I mp'stfjbe considered as one
of them, and conform to their customs, and
that in future, neither myself norflThomp-
son should wear our European clothes, but
dress in Kutsaks like themselves: This order was to me most paiiful, butl persuaded
Maquina, at length, so far to relax in it as
to permit me to wear those I had at present,
which were almost worn out, and not to
compel Thompson to  change his dress, oh- seizing, that las 4e was aniold man, suclia
change would causeffeis death,     f |§fi
Their religious celebration, which fheiast
yea^took place in  December, was in this,
commenced onjfthe 15th of November, and
continued for fourteen day^ff As I was now
considered as one of themjfinstead of being
ordered toffche woods,  Maquina directed
Thompsoifancifmyself to remain, and pray
with them to Quahootze to'be good to them,
and thank! hin#for what he had done.     It
was opened in much  the same nlanner as
the former.     After flvhicb, all the men and
women in the ^tage disenabled at Maqui-
nJls house^iin: their plainest dresses,  and
without any kind of ornaments about them,
having their heads bound around with the
red fillet, a token of dejection andfhumilia-
tion, and their countenances expressive of
seriousness and melancholy.    The performances during the continuanfe of this celebration, consisted simost wholly in singing
a number of songs to mournful airs, the king
regulating the time by beating on his hollow
plank or drum, accompanied by one of his,
chiefs, seated near him with the great^attle.
ff n the mean time, they eat butfleldom, and
then very lltle, retiring to sleep late, and
rising at the first appearance of dawn, and
evefe interrupting this short period of repose,
by getting up at midnight and singing. ^Ifc
was terminated by an exhibition of sf similar
*iw-
.-■ *
-.-
I
*«* 164
ii
character to the one of the last yeai^but
ifill more crueLl| A boyjff twelve years old,
with six bayonets run into his flesh, one
through eadh arm and thigh, and through
each side close to thelribs, was ca|ried
around the room, suspended upon them,
without manifesting any symptons of pain.
Maquina, on my enquiring the reason of this
display, informed me that it was an ancient
custom of his nation, to sacrifice a man &t
the close of this solemnity in honour of
their God, but that his father had abolished
it, and substituted this in its place. The
whole closed on the evening of the 29th,
with a great feast of salmon spawn afid oil,
at which the natives as usual, made up for
their late abstinence.
A few days after a circumstance occurred,
which, from its singularity, I cannot forbear
mentioning. I was sent for by my neighbour Yealthlower, the king's elder brother,
to file his teeth, which operation having performed, he informed me that a new wife,
whom he had a little time before purchased,
having refused to sleep with him, it was
his intention, provided she persisted in her
refusal, to bite off her nose. I endeavoured
to dissuade him from it, but he was determined, and in fact, performed his savage
threat that very night, saying that since she
would not be his wife, she should not be >
l^ialof any other, and in the|morning serf!
Her back to her father. 4| ^
This inhuman act did not, however, pr^
ceed frpin any innate cruelty of disposition*
or malice, as he was far from being of a bar**
barous temper; |pl|such is the despotism
exercised by these savages over their womlti,
that he no doubt considered it as a ju d punishment for her offence, in being so obstinate
and perverse ; as he afterwards told me, that
in similar cases, the husband had a right,
with them, to disfigure his wife in this way,
or some other, to prevent her ever marrying
again.   : / k.. ■ |jL-      >  '
About the middle of Deiember, wejfleft-
Tashees for Cooptee. As usual at this season, we found thi|herring in great plentjl
and her^the same scene of riotous feasting
as I witnessed the last year, was renewed by
our improvident natives, who, in addition to
thiir usual fare, had a plentiful supply of
wil<| geese, which were brought us in great
quantities by the Esquates. These, as Maquina informed me, were caught with nets
made fronipbark, in the fresh waters of that
country. Those |who take|them, make
choice for that purpose, of a dark and nliny
night, and with their canoesistick with
lighted torches, proceed with as little noise
as possible, to the place where the geese are
collected, who, dazzled by the light, suffer
themselves  to  be  approached very near,
%m-
■^.m
•
: IF
\m
E«&**^
■r£>^*hz
ntSS*
when the netiis thrown oier thetr^ and in
Ihisf manner, from fifty to dfxty, or ep
more, will sometimes be taken at one cast.
On thtf l^thof January, 1805, about midnight, 1 was thrown into considerable alarm,
in consequence of an eclipse of the moon,
being awakened from my sjgep by a great
outcry of the inhabitants. Oh going to discover the cause off this tumult, I found
them all out of their houses, bearing lighted
torches, singing and bating upon pieces of
plank, and when I af|§ed them the reason
of this proceeding, they pointed tp|the
mofth, and said that a great cod-fish was en-
Me^ouring|to swallow her, and that they
|§|re driving him away. The origin of this
Superstition I could not di|co$er. ||
Though in some respects,|rny situation
was rendered more comfortable since my
marriage, as I lived in a more cleanly manner, and had my food better and more neatly cooked, of which, besides, 1 had always
a plenty, my, slaves generally furnishing me,
and Upq||pka never failing to send me an
ample supply by the canoes that came from
A-i-tiz-zart; still, from my being obliged at
this season of the year, to change my accustomed flothing, and to dress like the natgyes,
'M&h |i^ a piece of cloth of about two
^S'djp^g, thrown loosely around me,|my
Euroj^tn clothes having been for some
time entirely worn out, I suffered more than
.. ;**1
\m
I can express from the|jlpld, especially as I
was compelled to perform lie laborious task
of cuttlng^pd bringing pe fire wood, which
was fendSred still more®oppressi|| fi|me,
from my comrade for a considerable part of
the winter, notjlavfhg it |n his power ttf lenp
me his aid, in consequence of an af|ack of
the rheumatism in one c^Sft^nees, with
wlillh he suffered for more than four months,
two or three weeks of which he was so ill
as tofNbe unablf to leave the houseJ[ This
state of suffering, with the little hope I now
pad of everftescaping from the ^tvagesfcte-
gan to¥ender my life irksome to me, still,
howevei^l lost not my confidence in the aid
of the Supreme Being, to whorn, whenever
the weather and a suspension from the tasks
imposed on me, would permit, 1 never failed
regularly, on Sftndays, toretire to the woods
to worship, taking Thompson with me when
he was%ble to |*o. S~
On the 20th of February, wifreturned to
our summer quarterfetMootkpl but on my
part, Jipth fafdiffei^nffsensations thanjfthe
last spring, being now almost in despair of
any vessel arriving to release us, or our being permitted to depart if there should.—
Soon after our retu^ as preparatory to the
whaling season, Maquina orderedJgm|§ to
nm|e a good number of ^larpoons^^^^im-
self and his chiefs, several of which I had
completed witiforne lances, when on the *'
p8§h of M^ch,^ was taien^ver^lll^te, a.
violent chplic, causediff presunffe, froti Ay
ha^^^ suffered so muchpfrom the coldilrgo-
ing|without proper clothing. FoiSltnumber
of ho^s|Bvas i^g^t pain, and expectfd
to lie, and on its ifaving me, I was so we|k
as scarcelygto be abl§ to st^d,%hile §hid
nothing comforting to take, nor arf| tiling to
"pri|k but cold water. Onf§j^$- day following, a slave belongingfto Maquina died, and
wa|||iimediately, as is their custonifin meh
cases,"|ossed^nceremoniouslf out of doirs,
from whence he was taken 1% some others,
and thrown into the water. The treatment
of this poof* creature male a melancholy
|mpr|ssionlnpon mind, as 1 c#uld not
but think, that such probably, would bemyjl
fate shftulft I difpMuong these heatl^ii, and
so far from rec|iving a decent burial, that IM
should not even be allowed the cfommon privilege of havi$|j a little earth thrown over my«j
remains. It ,  j|   "^f
The feebleness in whidn tlie violent attacks
o| my disorder had leflNfoe, the dejection Im
felt at the almost f|opelessness of my situation, and th| wmt of warm clothing and
proper nursing, though my Indian wife, asfl
far as she knew how ,was alwaysiready, and
even solicitous, to do every thing for me she-
could, still kept; me very much indispos|d,g
which Maquina perceiving, he finally tild
tne, TOat if I did not like living with niyjl 16§
wife, and that was the cause of ray being so
sad, I might part with her. This proposer
I reactily accepted, and the next day Maquina sentpher back to her father. On parting with me, she discovered much emotion,
begging me that§I would suffer her to ie-
main till I had recovered, |as therfe^ was no
one whc^would take so good care of me as
herself iBut when I told her she must go,
for that I did not think I should ever recover, which in truth I but little expected,
and that her father would take good care of
her, and treat her much more kindly than
Maquina, she took an affectionate leave,
telling me that she hoped I should soon get
better, and left her two slaves to take cafe of
Though I rejoiced at her departurl| I was
great|y affected with the simple expressions
of her regard for me, and could not but feel
strongly intlrested for this poor girl,#ho in
all her conduct towards me, had discovered
so much|mildnes|^nd attention to my wishes 5^ and ha|i it lotl^en that I considered
her a|| an almost insuperable obstacle ^ my
being permitted to leave the counf^yjpl
should no doubt have felt the de^^atwn
of her society aireal loss. fB^ftej*' llflfde-
partufe, I requested Maquina, that, as I
had parted with my wife, he would pel ^lit
me to resume my Eijpopean dress, for, otherwise, from not having been aeeustotneil to
1;    1 P
iii'
mm
-•
k»i
-.
Se 170
dress like them, I should certainly die. To
this he consented, and I once more became
comfortably clad. if    ^
Change of clothing, but mors than^all,
the hopes which 1 now began to indulge,
that in the course of the summer I should
be able to escape, in a short time restored
me to health, so far, that I could again go to
work in making harpoons for Maquina, who,
probably, fearing that he should|bave to
part with me, deiermined to provide himself
with a good stock. ^
I shall not however, longer detain the
reader with a detail of occurrences that intervened between this period, and that of
my escape, which, from that (|pll uniformity
that marks the savage life, would be in a
measure, but repetitions, nor dwell upon that
mental torture I endured, from a constant
conflict of hope and fear, when the former,
almost wearied out with|repeated disappointment, offered to our sinking hearts no
prospectlof release, but death, to which
we were Constantly exposed fropi the brutal
ignorance and savagelf disposition of Ihe
common people, who in the various councils
that were held this season to determine
what to do with us, in case of the arrival of
a ship, were almost always for putting us to
dewth, expecting by that means to conceal
the murder of ourcr^w, and to throv^the
blame of it on some other tribe.    These 171
barbarous sentiments, were, however, ^nij§
fofoily opposed by Maquina and his chiefs,
who would not consent to oiilbeing injured.
But as somifcof their customs and traits of
national character^ which|I think deserving
of notice, have not been-lnc&tioned, I shall
proceed to give a brief amount o^themii
The office of Mug or chief, is, with those
people, hereditary, and descends to the eldest son, or in failure of male issue, to the
elder brother, who in th#i*egal line, is considered as the second persdh in the king--
de^tn. At feasts, as I have observed, the
king is always placed in the highes|| or seat
of honour, and the chiefs according t#their
respective ranks, which appear, in general,
to be determined by their affinity to the royal family, they are also designated by the
embellishments of their mantles, or|K€t-
saksJf The king, or head Tyee, is their
leader in war, in the managiment of which
he is perfectly absolute. $ He is'||^p: president of their councils, which are^tmost always regulated bylbis opinion. Bui|he has
no kind of powertover the property of Ips
subjects, nor can he require them to 0n||i-
bute to his wants, beingltn this respectpg|o
more privileged than any ether person. He
has in common with his chiefs, the fright (f|
holding slaves, which is not enjoyed by pri-
v#|e individuals, a regulation probably arising frf m their having been originally #tplvfe
!
I
m
jffW f
172
taken in battle, the spoils of war being understood as appertaining to the king, who
receivesfand apportions them among his
several chiefs and warriors, according to
their rank and deserts. In conformity with
this idea, the plunder of the Boston, was all
deposited in Maquina's house, who dfllribut-
ed part of it amonf his chiefs, according to
their respective ranks or degree of favour
with him, giving to one, three hundred muskets, to another, one hundred and fifty,
with oilier things in like proportion^ The
king is, however, Obliged to support his dignity by making frequent entertainments, and
whenever he receives a large supply of provisions, he must inviteiall Ihe men of his
tribe to his house, to eat fpip, otherwise, as
Maquina told me, he would not be consider-
e#as conducting like a Tyee, and would be
no more thought of than a common man.
H'With regard to their religion—They believe in the existence of a Supreme Being,
whom they call Quahootze, and who, to use
Maquina's expression, was one great Tyee
in the sky, who gave them th#r fish, and
could|'take them from them, and was%the
greatest fif all kings. Their usual place|bf
worship, appeared to be the wrater, for whenever they bathe^ they addressed some words
in form ofsprayer to the God above, intreat-
ing that he would preserve them in health,
give them good success in fishing, &cf These
II 173
prayers were repeated with much more energy, on preparinglfor wha§ug or for war, as
I have already mentioned^ Some of them
would sometimes go several miles to bathe,
in order to do it in secret, the reason for this
I could never learn, though I am induced to
think it was in consequence l|f some family
or private quarrel, and that they did not
wish what they said to be heard | while at
other times, they would |^ai| in thj| same
secret manner to the wo^^l^piay. This
was more particularly the ^S4§fwith the women, who might also, have Jicen prompted
^0 a sentiment of decency, to relifee for the
purpose of bathing, as they are rfiparkably
modest. I once found one^of our women
more than two miles from thf village, on her
knees in the woods, wifjh he^eyes shut, aij|d
her face turned ^towards heaven,J|uttering
wfrds in a lamentable tone, among which I
distinctly heard, Wocash Ah-welth, meaning
good Lord, and which has nearly the same
signification with Quahootze. § Though I
came very near her, she appeared not to no-?
ticeme, but continued her devotions, andl^
ha|e frequently se^n the women go afo|£e
into the woods, evidently for the purpoiil of
addressing themselves to a superior being^
and it was always veryiperpefitibl^bn their
return, when they had J^rtfs been employed^
lorn theirfilence atxd^tnelancboly looks,
ill- M .. - ■  ' :SSm p2* 1 '■" ••• M
^m: %f
^,1^1
They have no belief however, in a state
of future existence, as i discovered in conversation with Maqfina, at Tootoosch's
death, on my attempting to convince him*
that be still existed, and that he would again
see him after his death : but he could comprehend nothing of it, and pointing to the
ground, said that there was the end of him,
and that he was like that. Nor do they believe in ghosts, notwithstanding the case of
Tootoosch would appear to contradict this
assertion, but that was a remarkable instance,
and suchfe one as had never been known to
occur befoM: yet from the mummeries performed over the sick, it is very apparent that
they belitve in the agency of spirits, as ijbey
attribute*disease to s#ue evil one that has
entered the body of the patient. Neither
have they any priests, unless a kind of conjuror may be so considered, who sings and
prays over the sick, to drive away the e|il
spirit, , %■'■* If   ■"■■'
I On the birth of twins, they have a most
singular custom, vftiich, I presume, has its
origin in some religious opinion, but what,it
is, I couldiuever satisfactorily learn. fThe
father is prohibited for the space of two
years from eating any kind of meat, or fresh
ftsb, during which time, he does no kj$id of
labour whatever, being supplied witjjjpiWbat
he has occasion for from tite tribe. In the
mean time he and his wife, who is also oblig- 1 -. ;;   175  ...    \m: > '
ed to conform to the Same abstinence, with
their children, Iftre entirely! separate|^om
the others, a small hut being built for|lheir
accommodation, and he is never invited to
any of the feasts, eicept such as consist
wholly of dried provision, where he is treated with great respect, and seated among the
chief*, though no more himself than a private individual!! Such births ate very rare
among them, an instance of the kind however occurred while I was at Tasliees|the
last time, bxx% it was the only one known
since the reign of the foi^^ king. The
father always appeared very^h^ightful and
gloomy, never associated w|th the other inhabitants, and was at none of the feasts but
such as were entirely of driedf pro vision,
and of this, he eat not to excess, and constantly retired before the amusements commenced. His dress was very plain, and he
wore around his head the red fillet of bark,
the symbol of mourning and devotion. It
was his daily pracj^e to repair to the
mountain, with a chief's rattle in his hand,
to sing and pray, as Maquina informed mef
for the fish tofbome into their waters. When
not tpus employed, he kept continually at
home, except when sent for to sing and perform his ceremonies over the sick, being
considered as a sacred character, and on^
much in favour with their gods,       J|
fcft
m mmam
.      ' .";f:-■■'■■■;    pk'::^k;':;:\    ■:
These people are remarkab|y healthfe^
and live to a very advanced age, having
quite a youthful appearance for their years.
They have ^carce^ anyfdisease but pie
cholic, their remedy for which, i& friction, a
person rubbing the bowels of the|$ick violently, until the pain has subsided, fwhile
the conjuror or holy man, is employed, in
the meantime, in making his gestures, singing, and repeating certain words, and blowing off the evil spirit, when the.patient is
wrapped up in a bear skin in order to produce perspiration. Their cure for the rheumatism, or similar pains, wh|ch I saw applied by Maquina, in the case of Thompson, to
whom it gave relief, is by cutting or scarifying the part affected. In dressfng wounds,
they simply wash them with salt water, and
bind them up with a strip of cloth, or the
bark of a treejjgjf. They are, however, very
expert and successful in the cure of fractured or dislocated limbs, reducing them very
dexterously, and after binding them ip with
bark, supporting them with blocks of wood,
so as to preserve their position^ During the
whole time I was among them, but five natural deaths occurred, Tootoosch, and his.
two children, an infant son of Maqupa^and
the slave whom 1 have mentioned, a circumstance not a little remarkable in a population
of about fifteen hundred ; and as ]||sp|cts
child-birth, so light do they pia^e  of m -%mm
that I have seen their women the day after,
employed as usual, as i#littlf ollnetbing had
happened. ■   W    %
TSie Nootkians|n their conduct towlrds
each other, are In gene#§i pacific and inof
feilsive, and app^f by no means an ill-tempered race, foipi dofnot recollect any instance of a violent quarrel between any of
the ilfen, or the men and their wives, while
I was with them, that of Yealthlowerfex-
ceptedf But when they we in the J|pt offended, they appear to be la the most|Mo*
lent rage, acting like |o many maniacs,
foaming at the moiJih, kicking aid spitting
most furiously ; but this is rather a fashion
with them, than a demonstration of malignity, as in their public speeches, theyiise the
same violence, and he is esteemed the greatest olator, who bawls the loudest, stamps,
tosses himself about, foams and spits the
most. "■■■" ;   H      ^;p': ■-;■'-•
In speaking of their regulations, I have
omitted mentioning, |hat oniattaining the
age of seventeen, the eldest son of a chie£
is considered as a chief hifl|self^ a|ki
that whenever the father makes & pfesfg
ent, it is always done in the name of Jiis
eldibt son, or if he has nonef in $iat of
his fdaughter. j The chiefs, frequently ilur-
<shase their wives at f3|e age of eigtt or tj|&,
to prevent theirf being engaged by others,
iHf
: 17$
m
ft
though they do not take them frouif their
parents until they arefsixteenJjt-:   - '-'w/' 'l|:
With regard to climate, the greater part
of the spring, summer, and autumn, is very
pleasant, the weather being at no tiiiwfo'^
pressively hot, and the winters uncomn#nl|?
mild, for so high a latitude, at least as far
as my experience went. At Tashees and
Cooptee, where we passed the coldest part
of the season, the winter did not set in till
late in December, nor have I ever known
the ice, even on the fresh water ponds, more
than two or three inches in thickness, or a
snow exceeding four inches in depth, but
what is wantingln snow, is amply made up
in rain, as I have freqiently known it during
the winter months, rain almost incessantly
for five or six days in succession.
It was now past mid-summer, and the
hopes we had indulged of our releasWbe-
came daily more faint, for though we had
heard of no less than seven vessels on lie
coast, yet none appeared inclined to venture
to Nootka. The destruction of the Boston,
the largest, strongest, and best equipped ship,
with much the most valuable cargoiof any
that had ever befh fitted out for the North-
West trade, had inspired the commanders
of others with a general dread of coming
thither, lest they should share the same fate;
and though in the letter I wro||^im^fering
those who should receive them, td|come to i:. ... • i7d - .
theflrelief of two unfortunate Christians
who were suffering among heathen) I stated
the cause of the Boston's capture, and that
there was not the least danger in coming to
Nootka, provided they would follow the directions Iflaid down, still 1 felt very little
encouragementf that any of these letters
would come to hand, when pn the morning
of the nineteenth of July, a day that wili be
ever held by mgin grateful remembrance, of
the mercies of God, while I was employed
with JThompson in forging daggers for the
king, in J; ears were saluted with the joyful
sound of three cannon, and the cries of the
inhabitants, exclaiming,§Weena, weena—
Mamethlee—that is, strangers—white men.
Soon after several of our people, came
running into the house, to inform me that a
vessel under full sail was coming into the
harbour. Though my heart bounded with
joy, I repressed my feelings, and affecting to
pay no attention to what was said, told
Thompson to be on his guard, and not betray
any joy, as our release, and perhaps our lives,
depended on our conducting ourselves so
as to induce the natives to suppose we were
not very anxious to leave them. We continued our work as if nothing had happened,
when in a few minutes after, Maquina came
in, and seeing us at work, appeared much
surpri^d,f|and asked me if I did not kn||w
that % vessel had come,     1 answered in a
. 180
fir
careless manner, that it was nothing to me.
How, John, said he^ you no glad go board.
I replied that I cared very little about it, as
X had become reconciled to their manner of
living, and had nofwish to go away. He
then told rue, that he had called a council
of his people respecting us, andlthat we
must leave off work and be present at it.
The men having assembled at Maquina's
house, he asked them what was their opinion siiould be done with Thompson and my-*
self now a vessel had arrived, and whether
he had not better go||on board himself, to
make a trade, and procure such articles as
were wanted. Each one of the tribe who
wished, gave his opinion. I Some were for
putting us to death, and pretending to
the strangers, that a different nation had cut
off the Boston, while others, less barbarous, were for sending us fifteen or twenty
iniles back into the country until the departure of the vessel. These, however, were
the sentiments of the common people, the
chiefs opposing our being put to death, or
injured, and several of them, among the
most forward of whom were Yealthlower*
and the young chief, Toowinnakinnish, were
for immediately releasing us ; but this, if he
could avoid it, by no means appeared to accord with Maquina's wishes.
Having mentioned Toowinnakinnish, I
shall briefly observe, that he was a young man of about twenty th|ee years old, the cm*
ly son of Toopeeshottee, the oldest and most
relbectell ciief of the tribe|| His son had
always b^n remarkably kind and friendly
to me, and I had in return frequently made
for hinr^daggers, cheetoolths J| and other
things, in my best manner. He was one of
the hacilsoniest meniamong them, very ami-
Ifele, and much milder in his manners than
any of the others, as welt as neater both in
his person and house, at least his apartment,
without even excepting Maquina^ -|f
With regard, however, to Maquina's going on bo#d the vessel, which he discovered
a ftrong inclination to do, there was but one
opinion, all remonstrating against it, telling
him that the captain would kill hirn or keep
hinf a prisoner, in consequence of his hav-
ing||destroyed our ship. Wiier* Maquina
had heard their opinions, he told them that
he was not afraid of beings hurt from going
on board the vessel, but that he would, however, in thatprespect, be guided by John,
whom he had always foundIrue. He then
turnedpo|tae, and asked me df I thought
there would be an$|danger in his going on
boa|d.|r I answered, thajf I was not surprise
ed at th^ advice his people had given him,
unacquainted as they were with the manners of thefwhite ^en, and judging|theixi
hy their own,lbut if they had been with
them- as much as 1 had, or even himself, they
:.
m-
■
ii ijjfTlfii'infli^' I.
would thinkiyery different.     That he ha^F
almost always experienced good and civil
treatment from them, nor had he any reason
to fear the contrary now, as they never at-
tempted to harm those who did not injure
them, and if he wished to go on.board, he
flight do it, in my opinion, with security.—
After reflecting a few moments, he said, with
much apparent satisfaction, that if I would
write a letter to the captain, telling him good
of him,  that he had treated Thompson and
myself kindly since we had been with him,
and to use him well, he woulg go.    It may
readily be supposed that I felt much joy at
th^s determination,  but knowing that  the
least incaution might annihilate all my hopes
of escape, I  was careful not to manifest igp
and to treat his going or staying as a matter
perfectly indifferent to me.    I told him that
if he wished me to write such a letter, 1 had
no objection, as it was the truth, otherwise
I could not have done it.
I then proceeded to write the recommendatory letter, which th§ reader will naturally imagine was of a somewhat different
tenor from the one he had required ; for if
deception is in any case warrantable, it was
certainly so in a situation like ours, where
the only chance of regaining that freedom
ofipyhich we had been so unjustly deprived*
#epended upon it ; and|| trustoth&t few£|
even of the most rigid, will condemn|^^
■r:
tt&2 183
with severity for making use of it, on an
occasion .which afforded me the only hope
of ever more beholding a Christian country,
and preserving myself, if not from death, at
least from a life of continued sdffering.
The  letter which I wrote,  was nearly in
the following terms:— ||
To Captain
of the Brig
Nootka, July 19, 1805,
Sir,
THE bearer of this letter is the Indian king by the
name of Maquina. He was the instigator of the capture
of the ship Boston, of Boston in North America, John Salter captain, and of tfil murder of twenty-five men of her
crew, the two only survivors being now on shore—Wherefore I hope you will take care to confine him according to
his merits, putting in your deadlights, aacffkeeping so good
a watch over him, that he cannot escape from yc$i. By so
doing we shall be able to obtain our r^^tsel||||he coitrse
of a few hours.
JOHN R. JEWITT, Armourer    §
of the Boston, for himself and
John Thompson, Sail-maker of said ship.
I have been asked how I dared to writfi^in
this manner: my answer is, that from my long
residence among these people, I knew that
I|had little to apprehend from their anger o|t
|P|aring of their king being confined,^fwhile
they knew  his life depended upon my re~
if
■M%
m
'■ Mi
184
lease, and that they would soonermave given
up five hundred white men, thai^have had
him injured. This will serve to explain th||
little apprehension I felt at their menaces afterwards, for otherwise, sweet as liberty was
tome, I should hardly have ventured on so
hazardous an experiment. §-
iOn my giving the letter to Maquina, he
asked me to explain it to him. This I did
line by line, as he pointed them out with his
finger, but in a sense very different from the
real, giving him to understand that I had
written to the captain, that as he had been
kind to me since I had been taken by him,
that it was my wish that the captain should
treat him accordingly, and give him what mflp
lasses, biscuit and rum he wanted. |pWhen I
had finished, placing his finger in a significant manner on my name^t the bottom, and
eyeing me with a look tltat seemed to read
tny inmost thoughts, he said to me, " John,
von no lie?" Never did I undergo such a
scrutiny, or ever experience greater apprehensions than I felt at that moment, when
my destiny was suspended-on the slightest
thread, and the least mark of embarrassment on mine, or suspicion of treachery on
his part, would probably have rendered|^|^
life tl>e sacrifice. Fortunately ^m0^m^(
to preserve!my composure, and tl^^^pg
painted in the Indian manner, wh^i^ffl^qf^
na had since my marriage, required: ol|p||| 185
prevented any change in my countenance
from being noticed, and I r^ied wi% considerable promptitude, looking at him in
inyi-turn, with all the confidence jf could
muster, I Why do you ask me such a question, Tyee ? have you ever known me to
lie?" I No." 1 Then how can you suppose I should tell you a lie now, since ||
have never done it." As I was speaking,
he still continuedilooking at me with the
same piercing eye, but observing nothing to
excite his suspicion* he told me that he believed what I saidffwas true, and that he
would go on board, and gave orders to get
ready his canoe. His chiefs again attempted to dissuade him, using every argument
for that purpose, while his wives crowded?
around him, begging him on theirlknees,
l|ot to trust himself with the w%tej|uien.
Fortunately for my companion and my$el|,
so strong was his wish of going on board
the vessel, that he was deaf to their solicitations, and making no other reply to theujjl
than,||| John no lie," left the house, taking
four prime skins with him as a present IfC
the captain. J||- - '■'%■- .'Jh| ■. '.■.-. :-\
Scarcely had the canoe put ^fl*:|when he
ordered his men to stop, and calling: *#p me,
asked me if I did not want to go on board
|^ith him. Suspecting this as a questij|n
merely .intended to ensnare me, I replied
W&Ws .'-■■'-   ■■'>•■ _si    * '        V-. Wm
JW'
iBf.
MM I
•KV
186
that I had no wish to do it, not having any
desire to leave them.   # . I       -$m
On going on board the brig, Maquina immediately gave his present of skins and my
letter to the captain, who on reading it, asked him into the cabin, where he gave him
some biscuit and a glass of rum, at the same
time, privately directing his mate to go forward, and return with five or six of the men
armed. When they appeared, the captain
told Maquina that he was his prisoner, and
should continue! so, until the twolmen,
whom he knew to be on shore, were released, at the same time ordering him to be put
in irons, and the windows secured, which
was instaply done, and a couple of men
©laced as a guard over him. Maquina was
greatlyfeurprised and terrified at this reception ; he however, made no attempt to resist,
but requested the captain to permit one of
his men to come and see him. One of them
wife accordingly called, and Maquina said
soipthing to him which the captain did not
understated, but supposed to be an order to
release us, when the man returning to the
canoe, it was paddled off with *%he utmost
expedition to the shore. As the canoe approached, the inhabitants, who had all collected upon the beach, manifested somelfun^
easinesl at not seeing their king|onbo^^p
foi^ when on itsi^val, they wer&^d4h&
the captain had ti#de him a prison||| and-
Ll-4iZ2 187
that John had spoke bad about him in the
letter, they all both men and women, set jip
a loud howl, and ran backwards aj|d forwards upon the shore like so many lunatics,
scratching their faces, and tearing the hay|
in handfuls from their heads. | :W\ M
After they had beat about in this mannej|
for some time, the men ran to their huts for
their weapons, as if preparing to attack an
invading enemy ; while Maquina's wives
and the rest of the women, came around
me, and throwing themselves on their knees,
begged me with tears tof spare his life, and
Sat-sat-sak-sis, who kept constantly with
me, taking meby the hand, wept bitterly,
and joined his entreaties to theirs, that I
would not let the white men kill his father.
I tofd them not to afflict themselves, that
Maquina's life was in no danger, nor ||ould
the least harm be done to him. :>W!$h
If The men were however, extremely exasperated with me, more particularly tile common people, who came running in the most
furious manner towards me, brandishing
their weapons, and threatening to-cut me in
pieces no bigger than their th^nb nails,
while others declared they would burn me
alive over a slow fire, suspended 1*| my
heels. All this fury, however, caused me
but little alarm, as I felt convinced! they
would not dare to execute their threats
labile the king was onboard the brig.-jtThe
.01 :
- ■r
■*       *:       ^v '   188 ; : ..,#;"•■:
chiefs took no ^ii|iip this violent conduct,
but came to me, and enquired the reasonwhy
Maqmn&had been thus treated, and if the
capti|||^^ended to kill -fap|^'; I told^^em
that if|they would silence the people, so
that I could be heard, I would explain all
to them. Th|ey^mediately put a .stop to
the noise, whe|| Ipjnformed themlthat the
captain in confpingMaquina, had done it of
his own accord, and only in order to n|ake
them; releaseJfThompson and myself as he
Well knew we were with them, and if they
would' do that, their king would receive no
injury, but belwell treated,||otherwise he
would be kept a prisoner. As many of them
did not appear to be satisfied with this, and
began to repeat their murderous threats—-
Kill me, said j| to them, if it is your wish,
throygng open tlfe bear skin which I wore,
here is my breast, I am only one among so
many, and can make no resistance, butunless
you wish to see^your king hanging by||h|i|
neck to that pole, pointing to the yard arm
of the brig, and the sailors firing at him with
bullets, you w|JI not do it. O no, was the general cry, that must never be; but what must
we do ? I told them that their best plan
would be, to send Thompson oi board, to de-
sire the captain to use Maquinpwell till I
was released, which would be isoon. iThifi
they were perfectly willing to do, and {|^p
?ected Thompson to go on board|| But|
fi0 180
fm
objected, saying that he would not leave^e
alone with the savages. I told him not to*
be under any fear for me, for that if I could
get him off, I could manage well enough for
myself, and that I wished him immediately
on getting on board the brig, to see the captain and request him tM^eep Maquina close
till I was released, as I was in no danger
wlfile he had him safe. §
.■ When I saw Thompson off, 1 asked the
natives what they§intended to do with me.
They said 1 must talk to the captain again,
in aftother letter, and tell him to let his boat
come on shore withtfMaquina, and that I
should be ready to jump into the boat at the
same time Maquina should jump on shore.
I toldftheni that the captain, who knew that,
they had k^M^|y Jphipmates, would never
trust his meri#o near the shore for fear thev
would kill them too, as they wrere so much
more numerous, but that if they would set
lect any three of their number to go with
me in a canoe, when we came within hail„I
could desire the captain to send hisf, boat
with  Maquina, to receive me in exchange
for him,       ,,   ■./fj:",< ';   <-'■'; c I'Sh:-"   j
This appeared tolpiease them, and after
lipuie whispering among  the  chiefs,   who
ifrom what v|prds I overheard, concluded
that if the captain should refuse to send
his boat with Maquina, the three men would
h|ve^o difficulty in bringing me back with
II
•4'  ;1
WiH 11.P.UPJ *»
00
them, they agreed to my proposal, and selected? three of their stoutest men to convey
me. Fortunately having been for sometime
accustomed to see me armed, and suspecting no design on my part, they paid no attention to the pistols that I had about me.
As F was going into the canoe, little Sat-
sat-sak-sis, who could not hear to part with
me, asked me, with an affecting simplicity,
since Iffwas going away to leave him, if the
white men would not let his father come on
shore, and not kill him. I told him not to
be concerned, for that no one should injure
his father,lwhen taking an affectionate leave
of me, and again begging me not to let the
white nten hurt his father, he ten to comfort
Iris mother, who was at a little distance,
vrith the assurances I had given him. f|
On entering the canoe, | seated myself in
the prow falling the three men, having determined if it was practicable, from the mo-
pfent I found Maquina was secured, to get
on board the veslel before he was released,
hoping by that means, to be enabled to obtain the restoration  of what property belonging to the Boston, still remained in the
possession of the savages, which I thought,
if it could be done,  a duty that I ov^|i^^
the owliers/   With feelings of joy^iibossp
ble to be described, did I quit thi^pva^
shorcf confident  now  that nothing:^W|^
thwart toy escape or prevent tlje|ex(^^^|i 191
of the plan I had formed, as the men appointed to convey and guard me, were arm-
#d with nothing but their paddles. As we
came within hail of the brig^they at once
ceased paddling, when presenting my pistols at them, I ordered them instantly to go
on, or I would shoot the whole of them.
A proceeding so wholly unexpected, threw
them into great cojstern&tion, and resuming
their paddles, ig a few moments, to my inexpressible delight, 1 once more found myself
along side of a Christian ship, a happiness
which I had almost despaired of ever again
enjoying. All the crew crowded§o the side
to see me as the canoe came up, and mani-
festec|imuch joy at my safety. I immediately leaped on board, where I was welcomed
by the captain, Samuel Hill, of|the brig
Lydia of Boston, who congratulated me on
my escape, informing me that he had received my letter -off Kla-iz-zart, frc|m|the
t|hief Mackee Ulatilla, who came off himsel|§
in his canoe, to deliver it to him, on which he
immediately proceeded hither to aid me. I
returned him my thanks in the best manner
I could for his humanity, though I hardly
knew what I said, such was the agitated
state of my feelings at that moment, with
jo| for my escape, thankfulness to the Su-
p§me Being who had so mercifully preserved me, and gratitudelto those whom h||H
Ha^ren(|pred instrumentafen my del|f ery3|
:W
m
-KB that I have no doubt,tthat what with iiiy
strange dress, being painted with red and
blfclJSfroni head to foot, having a bear skin
wrapped around me, and my longftai^§
wteich I w||^ not allowed to dut, fastened||n
thetop|bf my head in a large bunfch, wi8J|a
sprig of green"ttpN§te/?I ulust^ave appeaij|d
more likf one deranged than a rational creature, as captain Hill afterwards told me,
that h(§ never saw any thing in the forftffiof
man, took so wild as 1 did when I first came
on- board. . ■■: B   »>• ■ ■       J -hmm, :; if- J:-
The captain then asked me into the cabin, where I found Maquina in iron^wjffia
guard over lim^KHe looked very uielancho*
ly, but onieein^ne his coun^nance brightened up, and he expressed his pleasure with
the welcomep3f| " Wocash John;" when
taking him by the hand, I asked tip captain's
permission to take off his irons, assuring|iim
that as 1 was with him, there was no clanger
of his being in the least troublesome^^HIe
accordingly consented, and I felt a sincere
pleasure in freeing from fetters, ajnau, who*
plough he h|d caused the death olmy poor
comrades,|had nevertheless, always proved
my friend and protector,fand whom I had
requested to be thus treated, onlyjKJth a
view ofj|securingpiiy liberty. ^|^^^ia
s.n^led^land§appeared' much pleaset^^ppls
ma A of attention from me.^   :WtH$iiS  Mi
freed the kins* from his irons, captil^BKl
■£*
wM 193
m
IfHshed to learn the partie ularsf|f ouig§|ap-
ture, observing that an account llf the de-
structionfof the ship and her crew had been
releivedmt Boston beforetfie sailed Jgbut fhat
nothing more was known, except that two
of the men were llling, for whose rescue
the ow^^had^ffered a liberal reward, and
phat he hid betn able |§|get nothing out Jl
the Hid man, whom the sailors had supplied
so pleJ|ift||y with grog, as to b§ing him too
much by the head to give any pformationl?
I ggve him a corfeet statement of #e
^hoi§ proceeding, tog^^^with the manner
in whith mypife and thaj||||my comrade
had beef§ pressed|r OriheaSug niy story,
he was greatly irritate^against Maquina,
and said he ought to bi killedi I observed
that howev|r ill he rilight have acte# in
taking ourfship, yet that it would||perhap||f
he wrong to-^pdge an^pinfor§ied'%a^^e,
with the sfiipseverity as a |^|ilized person,
^#ho had the light of religi^anc^llfe laws
of society to guide him. |f That MaquirS's
conduct in taking j|ur ship, arose from an
insult that he thou^it h^had^eceived "Jpfen
captain Salter, and fromythf unjusliBape
conduct of some masters of-fessels^^|o il|d
r(|bbed h|m, and without provolat^^ ^^pl
a|tumber of hitpeo|ile|| Besides fhat, a|fe-
g|H'|for the sa^tjrpof others ofeght|(;o ^>re-
Aent his being ^po death^as I had lived
t'oiw enough with these people toltknowfihat
m
wNf
rm 194
revenge of an injury, is held sacred by them,
and that they would not fail |togretaiiate,
shouldihe kiljthei| king, on the^s%essJ4
or boat's cre\| th^ shoijld^ive %ei§ a^p^||
portunity; and that, though he might consider
er executing him as|but an act of justice, it
M6pl| probabl^cos||h%lives %jf man§4^a^|^
icans. ,^^^^       ;: v-. ':* 'S. .     . || ::*§|P
M The captain appeared to befll^nvineod
from whp|I said, ^f f§ie impol|^ of taking
Maqipna's life, and MjAd that he would|leave
it wjiolly with me§whether to spare or kill *
him, as he was resolved tq§incurlio cengure||
in citing ea$£. M implied tlpfl 0ffi$t certainly should never take the Me of a man who
had preservi||||mine, had J^no other reason,
but as there was§on|e <p the Boston's pr^p-
ert j^stili remaning on shore, I considered f$*
adutj^iatl owe(| t(||those who were interested in |hat ship, to try to save h for^fehem,
and with that view I thaijght it w^uld be
w^|) keep him on board till it was given
up. fi|e concurred in this proposal,|saying
if Jfehere was any of thepropeify leftiit most
certainly ought to be got. ^ ,
During this ^conversation Maquina was
in great anxiety, as from wha%Englis|k he
knew he perfectly comprehended  ^v^|^p
je&of our deliberation ;   constan^h|^|^&
ri^pUng me to enquire what wejfep^|^||^
mfied to do with him, what the ca^|ra^tt^
if his li|e would be spared, and if |^p^
think that Thompson would kill him-. M5
pacifietihini as well as I was able, by telling
him that he had nothing to fear from the
capterin, that he would not be hurt, and that
if ^Thompson wished to kill him which Ivas
very pibbable, h§ would not be allowed t§|
do it.  |He would then remind npe that I was
Indebted to hfei for my life, and that I ought
iMoSy him, as he had done by me.   I assured hfta thatxsi|i^| was mf intention, and I
requited hiin to remain quiet, and not alarm
himself as no harm was fplended hirn. But
I found it extremely difficult tli convince
hite^i thi^ as it accorded so little with the
ideas%f revenge entlrtained bf them, ifold
him howeverJFtfiltt he teupprestore all§the
proper tyfstili in hi^ posses^^ t>elong|pg to
the ship.| This he wai perlbctly ready t^^^
happy to escape on "|$uch terms.     But|ts it
was now^p^t five, and too late fol|thj§ articles t| be collected, andfbrougit ofijjfl p^!
him that he must content h%self to i^m^pj
on board with He jfhat night,  and^inphp
^ornlig he should be set onshore as soon
as the things were delivered. fTo^lh^^ie
agreed^^B conditioir|pat I would ren|§ito
witlf h^p^"the cabin,   ft then wetat upon
decl^nd Ihe^anoephat brought m^^ving.
b(^n igit back, I hailed thfe inha^ta§ts^^d
f§||i tf^pii that tlfbir king had agreed -t§ stay
#^^i^tiltph^next d^y||when he would rip
i)&r^ppit *tl§at no canoes must attempt to
l^^^iear the vesse^during tt|e |£ight, as
■ 1
■^
■r
iraey would lie fired upon. They anffaered,
.^ftToAo, wo/jo-—very well, very well§ I th§n
returned to Maquina, but so great were lis
terrors,|that he would not allow me to sle^b,
eons|antly disturbing me with his questions,
and repeating, 1 John, yjjii know when you
was alone,|and more than five hundred men
were your enemies, I was your friend, and
^prevented them| from putting vera ai|d
Thompson to death, and nJw I am ^in the
power of your friends, you ought to do the
same by me." Jp assf red him that he would
ftbe detaineu on %oard no longer than the
property was released, and that as soon Is it
was Jlone, he would |e seltat liberty. W^m-
H At daybreak I nlped thephatives, and
field tliemf that it was Maquina's ordfr that
they should bring off the cannon, and anchors, fhd whatever remained with theurfof
the cargo of the ship. This they set about
doing with the utmost expedition, transporting the cannon and anchors by lashing together two of thlir largest canoes, and covering tHern with planks, and in the course
of two hours, jphey delivered every thing on
board that I could recollect,|with Thompsons and my chest, containing the papel^f
I^Piien every thing belonging to tpe fhip
^had|been restored,  Maquina was permitted
ftto return in his canoe,  which had been seri||
for him, with a present of what ikiiisHehad 197
collected, which were about sixty, for the
captain in acknowledgment of hif| ha|ing
spared his life and allowed him to d^)S||pan-
J||urt ;  such was also, the transport hejfelt
iwhen captai|| Hil| came into^th^||abin4^id
f$ld him that§ he was at liberty to sl^^^t
l|e threw off his mantle, which consisted .pf
^four  of the very best skins,  and|gavf||rt
to him, as a mark of lyis gratitude, t|||re-
^tufn for which,  the captain presented him
with a new great |goa|arad hat, with w]|ich j|e
^^peaged   much  delightip.     The iaptain
Mpecldesired me tokiform him that he should
^etij^i to^th^^it of the eoasff in Novem-
]^^an|ptha^pie wished h|m to keep what
skins he Sioulj^get, which he wjbuld but of
ftfm.    This M|qtpna promised^aying to me
mi theygame time^fi,Joh&yoi^now I||hP1
be|hen at Ta§§ees, but whp| you come m^p
pow, which means, fire|a gun to l|pe kno||||
and.I ^ffll^^^^^^^^^^^^S^^^M to
the |jde of the brig, hl^hook me^ordia^
byfthe hand, and jjpld ine|||at h| hoped I
^ould come to see him again in a^|^|ip,
and bpng much plenty of bla|p:e^^^K|itr
|polas§es and rum, for him and hi^^oriWho
loy|ed me a great deal, and that ||| would
keep gll the furs he got for me, observing at
the same time, that he should never mo|e
pake a letter of recommendatio^^^i any
||>ne, or ever trust himself on boardj| vessel
||mljpss I was there.    Then grasping both my
i hands, with much emotion,  while tfee |fe
*
R 2 trickled down hisipheeks, he bade me fare^f
well, and stept into the canoe, which immediately paddled him on shore^ |
^pfotwithstanding my joy at my deliverance, and the pleasing anticip§tion I fe|fc of
on|je more beholding a civilized country, and
again<|>eing permitted to offer up my devo*
tions in a Christian fchurch, I could||iio$
avoid experiencing a painful sensation on
parting witt^gthis savage chief; who had preserved my life, and in general treated me
wiCh kindness, and considering thpf|ldeas
and manners, Sm^ch better than could have
been expected^ 1£ ■■*■■'■ 'M;     lift
My pleasure was also greatly damped by
an unfortunate accident that occurred to
Toowinnakinnish. That int€jge$|ing yoilng
chief had come on board ing the flmt canoe
i© the morning, anxious to see and comfort
h|l king. He was received with much kindness by captain Hil||from the favourable account I gave of him, fmd invited to remain
on board. '§ As the muskets were delivered,
he wgB in the cabin with|Maquina, \yhere was
als<3| the captain^^who on receiving them,
snapped a number hi order to try thejocks;
unluckily one of xthem happened to b%load-
ed with swan shot|and going|qf£ Jtlischarg^
ed |ts contents into the body of poor Toowinnakinnish, who was sitting opposite. |ghi
hearing the report, 1 instantly ran into the
cabin, where I found him weltering in bis
M«sid, with the captain ivjiaiwas grea$l;$ .;'•..■■■— •  199 -' ;/:    '    > - ■ -
shocked at the accident, endeavouring to assist him*    We raised him up, and did every
thing in our power to aid and comfort'him,
telling bin? that we felt much gfrieved at his
misfortune, and that it was wholly unintentional, this he told me he was perfectly satisfied of, and while w$ dressed and bound u|^
his wounds in the be$#maf|ier we could, he
bore the painfwith great calmness, and bidding me farewell, was put on board one of
thei^noes^ami^taken onshore, wh$|e after
languishfflg^a fevfedays, he expifed^^fo me,
his misibrtune was a touree of much affliction, as he had no share in the massacre of
our crew, was of a most amiable character,
and had always treatedftne \fp^3the greatest
kindness and hospitality.     P *%  fl
IpThe Bri§ being under weigh, immediate
on Maquina's quitting us, we proceedei^^^
the nirthviard, constanifekeepi^ the^plre
in sigli% and tofnching atlparifus^ placed ftp
thai purpose of trading.        lfp;   m[ "
Having already exceeded the bounds  I
had prescribed tfyselftfl shall Jbot attertfpt
any account of our voyage upon fhe coasf|N
or a description of the various lotions wer
met with in the c#urse of ii| ailing who^|
were a people of a very singular appearance,
called b|§ the sailorslfhe Wooden-lip^mThey
have many skins, and the trade is principally managed by their women, who are notilpi^
lyiexpert in making a ba%ain, bfct are%s
dexterousS&n the management of their eifp
noes, as tho men are elsewhere •;ll 200
After a'period of nearly four months from
&nr leaving Ifootka, we returned from§the
northward to Columbia river, fof* the purpose of procuring masts, &c. for our brig,
ifJiich hap suffered considerably in her spars
during a gale of windf We proceeded about
te^tiiles up the river, to a small Indian village! where we heard from the inhabitants,
that Captains Clark and Lewis, from the United Stftes of|America, had befln there about
a fortnight before, on their Journy over-land,
ipd had left several medals with them, whicfi
they shewed us. § The river at this place, is
of considerable breadth, and both sides o|it
from its entrance, covered with forests of
tli| vgry finest pine timber, fir and spruce,
interspersed with Indian settlemen^|/ Here
aft§| p#viding ourselves with spars, we sailed fi|r Nootka, where we arrived io the latfer
0&vt d£ November. The tribe being absent,
the agreed signalfwas given, by firing a cannon, and in a few hours after a canoe appeared, whichflanded at the village, and putting
tb# kiugpfri* shore, came off to the brig.—
Enquiry was immediately made by Kinne-
climmits, who was one of the three men in
the canoe, if John was there, as the king had
some skins to sell them if he was. I then
wgnfclforward and invited them on board,
with whieb they readily complied, telling
meMhatpVIaquina had a numbei^of skins
yrith hup, but that he would not come or
%oard unless I would go on shore for him, 201
pThis4 agreed to provided they wouli remain in the brig in the mean time.    To this
flthey consented, and the captain taking them
Into the cabin, treated them with bread afld
Ifoaolasses.    I then went on shore in the canoe,
pnotwithstandingthe remonstrances of Thompson and i|ie captain, whof though he wanted
the skins, advised me by nolmeans to put myself id Maquina's power; butH assured him
s*
that I hadiho feaf as long as tlfcpse men were
on board. Al I Wffie& Maquinll came up
and welcomed me with much joy: on enquiring for the men, I told him that they were
to regain till my return. 1 ^Mi John," said
he, 'fl see you are afraid to mist me, but if
they had come with you, I should not have
hurt you, though I should have taken good
care not to let you go on board of anotiter
vessel." He then took his chest of skins,
and stepping into t% canoe, I paddled him
along-side the brig, where he wasflreceived
and treated by Capt. Hill with the greatest
cordiality, whoMiought of him his skiifs.
He left us much pleased with his recep^on,
enquiring of me how many moons it w§uld
be before I should come back agai^ to see
him and his son, whohafd begge(§hh|i hard to
let him come with him to see me paying, that
he would keep all his furs for me, and that as
soon as myfson, who was then about five
months old, was of a,suitable age to take
from his mother, he would send f<$r bhiv and
tafee care of him as his own*
I
: >
\
Ms so|n as MaqfB|fa had q^l&d us§ we
got|under Jl|fig§> and stood agaifi| to $M
nortliwaip. I We continued on the coast uri|s
llllth|eleve|th of A|gust|fK)6, when having
completed our trade, we sailed fof^Chin^
to tile great joy of ail our crew, and par||iu*
larly |o|o i$fe. With a degree hf satisfao
ti^jjii thnii <?anfi| express, did I quit a coast
t(|phich I was "resolved nothing should agaitt
tempt nil tJ^return, and as the top#of :§jM&
mountainsgsunk in the blue w§ves of ocean,
I ^^e^' to feel my heart lightened of an
oppr^^veload. t - :.-.;-..V"'    " -',; -    %'9.
W^had a prosperous passage to China,
arriving   at   Macao   in ^pecember,   from
wh^tle the brig proceeded to Canton| There
I l|ad the good fortune to meet a towlfeman
an^lii old acquaintance, in the mate of an
En|||§h  Easfpndizynan, named John §Iil§|
wl||pe faliier a wealthy merchant in Hull, in
the fjBaltic trape, was a next door neighbour
to mine.    Shortly j^fter our arrival, the cap*
tainfbefjbg on b||ar%o^the English shi^and
men|ioni|ig his havin^had the food forturii
topberafb two men of the BostonWcrew
fr<#n th« savages, and that on^of them was
nantied#ewitt, my former acquaintance imrtie-
4i||eJySame on board the brig to see me.
IJ^I^cwripB can iU express my feelings on se^i,
in^pii^ Circumstanced as I wa4fan|eng
persons,|vho.^were eilire strangers tolibJe;;
to^fieet thu§|in a foreign land, withipMb^
tween whqap aad#nysel£ a consMerabl^^pi
*
r
> fimacf' had^isuh^sted, was a pleasure that
those alone who have been in a scalar Elation can propeiiy estimate. IHe appeared
onpiis part, no less Sappy to sfee me, pom
he supposed to be dead|J^ the accourtf of
ourMpipture had been |ecpived in gEngfand
someitime before this sailing, land a3jpmy
fronds supposed me to have bei^murder-
ed.   ^ronf this young man, I received efiery
attenJton and aid, that a feeling. hearf^^|p^
ested in the fafje <fflf anoifier, coi^c^confer.
He supplied me with a new si^ o| clothes,
and a hat, a small sum of money for my Spg
cessary expences, and a number |f little articles foi|sea-s tores on my voyage to i^neri
ca.;f||- also give him It letter flf^niy, \:^^ier,
in which I mentioned my wond^pui pri^er-
vation, and escape, through thehum^ty of
captain Hill, with \|homfi shodld re^^tto
Bost#i.   This letter he eic!ose|| to h§ father, b^ a ship that was just saili|g,|n coi^b-
quence of which it was receiv^l^nuch^r-
lierlthanpt otherwise would have be^^^^S
We left China in February, 1807, spd^^l
ter a pleasant voyage ofjone hundred'^1^
fourteen days,-arrived at^|itonS M^^^^
ings on onfe more finding ipyself i^K^^^^
tian country, among a people sp^ffift^ai^!
same language with myself may l^p^p^t-
d||y coipBived thaiiexpre|sedB    Iri-^^^plt^
Office in that pl^e, ^ found a lett^^P^ie
frostily molher, acknowledging the^*j|^^
ofpnine from wina, expressing the great J|||!
I I
of my fr|nilyfbn hearing of my being alive
and well, whom they had for a long time given up for dead, and requesting me to write
to them on receiving her letter, which I accordingly did. While in Boston, ifwas
treated with much kindness and hospitality
by the owners of the ship Boston, Messrs.
Francis and Thomas Amory of that place,
to whom I feel myself under great obligations for their goodness to me, and the assistance which they so readily Afforded a stranger in distress.    ' #.'"•*  -       : *" * ^-'
,  WAR-SONG OP THE NOOTKA TRIBE.        J^M
Commenctng -with a chorvs repeated at the end of each line.
J&ah-yee hah yar har, he yar hah.
le yie ee yah har—ee yie hah.
Ie yar ee yar hah—ee yar hah.
le yar ee I yar yar hah—Ie yar ee yee yah !
I-ye ma hi-chill at-sish Kla-ha—Ha-ye-hah.
Que nok ar parts*arsh waw—Ie yie-yar.
Waw-hoo naks sar hasch—Yar-hah.   I-yar hee I-yar.
Waw hoo najks ar hasch yak-queets sish ni-ese,
Waw har^^le^ee ah-hah.
Repeated over an&$ over with gestures and brandishing of
weapon^*
■' V II ^OTE/gf.. ■;%'.
Ie-yee4w hi-chill, signifies, Ye do not know.J It appears to
be a poepferfNwode of expression, the common one for you do
not know* being, Wik-kum'atash ; jjfrom this, it would seem
that they have two languages, one for their songs and another
for common use. The general meaning of this first song ap*
pears to be, Ye little know ye men of Klahar, what valiant
warriors we are. Poorlv can our foes contend Mth us, w$sen
we cofte wifJrbur daggers, &c.
The Nootkians have no songs of a historical nature, nofr;do
they appear tq^have any tradition respecting their origiw
r-vi
End of the Second Edition.