{"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.14288\/1.0222551":{"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/terms#identifierAIP":[{"value":"174f6cc6-d164-4b16-ab5b-989927dbe8ce","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider":[{"value":"CONTENTdm","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy":[{"value":"http:\/\/resolve.library.ubc.ca\/cgi-bin\/catsearch?bid=1068772","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf":[{"value":"British Columbia Historical Books Collection","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/contributor":[{"value":"[Alsop, Richard, 1761-1815]","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/creator":[{"value":"Jewitt, John R. (John Rodgers), 1783-1821","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued":[{"value":"2015-04-20","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"1815","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description":[{"value":"\"Written by Richard Alsop from interviews with Jewitt, ref. D.A.B.
'Names of the crew of the ship Boston': p[3] 'A list of words in the Nootkain language, the most in use': p[4] \"War song of the Nootka tribe\": p.203.
The Galleon Press edition lists twelve editions and a German translation. There were, in fact, eleven editions as the 1840 edition listed by Sabin, with a copy in the New York P.L., should be 1849.\" -- Strathern, G. M. , & Edwards, M. H. (1970). Navigations, traffiques & discoveries, 1774-1848: A guide to publications relating to the area now British Columbia. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 144.","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO":[{"value":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/collections\/bcbooks\/items\/1.0222551\/source.json","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/extent":[{"value":"203 pages : illustration ; 20 cm","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format":[{"value":"application\/pdf","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2009\/08\/skos-reference\/skos.html#note":[{"value":" IT\u2122\n District of Connecticut, m* Jj|\nBE IT REMEMBERED; That on the eigUh\nday of March, in the thirty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, John\nR. Jewitt, ofthe said District, hath deposited in this office,\nthe title of a Book, the right whereof he clams as proprietor, in the words following, to wit,\nA narrative of the adventures and sufferings of John R.\nJewitt; only survivor of the crew of the sfflp Boston,\nduring a captivity of nearly three years among the savages\nof Nootka Sound: With an account of thfrniamiers, mode\nef living, and religious opinions of the natives. EmbeUish-\ned with a plate, representing the ship in possession of the\nsavages.\n\" Dire scenes-jOf horror on a savage shore*\n\" In which, k witness sad, a part I bore.\"\nIn conformity to an act of the Congress of the United\nStates, entitled, \"An act for the encouragement offeUrniimi\nfj by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the\n\" authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times\n'A therein mentioned.\"\nHENRY W. EDWARDS, Clerk\nof the District of Connecticut.\nA true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me,\nHENRY W. EDWARDS, Clerk\nof the District of Connecticut\n.\u25a0\n Names of the Crew of the Ship Boston, belonging' to Boston in\nMassachusetts, owned by Messrs. F. & T.' Amory, Merchants\nof that place\u2014All of -whom, excepting two, were on the 22nd of\nMarch, 1803, barbarously murdered by the savages of Nootka,\nJohn Salter,\nB. Delouissa,\n'William Ingraham,\nEdward Thompson,\nAdam Siddle,\nPhilip Brown,.\nJohn Dorthy,\nAbraham Waters,\nFrancis Duffield,\nof Boston,\nDo.\nof New-York,\nof Blyth (England,)\nof Hull, Do.\nof Cambridge (Mass.)\nof Situate, Do.\nof Philadelphia,\nof Penton, (Eag.)\nJohn Wflaon,(blaekman) of Virginia,\n\"WiU^tm Caldwell,\nJoseph Miner,\nWilliam Robinson,\nThomas W^ugon,.\nTKnarew Kelly,\nRobert Barton,.\nJames M'Clay,\nTFhomas Plaxten,\nThomas Newton,\nCharles Bates,\nJohn Hall,\nSamuel W\u00b0J?cU\nFeter^Alilro^p,\nFrancis Marten,\nof Boston,\nof Newburyport,\nof Leigh, (Scotland.)\nof Air, Do.\nBo. Do.\nc^t'the Isle of Man,\nof Dubli^;\nof Blakeney,Norfolk, Eng.Do.\nof Hull, Do. Do.\nof St. James Deeping,Do. Do.\nof New-Castle. Do. Do.\nof Glasgow, (Scotland) Jkn\niSfcrwegian, ^Dov\nCaptain. [!\u00a7&;\nChief-Mate.\nSecond-Mate.\nBoatswain.\nCarpenter.\nJoiner.\nBlack-Smith,\nSteward.\nTailor.\nCook.\nSeaman.\nDo.\nDo.\nDo.\nDo.\nDo.\nDo.\nPortuguese, Do.\nJupitefHSenegal, (blackman) Do.\n\"Jfofai&'Hrompson, \"\"Fhiladelj^hia, Sail-Maker,\nwho escaped-\u2014since dead.\nJohn R. Jewitt, of Hull in England, Armourer,\nthe writer of the Journal from whence this Narrative is taken,\nand who at present, March 1815, resides in Middletown? in the\nstate of Connecticut.\n fz\nA list of Words in the Nootkimi Language,\nthe most in use.\nToop-helth, Cloth.\nCham-mass, Fruit.\nCham-mas-C, Sweet or pleasant\nsish, \u00a3to the taste.\nMoot-sus, Powder.\nChee-pokes, Copper.\nHah-welks, Hungry.\nNee-sim-mer-hise, Enough.\nChit-ta-Yek, Knife or dagger.\nKlick-er-yek, Rings.\nQuish-ar, Smoke.\nMar-met-ta, Goose or duck.\nPook-shit-tle, To blow.\nr\u00bb \u2022 u-i. ..I ^To kindle\nEen-a.qui-shit-tle, |a fil,e\nAr-teese, To bathe,\nMa-mook-su-mah, To go to fish,\nAr-srriootish- ? *\nv. i ~ c A warrior,\ncheck-up, >\nCha-alt-see klat-tur C Go off, or\nwah,. ego away.\nMa-kook, To sell.\nKah-ah-pah-chilt, $ Give me\nr ' c something\nOo-nah, How many.\nI-ryah-ish, Much.\nKom-me-tak, I understand^\nt \u201e , . CIdo not under-\nI.yeema-hak,\u00a3st^\nEm-ma-chap, To play.\nKle-whar, To laugh.\nBring it.\nCheck-up,\nMan.\nKLoOtz-mah,\nWoman.\nNoowexa,\nFather.\nHooma-hexa,\nMother.\nTanassis,\nChild.\nKatkhtik,\nBrother.\nKloot-chem-up,\nSister.\nTanassis-check-\nup, Son.\nTanassis-kloots-mahJDaughter.\nTau-hat-se-tee,\nHead.\nKassee,\nEyes.\nH&p-se-up,\nHair.\nNeetsa,\nNose.\nParpee,\nEars.\nChee-chee,\nTeeth.\nChoop,\nTongue.\nKook-a-nik-sa,.\nHands.\nKlish-klin,\nFeet.\nOop-helth,\nSun or Moon.\nTar-too se,\nStars.\nSie-yah,\nSky-\nToop-elth,\nSea.\nCha-hak,\nFresh water.\nMeet-la,\nRain.\n.Queece,\nSnow.\nNoot-chee, Mountain or hill.\nKlat-tur-miss,.\nEarth.\nEen-nuk-see,\nFire or fuel.\nMook-see,\nRock.\nMuk-ka-tee,,\nHouse.\nWik,\nNo.\nHe-ho,\nKak-koelth,\nYes.\nSlave.\nMah-hack,\nWhale.\nKlack-e-miss,\nMl on.\n-Quart-lak,\nSea-otter-.\nCoo-cOo-ho-sa,\nSeal.\nMoo-watch,\nBear.\nSo-hac,\nSalmon.\nTooscji-qua,\nCod.\nPow-ee,\nHalibut.\nKioos-a-mit,\nHerring.\nChap-atz,\nCanoe.\n\u00a9o-wba-pa,\nPaddle.\nClljee-me-na,\nA fish-hook.\nChee-men,\nv Fish-hooks.\nSSek-a-aainny,\nIron.\nKah-ah-coh,\nSah-wauk,\nAtt-la,\nKat-sa,\nMooh,\nSoo-chah,\nj Noo-poo,\nj At-tle-poo,\n' At-lah-quelth,\n! Saw-wauk-queltb,\nHy-o,;\nSak-aitz,\nSoo-jewk,\n, Hy-e-eak*\nOne.\nTwo,\nThreet\nFour.\nFive.\nSix.\nSeven.\nEight.\nNine.\nTen..\nTwenty-\nOne hundred-\nOne thousand-\n NARRATIVE\nOF\nJOHN R. JEWITT.\nI WAS born in Boston, a considerable\n\u2022borough town in Lincolnshire, in Great-Bri-\ntain^prthe 21st of May, 1783. My father,\nEdwaV3 Jewitt, was by trade a blacksmith,\nand efteemed among the first in his line\nof business in that place. At the age of\nthree years I had the misfortune to lose my\nmother, a most excellent woman, who died\nin childbed, leaving an infant daughter, who,\nwith myself, and an elder brother by a former marriage of my fatber constituted the\nwhole of our family. My father, who considered a good education as %he greatest\nblessing he could bestow on his children,\nwas very particular in paying every attention to us in that respect, always exhorting\nus to behave well, and endeavouring to impress on our minds the principles of virtue\nand morality, and no expense in his power\nwas spared to have us instructed in whatever might render us useful and respectable\nin societyv My brother, who was four\nJ^ears older than myself, and of a more\nA\n'\u2022. i\n 6\nhardy constitution, he destined for his own\ntrade, but to me he had resolved to give an\neducation superior to that wrhich is to be\nobtained in a common school, it being his\nintention that I should adopt one of the\nlearned professions. Accordingly at the\nage of twelve he took me from the school in\nwhich I had been taught the first rudiments\nof learning, and placed me under the care of\nMr. Moses, a celebrated teacher of an academy at Donnington, about twenty miles\nfrom Boston, in order to be instructed ip;\nthe Latin language, and in some of the higher branches of the Mathematics. I there\nmade considerable proficiency in writing,\nreading, and arithmetic, and obtained a\npretty good knowledge of navigation and of\nsurveying; but my progress in Latin was\nslow, not only owing to the little inclination\nI felt for learning that language, but to a natural impediment in my speech, which rendered it extremely difficult for me to pronounce it, so that in a short time, w^ith my\nfather's consent, I wholly relinquished the\nstudv.\nThe period of my stay at this place was\nthe most happy of my life. My preceptor,\nMr. Moses, was not only a learned, but a\nvirtuous, benevolent, and amiable man, universally beloved by his pupils, who took delight in his instruction, and to whom he allowed every proper amusement, that coifP\nsisted with attention to their studies.\n One of the principal pleasures I enjoyed\nwas in attending the fair, which is regularly\nheld twice a year at Qonnington, in the\nspring and in the fall ; the second day being wholly devoted to selling horses, a prodigious number of which are brought thither\nfor that purpose. As the -scholars on these\noccasions were always indulged with a holi-\nday, 1 cannot express with what eagerness\nof youthful expectation I used to anticipate\nthese fairs, nor what deligjit I felt at the various shows, exhibitions of wild beasts, and\nother entertainments that they presented.\nI was frequently visited by my father, who\nalways discovered much iov on seeinsr me,\npraisecl me for my acquirement and usu-\nallv left me a small sum for mv pocket ex-\npenses.\nAmong the scholars at this academy, there\nwas one named Charles Rice, with whom f\nformed a particular intimacy, which continued during the whole of my stay. He was\nmy class and room mate, and as the town\nhe came from, Ashby, was more than sixty\nmiles off, instead of returning home, he used\nfrequently during the vacation, to go with\nme to Boston, where he always met with a\ncordial welcome from my father, who received me on these occasions with the greatest\naffection, apparently taking much pride in\nme. My friend in return used to take me with\nhim to an uncle of his in Donnington, a very\n *\nwealthy man, who, having n<$*children of&is\nown, was very fond of his nephew, and on his\naccount 1 was always a welcome visitor at the\nhouse. I had a good voice, and an ear for\nmusic, to which I was always passionately\nattached, though my father endeavoured to\ndiscourage this propensity, considering it,\n(as is too frequently the case) but an introduction to a life of idleness and dissipation,\nand having been remarked for my singing\nat church* which was regularly attended on\nSundays and Festival days by the scholars,,\nMr. Morthrop, my friend Rice's uncle, used\nfrequently to request me to sing; he was\nalways pleased with my exhibitions of this\nkind, and it was no doubt one of the means\nthat secured me so gracious a reception at\nhis house. A number of other gentlemen\nin the place would sometimes send for me\nto sing at their houses, and as I was not a\nlittle vain of my vocal powers, I was much\ngratified on receiving these invitations, and\naccepted them with the greatest pleasure.\nThus passed away the two happiest years\nof my life, when my father, thinking that I\nhad received a sufficient education for the\nprofession he intended me for, took me\nfrom school at Donnington in order to apprentice me to Doctor Mason, a surgeon\nof eminence at Reasby, in the neighbourhood of the celebrated Sir Joseph Banks.\nWith regret did I part from my school ac-\n quaintance, particularly my friend Rice and\nreturned home with my father, on a short\nvisit to my family, preparatory to my intended appretp^ieeship, The disinclination I\nflyer had felt for the profession my fath^f\nwished me to pursue, was still further increased on my return. When a child I was\nalways ft)nd of being in the shop, among the\n^orktjaen, endeavouring to imitate what\nI saw them do ; this disposition so far increased after my leaving the academy^that I\ncould no&Ibear to hear the least mention\nmade of m$ being apprenticed to a surgeon,\nand I ujfed so many entreaties with my father to persuade him to give up this plan\nand learn me his own trade, that he at\nlast consented. More fortunate would it\nprobably have been for me, had I gratified\nthe wishes of this affectionate parent, in\nadopting the profession he had chosen for\nme, than thus induced him to sacrifice them\nto mine. However it might have been, I\nwas at length introduced into the shop, aracj\nmy naturajifturn of mind corresponding with\nthe employment, I became in a short time\n^ncomn|Qnly expert at the wofk to which I\nJsyas set. 1 now telt rafself well contented,\npleased wptj^-.my occupation, and treated\nwit^ much affectjon by my father and kindness by my ^tep-mother, my father having\nonce more entered the state of matrimony,\nWW ^imdow much younger than himself\nA2\nm\nm\n 10\nwho had been brought up in a superior manner, and was an amiable and sensible w$t\nman.\nAbout a year after I had commenced this\napprenticeship, my father finding that he\ncould carry on his business to more advanW\ntage in Hull, removed thither with his farnft\n]y. An event of no little importance to me,\nas it in a great measure influenced my future destiny. Hull being one of the best\nports in England, and a place of great trade,\nmy father had there full employment for\nhis numerous workmen, particularly in vessel work. This naturally leading me to an\nacquaintance with the sailors on board some\nof the ships, ,the many remarkable stories\nthey told me of their voyages and adven-\ntures, and of the manners and customs of\nthe nations they had seen, excited a strong\nwish in me to visit foreign countries, which\nwas encreased by my reading the voyages\nof Capt. Cook, and some other celebrated\nnavigators.\nThus passed the four years that I lived at\nHull, where my father, was esteemed by all\nwho knew him, as a worthy, industrious, and\nthriving man. At this period a circumstance occurred which afforded me the opportunity I had for some time wished, of gratifying my inclination of going abroad.\nAmong our principal customers at Hull,\nwere the Americans who frequented that\n..\u00ab\u25a0**\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 \",|\u2122\"\n 11\nport, and from whose conversation, my\nfather as well as myself formed the most favorable opinion of that country, as affording\na% excellent field for the exertions of industry, and a flattering prospect for the establishment of a young man in life. In the\nsummer ofthe year 1802, during the peace\nbetween England and France, the ship Boston, belonging to Boston, in Massachusetts,\nand commanded by Capt. John Salter, arrived at Hull, whither she came to take on\nboard a cargo of such goods as were wanted\nfor the trade, with the Indians on the North-\nWest coast of America, from whence, after\nhaving taken in a lading of furs and skins, she\nwas to proceed to China, and from thence\nhome to America. The ship, having occasion for many repairs and alterations, necessary for so long a voyage, the Captain applied to my father to do the smith work,\nwhich was very considerable. That oentle-\nman, who was of a social turn, used often to\ncall at my father's house, where he passed\nmanv of his evenings, with his chief and se-\ncond mates, Mr. B. Delouisa, and xMr. Wil-\nffiam Ingraham, the latter a fine young man\nof about twenty, of a most amiable temper,\nand of such affable manners, as gained him\nthe love and attachment of our whole crew.\nThese gentlemen used occasionally to take\nme with them to the theatre, an amusement\ntrhich I was very fond of, and which my fa-\n 12\nther rather encouraged than objected to, a&\nhe thought it a good means of preventing\nyoung men who are naturally inclined to\nseek for something to amuse them, from\nfrequenting taverns, ale houses, and places\nof bad resort, equally destructive of the\nhealth and morals, whilethe stage frequently\nfurnishes excellent lessons of morality and\ngood conduct.\nIn the evenings that he passed at my fa^\ntlier's, Captain Salter, who had for a great\nnumber of years been at sea, and seen almost all parts of the world, used sometimes\nto speak of his voyages, and observing me\nlisten with much attention to his relations,\nhe one day when I had brought him some\nwork, said to me in rather a jocose manner*\nJohn, how should you like to go with me?\nI answered that it would give me great pleasure, that I had for a long time wished to\nvisit foreign countries, particularly America, which l had been told so many fine stories of, and that if my father wom.d give hi^\nconsent and he was willing to take me with\nhim, I would go. I shall be very glad to do\nit, said he if your father can be prevailed <%\nto let you go, and as 1 want an expe^\nsmith for an armourer, the one 1 have ship-\nBed for that purpose not being sufficiently\nmaster of his trade, I have no doubt that\nyou will answer my turn well, as 1 perceive\nyou are both active and ingenious, a#d o#t\n w*\nmy return to America, I shall probably be able\nto do something much betterfor you in Boston ; I will take the first opportunity of speaking to your father about it, and try to persuade\nhim to consent. He accordingly the next\nevening that he called at our house introduced the subject: my father at first would not\nlisten to the proposal. That best of parents, though anxious for my advantageous\nestablishment in life, could not bear to think\nof parting with me, but on Capt. Salter's telling him of what benefit it would be to me\nto go the voyage with him, and that it was\na* pity to keep a promising and ingenious\nyoung fellow, like myself, confined to a small\nshop in England, when if I had tolerable\nsuccess\nrica, where wages were\nliving cheaper, he at length gave up his objections and consented that I should ship on\nboard the Boston as an armourer, at the rate\nof thirty dollars per month; with an agreement that the amount due me, together with a\ncertain sum of money which my father gave\nCapt. Salter for that purpose, should be laid\nout by him on the North-West Coast in the\npurchase of furs for my account, to be disposed of inChina for such goods as would yield a\nprofit on the return of the ship; my father being solicitous to give me every advantage in\nhis power, of well establishing myself in my\ntrade in Boston or some othenmaritime town\nI might do so much better in A ine-\nwages were much higher and\n 14\nof America. Such were the flattering expectations which this good man indulged\nrespecting me. Alas ! the fatal disaster\nthat befel us, not only blasted all these\nhopes, but involved me in extreme distress\nand wretchedness for a long period after.\nThe ship having undergone a thorough repair and been well coppered, proceeded to\ntake on board her cargo, which consisted of\nEnglish cloths, Dutch blankets, looking\nglasses, beads, knives, razors, &c. which\nwere received from Holland, some sugar\nand molasses, about twenty hogsheads of\nrum, including stores for the ship, a great\nquantity of ammunition, cutlasses, pistols,\nand three thousand muskets and fowling\npieces. The ship being loaded and ready\nfor sea, as I was preparing for my departure,\nmy father came to me, and taking me aside,\nsaid to me with much emotion, John, I am\nnow going to part with you, and heaven only knows if we shall ever again meet. But\nin whatever part of the world you are, always bear it in mind, that on your own conduct will depend your success in life. Be\nhonest, industrious, frugal, and temperate,\nand you will not fail, in whatsoever country\nit may be your lot to be placed, to gain\nyourself friends. Let the Bible be your\nguide, and your reliance in any fortune that\nmay befal you that Almighty Being; who\nknows how to bring forth good from evil,\n 15\nand who never deserts those who put their\ntrust in him. He repeated his exhortations\nto me to lead an honest and a christian life,\nand to recollect that 1 had a father, a mother, a brother, and sister, who could not but\nfeel a strong interest in my welfare, enjoining me to write him by the first opportunity\nthat should offer to England, from whatever\npart of the world I might be in, more particularly on my arrival in Boston. This f\npromised to do, but long unhappily was it\nbefore I was able to fulfil this promise. I\nthen took an affectionate leave of my worthy parent, whose feelings, would hardly\npermit him to speak, and bidding an affectionate farewell to my brother, sister, and\nstep-mother, who expressed the greatest solicitude for my future forkme, went on board\nthe ship, which proceeded to the Downs to\nbe ready for the first favourable wind. I\nfound myself well accommodated on board\nas regarded my work, an iron forge havWig\nbeen erected on deck; this my father had\nmade for the ship on a new plan, for which\nhe afterwards obtained a patent ; while a\ncorner of the steerage was appropriated to\nmy vice bench, so that in bad weather I\ncould work below.\nOn the third day of September, 1802, we\nsailed from the Downs with a fair wind, in\ncompany with twenty-four sail of American\nvessels, most of which were bound home.\n%:\n *r.\nJK\nI was sea-sicliforM few of the first dayf>\nbut it was of short continuance, and on my\nrecovery I found myself in uncommonly fine\nhealth and spirits, and went to work with\nalacrity at my forge, in putting in order somj\nof the muskets, and making daggers, knivek\nand small hatchets for the Indian tradf,\nwhile in wet and stormy weather 1 was occupied below in filing and polishing them.\nThis was my employment, having but little\nto do with sailing the vessel, though I used occasionally to lend a hand in assisting the\nseamen in taking in and making sail. As I\nhad never before been out of sight of land,\nI cannot describe my sensations, after I had\nrecovered from the distressing effects of self-\nsickness, on viewing the mighty ocean by\nwhich I was surrounded, bounded only19j\nthe sky, while its waves rising in mountains,\nseemed every moment to threaten our ruin.\nManifest as is the hand of Providence in\npreserving its creatures from destruction, in\nno instance is it more so than on the great\ndeep; for whether wTe consider in its tumultuary motions the watry deluge that each\nmoment menaces to overwhelm us, the in?-\nmense violence ofiffi. shocks, the little that\ninterpfoses between us and death, a single\n:Wank forming our only security, which,\nshould it unfortunately be loosened wouM\nplunge us at once into the abyss, our gratitude ought stronglyrto be excited towards\n 17\nthat superintending Deity who in so wonderful a manner sustains our lives amid the\nwaves.\nWe had a pleasant and favorable passage\n*\u00a3 twenty-nine days to the Island of St. Cayenne on the coast of Brazils, where the\nCaptain had determined to stop for a few\ndays to wood and water. This place belongs to the Portuguese. On entering the\nharbor we were saluted bj^the fort which-we\nreturned. The next day the Governor ofthe\nIsland came \u00a9u board of us with his suite;\nCaptain Salter received him with much respect and invited him to dine with him, winch\nhe accepted. u|fhe ship remained at St. Catherine's four day$, during which time, we\n*iy\u00abere busil^employed in taking in wood, wa-\n.jjbr, and fresh provisions. Captain Salter\nthinking it best to furnish himself here with\na full supply for tis voyage to the North-\nWest coast, so as not to be obliged to stop\nat the Sandwich Islands. St. Catherine is\na very commodious place for vessels to stop\nat that jgre bound round Cape Horn, as it\nggbouuds with springs of fine water, with excellent oranges, plantains, and banana^^\nHaving completed our stores we pupl^\nsea, and on the twenty-fifth of Deceiiflber at\nlength passed Cape^Horu, which we had\nmade no less than thirty-six days before, but\nwere repeatedly forced back by contrary\nB\n winds, experiencing very rough and tempestuous weather in doubling*it.\n^Immediately after passing Cape Horn, all\nour dangers and difficulties seemed to be at\nan end ; the weather became fine and so\nlittle labour was necessary on board the ship\nthat $$e m&n soon recovered from their fatigue and were in excellent spirits. A fe#\"\ndavs after we felloin with an English South\nSea Whaling Ship, homeward bound, which\nwras the only vessel we spoke with on our\nvoyage. We now took the trade wind or\nmonsoon, during which we enjoyed the finest weather possible, so that for the space\nof a fortnight we were not obliged to ree\\e a\ntopsail or to make a tacfe^* and so light was\nHJfefe duty and easy the life of thehsailors during this time, that they appeared the happiest of any people in the world.\nCaptain Salter, who hadabeen for many\nyears in the East-India trade, was a most\nexcellent seaman, and piteserved the strictest order and disci^tene on boardiihis ship,\nthough he was a man of mild temper and\nconciliating mannersyand disposed to allow\nevery indulgence to hfis men, not inconsistent\nwith their duty. We had on board a fine\nband of lilmfc, with which on Saturday\nnights, when the weather was pleasant, we\nwere accustomed %o be reeled, the Captain\nordering them to play for several hours for\nthe amusement of the crew. This to me\n II\nWa#molP^d%fttful, especially during the\nserene evenings we experienced in traversing\nthe Southern Ocean. As for myself, during\nthe day I was constantly occupied at my\nforge, in re-fitting or repairing some of the\niron work of the vessel, but principally in\nmaking tomahawks, daggers, &c. for the\nNorth West coast.\nDuring the first part of our voyage we\nsaw scarcely any fish, excepting some\n\u2022whales, a few^ sharks, and flying fish ; but\nafter weathering Cape Horn we met with\nnumerous shoals of sea porpoises, several of\n\u2022\u2022whom we caught, and as we had been for\nsome time withtet fresh provisions, I found\nit not only a palatable but really a veijy excellent food. To one who has never before\nseen them, a shoal of these fish presents a\nvery striking and singular appearance; be-\n^feld at a distance coming towards a vessel\nthey look not unlike a great number of small\nblack waves rolling \u00a9*ver one another in a\nconfusedkmanner mad approaching with\nigreatKfmtlness. As soon as a shoal is seen\nall is bustle and activity on board the ship,\nthe grains and thenarpootrs are immediately\ngof ready, and thtifee wfeo are best skilled in\nthrowing them tdfae their stand at the bow\nand along the gunwale askiously awaiting\nthe welcome troop as they come, gamboling\nand* blowing around the vessel, in search of\nfood. When offeree^ with th4harf^n3gnd\nM\n m\ndrawn on board, unless the fish is instantly\nkilled by the stroke, which rarely j^ap pens,\nit utters most pitiful cries, greatly resent\nbling those of an infant. The flesh cut into\nsteaks and broiled, is not unlike very coarse\nbeef, and the harslet in appearance ami taste\nis so much like that of a hog, that it would\nbe no easy matter to distinguish the one\nfrom the other; from this^iircumstance the\nsailors have given the name of the herring\nhog to this fish yt wa#told by some of the\ncrew, that if one of them happens to free\nitself from the grains or harpoons, when\nstruck, all the others, attracted by the\nblood, immediately quit the ship and give\nchace to the wounded one^and as soon as\nthey overtake it immediately tear it in pieces.\nWe also caught a large shark, which had\nfollowed the ship for several days with a\nhook which I made $\u00a7rr\u00a3the purpose, aiifi\nalthough the flesh was by no means equal\nto that ofthe herring hog, yet to those destitute as we were of any thing fresh, I found\nit eat very well. After pas&$ni\u00a7pThe Cape\nwhen tbetsea ha\u00ab$ become calm we saw great\nnumbers of Albatrosses, a large brown.fctid\nwhite bird of the goose kind, one of wl&ch\nCaptain'Salter shot, whose wings measured\nfrom their extremities fifteen fe^fcii One\nthing, however, 4 must not omit mentioning,\n\u25a010 ftt struck me in a most singular and ex-\n*$**aordmary manner. This was, that on\n ^kssing^Qip^porn in Dege^be^^ich was\nmid summer in tbat clii^ate,|^li^ nights\n$fere sought, without any moojgu ^aj^we\nfound no difficulty what^^^mttTe^ing\nsmall print which we frequency cU^^r^r^\nour waters.\nJa^his jpanner, with a fair ^ind and easy\n^p^l^^rfrom the 28th of December, the p||\n0pd of our passing Cag\u00a3 Horn, we pursued\ngur voyage to the N^rthwardm^ii the 12th\nof March, 1803, when we made Woody Poinjk\n4& Nootka^Sound on the North West Coast\n||f Amei^ca. We immediately stood up tj^\n^\u00a7pund for Noqf|ka, w|10re Capt. Salter had\nffjeteEfpined to stop,#|u order to supp|Sdp\nship wi^ wood and water before proceeding\nup the o^ast||p trade. But in order to ay^picl\nj||m risque ofijmy 'molestation or interruption\n.to\u201e^^ji|^n fr^m the Indians, wj^ethus$m-\nploy ed, fej^proeeed ed with th e sh ip a bo u t,$j@\nmiles to the North wai$i of th\u00a7$illage, wjjjoji is\nsituated on Friendly Cove, and se^tout Iggs*\nl^ief mate with several of the crew in,the boa\u00a3\nto find a %ood place for anchoring Jjer.-tp-\ni^Sfr soundly for some time, they^geturued\nl^ith in%^^^pn $hat,$|^ey had discovered a\nsecure place for anchorage, on the Western\nside of an fg\u00bblet or small bay akiaboi^i^alf a\n^ile frojK&the coast, near a spall isfand which\nprojected itfroiip||p\\^S|Ba,a^|d vv^ere^iere^yas\na p^ty^pyijood and#exee|jent water. '$$%&\n*s$aip 4tGcprd^igly|^came to anchor in -\\:^f\n6 2\n1%\n IP:\nplace, at twelve o'clock at night, *ip twelve\nfathom water, muddy bottom, and so near\nthe shore that to prevent the ship from winding we secured her by a hauser $a the trees.\nOn the morning of the next day, the thirteenth, several of the natives came on board\nin a canoe from the village of Nootka, with\ntheir king, called Maquina, who appeared\nmuch pleased on seeing us, and with great\nseeming cordiality, welcomed Capt. Salter\nand his officers to his country. As I had\nnever before beheld a savage of any nation,\nit may readily be supposed that the novelty\nof their appearance, so different from any\npeople that I had hith&!>4p seen, excited in\nme strong feelings of surprize and curiosity\nI was, however, particularly struck with the\nlooks of their king, who was a man of a dig*\nnified aspect, about six feet in height and extremely strait and well proportioned ; his\nfeatures were in general good and his fadi\nwras rendered remarkable by a large Roman\nnose, a very uncommon form of feature a-\nmong these people ; his complexion f#as;\u00a7f\na dark copper hue, though his face, legs, and\narms were, on this occasion, so covered witiir\nred paint, that their natural colour could\nscarcely b^lperceived, his eye-brows were\npainted black in two broad stripes like a.\nnew moon, and his long black hair, which\nshone with oil, was fastened in a bunch ojlf\nthe^iipp of his head and strewed or powdeiit\n *f3\n1,\ned all ovelij with whill dofWff wllfch galje\nhim a most curious and extraordinary appearance. He was dressed in a large mantle or cloak ofthe black sea otter skft, whicn.\nreached to his knees, and was fastened\naround his middle by a broad belt of th%\ni&ffioth of theJcountry, wrought, or^painted\nf*$ith figures of several colours; this dress was\nby no means unbecoming, but on the contra-\n!i^ had ariiair of savage magnificence. His\nlien were habited in mantles of the sain%\ncloth|l which is made Worn the bark of\n\u25a0&Hree, and has some resemblance to straw\npatting, these are nearly square and have\ntwo holes in the upper pa#%rge enough to\nadmit tWe arms\u2014they reach a\u00a7 low as^flfts\nknees and are fastened^ifound their bodies\n^mth a belt about four inches broad ^f the\nsame cloth. #|| rf*f* ;*f\nFrom his having frequently visited the\nEnglish and American ships that traded to\nthe coast, Maquina had learned the signifi-\n^eation of ^fiumller of English words, and in\ngeneral could make*lnmself pretty^lrpl understood Hjjtffts in our own language. He\nwas always the first % go on board such\nshipsfas ikme to Nootka, which he was\nmuch pleased in visitklg, everfwhen he Had\nno trade to offer, as he almost always recefK\nved some small present, and vf0$n general\nextremely well treated^by the eonmi^ljiii^\nHe remained on board of us for some time\nMl\n' \u25a0<\n M\nM 24\nI\nduring which the captainf*$\u00a9J^him into the\ncabin and treated him w^th a glass of rijjm ;\nthese people being ver^-fondof distilled spirits, and some biscuit and molasses which\nthey prefer to any kind ojfoofl that we can\noffer them.\nAsMhere me seldom many furs to befp^f\nchased- at this place and it was ni^t fully t^j\nseason, Qapt. Salter had put inhere not s$\nmuch with an expectation of trading as to\nprocure an ample stock of wood and watfjt.\nfor the supply ofthe ship on the coast, thinking it more prudent to take it on ||oard at\nNootka. from the generally friendly disposition of the people, than to endanger the sa$||\n$$ of his men in sending them on shore for\njjtat purpose among *the more ferocious natives ofthe north. With^this view|,we in^\nmediately set about getting our water casks\nin readiness, and the next and two succeeding day\u00a7&part ofthe crew were sent on-shore\nto cut pinsftimber and assist the carpent^p\nin making it into yards and spars for the ship,\nwhile^those on board were employed\u00a7*$n refitting, the Krr^pi^g, repairing the sjguls, &\u00ab&\nwhen we proceeded to take incur wood and\nwater as expeditiously as possible, during\n\u00ab#hich?time I kept myself busily employed in\nRepairing the muskets, making kni ves,tomax-\n\u00abts, &c.anddoingpueh iron work as was^wan^\ned for the ship. Meantime more or iess\nof the.natives cacrie osi.boarahof vjts clailas,\nH Pfpr\n Wnfian&iwith them freslrsalmon with wEpch\nthey supplied us in great .plenty receiving\njptfWt&uro some tiifliug articles. Capt. Salter\nwas always very particular before admitting\nthe&epeopfce on board t\u00ae\u00abee that they had no\narn$s about them, by obliging them indiscriminately to throw7 off their gawnent% so tua^\nhe felt perfectly secwfe from any attack.\u2014\nOn the fifteeatU\u00bbthe king came on board with\nseveral of his chiefe ; he was dressed as before in his magfiirice*it otter skin robe, has^f,\ning his face highly painted, and his hair tossed off with the white down which looked\njliif^snow ; hi& chie% were dressed in mantles of the^iuntry cloth of its natural c@^Dur\nl&hicli9is a pale yellow; these were orna-\n\/ment#d with a bro^d border painted or\nwrought in fignrefof several colours repre-\nsenting men's heads'; various animals, &c.\n4nd sfefiBred around 3$ieni by a belt like that\nofthe king fron^ which it was distinguished\nonly by being narrower : the dress of the\n\u2022jspinmon people is of the same, fashion and\n-difiersfrom that of the chiefs in being of a\ncoarser texture and paintedifced, of one uniform colour.\nCaptain Salter invited Maquma and his\niiie%jto dine with him, and it was curious\nto see how these people (wfa\u00a3n they eat) se^t\n4)fcemselves (in their country fashion, upen\nour chairsjwith their feet under them crossed like Turks. They cannot endure Mho\n1*\n 26\ntaste ftf salt, and the only thing they wJuld\neat with us was the ship bread which they\nwere very fond of especially when dipped in\nmolasses, they had also a great filling for\ntea and coffee when well sweetened. As\niron weaponsand to&ls of almost every kind\nare in much request among them, whenever\nthey came on board they were always very\nattentive to me, crowding around me at the\nforge, as if to see in*what manner I did my\nwork, and in this way became quite familiar,\na circumstance, as will be seen in the en$|\nof great importance to me. The salmon\nwhich they brought us furnishlid a most delicious treat to men who for a long time had\nlived wholly on salt provisions excepting\nsuch few sea fish as we had the good fortune\noccasionally to take. We indeed feasted\nmost luxuriously, and flattered ourselves\nthat we should not want while on the coast\nfor plenty of fresh provisions, little imagil^i^\nthe fatejihat awaited us, \u00ab\u00a7tid that this dainty\nfood was to prove the unfortunate lure to\nOur destruction ! On the nineteenth, thfc\nking came again on board and was invited\nby file Oapt&in to dine with him. He had\nmuch conversation with Capt. Salter; aiM\ninformed him that there were plenty of wiM\nducks and geese near Prtendly Cove, on\nwhich the Captain made him a present of%\ndouble-barreled fowling piece with which kfc\nappeared to be^greatly pteased and soon a&\nter went on shore.\n On the 20th we w*ere nearlpready for twit-\ndeparture, having taken in whrat wood and\nwatej?twe were in want of.\nj$:Thf|rnext day Maquina came on board\npith niue pair of wrild ducks, as a present,\nat the same time he brought with him the\ng\nlouisa itrwas agreed to send part of the creff\non shore after dinner with theMseinein order\nto procure a quantity\u2014Maquina and his\nchiefs staid and dined on board, and after\ndinii#jfthe chief mate wen|i.off#ith nine men\nin-the jolly b\u00aeat a#d yawi'to .fish at Friend-\nfeCovetjiaving set the steward on shore a4\u00bb\n 2B\nonr watering palace to wash the captain's\nclothes. Shortly after the departure of the\nboats I went down to my vice bench in the\nsteerage, where I w7as employed inMeleaning\nmuskets. I had not been there more than an\nhour when I heard the men hoisting in the\nlong boat, which, in a few minutes after, was\nsucceeded by a great bustle ami confusion\non deck. I immediately ran up the steerage stairs, but scarcely was my head above\ndeck, when I was caught by the hair by one\nof the savages, and lifted from my feet; for^-\ntunately for me, my hair being short, and the\nribbon with which it was tied slipping, I fell\nfrom his hold into the steerage. As I was\nfalling, he struck at me with an axe, whidft\ncut a deep gash in my forehead, and pene-\ntrateethe skull, but in consequence of his\nlosing his hold, I luckily escaped the full\nforce ofthe blow ; which, otherwise,Hvould\nhave cleft my head in two. I fell, stunned\narid senseless, upon the floor\u2014how long I\ncontinued in this situation I know not, but\n\u00a9n recovering my senses the first thing tha#|f\ndid, was to try to get up; but so weak was\nI, from the loss of blood, that I fainted and\nie$fc*<' 1\neat^when they set before him some dried\nclams and train oil, of which he ate very\nheartily, and encouraged me to follow his\nexample, telling me to eat much and take a\ngreat deal of oil which would make me\n^strong and fat; notf^tfestanding his jpraise\nof this new kind of food, I felt no disposition to indulge in it, both the smell and taste\nbeing loathsome to me; and had if* been\nj\u00a9therwjse, such was the pain I endured, the\nagitation of my mind, and the gloominess of\nmy reflections, that I should have felt very\nlittle inclination for eating. Not satisfied\nwith his first refusal to deliver me up to\nthem the people again became clamorous\nthat Maquina should consent to my being\nkilled, saying that not one of us ought to be\ngftfeft aAive to give information to others of our\ncountrymen and pfevent them from coming\n\u00bbi\n..fi\n ml\n35\n\u00bbi'-\\\nto trade^pr induce them to revenge the destruction of our ship, and they at length be-\ncameio boisterous that he caught up a large\ncltifLin a passion and drove them ajl out of\nthe house. During this scene a^son ofthe\nking, of abou^ eleven years old, attracted no\ndoubt by the singularity of my appearance\ncauje' up to me : I caressed him ; he returned my attentions with much apparent pleasure, anp considetjpig this as a fortunate opportunity to gaiaLthe good will ofthe father,\nI took the child^n my knee, and cutting the\nmetalj#buttons (rpm off the coat I had on, I\ntied them aroun|j his neck. At this he was\nhighly delighted, an^ became so much attached to me|that he.would not quit me.\nThe king appeared much pleased with my\n^ytentjon to his son, ami telling me that it\nwas time to go to sleep directed me to lj$g.\nwith his son next to him, as he^as afraid\nlesLsome of his people would come. whil$<'\nhe was asleep and kill me with their daggers. I lay down as he ordered me, but\nneither the state Qjmy mind n$r the pain I\nfelt would allow me to sleep. About ^id-\nnight I was greatly alarmed by the approach\nof one of the natives, who came to give information to the king that there^as one of\nthe white men alive, who had knocked him.\ndown as h&wenton board the ship at night.\nThis Maquina communicated to me, g4$feg\nme to understand that as soon as the sun\n 36\nTose he should kill him. I endeavouredl&\npersuade him to spare his life, but he bade\ntne be silent and go to sleep. I said nothing\nmore but lay revolving in my mind what\nmethod I could devise to save the life of this\nman. What a consolation thought I, what\na happiness would it prove to me in my forlorn state among these heathen, to have a\nChristian and one of my own countrymen\nfor a companion, and how greatly would it\nalleviate and lighten the burden of my slavery. As I was thinking of some plan for\nhis preservation, it all at once came into my\nmind that this man was probably the sail\nmaker of the ship, named Thompson, as I\nhad not seen his head among those on deck\njftid knew that heHvas below at work upon\nthe sails not long before the attack. The\nmore 1 thoughtW it the more probable it appeared to me, and as Thompson was a man\nnearly forty years of age, and had an Old look,\nI conceived it would be easy to make him\npass for my father, and by this means prevail on Maquina to spare his life. Towards\nmorning I fell into a doze, but'was awakened vtithllbe first beams ofthe stniby the king,\nwho told me that he was going to kill the\nman who was on board the ship, and ordered me to accompany him. I rose and followed %im,-% leading with me the young\np^ncejphis eon.\nm\nlm\nm\n 37\nOn coming to the beach I found all the\nmen of the tribe assembled. The ldng \"addressed them, saying that one of the white\nmen had been found alive on board the ship,\nand requested their opinion as to saving his\nlife or putting him to death. They were\nunanimously for the first : This determination he made known to me. Having arranged my plan, I asked nim, pointing to the\nboy whom I still held by the hand, if he loved his son, he answered that he did ; I then\nasked the child if he loved his father, and\non his replying in the affirmative, I said\nand I I also love mine.\" I then threw myself on my knees at Maquina's feet and implored him with tears in my eyes to spare my\nfather's life, if the man on board should prove\nto be him, telling him that if he killed my\nfather it was my wish that he should kill me\ntoo, and that if he did not I would kill my-\nself,\u2014and that he would thus lose my services ; whereas, by sparing my father's life he\nwould preserve mine, which would be of\ngreat advantage to him by my repairing and\nmaking arms for him. Maquina, appeared\nmoved by my entreaties and promised not\nto put the man to death if he should b#niy\nfather. He then explained to his people\nwhat I had said, and ordered me to go on\nboard and tell the man to come on shore.\nTo my unspeakable joy on going0 into the\nhold, I found that my conjecture was true,\n 36\n*-1\nHi\nThompson was there, fete had escaped without* any injury, excepting a slight wound\nin the nose, given him by one of the savages\nwith a knife as he attempted to come on deck,\nduring the scuffle. Finding the savages in*\npossession ofthe ship, as he afterwards informed me, he secreted himself in the hold, hoping\nfor some chance to make his escape\u2014but\nthat the Indian who came on board in the\nnight approaching the place where he was^he\nsupposed himself discovered, arid being determined to sell his life as dearly as possible, as\nsoon as he came within his reach, he knocked him down, but the Jndian&imHgediately\nspringing up ran off at full speed.\u2014I informed him in a few wrords that all our men\nhad been killed ; that the king had preserved\nmy life, and had consented to spare his on\nthe supposition that he was my father, an\nopinion which he must be careful not to\nundeceive them in, as it was his only safety.\nAfter giving him his cue, I went on shore\nwith him and presented him to Maquina,\nwho immediately knew him to be the sail-\nmaker and was much pleased, observing that\nhe could make sails for his canoe.\u2014He then\ntook us to his house and ordered something\nfor us to eat.\nOn the 24th and 25th the natives were busily employed in taking the cargo out of the\nship, stripping her of her sails and rigging,\ncutting away the spars and masts, and in\nI.-*\nill\n 39\nshort rendering her as complete a wreck as\npossible, the muskets, ammunition, cloth and\nall the principal articles taken from her, being deposited in the king's house.\nWhile they were thus occupied, each one\ntaking what he liked, my companion and\nmyself being obliged to aid them, 1 thought\nit best to secure the accounts and papers of\nthe ship, in hopes that on some future day I\nmight have it in my power to restore them to\nthe owners. With this view I took possession of the Captain's writing desk which contained the most of them together with some\npaper and implements for writing. I had\nalso the good fortune to find a blank account\nbook, in which 1 resolved, should it be permitted me, to. write an account of our capture and the most remarkable occurrences that I should meet with during\nmy stay among these people, fondly indulging the hope that it would not be long before\nsome vessel would arrive to release us. 1\nlikewise found in the cabin, a small volume\nof sermons, a bible, and a common prayer\nbook of the Church of England, which furnished me and my comrade great consolation\nin the midst of our mournful servitude, and\nenabled me, under the favor of divine provi-\njience, to support, with firmness, the miseries of a life which I. might otherwise have\nfound beyond my strength to endure. As\nthese people set no value upon things of this\n kind, I foun# no difficulty in appropriating\nthem to myself, by putting them in myMfehest,\nwhich though it had been broken open and\nrifled by the savages, as I still had the key,.1\nwithout much difficulty secured. In this I\nalso put some small tools belonging to the\nykip, with several other articles, particularly\na journal kept by the second mate, Mr. In-\ngraham, and a collection of drawings and\nviews of places taken by him, which I had\nthe good fortune to preserve, and on my arrival at Boston, I gave them to a connection\nof his, the honourable Judge Dawes, who\nsent them to his family in New-York. A\nOn the 26th, two ships w7ere seen standing in for Friendly Cove. At their first appearance the inhabitants were thrown infe\ngreat confusion, but soon collecting a num-\nber of musquets and blunderbusses, ran to\nthe shore, from whence they kept up so-brisk\na fire at them, that they were evidently\nafraid to approach nearer, and after firing a\nfew rounds of grape shot which did no harm\nto anv one, they wore ship and stood out to\nSea. These ships, as \\ afterwards learned,\n^ryere the Marv and Juno of Boston.\nThey were scarcely out of sight when Ma-\nquina expressed much regret that be had\npermitted his people to fire at them, b^iog\napprehensive that they would give information to others in what manner they had foesgn\nI^jNpP --D * \u25a0\u25a0+slitj -WM$mP\nII\nm\nml\n'.& -im\n 41\nII \u00bb\nreceived, and prevent them from doming fb\ntrade with hinu\nA few days after hearing of the capture of\nthe ship, there arrived at Nootka a great\nnumber of j canoes filled with savages from\nno less than twenty tribes to the North\nand South. Among those from the North\nwere the Ai-tiz-zarts, Schoo-mad-its, Neu-\nwit-ties, Savin-nars, Ah-owz-arts, Mo-\nwatch-its, Suth-setts, Neu-chad-lits, Mich-\nla-its and Cay-u-quets ; the most of whom\nwere considered as tributary to Nootka.\nFrom the South, the Aytch-arts and Esqui-\nates also tributary, with the Kla-oo-quates,\nand the Wickanninish, a large and powerful\ntribe about two hundred miles distant.\nThese last were better clad than most of the\nothers, and their canoes wrought with much\ngreater skill; they are furnished with sails\nas well as paddies, and with the advantage\nof a fair* breeze, are usually but twenty-four\nhours on their passage.\nMaquina, w?ho was very proud of his\nnew acquisition, was desirous of welcoming\nthese visitors in the European manner. He\naccordingly ordered his men, as the canoes\napproached, to assemble on the beach with\nloaded muskets and blunderbusses, placing\nThompson at the cannon which had been\nbrought from the ship and laid upon two\nlong sticks of ti&ber in front of the village,\nthen taking a speaking trumpet in his hand\n he ascended with me, the roof of his house\nand began drumming or beating upon the\nboards with a stick most violently. Noth\ning could be more ludicrous than the appearance of this motly groupe of savages collected on the shorey dressed as they were, with\ntheir ill-gotten finery, in the most fantastic\nmanner, some in women's smocks, taken\nfrom our cargo, others in Kotsacks, (or\ncloaks) of blue, red or yellow broad-cloth,\nwith stockings drawn over their heads, and\ntheir necks hung round with numbers of\npowder-ho$hs, shot-bags, and cartouch-boxes, some of them having no less than ten\nmuskets a piece on their shoulders, and five\nfpj*,rsix daggers in their girdles. Diverting\nindeed was it to see them all squatted upon\nthe beach, holding their muskets perpendicularly ,\/fWith the butt pressed upon the sand\ninstead of against their shoulders, and in\nthis position -awaiting the order to fire. Maquina, at last, called to them with his trumpet to fire, which they did in the most\nawkward andl|timid manner, with their\nmuskets hard pressed upon the ground as\nabove mentioned. At the same moment\nthe cannon were fired by Thomson, imedi-\ndia|ely on which they threw themselves\nback and began to roll and tumble over the\nsand as if they had been shot, when sudden*\nly springing up they began a song of triumph\nand running backward and forward upon\n 43\n\u25a0\u00ab-\nthe shore, with the wildest gesticulations,\nboasted of their exploits and exhibited as\ntrophies what they had taken from us. Not-\nwithstanding the unpleasantness of my situation, and the feelings that this display of\nour spoils excited, I could not avoid laughing at the strange appearance of these savages, their awkward movements, and the singular contrast of their dress and arms.\nWhen the ceremony w7as concluded, Maquina invited the strangers to a feast\nat his house, consisting of whale blubber,\nsmoked herring spawn, and dried fish and\ntrain oil, of which they eat most plentifully.\nThe feast being over, the trays out of which\nthey eat, and other things were immediately\nremoved to make room for the dance which\nwas to close the entertainment. This was\nperformed by Maquina's son, the young\nprince Sat-sat-sok-sis, whom I have already\nspoken of, in the following manner\u2014Three\nof the principal chiefs, drest in their otter-\nskin mantles, which they wear only on extraordinary occasions and at festivals, having their heads covered over with white down\nand their faces highly painted, came forward\ninto the hiiddle of the room, each furnished\nwith a bag filled with the white down, which\nthey scattered around in such a manner as\nto represent a fall of snow. These were followed by the young prince, who was dressed\nin a long piece of yellowr cloth, wrapped\n m\n44\nloosely around hinty and decorated with\nsmall bells, with a cap on his head, to which\nwas fastened a curious mask in imitation of\na wolf's head, while the rear was brought\nup by the king himself in his robe of sea-\notter skin, with a small whistle in his mouth\nand a rattle in his hand, with which he kept\ntime to a sort of tune on his whistle. After\npassing very rapidly in this order around the\nhouse\/each of them seated himself, except\nthe prince, who immediately began his dance,\nwhich principally consisted in springing up\ninto the air in a squat posture, and constantly turning around on his heels with great\nswiftness in a verv narrow circle. This\ndance, with a few intervals of rest, was continued for about two hours, during which\nthe chiefs kept up a constant drumming\nwith sticks of about a foot in length on a\nlong hollow plank, which was, though a\nvery noisy, a most doleful kind of music.\nThis they accompanied with songs, the king\n.Jftmself acting as chorister, while the women\napplauded each feat of activity in the dancer by repeating the wdftls, Wocash! Wocash\nTyee! that is good! very go&) prince. As soon\nas the dance was finished Maquina began\nto give presents tol|he strangers in the name\nof his sdrf\/Sat-sat-sok-sis. These were pieces of fittropei^cjpthS^teWY of a fathom\nin length, nniskWs, p^^fej^i'o't, &c. Whenever-he gave them any thing, they had\" a pe-\nD 2\n &5\nculiar manner of snatching itifrom him with\na very stern and surly look, .repeating each\ntime the words, Wocash 'fyee. This I understood to be their custom, and was considered as a compliment which if omitted\nwould be supposed as a mark of disregard\nfor the present. On this occasion Maquina\ngave away no less than one hundred muskets, the same number of looking glasses,\nfour hundred yards of cloth, and twenty\ncasks of powder, beside other things.\nAfter receiving these presents, the strangers retired on board their canoes, for so numerous were they that Maquina would not\nsuffer any but the chiefs to sleep in the houses ; and in order to prevent the property\nfrom being pillaged by them, he ordered\nThompson and myself to keep guard, during\nthe night, armed with cutlasses and pistols.\nIn this manner tribes of savages from various parts ofthe coast, continued coming for\nseveral davs, bringing with them, blubber,\noil, herring spawn, dried fish and clams, for\nwhich they received, in return, presents of\ncloth, &c. after which they in general immediately returned home. I observed that very few, if any of them, except the chiefs, had\narms, which 1 afterwards learned is the custom with these people whenever they come\nupou a friendly visit or to trade, in order to\nshew, on their approach, that their intentions\nare pacific.\n=^fc\n Early on the morning ofthe 19th the ship\nwas discovered to be on tire. This was\nowing to one of the savages having gone\non board with a fire brand at night for the\npurpose of plunder, some sparks from which\nfell into the hold, and communicating wilb\nsome combustibles soon enveloped the\nwhole in flames. The natives regretted the\nloss ofthe ship the more as a great part of her\ncargo still remained on board. To my com-\nm\npanion and myself it was a most melancholy\nsight, for with her disappeared from our\neyes everv trace of a civilized country : but\nthe disappointment we experienced was still\nmore severely felt, for we had calculated on\nhaving the provision to ourselves, which\nwould have furnished us with a stock for\nyears, as whatever is cured with salt, together\nwith most of our other articles of food, are\nnever eaten by these people. 1 had luckily\nsaved all my tools excepting the anvil, and\nthe bellows which was attached to the forge\nand from their weight had not been brought on\nshore. We had also the good fortune in looking over what had been taken from the ship to\ndiscover a box of chocolate and a case of\nport wine, which as the Indians were not\nfond of it proved a great comfort to us for\nsome tinke, and from one of the natives I obtained a nautical almanack, which had belonged to the Captain, and which was of great\nuse to me in determining the time.\nm\nif\n 47\nIt\nn\nAbout two days after, on examining their\nbooty, the savages found a tierce of rum with\nwhich they were highly delighted, as they\nhave become very fond of spirituous liquors\nsince their intercourse with the whites.\nThis was towards evening, and Maquina\nhaving assembled all the men at his house,\ngave a feast, at which they drank so freely\nof the rum, that in a short time, they became so extremely wild and frantic that\nThompson and myself, apprehensive for our\nsafety, thought it prudent to retire privately\ninto the woods, where we continued till past\nmidnight. On onr return we found the wo-\nriien gone, who are always very temperate,\ndrinking nothing but water, having quitted\nthe house and gone to the other huts to\nsleep, so terrified were they at the conduct\nofthe men, who all lay stretched out on the\nfloor in a state of complete intoxication.\nHow easv in this situation would it have\nft\/\nbeen for us to have dispatched or made ourselves masters of our enemies, had there\nbeen any ship near to which we could have\nescaped but as we were situated, the attempt\nwould have been madness. The wish of revenge w7as however less strongly impressed on\nmy mind, than what appeared to be so evident\nan interposition ofdivine Providence in our favour. How little can man penetrate its designs, and how frequently is that intended\nas a blessing which he viewrs as a curse. Thv0\n 4$\nburning of our ship which we had lamented\nso much, as depriving us of so many comforts, now appeared to us in a very different\nlight, for had the savages got possession of\nthe rum of which there were nearly twenty\npuncheons on board, we must inevitably\nhave fallen a sacrifice to their fury in some\nof their moments of intoxication. This\ncask fortunately and a case of gin was all\nthe spirits they obtained from the ship.\nTo prevent the recurrence of similar\ndanger I examined the cask, and finding\nstill a considerable quantity remaining, I\nbored a small hole in the bottom with a\ngimblet, which before morning to my great\njoy completely emptied it.\nBy this time the wound in my head began\nto be much better, so that I could enjoy\nsome sleep which I had been almost deprived of by the pain, and though I was still feeble from the loss of blood and my sufferings,\nI found myself sufficiently well to go to work\nat my trade, in making for the king and his\nwives bracelets and other small ornaments\nof copper or steel, and in repairing the arms,\nmaking use of a large square stone for the\nanvil and heating my metal in a common\nw7ood fire. *ffThis was verv gratifving to Ma-\nquina and his women particularly, and secured me their good will.\npli the mean time great numbers from the\npther tribes kept continually flocking to Noot-\nHfi\nE 1\nSI\nill\n^SBftl\nm*\n'idm*\n'0Mm'''.\n- jS^^M\n m\n49\nka^Jbringing with lliem- in exchange foryihe\nship's plunder such quantities of provision^\nthat notwithstanding the little success that\nMaquina met with in whaling this season,\nand their gluttonous waste, always eating to excess when they have it, regardless\nofthe morrow, seldom did the natives expe^it\nence any want of food during the summer.\nAs to myself and companion we fared as they\ndid, never wanting for such provision as they\nhad, though we were obliged to eat it coofe-\ned in their manner and with train oil as a\nsauce, a circumstance not a little unpleasant, both from their uncleanly mode of cooking, and many of the articles of their food\nwhich to an European are very disgusting,\nbut, as thesayingis, hunger will break through\nstone walls, and wefound at times in the5blub-\nber of sea animals and the flesh of the^og\nfish, loathsome as it in general was, a <$erT\nacceptable repast. But much oftener would\npoor Thompson, who was no favorite with\nthem, have suffered from hunger, had it\nnot been for my furnishing him with provision\u2014This I was enabled to do from>my\nwork, Maquina allowing me the privijedge,\nwhen not employed for him, to work for\nmyseHHn making bracelets and other ornaments of copper, fish-hooks^ daggers, ^c.\neither to sell to the tribes who visited us, or\nfor our own chiefs, who on these occasions\nbesides supplying me with as much as I\n wished to ea%and a sufficienc^for Thomson:,\nalmost always made me a present of an\nEuropean garment taken from the ship or\n|dh became\nvery imporMnate for me |b Be|ra nry jbur-\nn&l, aftiii5 asjI had iiS^mW, proposed td cut his\nfinder to supply r$e vvith^pidod for tne* piir-\npb'sW Whenever I should1 wimt It!1 On the\nfilrif oTJune I accordinglycon^ittfcnced a re^J\ngular diaVy, but haidJ no dctiasibh to make\nuse of the expedient suggested by rriy comrade5, having found a much better substitute\nin'the exWessed juice of a certain plant,\nwdiicn^rurmswednle with a bright green \"col-\nour amx after making a nuhiber of trials I at\nlengtff succeedecr in obfauiing a very tole-\nraDWrhK, by boiling the juice ofthe blackberry \\Vith a miSture of finely powdered\ncharcoal' and filtering it through a cloth.\nThis \"J*afterwards preserved in bottles and\nfouhffnt afiswer very well, feo truejs it that\n\" necessity i\u00a7*tne mother of invention.\" As\nfoFcfutfls I found no difficulty hi procuring\njyte^i^wheli ever I wanted, from the crows\nanffravfewwith which the beach was almost\nalways covered, attracted by the offal of\nE\n \u00a7\u00a7\nw\nwhales, seals, &c. and which were so tame\nthat I could easily kill them with stones,\nwhile a large clam shell furnished me with\nan ink stand.\nThe extreme solicitude of Thomps6n that\nI should begin my journal, might be considered as singular in a man, who neither knew\nhow to write or read, a circumstance by the\nway, very uncommon in an American,\nwere we less acquainted with the force of\nhabit, he having been for many years at sea,\nand accustomed to consider the keeping of\na journal as a thing indispensable. This\nman was born in Philadelphia, and at eight\nyears old ran away from his friends and entered as a cabin boy on board a ship bound\nto London, on his arrival there finding himself in distress, he engaged as an apprentice\nto the captain of a Collier, from whence he\nwas impressed on board an English man of\nwar, and continued in the British naval service about twenty-seven years, during which\nhe was present at the engagement under\nLord Howe with thfe French fleet in June\n1794, and when peace was made between\nEngland and France was discharged. He was.\na very strong and powerful man, an expert\nboxer, and perfectly fearless, indeed so little was his dread of danger, that when irritated he was wholly regardless of his life.\nOf this the following will furnish a sufficient\nllroolP Ip1*\n 54\nOne evening about the middle of April,\nas I was at the house of one of the chiefs,\nwhere I had been employed on some work\nfor him, word was brought me that Maquin-\nna was going to kill Thompson. I immediately hurried home, where I found the king\nin the act of presenting a loaded musket at\nThompson, who was standing before him\nwith hisJbreast bared and calling on him to\nfire. I instantly stepped up to Maquina,\nwho wras foaming with rage, and addressing\nhim in soothing words, begged him for my\nsake not to kill my father, and at length succeeded iu taking the musket from him and\npersuading him to sit down. On enquiring\ninto the cause of his anger, I learned that\nwhile Thompson was lighting the lamps in\nthe king's room, Maquina having substituted our's for their pine torches, some\nof the boys began to teaze him, running\naround him and pulling him by the trow-\nsers, among the most forward of whom\nwas the young prince. This caused\nThompson to spill the oil, which threw\nhim into such a passion, that without caring\nwhat he did, he struck the prince so violent a blow in his face with his fist as to\nknock him down. The sensation excited\namong the savages by an act, which was\nconsidered as the highest indignity, and a\nprofanation of the sacred person of majesty\nmay be easily conceived. The king was\nJ!\n ft I\nimmediately af^gintgfl wi^ it, iwho, on\njgpming^n a^njd seeing h$s son's face coi?-\nerejf with l^Iood, seized a mitsket and\nbegan to load it, det^ra^^ned to taj^e instant revenge ojtiajfejaudgcjous ogfen^d people j\u00a7| fat as I h&hfcrtb* ted an opportunity\nof observing then*.\nThe village of Nootka, is Situated in between 49 arid 3U deg. N. lat. at the bottom\nof Friendly Cove* on the West or North\nWest side. It consists of ab6ut twehtjr\nhouses or huts, on a small hill which rises\nwith a gentle ascent from the shore.\n\u2022Friendly Cove, which affords gdod and sife\u00a3\nCure anchorage for ships close in with\nthe shore is a small harbour of not more\nthan a quarter or half a trifle in length*\nand abdut half a mile or three quarters\nbroad, forriied by the line of coast on the\nEast, and a long point, or head land which\nextends as much as three leagues into thU\nsound in nearly a Westerly direction. This*\nas well as I can judge from what I have\nseen Of it, is in general from one to twti\nmiles in breadth, and mostly a rocky and\nirnproductive soil with but few trees. The\nEastern and Western shores of this harbonlij\nare steep and in many parts rocky the treks\ngrowing quite to the water's edge, but the\nbottom to the North and North-West is^gl\nine sandy beach of half a hiile or more iti\nextent. ^from the village to the North aria\nNorth East extends a plain, tire soil of which\nis very excellent, and iy|th proper cultivation\nniay be mine to produce almost any of bra\nfii$*o\u00a3ean vegetables ; this is but little morS\n 60\nthan half a mile in bread fc and is ter^inat-\n.ed by the sea coast, which in this place is\nlined with rocks and reefs and cannot be ap-\n^p^oachedby ships. The coastm the neighbourhood of Nootka is in general low and\nibnt little broken into hills and vallies. The\n\u00aboil is good, well covered with fine forests\niarf pine, spruce, beach and other trees, and\nabounds with streams of the finest water,\nthe general appearance being the same for\nmany miles around.\nThe village is situated on the ground occupied by the Spaniards, when they kept a\ngarrison here; the foundations of the church\nand the governor's house are yet visible,\njend a ifew European plants are Still to\n4ae found, which continue to be self-propaga-\n^ted. such as onions, peas, and turnip^, but\nIhe two last are q&te sa^i, particularly the\ntwraips, winch aflorded us nothing but the\ntops for eating. Their former village stood\n fotl\u00a5\nto each range of boards; twd'at eachem?l\nanft\" so near- each other as 1to< leave sfiaiw*\nenough for admitting;a?pfotifc. Thepfaiiks'\n01* boards which they niafce useof for bulling\ntheir houses, and for other uSe'SJ, they^prroetjre^\nof different lengths as occasion5 required, by\nsplitting them'out, with hard woo'denv#edges&s\nfrom pine logs, and aferwards dubbingthfejotf\ndown with their chiz^els^ with t0@$fii$j$fc}\ntience, to the thickness wanted| renderii^3\nthem quite smbotKP\nThere'is but one entrance ; this' is place\u00ae'\nusually: at the end; tho'dgli sometimes in tfefe'1\nmiddieaswasthatofMaquiria's. Throughtie*3\nmiddle^ of the briildigg' from one- end1 to t$e*\nother, runs a passage of about eight' or#ie\nfeet broaldi on each sid^ of wh'ifch, the]-several familiej\u00a7vthat occupy it, livesVeaen ha^\ning its particular fire place, but witho'xH?1\nany kind of wall or separation to mark\ntheir respective limits ^the chiefjhavjj&g his\napartraient3\u00a7#the upper end, and the rf|j&$.in\nrank opposite on thither side. TKey ha've\nno other floortllan the ground; the fire placeNciF\nhearth consists of a nuiriber of sto^eiilods^^^\nput-together, but they are|^vholly without\na chi|priey, nor is there^any opening1 lefff!\nin the roof, but whenever a fiW is iri#\u00aej\nthe {Jlank immediately ove&t it is tlipG\u00a9^\naside, bgmean^Jof a pole, to give vent td-S$64\nsmoke. Thtf height 6|l the houses W gen^\n m\nral, from the ground to the center of the roof\ndoes mot exceed ten feet, that of Maquina's\nwas not far from fourteen; the spar forming the ridge pole of the latter was painted\nin red and black circles alternately by way\n#f ornament, and the large posts that supported it had their tops curiously wrought\nor carved, so as to represent human heads\nof a monstrous size, which were painted in\ntheir manner. These were not, however,\nconsidered as objects of adoration, but merely as ornaments. |jj\u00a7\nThe furniture of these people is very siin-\n|tle, and consists only of boxes in which they\nput their clothes, furs, and such things as\n\u2022$aey hold most valuable; tubs for keeping\nAeirprovision of sj^awnand blubber in; trays\nfrom which they eat; baskets for their drl-\nWH fish and other purposes, and bags made\nof bark matting, of which they also make\nthera beds, spreading a piece of it upon the\nground when they lie down and using no\nother bed covering than their garments.\nThe boxes are of pine, with a top that shuts\nover, and instead of nails or pegs are fastened with flexible twigs, they are extremely\nsmooth and high polished, and sometimes\nornamented with rows of very small white\nshells. The tubs are of a square form, secured in $he like manner, and of various\nsizes, some being extremely large, having\nseen them that were sfcitfeet long by four\nF\nIf\nm\n broad and five deep. The Trays are hollowed out with their chizzels frdm a solid\nblock of wood and the baskets and mats are\nmade from the bark of trees. From this\nthey likewise make the cloth for their\ngarments, in the following manner. A\nquantity of this bark is taken and put into\nfresh water where it is kept for a fortnight\nto give it time to completely soften ; it is\nthen taken out and beaten upon a plank,\nwith an instrument made of bone or some\nvery hard wood, having grooves or hollows\non one side of it, care being taken to keep\nthe mass constantly moistened with water,\nin order to separate with more ease the hard\nand woody from the soft and fibrous parts,\nwhich, when completed, they parcel out i^-\nto skeins^ilike thread. These they lay in\nthe air to bleach, and afterwards dye them\nblack or red as suits their fancies, their natural colour being a pale yellow. In order\nto form the cloth, the women by whop\nthe whole of this process is p^formed, take\na certain number of these skeins an^jtwist\nthem together by rolling them with their\nhands upon their knees, into hard rolls whifh\nare afterwards connected by means of a\nstrong thread made for the purpose.\nTheir dress usually$onsists of but a sin-\n.ggfe garment, which is a loose cloaj^or mantle.(called Katsack) in onj%fpiej|e3 reaching\nnearly to the feet. This is tied loosely\n 66\nover the right or left shoulder so as to leave\nthe a$ns at full liberty.\nThose of the common people are pahfted\n\u00a7fed with ochre the better to keep out the\nrain, but the chiefs wear them of their native colour, which is a pale yellow, ornamenting them with borders of the sea otter\nskin, a kind of grey cloth made ofthe hair of\nsome animal which they procure from the\ntribes to the South, or their own cloth\nwrought or painted with various figures in\nred or black, representing me^i's heads, the\nsun and moon, fish arid animals, which are\nfrequently executed with much skill. They\nhave also a girdle of the same kind for securing thi^mantle, or Kutsack, aroundtthera,\nwhich is'in general still more highly orn\u00ab^\nmented and serves them to % ear their daggers and knives in. In winter however,\nthey sometimes make use of an additional\ngarment, which is a kind of hood, with\na hole in it for the purpose of admitting the head, and falls over the breast and\nback as low as the ^shoulders; this is\nbordered both at top and bottom wfth fur\nand is never worn, except when they go out.\n*^hegarments ofthe women vary not essentially from those of the men, the mantle hav-\ning holes in it fopthe purpose of adrilittiitg\nthe ateis,f%nd being *fied close under the\nchin, instead of over the shoulder. The\ncb||fs have also mantles of fhe, sea otiet\nm\njXE\n m\nnf\nskin, but these are only put on upon extraordinary occasions,^and one that^is made\nfrom the skijn of a certain large animal,\nwhich is brought from the South by the\nWickanninish and Kla-iz-zarts. This they\nprepare by dressing it in warm water, scrap*\nfig off the hair and what flesh adheres to it\ncarefully with sharp muscle shells, and\nspreading it out in the sun to dry, on a wooden frame so as to preserve ttfe shape. When\ndressed in this manner it becomes perfectly\n^fhite and as pliably as the best deer's leather, but almost* as thick again. They\nthen paint it in different figures wfith such\npaints as they usually employ in dec|8\nfating their persons: these figures mostly\nrepresent human hea*|s, canoes employed\nin catcl^ng ^piales, &c. This skin is called\nMetamelth and is probably got from an ani^\nmalojfthe moose kind, it is highly prized\nby these people, is their great war dress,\nand only worn when they wish to make the\nbest possible display of themselves. Strips\nor bands of it, painted as above, are also\nsometimes used by them for girdles or the\nbordering of their cloaks, and also for bracelets and ancle ornaments by some of the i$L\ni'erior class.\nOn thefp. head^when they go out upon\nany excursion particularly whaling or fishing, they wear a kind of cap or bonnet in\n.form not uilike a large'.sugar leaf with th\u00a7\n\u00a7\n JL&m\ntop el^Hfr, TOfs^maw^r^W^Wroe fttp\nlerials with the% cloth, b^ftHs iipgerieral frf\na closer texture^and bywaj? of fcs^el has a\nlung strip of the skfflraf tHMS^ameMH^i^\ntachea* to il^'cover^r^vith roSvsW m$m\nwmte shells or beadft ^Phose worn b^jtftll\ncommon people are^painted eMfely red, th%\nchiefs having theirs of different colours'.\nThe one worn by the king and vvhich serv^li\nfot< designate?him from alP the others, 4\u00a7\nWronger an^nSfoader at*ihe botfonrfthe tcl^,\ninstead of being flat, having upon if%n?orna-\nment in the tigrife of a small urn. It is also\nIff a much finer textftre than the others and\nplaited or wrought in black and white stripes\nwim the representation in front of a.tianoe\nin^joursuit of a.whale with the harpooner\nstanding in the prow^jfppared to strikS-\n|This5onrret is called Seeya-poks.\nTheir mode of living^fs very simjimfNheir\nfood consisting alraojt vriioiTpof nsnj;\u00a7r fish\nspawjT fresh or dried, the blubber of the\nwhale- seal, or sea-cow, riluscles, dams, and\nKrries of various kinds ; all1 of wfffiffi are\neaten with a-profusion of train off for sauce,\nnot excepting even the most delicate fruit,\nas strawberries and raspberries. With so\nlittle variety in theiWood, no great can be\nejected, in their Moo kfty. Of this, indeed,\nthey ma| be said to know butwo methods,\nviz.^yboiling ana steaming; and even the\nlatter is not very frequently practised bj\nF 2\nI\n ft\nth^in^ Theiripiode of filing\u00ab^ as fo\\\\ow&p\ninto one of their tubs, they,|>pur water sufficient to cook the quantity of provision\nwanted. A number of heated stones are\nthen put in to make it boil, when tbfcf\nsalmon or other fish are put in without\njEfiay other preparation than sometimes cu^ic\ntfjflig off the heads, tails and fins, the boils\ning in the mean time being kept up by thftt\napplication of the hot stones, after wj^ch it\nis left to cook until the wholejis nearly rft*l\ndticed to one mass. It is then taken oujte\nand distributed in the trays. In a similar\nmanner they cook their bjpbber and spawn,\nsmoked or dried fi\u00a7h, and in fine, almost ey$j\nery thing they eat, nothing going down with\ntoem like broth.\nWhen they cook their fj^h by steam, which\nare usually the head^ tails, and fins of *|fee\nsalmon, cod and halibut, a large>fire fe kindled, upon which they place a bed of stones,\nwhich, when the wood is burnt down, becomes perfectly heated. Layefg of gfee&u\nleaves or pine boughs, are tfyen placed Upon\nthe stones, and the fish, clams, &c. being laid^'\nupon them, watery poured over them, and\nthe whole closely covered with mats.,to keep\nin the steam. This is much the best mode\nof cooking, and clams and muscles done in\nthis manner, are really excellent. These,\nas I have said, may be considered as their\nIpnly kinds of cookery; though Iha^eina\n '\u2022\u25a0\u25a0\u00ab\nm\n7Q\nr\nvetf fewStistances^nown th^tn dress the roe\nor spawn of the 'salmon and the ^erring,\nwhen *first takejf, in a different manner ; this\nwas by roasting them, the former being supported between two split pieces of pine, amf'\nthe other having a sharp stick run through\nit, with one end fixed in the ground ; spratl'J\nare also roasted by them in this way, a\nnumber being spitted on one stfSk; and thjjp *\nkind of food, with a little salt,\" would be\nfound no contemptible eating even to a Ei*-|\nropean.\nAt their meals they seat themselves upon\nthe ground, with their feet curled up unner\nthem, around their trays, whicn are generally about threg-feet long by one broad,. sx0u\nfrom six to eight inches deep. Tnjfeatijjjj^\ntfefey make use of nothing but their fingers,\nexcept for the soup or oil, which they lade\nout with f$am shells. Around one of these\ntrays, from four \"to six persons will seat\nthemselves, constantly dipping in their fingers or clam shells, one after the others\u2014\nThe king and chiefs alone have separate\ntrajfcs, from which no one is permitted td eat\nwith them, except the queen, or principal\nwife of the chief, and whenever the king or\none of the chiefs wishes to distinguish any\nof*tris people with a special mark of favour\non these occasions, he calls hhp and* gives*\nhim some of the choice bits from his tray.\nThe slaves eat at the same time, and of tne\nI\n Mr\nUl\n71\nsame provisions, fareijig in this resPecI|\u00a7l|\nwell as their masters, being seated with^tn|j\nfamily and onjy^feeding from separate SjMfU\nWhenever a feast^^s given by the ki^mr anjj.\nofthe chiefs, there is a person who acts as a\nmaster of ceremonies, and whose business it\nis to receive the guests as they enter; &a\nhouse and point out to them their respectfw\nseats, which is regulated withgreat punetij^\niousness as regards raru^ ; the king oc^W^\ning the highest or the seat of honour, W^schJi\nor brother sittingnext him, and so on with thji\nchiefs according to their quality ; the prj^\nvate perso^s^elonging to.(he same family\nbeing always placed together to prevent anjL\nconfusion. The jromen are seldom inviteA\nto their feasts, and only at those times^whei^\na general invitation is given to the village.\nAs whenever%hey cooj^, they always ^a^\nculate to have an abundance for all 3|&\nguests, a profusion in^this respect being considered as the highest luxury, mnch more\nis usually set befose them than t^^kan eat-.\nThat which is left in the king's tray he sends\nto ij^is house for jt|is family, by one of his\nslaves, as do the chiefs theirs, while tho^\nwho eat from the same tray and who general)^\nbelong to the same family, take it home as\ncommon stock, or each one receives his portion, whicli^J^listributed on the spot. This\ne#stoj% ap$e$redi,jjery singu|g^| to my companion and myself, and it was a most awk-\n 72\nward thing for us at first, to have to lug\nhome\" with us, in our hands or arms, thW\nblubbfer or fish that we received at these\ntimes, but we soon became reconciled to i||\nand were very glad of f^n opportunity pr\nrfo' it.\nIn point of personal appearance the peo-\njjSe of Nootka are among the best looking\nof any ofthe tribes that 1 have seen. ThW\nthen are in general from about five feet sfi\u00a3\nto five feet eight inches in height; remarkably strait, of a good form, robust, and strong^\nwith their limbs in general well turned and\nproportioned excepting the legs and feet,\nwhich are clumsy and*ill formed, owing\nno doubt to their practice of setting on\nthem, though I haWe seen instances in whicjr:\n0iey were very well shaped, this defect is\nmore particularly apparent in the women,\nwho are for the most part ofthe time within\ndoors, and constantly sitting while employed in their cooking and other occupations*\nThe only instance of deformity that I saw\nfslhong them was a man of dwarfish stature ;\nhe was thirty years old and but three feet\nthree inches high, he had however no othef\nHefect than his diminutive size being well\nmade, and as strong and able to bear far\ntigue as what they were in general.. Their\n-complexion, when freed from the paint and\noil with which their skin# lire generally covered, is a l^rown, somewhatinciinjngto a cop-\n ,\nf\n78\nper cast. The shape of the face is oval ;\nthe features* are tolerably regular, the lips\nbeing thin and the teeth very white and even : their eyes are black but rather small,\nand the nose pretty well formed, being neither flat nor very prominent:' their hair ill\nblack, long and coarse, but they have no\nIbeard, completely extirpating it, as well aS\nthe hair from their bodies, Maquina beiri#\nthe only exception, who suffered his beartt\nto grow on his upper lip, in the maimer of\nmustachios, which was considered as a mart\nof dignity. As to the women they are\nmuch whiter, many of them not being darker than those in some of the Southern parts\nof Europe. They are in general very well\nlooking and some quite handsome. Ma-\nquina's favorite wife in particular, who wall\na Wickinninish princess, would be considered as a beautiful woman in any country.\nShe was uneoraimonly well formed, tall, and\nof a majestic appearance ; her&kin remarkably fair for one of these people, with considerable colour, her features handsome and\nher eyes black, soft,\u00aband languishing ; her\nhair was very long, thick, and black, as if\nthat ofthe females in general, which is much\nsofter than that of the men; in thi$:they\ntake much pridse^ frequently oiling and pla^P\ning it carefully into two broad plaits, tying\nIhe ends wMi a strip of the cloth of th3\ncountry and letting it hang down before on\nea.ch side of the face,\n^\n 74\n||.The women keep their garments much\nneater and cleaner than the men, and are\nextremely, modest in their deportment and\ndressy their mantle or Katsack, which is\nlonger than that of the. men, reaching quite\nto their feet, and completely enveloping them,\nbeing tied close under the chin, and bound\nwith a girdle of the same cloth or of sea ot^\nter'skin around their waists ; it has also\nloose sleeves which reach to the elbows,\njjfhough fond of ornamenting their persons\nthey are by no means so partial to paint as\nthe men, merely colouring their eye-brows\n}?Jack and drawing a bright red stripe from\njgaeh corner of the mouth towards the ear.\nTheir ornaments consist chiefly of ear ringg|.\nnecklaces, bracelets, rings for the fingers\nand ancles, and small nose jewels, (the latter are however whollv confined to the\nwives of the king or chiefs,) these are principally made out of copper or brass, highly\npolished and of various forms and sizes ;\niffoe nose jewel is usually a smalllswhife\nshell or bead suspended to a fthread. The\nwives of the common people frequently\nwear for bracelets and. ankle rings, strips of\nthe country cloth or slain of the Metae*\nmelth painted in figures^and those of the\nrkfftg or prjncipaltfihiefi bracelets and necklaces, consisting of a number of strings of\nj^e-wmv, amatiicle^jnuch prized by thenr,\nand which makes a very handsome appear-\nM\nm\n 75\nf:|\naneie; This lfe-waw9 as they term it, is a\nkind of shell of a dazzling whiteness, and as\nsmooth as ivory, it is of a cylindrical form,\nin a slight degree curved, about the size of\na goose quill, hollow, three inches in length\nand gradually tapering to a point, which is\nbroken off by the natives as itfls taken from\nthe water; this they afterwards string upon\nthread's of bark, and sell it by the fathom ;\nit forms a kind of circulating medium among\n$iese nations, five fathoms being considered\nas Ihe price of a slave their most valuable\nspecies of property. It is principally obtained from the Aitizzarts, a people living\nabout thirty or forty miles to the Northward,\nv m> *\nwho collect it from the reefs tnd sunken\nrocks with which their coastabounds, thougk\nit is also brought in considerable quantity\nfrom the South. Their mode of taking it\nhas been thus described to me. To one\nend of a- pole is fastened a piece of plank in\nwhich a considerable number of pine pegs\nare inserted made sharp at the ends ; above\nthe plank in order to sink it, a stone\nl&fcsome weight is tied, and the other end of\nthe pole suspended to a long rope ; this is\n\u25a0fet down perpendicularly by the Jfe-waw\n'fishers in those places where that substance\nisfouud which are usually from fifty to gix-\nty fathoms deep; on finding the bottom\n^Iney raise the pole up a few feet and let it\nfall, this they repeat a number of times as if\n 76\naonndingk when they drawi|up and take off'\nthe I-iahaiv which is found adhering to the\npoints. Thi$method of procuring it is very\nlaboriouf and fatiguing, especially as they\nseldom take more than two or three of these\nshells at a time, and frequently none.\nThongh the women, as I have said, make\nbut little use of paint, the very reverse is the\ncase with the men. In decorating their\n3|eads and faees they place their principal\npride,, and none of our most fashionable\npea us, when preparing for a grand ball can\n\u00bbe more particular: For 1 have known Maquina after having been employed for more\nthan an hour in painting his face, rub the\nivfele off| and recommence the operation\nanew when it did not entirely please him.\nTh^manner in which they paint.p^mjselves\nfrequently varies, according to the occas&n,\nbut it opener is trie\/ mere dictate of whim.\u2014\nThe most usual method is to paint the eyebrows black, in form of a half moon, and the\n^ce red in small squares, w||h- the arms and\nlegs and part of the body red ; sometimes\none halj^pf the face is painted red in squares,\nand the other blaekjJL at others, dotted with\nJ^d spots, or red and black instead of squares,\nwith a variety of other devices, such as paints\nMg otp, half of the face and body red, and\nJhe other black. But a method of painting\n^Sphich they sometimes enipl^yed, and wfe^h\nar. weab mucSt'jmore^artilsiiiar in, w7as bj\n PI\nlaying on the face a quantity of bear's|frease\nof about one eighth of an inch thick; this\nthey raised up into ridges resembling a small\nbead in joiner's work, with a stick prepared\nfor the purpose, and then painted them red,\nwhich gave the face a very singular appea#\nance. On extraordinary occasions, the king\n^atid principal chiefs .used to strew over their\nfaces, after painting, a fine black shining\npowder, procured from some mineral, as\nMaquina told me it was got from the rocks.\nThis they call pelpelth, and value it highly^\nas, in their opinion, it serves to set off theW\nlooks to great advantage, glittering, especial\nly in the sun, like silver.\u2014This article is\nbrought them in bags by the Newehemass, a\nj?ery savage nation who live a long way to the\nKforth, from whom they likewise receive a\nsuperior kind of red paint, a species of very\nfine and rich ochre, which they hold in much\nestimation.\nNotwithstanding this custom of painting\nthemselves, they make it an invariable pra&\u00a3\ntice, both in summer and winter, to bathe\nonce a day, and sometimes oftener ; but as\nthe paint is put on with oil, it is not much*\ndiscomposed thereby, and whenever they\nwish to wash it off, they repair to some pitgesi\nof fresh water and scour themselves with\nsand or rushes.\nIn dressing their heads on occasion of\na festival or visit, they are fWttas p^pticnlalf\n 78\nand almos^fas long,, as in paining. The\nhair, after being well oiled, is carefully gathered upon th#i. top of the head and secured\nby a piece of pine or spruce bough with thi\ngreen leaves upon it. After having it property\nfixed in this manner, the king and principal\nchiefs used to strew all over it the white\ndown obtained from a species of large brown\neagle, which abounds on this coast, which\nthey are very particular in arranging so as\nnot to have a single feather out of place, occasionally wetting the hair to make it adhere.\nThis, together with the bough, which is sometimes of considerable size, and stuck over\nwith feathers by means of turpentine, gives\nthem a very singular and gUttesque appear-;\nance, which they, howeverr think very becoming, and the first thing they do on learning the\narrival of strangers is to go and decorate\nthemselves in this manner.\nThe men also wear bracelets of painted\nleather or copper, and large ear-rings of the\nlatter-^-but the ornament on which they appear to set the^nost value, is the nose-jewel,\nif such an appellation may be given to the\nwooden stick, which some of them employ\nfor this purpose. The king and chiefs,\nhowever, wear them of a different form, bfe*\ning either small pieces of polished copper or\nbrass, of which I made many for them, J|r\ntfee shape of hearts and diamonds, or a twilll\ned conical shell about half an inch inlei\n\u25a0\n tfyi\nm:\nil\n\u00a9fa bjiueish coloutr and very bright^ which\nis brought from the South. These are suspended by a small wire or string to the hole,\nin the gristle of the nose, which is formed in\ninfancy, by boreing it with a pin, the hof\u00ab\u00a7\nbeing afterwards enlarged by the repeated insertion of wooden pegs of an increased size,\nuntil it becomes about the diameter of a\npipe stem, though some have them of a size\nnearLyvTSuffeiemt to admit the little finger.\u2014I\nThe common class who opjnnot readily procure the more expensive Jewels that 1 have\nmentioned, substitute for them, usually, a\nsmooth round stick, some of which are of an\nalmost incredible length, for I have see^\nthem projecting not less than eight or nine\ninches beyond the face on each side; this\nis made fast or secured in its place by little\nwedges . on each side of it. These sprit-\nsail-yard fellows, as my mess-mate\nto call them, when rigged out in\nused\nthis\nmanner made quite a strange show, and\nit was his delight whenever he saw one of\nthem coming towards us with an air of consequence proportioned to the length of>his\nstick, to pot up his hand suddenly as he was\npassing him, so as to strike the stick, in order,\nas he said, to brace him up sharp to the wind ;\nthis used to make them very angry, but\nnothing was more remote from Thompson's\nideas than the wish to cultivate their favour.\nThe natives of Nootka appear to have bat\n 80\nlittle inclinarlw^OT the chafcW,?thori;gh some\nof then| ~were ex^rt marksriien, and used\nSometimes to shoot ducks and geese, but the\nseal ancjrthe sea-otter form the principal objects of their huriOT&, particularly the latter.\nOf this animal, so much noted for Hs valua-\nWe skin, the following d^scripflort;,may not\nbe uninteresting, ihe sea-otter is nearly\nEve feet in length, exclusive of the tail, w hich\nIs about twelvefinches, and is very thick and\nbroad where it joins the body, but gradually\ntapers to the end, Which is tipped with white.\nThe colour of the rest is a shining silky\nblack, with ffie exception of a broad white\nstripe on the top ofthe head. Nothing can\nbe more beautiful than oneof these animals\nwhen seen swimming, especially when on\ntile lookout for any object. At such times it\nraises its head quite above the surface, and\nthe contrast between the shirilhig black and\nthe white, together with its sharp ears and a\nlong tuft of hair rising from the middle of its\nforehead, which look like three small'fiorns,\nrender it quite a novel and att\/aotive object.\nThey are ftt' general vefy tame, and will permit a canoe or boat to approach very near\nbefore they dive. ' i %as told, however, that\nthey are become much more shy since they\nhave been accustomed to shoot them with\nmuskets, than when they used ouly arrows.\nThe skin is held in great estimation in China, more especially mat of the tail, the fqr of\na g 2\ni\n M\nwhich is finer and closer set than that on the\nbody. This is always cut off and sold separately by the natives. The value of a skin is\ndetermined by its size, that being considered\nas a prime skin which will reach, in lengtH,\nfrom a man's chin to his feet. The food of\nthe sea-otter is fish, which he is very dexte-\nrous in taking, being an excellent swimme4\nwith feet webbed like those of a goose.-\u2014\nThey appear to be wholly confined to the\nsea (oast, at least to the salt water. They\nhave usually three or four young at a time,\nbut I know not how often they breed, nor in\nwhat places they deposit their young, the**\nI have frequently seen them swimming\naround the mother when no larger than rats;\nThe flesh is eaten by the natives, cooked in\ntheir usual mode by boiling, and is far preferable to that of the seal, of which they\nmake much account.\nBut if not great hunters there are few peo?\npie more expert in fishing. Their lines are\ngenerally made from the sinew of the whale,\n3? \u00bb\u25a0' *\narid are extremely strong. For the hook,\nIhey usually make use of a strait piece of\nhard wood, in the lower part of which is inserted and w;ell secured, with thread or\nwhale sinew-a bit of bone made very sharp;\nat the point and bearded ; but I used to\nmake for them, hooks from iron, which they\npreferred, not only as being less liable to\nbreak, but more certain of securing the fish*\n \u20acod, halibut, and other sea fish were not only caught by them with hooks, but even sa|?\nmon. To take this latter fish, they practise\nthe following method\u2014One person seats\nilimselfin a small canoe, and baiting his\nIbook with a sprat, which thev are always\ncareful to procure as fresh as possible, fastens\nhis line to the handle of the paddle ; this, as\nhe pliesit in the water, keeps the fish in constant motion, so as to give ii ijgie appearance\nof life, which the salmon seeing, leaps at it\nand is instantly hooked, and by a sudden\nand dexterous motion o#the paddle, drawn\non board. I have known some of the natives take no less than eighty oj: ten salmon jjf\na morning in this mamier|Pand have seen\niom twenty to thirty canoes at a time in\nFriendly Cove thus employed: They are\nlikewise little less skilful in taking the whale.\nThis they kill with a kind of javelin or liar-\npoon, thus constructed and fitted. The\nbarbs are formed of bone which are sharpened on the outer side and hollowedSyithin\nfor the purpose of forming a socket for the\n%taff; these are then secured firmly together with whale sinew, the point being fitted\nso as to receive a piece of muscle shell vvhieS\nis ground to a very sharp edge, and se*\ncure! in its place by means of turpentine.\nTo this head or prong is fastened a strong\nline of whale sinew about nine feet in lengthy\nto the end of which is^ed a bark rope froji*\n M\nfifty to sixty fathoms long, haying from\ntwenty to thirty seal skin floats or buoys,\nattached to it at certain intervals, in order to check the motion ofthe whale and\nobstruct his diving. In the socket of the\nharpoon a staff or pole of about ten feet long,\ngradually tapering from the middle to each\nend,is placed ; this the harpooner holds in\nhis hand in order to strike the whale, and immediately detaches it as soon as the fish is\nstruck. The whale is considered as the king's\nfish, and no other person, when he is present,\nis permitted to touch him until the royal\nharpoon has firgtdrawn his blood, however\nnear he may Approach ;. and it would be\nconsidered ahnost as sacrilege for any ofthe\ncommon peoo\u00abrto strike a whale, before he\nis killed, particularly if any of the chiefs\nshould be present. They also kill; the porpoise and sea cow with harpoons, but this\ninferior game is not interdicted the lower\nclass.\nWith regard to their canoes, some ofthe\nhandsomest to be found on the whole coast\nare mslde at Nootka, though very fine ones\nare brought by the Wickiuninish and the\nKiaiz-zarts, who have them more highly ornamented. Thev are of all sizes, from such\nTO are capable of holding only one person to\ntheir largest war canoes which will carry\nforty men, and are extremely light. Of\nthese, the largest of any that I ever sawj,\n 84\nwas one belonging to Maquina, whien I\nmeasured aud found to be forty-two feet six\ninches in length at titoe bottom, and jottp^ids\nfeet from stem to stern. These are made of\npine hollowed out from a tree w^th their\nchizzels solely, which are about three inch-\n\u20acs broad and six in length, and set into a\nhandle of very hard wood. This instrument\nwas formerly made of flint or some hard\nstone ground down to as sharp an edge as\npossible, but\".since they have learned the use\nof irom, they have almost all of them of that\nmetal. Instead of a maijbt for striking this\nchizzel, they make use or a smooth round\nstone, which they hold in. the palm of the\nhand. With this same awk^ljprd instrument\nthey not only excavate tmjir- canoes and\ntrays and smooth their plarif; but cut dovtf#\nsuch trees as they want, eitherfor building,\nfuel, or other purposes, a labour which is\nmostly done bv their slaves. (&$\nThe falliag of trees as practised by them\nis a slow and most tedious process, three of\nthem being generally from two to three days\nta cutting down a large one, yet so attached\nwere t&ey to their own method, that notwithstanding they saw Thompson frequent*\nly with one of our axes, of which there was\na number saved, fall a tree in less time than\nthey could have gone round it with their chizzels, still they could not be persuaded ta\nmake lis\u00ae \u00a9aPthern. \u00abP*\n 35\nII -18'\nAfter hollowing out their canoes, which\nthey do very neatly, they fashion the outside, and slightly burn it for the purpose of\nremoving any splinters or small points that\nmight obstruct its passage through the water, after which they rub it over thoroughly\nwith rushes or coarse mats in order to\nsmooth it, which not only renders it almost\nas smooth as glass, but forms a better seen*'*\nrity for it from the weather ; this operation\nof burning and rubbing down the bottoms of\ntheir canoes is practised as often as they acquire any considerable degree of roughness\nfrom use. The orftside, by this means, becomes quite blacjj, and to complete theipfy\nwork they painjt the inside of a bright red,\nwith ochre or jjjpme other similar substance;\nthe prows and sterns are almost always ornamented wlrh figures ofducks or some other\nkind of bird, the former being so fashioned as\nto represent the head and the latter the tail,\nthese are separate pieces from the canOe\nand are fastened to it with small flexible\ntwigs or bark cord. Some of these canoes,;\nparticularly those employed in whaling,\nwhich will hold about ten men, are ornamented within about two inches below the\ngunwale, with two parallel lines on eaejj^\nside of very small white shells running fore\nand aft, which has a very pretty effect.\nTheir war canoesJiave no ornament of this\nkind bu|T are pairited on the outside wit|^\n ell\n86\nfigured in white chalk representing eagles,\nwhales, human heads, &c. They are very\ndexterous in the use oftheir paddles, which\nar#very riteatiy wrought, and are five feet\nMng with a short handle and a blade seven\ninclies broad in the middle tapering to a\nJfcarp point. With these they will make a\ncanoe skim very swiftly on the water with\nscarcely any noise, while they keep time to\nthe s#oke of the paddle with their songs.\nWith regard to these they have a number\nwhich they sing on various occasions; as\nwar* whaling, and fishmg, at their marriages\nand feasts, and at public festivals or solemnities. The language of the most of these\nappears to be very different, in many respects,\n#0m that used in their comriton conversation, which leads me to believe either that\nthe^ have a different mode of expressing\nthemselves in poetry, or that they borrow\ntheir songs from their neighbours, and what\nthe more particularly induces me to the latter opinion, is, that whenever any of the\nNewchemass, a people from the Northward\nand who speak a very different language, arrived, they used to tell me that they expected a new song, arid were almost always sure\nto have one.\nTheir tunes are generally soft and plaintive,\nf***A8specimen of one oftheir war songs will be found at the\naid--of thiswork, Sp^ KfffllpT^\n re*st favorite\ninstruments are the rattle and the pipe or\nwhistle; theseara however only used by the\nking, the chiefs, or some particular persons ;\nthe former is made of dried sealskin, so as\nto represent sftish, and is tilled with a number of small smooth pebbles, it has a short\nhandle and is painted red. -The whittle is\nmade of bone, generally the 1% of a deer, it\nis short but emitsia very shrill sound. They\nhave likewise another kind of music, which\nthey make use of in daRJemg, in the manner\nof castanets, this is pr*#du;#ed by a number\nof mu\/sele or cockle shells tied together and\nshaken to &*kind of tune,! which is accompanied with the voicej\u25a0*\n^.Their slavesj^as I have observed, f<&rm their\nmost valuable species of property. These\nI are of b&th sex#s, being either captives taken by themselves in war, or purchased from\nthevn\u00a7tg\u00bbhhoring tribes, and who reside in the\nsame house, forming as it were a part jo\u00a3\n the family, are usually kindly treated, eat\nof the same food, and live as welfcas their\nmasters. They are compelled however at\n#mesito labowarseverely, as not only all the\n.menial offices are perfordied bycifchein, such\n\u2022as bringing water, cutting wood and a vaug-\n$ety of others, bint they are obliged toimafoe\n;the canoes, to assist in building and repaid\n4n\u00a7the houses, to supply their masters with\nsfish, and to attend them to war and to fight\n^fer them. None but the krn^sjand chiefs\nhave slaves, the common people being prevented from holding them either from their\ninability to purchase them, or as I am the\ngather inclined to think from its being considered as the privilege of the former\nalone to have them, especially as all those\n^ade prisoners in war belong either to the\nking or the chiefs, who have captured them,\neach one holdings stsch as have been taken\nifay himself or his slaves. * There is probably\nhowever some little distinction in favor of\n\u00ab$he king, who is always the commander of\njtbe expedition, as Maquina had nearly fifty,\nmale and female, in has house, a number constituting about one half of its inhabitants,\nComprehending those obtained by war and\npurchase, whereas none of the other chiefs\nhad more than twelve. The. females are\n.employed principally in manufacturing cloth,\nin cooking, e^teetiiig berries, &c. and with\nJsegard to food and living in general have not\n 89\na much harder lot than their mistresses,\nthe principal difference consisting, in these\npoor unfortunate creatures being considered\nas free to any one, their masters prostituting\nthem whenever they think proper for the\npurpose of gain. In this way many of them\nare brought on board the ships and offered\nto the crews, from whence an opinion appears to have been formed by some of our\nnavigators, injurious to the chastity of their\nfemales, than which nothing \nken at Nootka, but their pronunciation is\nmuch more hoarse and guttural. These\npeople are not only very expert in whaling,\nbut are great hunters, of the sea otter and\nother animals, with which their country is\nsaid to abound, as the Metamelth a large animal of the deer kind, the skin mf which I\nhave already spoken of, another of a light\ngrey colour, with very fine hair from which\nthey manufacture a handsome cloth, the\nbeaver, and a species of large wild cat, or\ntyger cat.\nThe Wickinninish, their neighbours on\nthe North, are about two hundred miles froip\nNootka. They are a robust strong and\nwarlike people, but considered by the Noot*\nkians as their inferiors in courage. This\ntribe is more numerous than that of Nootka, amounting to between six and seven\nhundred warriorR. Though not so civilized\n m\nm\njfe the Kla-iz-zarts and less skilful, in then?\n^manufactures, like them 1?hey employ themselves in hunting as well as in whaling and\nfishing. Their faces are broad btit less so\nthan the Kla-iz-zarts, with a darker complexion, and a much less open and pleasing\nexpression of countenance, while their heads\npresent a very different form, being pressed\nin at th#sides and lengthened towards the\ntop, somewhat in the shape of a sugar loaf.\nThese people are very frequent visitors at\nNootka, a close friendship subsisting between\nthe two nations, Maquina's Arcoma\/t, or\nQueen, Y-ya-tintla-no, being the daughter\nof the Wickinninish king. The Kla-oo-\nqnates adjoining them on the Nof$h are\nmuch?*'less numerous., their force not ex-\nifieednJg four hundred fighting men ; they\nare also behind them in i;he arts of life.\n'These are a fierce, bold, and enterprizing\npeople, %nd there were none tha# visited\nNootka, whom Maquina used to be more on\nWis, guard against, or viewed with so much\nsuspicion. The Eshquates are about the\nsame number; these are^eonsidered as tributary to Maquina :4^Fheir coast abounds\nwith rivers, creeks, and marshes. j?\u00a5o the\nNorth the nearest tribe of any importance\nis the Aitizzarts ; these however do riot\nexceed three hundred warriors. In appearance tliiy greatly resemble the people of\nNootka, to whon+they are considered as\nh 2\nm\nrm\nm\n m\ntributary, their manners, dress, and style of\nliving also being .very similar. They reside\nat about forty miles distance up the sound.\nA considerable way farther to the northward are the Cayuquets ; these are a much\nmore numerous tribe than that of Nootka\nbut thought by the latter to be deficient in\ncourage and martial spirit, Maquina having frequently told me that their hearts\nwere little like those of birds.\nThere are also both at the Northand South\nmany other intervening trifees, butin general\nsmall in numberand insignificant, all of whom\nas well as the above mentioned speak the same\nlanguage. But the Newchemass who come\nfrom a great way to the Northward, and from\nsome distance inland, as I was tolfjjby M\u00ab$\nquina, speak quite a different\" language. alfc\nthough it is well understood by those of\nNootka. These were the most savage\nlooking and ugly men that I ever saw, their\ncomplexion being much darker, their stature\nshorter, and their hair coarser, than that of\nthe other nations, and their dress and*appea**!\nance dirty in an extmnae^ They wear theij$\nbeards long like Jews, and have a very morose and surly countenance. Their usual\ndress is a Kootsuk made of wolf skin, with\na number of the taib* attached to it, of\nwhich I have seen no less than ten on on4t\ngarment, hanging from the top to the,bottom ;\nthough they sometimes wear a similar man-\n M\ntie of bark cl#th, of *a mafeh coaler texture\nthan that of Nootka, the original colour of\nwhich appears ti& be the saNne, thougjk\nfrom th#M? very gpeat filthiness it was almost,\nimpossible to discover what it had been.\nThfeir mode of dressing their hair also varies essentially ft*otia that of the other tribe!|\nfoFthey suffer that on the back of the head to\nhang lo\u00a9se, and bind the other over their\nforeheads in the manner of a fillet, with %\nstrip of their country cloth, ornamented with\nsmall white shells. Their Weapdris areltW\nCheetoolth, or war-club, which is made from\nwhale bone, daggers, bows and arrows, and\na kind of spear pointed with bone or copper.\nThey brought with tliem no furs for sale\nexcepting a few wolf skftSs, then* merchandize consisting principally of the black shining mineral called pelpelth, and the tine red\npaint which they careffll^ kept in close\nmat bags, scWiie small dried salmon, clams,\nand roes of fish, with occasionally a little\ncoarse matting cloth. They were accus-\ntonted to remain a much longer time at\nNod$ka than the other tribes, in order to recover from the fatigue of a long journey,\npart of which was over land, and on these\noccasions taugbt their songs to our savages.\nThe trade of most of the other tribes with\nNootka, was principally train oil, seal or\nwhale's blubber, fish fresh or dried, hearing\nor salmon spawn, clams\/and muscles, and\n Ilfil'i\nthe yama, a species of fruit whicif^^*el^eW\nand dried, cloth, sea otter skins, and Slaves.\nFrom the Aitizzarts, and the Cayuquets,\nparticularly the former, the best I-whaw and\nin the greatest quantities was ootained.\nThe E^hquates furnished us with wild\nducks and geesef particularly the Matter.\nThe Wickinninish ana^Kla-iz-zarts brought\nto market many slaves, the best sea otter\nskins, great quantities of oil, whale sinew,\nand cakes of the yama, highly ornamented\ncanoes,%me I-whaw, red* ochre and pel-\npelth of an inferior quality to that obtained\nfrom the Newdheinass, but particularly the\nso much valued Metamelth, and an excellent\nroot called by the ^Kla-iz-zarts Quainwose.\nThis is the size of a small cAfion^^tit rather\nlonger, being of a tapering form like a pear,\nand of a brownish colour. It is cooked by\nsteam,is always brought in basft%ts ready prepared for eafcirig, and is in truth a very fine\n^getable, being sweet, mealy and of a\nmost agreeable flavour. L*ft was highly es-\nteemed by the natives % hocused to eat w\nas the*f did every thing else With train off\/\nFrom the Kla-iz-zarts was also received,\nthough in no great quantity, a cloth\nT^anufactured by them from the fur a'lread^\nspoken of, which feels like wool and is\nof a grey colour.\nMany of the articles thus brought, particularly the provisions, were considered as\n If\nm\npresents^ or tributary offerings, but this must\nbe viewed as little more than a nominal acknowledgment of superiority, asHthey rarely\nfailed to get the full amount of the value of\ntheir presents. I have known eighteen of\n$ie great tubs, in which they keep theif\nprovisions, filled with spawn brought in\n$ps way* On these occasions a great\n^ast is always made, to which not only the\nstrangers, Jbnt the whole village, men, women, and children are generally invited, and\nI have seen five of the largest tubs employed at such time, in cooking at the\nBng's house. At these feasts they generally indulge in eatpg to an excess, making\nup in this respect for their waut of inebriating liquors, which they know no method\nof preparing in any form, their only drink\nbeing water. ^\nWhenever they came to visit or^trade it\nwras their general custom, to stop a few miles\ndistant under the lee of some bluff or rock,\nand rig thomselves out in their best manner,\nky paining and dressing their heads. On\nl\u00a7|eir first coming on shore, they were invited\nto eat by the king, when they brought\nto him, such articles as he wanted, after\nwhich the rest of the inhabitants were permitted to purchf^e, the -strangers being\ncareful to keep them in their canoes until sold, under strict guard to prevent\ntheir being jfjolen, the exposition of these\"\n 97\npeoplftrfor theiving being so great, that ileis\nnecessary to keep a watchfdiieye upon them.\nThis was their usual mode of jtraffick, but\nwhenever they wished to purchase any particular j^bject, as for instance, a certain\nslave, or some other thing of which they\nwere very desirous, the canoe thakcame for\nthis purpose would lie off a little distance\nfrom the shore, and a kind of embassador o*\nrepresentative of the king or chief by whom\nit was sent, dressed in their best manner,\nand with his head covered with the white\ndowm, wouldtrise, and after making known\nthe object of his mission in a pompous\nspeech, hold up specimens of such articles\nas he was instructed to offer in payment,\nmentioning the number or quantity of each,\nwhen if the bargain was concluded, the exchange was immediately made.\nOn thejf visits of friendship or traffick,\nIhe chiefs alone used to sleep on shore, this\nwas generally at the house of the king or\nhead chief, the others passing the night on\nboard of their canoes, which was done not\nonly for the preservation of their property,\nbut because they were not permitted to re~\nmain on shore, lest they might excite some\ndisturbance or commit depredations.\nAll these people generally go armed, the\ncommon class wearing only a dagger suspended from their neck behind, with a string\nof uietamelth, and sometimes thrust in their\ni\n Mimvw.w;^\ngirdles. The chiefs in addition to the dag^\nger carry the cheetoolth, or war-club suspended in the same manner beneath* their\nmantles, this in the hands of a strong man\nis a powerful weapon, in the management of\nwhich, sonle ofthe older chiefs are very dexterous. It is made from the bone of a whale,\nand is very heavy. The blade is about\neighteen inches long and three broad,\ntill it approaches near the point, where\nit expands to the breadth of four inches.\nIn the middle, from whence it slopes off\ngradually to an edge on each side, it is from\none to two inches in thickness. This blade\nis usually covered with figures of the sun\nand moon, a man's head, &c. and the hilt\nwhich is made to represent the head of a\nman Or some animal, is curiously set with\nsmall white shells, and has a band of meta-\nmelth fastened to it in order to sling it over\nthe shoulder. Some of the tribes have also\na kind of spear headed with copper or the\nbone of the sting ray, which is a dangerous\nweapon ; this is however not usual, and only\ncarried by the chiefs. The bow and arrow\nm\nare still used by a few, but since tfee introduction of fire arms among them, this weapon has been mostly laid aside.\nBut to return to our unhappy situation.\nThough my comrade and myself fared as\nwell, and even better than we could have expected among these people, considering their\n yiii\ntf - ?\nmistoms af d tn#de of^fing,, yet our fea*&\nlesjfeno ship pouid cotne to onr release, and\nthat we should neve$ more behold a Christian country, were to us a source of constant\npain. Our principal consolation in thi*\nglooniy stat% was to go on Sundays, whei^\nf|ver the weatfeer would permit, to the bo$&\nders of a fresh water pond, about a mile\nfrom the village, where, after bathing, and\nputting on clean clothes, we would seat\nourselves under the shade of a beautiful\npine, while,! read some$hapters in the Bible,\nand tljie prayers appointed by our Church fii\nthe day, ending our Jtevotions w:l|h a ferveni\nprayer to the Almighty that he would deign\nstill to watch over and preserve our livefL\nrescue us from the hands of the savagesu,\nand permit us once more to behold a Christian land. In this manner were the greater\npart of our Sundays passed at Nootka ;a4nd\nI felt g-rateful to heaven, that amidst ogg\n^ther sufferings, we^were at least allowed\nthe pleasure of offering up o^r devotionsj\u00bbifo|\nmolested, for Maquina, on my explaining tk\nhim as well as was in vgy power the reason*\nof our thus retiring at Ihis time, far from oh*\njecting, readily consented to it. The pond\nabove mentioned was small, not moijii\nthan a quarter of a mile |n breadth and at\nno great length, the witter being very clear,\nthough not of great depth, and bordered &\n% beautiful forest of pine, fir, elm, and beach.\nw\n 100\nfree from bushes and underwood\u2014a most\ndelightful retreat, which was rendered still\nmore attractive by a great number of birds\nthat frequented it, particularly the humming\nbird. Thither we used to go to wash our\nclothes, and felt secure from any intrusion\nfrom the natives, as they rarely visited it except for the purpose of cleansing themselves\nof their paint.\nIn July we at length thought that the hope\nof delivery we had so long anxiously indulged, was on the point of being gratified.\nA ship appeared in the offing, but alas, our\nfond hopes vanished almost as soon as formed ; for instead of standing in for the shore\nshe passed to the northward and soon disappeared. I shall not attempt to describe\nftr disappointment\u2014my heart sunk within\nme, and I felt as though it was my destiny\nriever more to behold a Christian face. Four\ndays after there occurred a tremendous\nstorm of thunder and lightning, during which\nthe natives manifested great alarm and terror,\nthe whole tribe, hurrying to Maquina's\nhouse, where, instead of keeping within,\nthey seated themselves on: the roof amid the\nseverest of the tempest, drumming upon\nthe boards, and looking up to heaven, while\nthe king beat the long hollow plank, singing\nand, as he afterwards told me, begging\nQuahootze, the name they give to God, not\nt& kill them, in which he was accompanied\n Wl\nmm\nby the whole tribe ; this singing and drumming was continued until the storm abated.\nAs the summer drew near ifs closejwe\nbegan to sg$fer from the frequent want of\nfood, which was principally owing to Maquina and the chiefs being out whaling, in\nwhich he woujd not pern>i fef Thompson a#\u00a5fc\nmyself to join, lest we should make om escape to some of the neighbouring tribes*\nAt these times the women seldom or ever\ncook any provision, and we were often-huqfc\ngry, but were sometimes fortunate enough to*\nprocure secretly, a piece o\u00a3 salmon, some\nother fish, spawn, or even blubber, which,\nby boiling in salt water, with a few onions\nand turnips, the remains of the Spanish\ngarden, or young nettles and other herbs,\nJarnished us a delicious repast in private*\nIn the mean time, we frequently received ae-.\ncounts from the tribes who came, to Nootka\nboth from the nor^a and south,, of there be-\n$ig vessels] on the coasts anjd wfs^e advised\nby their chiefs to make our escape, who also\npromised us their aid, and t\u00a9 put us on\nboard. These stories, however, as I afterwards learned, were almost all of them\nwithout any foundation, and merely invented\nby these people with a view to get us into\ntheir power, in order to make slaves of us\nthemselves, or to sell us toothers. But I\nwas still more strongly solicited to leave\nNQQtka.fcy a. w omi# 1?ws was a Wickin-\n 102\n\u00a3i8Mi \u00a3rflf0es&, a younger sfeter of M#\nquina's wife, vvho wl^s there on a visits I\nhad the good fortune, if it may be so c&fted,\nto bg^ome^quite a favourite with her. She\nSpeared f$i&eh inifeerested for me\u2014-aske^t\nMie many questions respecting my country,\n\u00a71 ha#& mother and sister at home, and if\nHfcey would not grieve for my absence. Her\ncomplexion was fhirer than that of the women in general, and her features more regular, and she would have been cfnite handsome had it not been $Mr a defect in one of\nher eyes, the sight of which had&een injured by some accident, the reason, as Maquina\nHold me, why she had not been married, a\nsUtefect of this kind being by these savages\nCouriered as almost an inoperable objection. She urged me repeatedly to return\nwith her, telling me that the Wickinninish\nWere much better than the Nootkians ; that\nher father would treat me more kindly\nthan Maquina, give -tee better food arid\nclothe^ and finally pu$ me on board one of\nmy own conn try vessels. I felt, however,\nlittle disposed to accompany her, considering my situation with Maquina full as eligible as it would be with the Wickinninish, if\n&ot better, notwithstanding all she said to\nthe contrary.\nOn the third of September, the whole\ntribe quitted Nootka, according to their\nconstant practise, in order to pass the jj\u00a75?\n I\n;1#3\nn|amn and w^feter at Tashees and Cooptet*,\nthe latter lying about thirty miles up the\n.Sound in a deep bay, the navigation of which\nis very dangerous from the great number of\nreefs and rocks with which it abounds. On\nthese occasions every thing is taken with\nthem, even the planks of ft eir houses, in order to cover their new dwellings. To an\nEuropean, such a removal exhibits a scene\nquite novel and strange : canoes piled up\nwith boards and boxes, and filled with men,\nwomen and children of all ranks and sizes,\nmaking the air resound with their cries and\nsongs. At these times, as well as when\nthey have occasion to go some distance\nfrom their houses, the infants are usually\nsuspended across the mother's shoulders, in\na kind of cradle or hammock, formed of\nbark, of about six inches in depth, and of the\nlength of the child, by means of a leather\nband inserted through loops on its edges;\nthis they also keep them in when at home, in\norder to preserve them in a strait position,\nand prevent any. distortion of the limbs,\nmost probably a principal cause of these\npeople being so seldom deformed or crooked.\nThe long boat of our ship having been repaired and furnished with a sail by Thornp-s\nson, Maquina gave us the direction of it^ve\nbeing better acquainted with managing it\nthan his people, and after loading her as\n4eep as( sj$e could swim, we proceeded in\nw\n \u00abtr\nS^IWi^Mtta^Jttte n\nNootka With heavy hearts, as we could en-\nferratti no hopes of release Until our^eturh,\n\"llb^ship's \u00aeVerdoming to that part of the\nibast. Passing Cooptee, which is\" situated\nt|h the southerns bank, just witftijithe nroufft\ntjf a small river flowing from the%ast in a\nnarrow valley at the foot of a mountain, we\nproceeded about fifteen! miles up this#ream\nto Ta^hees, between a ra#ge of lofty hills on\neach !!de, which extend a great ^distance inland, aWd are covered with the finest forest\ntrees of tjye ccnintry. Immediately on our\narrival, we ail went to work very diligently\nSi covering the houses with the planks we\nW&d brought, the frames being ready erected,\nthese people neveffpretending to remove the\ntimber, in a very short time the work was\nIferilpleted, and we weie established in our\nriew residence.\nTashees is pleasantly situated and in a\nriiost secure positidh||rora the winter storms,\niifa sultan vale or hollow on the south^shore,\nm: the foo% of a mountain. The spot on\nifeicfr it stands is leyej^amd the soil very\nnrie, the country in its vicinity abounding\nwith the most romantic views, charmingly\neiversified, and fine streariis of water falling\nin be^aulifid cascades from the mountains.\nThe river at this p\u00abpce is about twenty rods\nill wiatti, and, in $s deepest part, from nimf\nto twelve feet. This village is the extreme\nm 12\n w\n105\nill\nHP\npoint of navigation, as immediately beyond,\nthe river becomes much more shallow, and\nis broken into rapids and fails. The houses\nhere are placed in a line like those at Nootka, but closer together, the situation being\nmore confined, they are also smaller, in consequence of which, we were much crowded^\nand incommoded for room.\nThe principal object in coming to this\nplace, is the facility it affords these people\nof providing their winter stock of provisions,\nwhich consists principally of salmon, and\nthe spawn of that fish ; to which may be\nadded herring and sprats, and herringspawri.\nThe latter, however, is always procured by\nthem at Nootka, previous to their quitting\nit. At the seasons of spawning, which aA\nearly in the spring and the last of August,\nthey collect a great quantity of pine branches, which they place in different parts of the\nCove at the depth of about ten feet, and secure them by means of heavy stones. On\nthese the herring deposit their spawn in immense quantities; the bushes are then taken\nup, the spawn stripped from the branches,\nand after being washed and freed from the\npine leaves by the women, is dried and put\nup in baskets for use. It is considered as\ntheir greatest delicacy, and eaten both cooked and raw : in the former case, being boiled and eaten with train oil, and in the latter,\nmixed up with cold water alone.\ndt\u00a3*L\n The salmon are taken at Tashees, principally in pots or wears. Their method of\ntaking them in wears is thus:\u2014A pot of\ntwenty feet in length, and from four to five\nfeet diameter at the mouth, is formed\nof a great number of pine splinters which\nare strongly secured, an inch and a half\nfrom each other, by means of hoops made\nof flexible' twigs, and placed about eight\ninches apart. At the end it tapers almost\nto a point, near which is a small wicker\ndoor, for the purpose of taking out the fish.\nThis pot or wear is placed at the foot of a\nfall or rapid, where the water is not very\ndeep, and the fish driven from above with long\npoles, are intercepted and caught in the wear,\nfrom whence they are taken into the canoes.\nIn this manner I have seen more than seven\nhundred salmon caught in the space of fifteen minutes. I have also sometimes known\na few of the striped bass taken in this manner, but rarely.\nAt such times there is great feasting and\nmerriment among them. The women and\nfemale slaves being busily employed in\ncooking, or in curing the fish for then* winter stock, which is done by cutting off the\nheads and tails, splitting them, taking out\nthe back bone, and hanging them up in their\nhouses to dry. They also dry the halibut and\ncod, but these instead of curing whole, they\ncut up into small pieces for that purpose,\n \u25a0 til\ni*fd ^xptfie^-the*i3'tfn. Tm* spaM# of the\nsalmon, which is a ptftfcipal arMie of theS\nprovision, they take out, and without any\niHner preparation, throw it into their tubs;\nwhere they leave it to stand arild fermight, for^\nthough they frequently eat-it fresh, they eH$\u00a3\nteem it much more when it has acquired a\nifffthg t&\u00a3t&, an*d Orie of the greatest favours\nmef oan confer on any person, is to invite*\nnftn to eat Qnakamiss, the name tSfrey give\nIfiri'S food, though scarcely any tiring calf be\nmore repugnant to a European palate, thani\nit is in this state; and w believer rney took it.\noliit of these largfe receptacles, which they*\n#re atfivays careful to fill, such was the*\nstench Which it exhaled, on being moveo^\nthat it was almost impossible for me t&\nabide it, even after habit, hart in a great degree dulled tire delicacy of my senses.-^\nWhen boiled if became less offensive, thought\nit sttf retained much of 'Ate putrftf smelt\nand something of the taste\ni9&*$ft is the hnriiense quantity of these\nfish, WW they ate taken wfth such facility,\n#at 1 have known upwards m ttventy-five%\nh^ndretr-oroligrft iriftf Matpiina's ho$sg aV;\nonce, and' at tine of tn^i* great feasts, have\"\nj&eri one hundred or mofe coofcetf in one\nof* their ferge^t tubs.\nI used fr^ed^tftfy to go out with lVia^u1n#\ntifcon these febfrig parties, and lias alWa$#\nsure to receive a h arid soke pfi&ent of &m\u00a3-\n m\n108\nmon, which #1 had thejprivilege of calling\nmine ; I also went with him several times in\na canoe, to strike the salmon, which I have\nattempted to do myself, but could never\nsucceed, it requiring a degree of adroitness\nthat I did not possess. I was also permitted to go out with a gun, and was several\ntimes very successful in shooting wild ducks,\nand teal, which are very numerous here,\nthough rather shy. These they cooked in\ntheir usual manner, by boiling, without any\nfarther dressing than skinning them. In\nmany respects, however, our situation was\nless pleasant here than at Nootka. We\nwere more incommoded for room, the houses\nnot being so spacious, nor so well arranged,\nand as it was colde%jwe were compelled to\nbe much more within doors. We-however,\ndid not neglect on Sundays, when the weather would admit, to retire into the woods,\nand by the side of some stream, after bathing, return our thanks to God for preserving\nus, and offer up to him our customar^de-\nvotions. I was however, very apprehensive,\nsoon after our arrivak|at this place, that I\nshould be deprived of the satisfaction of\nkeeping my \"journal, as Maquina one day\nobserving me writing in it, enquired of me\nwhat I was doing, and when I endeavoured\nto explain it, by telling him that 1 was\nkeeping an account of the weather, he\nsa4f| it was not so, ajid tfa|at I was speaking\n II li\n4\ni&d abo&t Mril* ^nd^elling-how he had taksgfc\nOur ship arid killed five erew? so as lo inform\nmy countrymen, and tfeat if he ever s&w\" mo\nWriting in it&g&in, be would throw it into\n3fce fire. I w&s much rejoiced that he did\nno more than threaten, and became very\ncautious afterwards not to let him see mfe;\nwr$te.\nNot long after I finished some daggers for\nhim, which I polished highly ; ^ese pleased him much, and he gave me directions to\nmake a eheetoohh, in which I succeeded so\nfar to his satisfaction, that he gave me a^\npresent of cloth sufficient to make me a\ncomplete suit of raitnelit, besides ofear\nthings, Thompson, also, who had become\nrather more of a favourite than formerly,\nsince he had made a fine sail for his canoe,\nand some garments for him out of European cloth, about this time completed another,\nwhich was thought by the savages a most\nsnperb dress, This wras a Kootsuk or man-\ntle,g3, fathom square, made entirely of European vest patterns of the gayest colours.\nThese were sewed together, in a manner to\nmake the best show, and bound with a deep\ntrimming of the fittest otter skin, with\nwhich the arm-holes were also bordered ;\nwhile the bottorii was farther embellished\nwith five or six rows of gilt buttons, placed\nas near as possible to each orhe1# Nothing\n#onki exceed the pride of Maquina} when*\n lit\n%fi fir^fe pt*t on thfe ro|?aIT robe, decorateii\nlike the coat of Joseph with all the colours\nof the rainbow, and glittering with the but?\ntoft's, which as he strutted about made a\ninkling, while he repeatedly exclaimed in a\ntransport of exultation, KMw sfnsh Kat-\nmkr^wiek hum attack Nootka, A fine garw\nment\u2014Nootka can't make him.\nMaquina, who knew that the chiefs of\nthe titibes who came to vkit us, bad endeavoured to persuade me to escape, frequently\ncautioned me not to listen to them, saying\nthat shoiuld I make the attempt, and lie\nwere to take me, he should certainly pot me\nto death. While here he gave me a book\nin whiciB I found the names of seven persons- belonging to the ship Manchester of\nPhiladelphia, Captain Brian, viz\u2014Daniel Smith, Lewis Gillon, James Tom,\nClark, Johi^on, Ben and; Jack. These\nmen, as Maquina informed me, ran away\nfrom the ship, and came to him, but that\n\u00a3?ix of them, soon after went off fh the night,\nwilh an intention to go to the Wickinninish,\nbut were shopped by the Eahquiates, and\nsent back to him, and that he ordered them\nto be put to death ; and a most cruel death\nit waSj as I was told by one of the natives,\nfour men. holding one of them on the ground,\nand forcing opeS his mouth, while they\nchoaked him by ramming stones down his\nthroat. As to Jack the boy, who made no\n Ill\nm\nattempt to go off, Maquina afterwards sold\nhim to the Wickinninish. I was informed\nby the princess Yuqua, that he was quite a\nsmall hoy, who cried a great deal, being put\nto hard labour beyond his strength by the\n- natives, in cutting wood and bringing water,\nand that when he heard of the murder of\nour crew, it had such an effect on him that\nhe fell sick and died shortly after. On\nlearning the melancholy fate of this unfortunate lad, it again awakened in my bosom\nthose feelings that I had experienced at the\nshocking death of my poor comrades.\nThe king finding that I was desirous of\nlearning their language, was much delight-\n* ed, and took great pleasure in conversing\nwith me. On one of these occasions, he\nexplained to me his reasons for cutting off\n.our ship, saying that he bore no ill will to my\ncountrymen, but that he had been several\ntimes treated very ill by them. The first\ninjury of which he had cause to complain,\nwas done him by a Captain Tawnington,,\nwho commanded a schooner which passett|\na winter at Friendly Cove, where he was\nwell treated by the inhabitants. This man\ntaking ad vantage of Maquina's absenoe, who\nhad gone to the Wickinninish to procure\na wife, armed himself and crew, and\nentered the house where there were none\nbut women, whom he threw into the greatest\nconsternation, and searching the chests, took\n 112\naway j|ll the skins, of which Maquina had\nno less than forty of the best; and that\nabout the same time, four of their chiefs\nwere barbarously killed by a Captain Martinez, a Spaniard. That soon after Captain\nHanna, of the Sea-Otter, in consequence of\none of the natives having stolen a chizzel\nfrom the carpenter, fired upon their canoes which wrere along side, and killed\nupwards of twenty of the natives, of whom\nseveral were 1 yees or chiefs, and that he\nhimself being on board the vessel, in order\nto escape was obliged to leap from the quar-\n\u2022If*\nter dec|;, and swim for a long\nway under\nwater.\nThese injuries had excited! in the breast\nof Maquina, an ardent desire of revenge,^\nthe strongest passion of the savage heart,\nand though many years had elapsed sincV;;\ntheir commission, still they were not forgotten,\nand the want of a favourable opportunity\nalone prevented him from sooner avenging\nthem. Unfortunately for us, the long wished for opportunity at length presented itself\nin our ship, which Maquina finding not\nguarded with the usual vigilance of the\nNorth West Traders, and feeling his desire\nof revenge rekindled by the insult offered\nhim by captain Salter, formed a plan for attacking, and on his return, called a council of his chiefs, and communicated it\nto them, acquainting them with the manner\nK\n 113\n- ,\u201e<.:>\n:\nII * \u2022.\nin which he had been treated. No lessol^f\nsirous of avenging this affront offered their\nking, than the former injuries, they readily agreed to his proposal, which was to go\non board without arms as usual, but under\ndifferent pretexts, in greater numbers, and\nwait his signal for the moment of attacking\ntheir unsuspecting victims. The execution\nof this scheme, as the reader knows, was\nunhappily too successful. And here I cannot but indulge a reflection that has ffe^\nquently occurred to me on the manner in\nwhich ourpeople behave towards the natives.\nFor though they are a theivish race, yet I\nhave no doubt that many of the melancholy\ndisasters have principally arisen from\nthe imprudent conduct of some of' the\n.captains and crews of the ships employed\nin this tyade, in exasperating them by insulting, plundering, and even killing them\non slight grounds. This, as nothing is more\nsacred with a savage than the principle of\nrevenge, and no people are so impatient\nunder insult, induces them to wreak their\nvengeance upon the first vessel or boat's\ncrew that offers, making the innocent too\nfrequently suffer for the wrongs of the guilty, as few of them know to discriminate between persons of the same general appearance, more especially when speaking'fthe\nsame language. And to this cause do {^believe, must principally be ascribed the san-\n 114\nquinary disposition with which these people\nare reproached, as Maquina repeatedly told\nme that it was not his wish to hurt a white\nman, and that he never should have done it,\nthough ever so much in his power, had they\nnot injured him. And were the command-\nirs of our ships to treat the savages with\nrather more civility than thev sometimes do,\nJT am inclined to think they would find their\naccount in it; not that I should recommend\nto them a coniidewce in the good faitli*and\nfriendly professions of these people, so asv\nin anv degree to remit their vigilance, but\non the contrary, to be strictly on their guard,\nand suffer but a very few of them to come\non board the ship, and admit not many of\nifeeir canoes along side at a time ; a precaution that would have been the means of preventing some of the unfortunate events\nthat have occurred, and if attended to, *fnay\nin future, preserve many a valuable lileV\nSuch a regulation too, from what I know of\ntheir disposition and wants^would produce\nmo serious difficulty in trading with the sa-\nvages, and they would soon become perfectly reconciled to it.\nAmong the provisions which the Indians\nprocure at Tashees, I must not omit mentioning a fruit that is very important, \u00a3sS\nforming a great article of their food. This\n\u00ae&. what is called by them the Yama, a species of berry that grows in bunches like\n $ft\n115\nBIllW\ncurrants, upon a bush from two to tffree\nfeet high, with a large, round and smooth\nleaf. This bejry is^ black, and about the\nsize of a pistol shot, but of rather an oblong shape, and open at the top like the blue\nwhortle berry. The taste is sweet, but a little acrid, and when first gathered, if eaten in\nany gr\u00a7at quantity, especially without oil, is\napt to produce cholics. To procure it, large\ncompanies of women go out on the mountains, accompanied by armed men, to\nprotect them against wild beasts, where\nthey frequently remain for several days,\nkindling a fire at night, and sheltering\nthemselves under sheds constructed of\nboughs. At these parties, they collect\ngreat quantities. I have known Maquina's\nqueen and her women return, loaded, bringing with them upwards of twelve bushels.\nIn order to preserve it, it is pressed il the\nbunches between two planlfif',' and dried and\nput away in baskets for use. It is always\neaten with oil.\nOf berries of various kinds, such as straw\nberries, raspberries, black berries &c. there\nare great Quantities\u2122 the country, of which\nox .\nthe natives aref very fond, gathering them\nin their seasons and eating them with oil,\nbut the yama is the only one that they preserve.\nFish is, however, their great article of food,\nas almost all the others, exceptingthe yama,\n 116\nmay be considered as accidental. They\nnevertheless are far from disrelishing meat,\nfor instance, venison and bear\"s flesh. With\nregard to the latter, they have a most singu-\nlar custom, which is, that any one who eats\nof it is obliged to abstain from eating any\nkind of fresh fish whatever, for the term of\ntwo months, as they have a superstitious belief, that should any of their people after\ntasting bear's flesh, eat of fresh salmon, cod,\n&c. the fish, though at ever so great a distance off, would come to the knowledge\nof it, and be so much offended thereat, as\nnot to allow themselves to be taken by any\nof the inhabitants. This I had an opportunity of observing* while at Tashees, a bear\nhaving been killed early in December, of\nwhich not more than ten of the natives\nwould eat, being prevented by the prohibition annexed to it, which also wras the reason\nof my comrade and myself not tasting it,\non being told by Maquina the consequence\nAs there is something quite curious in\ntheir management of this animal, when Matey\nhave killed one, I shall give a description of\nit. After well cleansing the bear from the\ndirt and blood, with which it is generally\ncovered wheu filled, it is brought in and\nseated opposite the king in an upright posture, with a chief's bonnet, wrought in\nfigures on its head, and its fur powrdered\nover with the white down. A tray of pro-\nK 2\n 1*7\nHi\nvision is then set before it, and it is invited W^\nwords and gestures to eat. This mock ceremony over, the reason of which I could\nnever learn, the animal is taken and skinned,\nand the flesh and entrails boiled up into a\nsoup, no part, but the paunch being re-\njetcd.\nThis dressing the bear, as they call it, is\nan occasion of great rejoicing throughout\nthe village, all the inhabitants oeing invited\nto a great feast at the king's house, though\nbut few of them, in consequence of the\npenalty, will venture to eat of the flesh, but\ngenerally content themselves with their favourite dish of herring spawn and water.\nThe feast on this occasion was closed by a\ndance from Sat-sat-sak-sis, in the manner I\nhave already described, in the course of\nwhich he repeatedly shifted his mask for\nanother of a different form.\nA few days after a second bear was taken,\npie the former by means of a trap. This I\nhad the curiosity to go and see at the place\nwhere it was caught, which was in the following manner. On the edge of a small\nstream of water in*he mountains, which\nthe salmon ascend, and near the spot where\nthe bear is accustomed to watch for them,\nwhich is known by its track, a trap or box\nabout the height of a man's head is built of\nposts and planks with a flat top, on which\nare laid a nuiriber of large %tones or rock&\n 118\nThe top and sides are then carefully covered with turf, so as to resemble a little\nmound, and wholly to exclude the light, a\nnarrow entrance of the height of the building only being left, just sufficient to admit\nthe head and shoulders of the beast. j()n\nthe inside, to a large plank that covers the\ntop, is suspended by a strong cord a salmon,\nthe plank being left loose so that a forcible\npull will bring it down. On coming to its\nusual haunt, the bear enters the trap, and in\nendeavouring to pull away the fish, brings\ndown the whole covering with its load of\nstones upon its&head, and is almost always\ncrushed to deatft on the spot, or so wounded as to be unable to escape. They are always careful to examine these traps every\nday, in order if a bear be caught, to bring\n4M? away, and cook it immediately, for it is\nnot a little singular,xthat these people will\neat no kind of meat that is in the least tainted, or not perfectly fresh, while, on the\ncontrary, it is hardly possible for fish to be\nin too putrid a state for them, and I have\n.(frequently known them when a whale has\nbeen driven ashore, bilrig pieces of it home\nwith them, in a state of offensiveuess insupportable to any thing but a crow, and devour\nit with high relish, considering it as preferable to that which is fresh.\nOn the morning ofthe 13 th of December,\ncommence*! what \"to us appeared a most\n-#\u2022\n 119\nsingular farce. Apparently without any\nprevious notice, Maquina discharged a pistol close to, his son's ear, who immediately\nfell down as if killed, upon which all the\nwomen of the house set up a most lamentable cry, tearing handfuls of hair from their\nheads, and exclaiming that the prince was\ndead, at the same time a great number of\nthe inhabitants, rushed into the house armed\nwith their daggers, muskets, &c. enquiring\nthe cause of their outcry, these were immediately followed by two others dressed in\nwolf skins, with masks over their faces representing the head of thaifianimal; the latter\ncame 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\nthe same manner they entered. We saw\nnothing more of the ceremony, as Maquina\ncame toi&ts, and giving us a quantity of dried provision, ordered us to quit the house\nand not return to the village before the e^\npiration of seven days, for that if we appeared within that period, he should kill us.\nAt any other season of the year such an\norder would by us have been considered as\nan indulgence, in enabling us to pass our\ntime in whatever way we wished, and even\nnow, furnished as we were, with sufficient\nprovision for that term, it was not very unpleasant to us, more particularly Thompson,\nwho was always desirous to keep as much\n im\nas possible out of the society and sight of\nthe natives, whom he detested. ^Waking\nwith us our provisions, a bundle of clothes,\nand our axes, we obeyed the directions of\nMaquina, and withdrew into the woods,\nwhere we built ourselves a cabin to shelter\nus, with the branches of trees, and keeping\nup a good fire, secured ourselves pretty well\nfrom the cold. Here we passed the presifrib-\ned period of our exile, with more content\nthan much of the time while with them,\nemploying the day in readingand praying for\nilrir release, or in rambling around and exploring the country, the soft of which we\nfound to be very good, and the face of it,\nbeautifully diversified with hills and vallies,\nrefreshed with the finest streams of water,\nand at night enjoyed comfortable repose upon a bed of soft leaves, with our garments\nspread over us to protect us from the cold.\nAt the end of seven days we returned,\nand found several of the people of A-i-tiz-zart\nwith their king or cliieftat Tashees, who had\nbeen invited by Maquina to attend the\nclose of this jferformance, which I now\nlearnt was a celebration, held by them annually, in honour of their god,^vhom they\ncall Quahootze, to return him their thanks\nfor his past, and implore his future favors.\nIt terminated on the 21st, the day after our\nreturn, with a most extraordinary exhibition. Three men, each of whom had two\n g&\nf\nmm\ni9i\nbayonets run through his sides, between the\nribs, apparently regardless of the pain,\ntraversed the room, backwards and forwards, singing war songs, and exulting in\nthis display of firmness.\nOn the arrival of the 25th, we could not\nbut call to mind, that this being Christmas,\nwas in our country a day of the greatest festivity, when our fellow countrymen assembled in their churches, were celebrating the\ngoodness of God^ and the praises of the\nSaviour. What a reverse did our situation\noffer\u2014captives in a savage land, and slaves\nto a set of ignorant beings, unacquainted,\nwith religion or humanity, hardly were we\npermitted to offer up our devotions by ourselves in the woods, while wo felt even grateful for this privilege. Thither with the\nking's permission, we withdrew, and after\nreading the service appointed for the day,\nsung the hymn of the Nativity, fervently\npraying that heaven in its goodness, would\npermit us to cel2br#te the next festival of\nthis kind in some Christian land. On our\nreturn, in order to conform as much as was\nin our power to the custom of our country,\n'we were desirous of having a better supper\nthan usual. With this view we bought from\none of the natives, some dried clams and\noil, and a root called Kletsup, which we\ncooked by steaming, and found it very pjajf\natable. This root consists of many fibrf|L\n 122\nof about six inches long, and of *the size of\na crow quill. It is sweet, of an agreeable\ntaste, not unlike the Quaiioose, and it is\neaten wMi oil. The plant that produces it\nI have never seen.\nOn the 31st, all the tribe quitted Tashees\nfor Cooptee, whither they go to pass the remainder of the winter, and complete their\nfishing, taking off every thing with them in\nthe same manner as at Nootka. We arrived\nin a few hours at Coptee, which is about\nfifteen miles, and immediately set about\ncovering the houses, which was soon completed.\nThis place, which is their great herring\nand sprat fishery, stands just within the\nmouth of the river, on the same side with\nTashees, in a very narrow valley at the foot\nof a high mountaiu. Though nearly as secure as Tashees from the winter storms, it\nis by no means so pleasantly situated,\nthough to us it was a much more agreeable\nresidence, as it brought us nearer Nootka,\nwhere we were impatient to return, in hopes\nof finding some vessel there, or hearing of\nthe arrival of one near.\nThe first snow that fell this season, was\nthe day after our arrival, on New-Tears; a\nday that like Christmas, brought with it,\npainful recollections, but at i\" 3 same time\nled us to indulge the hope of a more fortu-*\nnate year than the last.\n Ptf\n123\nEarly on the morning of the 7th of Jan-\nuary, Maquina took me with him in his ca-\nnoe on a visitito Upquesta, chief of the A-i-\ntiz-zarts, who had invited him to attend an exhibition at his village, similar to the one\nwith which he had been entertained at\nTashees. This place is between twenty\nand thirty miles distant up the sonnd, and\nstands on the banks of a small river about\nthe, size of that of Cooptee, just within itsj\nentrance, in a valley of much greater extent\nthan that of Tashees ; it consists of fourteen or fifteen houses, built and disposed in\nthe manner of those at Nootka. The tribe,\nwhich is considered as tributary to Maquina, amounts to about three hundred warriors, and the inhabitants, both men and\nwomen, are among the best looking of any\npeople on the coast.\nOn our arrival we wore received at the\nshore by the inhabitants, a few of whom\nwere armed with muskets, which they fired,\nwith loud shouts and exclamations of Wocash, wocash.\nWe were welcomed by the chiefs messenger, or master of ceremonies, dressed in his\nbest garments, with his hair powdered with\nwhite down, and holding in Jiis hand the\ncheetoolth, the badge of his office. This\nman preceded us to the chief's house, where\nhe introduced and pointed out to us our\nrespective seats. On entering, the Adsitors\n,'\u00abp\n 124\ntook off their hats, which they always wear\non similar occasions, and Maquina his outer\nrobes, of which he has several on whenever\nhe pays a visit, and seated himself near the\nchief. As I was dressed in European\nclothes I became quite an object of curiosity to these people, very few of whom had ever\nseen a white man. Thev crowded around\nme in numbers, taking hold of my clothes,\nexamining my face, hands and feet, and even\nopening my mouth to see if 1 had a tongue,\nfor notwithstanding I had bv this time be-\ncome well acquainted with their language, I\npreserved the strictest silence, Maquina on\nOur first landing having enjoined me not to\nspeak, until he should direct. Having undergone this examination for some time,\nMaquina at length made a sign to me to\nspeak to them. On hearing me address\nthem in their own language, they were greatly astonished and delighted, and toid Maquina that they now perceived that I was a\nman like themselves, exc epfthat I was white\nand looked like a seal, alluding to my blue\njacket and trowsers, which they wanted to\npersuade me to take off, as they did not like\ntheir appearance. Maq uina in the mean time\ngave an account to the chief, of the scheme\nhe had formed for surprizing our ship, and\nthe manner in which he and his people had\nparried it into execution, with such particular and horrid detaififcof that transaction\n 125\nas chilled the blood in my veins. Trays of\nboiled herring spawn and train oil were\nsoon after brought in and placed before us,\nneither the chief or any of his people eating\nat the same time, it being contrary to the\nideas of hospitality entertained by these\nnations, to eat any part of the food that is\nprovided for strangers, always waiting until\ntheir visitors have finished, before they have\ntheir own brought in.\nThe following day closed their festival\nwith an exhibition of a similar kind, to\nthat which had been given at Tashees, but\nstill more cruel, the different tribes appearing on these occasions to endeavour to surpass each other, in their proofs of fortitude\nand endurance of pain. In the morning\ntwenty men entered the chief's house, with\neach an arrow run through the flesh of his\nsides, and either arm, with a cord fastened\nto the end, which as the performers advanced, singing and boasting, was forcibly\ndrawn back by a person having hold of\nit. After this performance was closed we\nreturned to Cooptee, which we reached at\nmidnight, our men keeping time with their\nsongs to the stroke of their paddles.\nThe natives now began to take the herring\nand sprat in immense quantities, with some\nsalmon, and there was nothing but feasting\nfrom morning till night. The following is\nthe method they employ to take the herring.\n 126\nA stick of about seven fet# long^two iriches\nbroad, and half an inch thicfi, is formed from\nsome hard wood, one side of which is set\nwith sharp teeth, made from whale bone, at\nabout half an inch apart. Provided with\nthis instrument, the fisherman seats himself\nin the prow of a canoe, which is paddled\nby another, and whenever he comes to a\nshoal of herring, which cover the water in\ngreat quantities, he strikes it with both\nhands upon them, and at the same moment\nturning it up, brings it over the side of the\ncanoe, into which he lets those that are ta\u00bb\nken drop. It is astonishing to see how\nmany are caught by those who are dexterous\nat this kind of fishing, as they seldom fail\nwhen^he shoals are numerous, of taking\nas many as ten or twelve at a stroke, and in\na very short time will fill a canoe with them.\nSprats are likewise caught in a similar manner.\nAbout the beginning of February, Maquina gave a great feast, at which were present not only all the inhabitants, but one\nhundred persons from A-i-tiz-zart, and a\nnumber from Wickinninish, who had been\ninvited to attend it. It is customary with\nthem to give an annual entertainment of this\nkind, and it is astonishing to see what a\nquantity of provision is expended, or rather\nwasted on such an occasion, when they always eat to the greatest excess. It was at\n :#\nw.\n*FG?~\n' \u25a0*\nfection of the instrument. At these times\nhe always returned very morose and out of\ntemper, upbraiding his men with having violated their obligation to continence preparatory to whaling. In this state of ill humour\nhe would give us very little to eat, which\nadded to the women not cooking when the\nmen are away, reduced us to very low fare.\nIn consequence of the repeated oecurrence\nof similar accidents, I proposed to Maquina\nto make him a harpoon or foreganger of\nsteel, which would be less liable to fail him.\nThe idea pleased him, and in a short time\nI completed one for him, with which he was\nibuch delighted, and the very next day,\nwent out to make trial of it. He succeeded with it in taking a whale. Great was\nthe joy throughout the village as soon as it\nwas known that the king had secured the\nwhale, by notice from a person stationed at\nthe head-land in the offing. All the canoes\nwere immediately launched, and, furnished\nwith harpoons and seal skin floats, hastened*\nto assist in buoying it up and in towing it in.\nThe bringing in of this fish exhibited a\nscene of universal festivity. As soon as\nthe canoes appeared at the mouth of the\ncove, those on board of them singing a song\nof triumph to a slow air, to which they kept\ntime with their paddles, all who were on\nShore, men, women and children, mounted\nthe roofs of their houses, to eongra&ulate\n IS4\nthe king on his success, drumming most furiously on the planks, and exclaiming Wocash\u2014wocash Tyee.\nThe whale on being drawn on shore, was\nimmediately cut up, and a great feast of the\nblubber given at Maquina's house, to which\nall the village were invited, who indemnified\nthemselves for their lent, by eating as usual\n16 excess. 1 was highly praised for the\ngoodness of my harpoon, and a quantity of\nblubber given me, which I was permitted to\ncook as 1 pleased, this I boiled in salt water\nw7ith some young nettles and other greens\nfor Thompson and myself, and in this way\nwe found it tolerable food.\nTheir method of procuring the oil, is to\nskim it from the water in which the blubber\ni\u00a7 boiled, and when cool, put it up into\nwhale bladders for use, and of these I have\nseen them so large as, when filled, would require no less than five or six men to carry.\nSeveral of the chiefs, among whom were\nMaquina's brothers, who after the king has\ncaught the first whale, are privileged to take\nthem also, were very desirous, on discover-\ninlPthe superiority of my harpoon, that I\nshould make some for them, but this Maquina would not permit, reserving for himself this improved weapon. He however\ngave me directions to make a number more\nfor himself which I executed, and also made\n 1S5\nIIII\n'iffli\n'alilJi\nhim several lances, with which he was greatly pleased.\nAs these people have some very singular\nobservances preparatory to whaling, an account of them will, I presume, not prove uninteresting, especially as it may serve to\ngive a better idea of their manners. A short\ntime before leaving Tashees, the king makes\na point of passing a day alone on rne mountain, whither he goes very privately early\nin the morning, and does not return till\nlate in the evening. This is done, as I afterwards learned, for the purpose of singing\nand praying to his God for success in whal-\nAt Cooptee the\ning the ensuing season.\nsame ceremony is performed, and at Nootka\nafter the return thither, with still greater solemnity, as for the next two days he appears\nvery thoughtful and gloomy, scarcely speaking to any one, and observes a most rigid\nfast. On these occasions, he has always a\nbroad red fillet made of bark, bound around\nhis head, in token of humiliation, with\na large branch of green spruce on the top,\nand his great rattle in his hand. In addition to this, for a week before commencing\ntheir whaling, both himself and the crew of\nhis canoe observe a fast, eating but very little, and going into the water several times in\nthe course of each day to bathe, singing and\nrubbing their bodies, limbs and faces With\nShells and bushes, so that on their return\nm\n 136\nI have seen them look as though they had\nbeen severely torn with briers. They are\nlikewise obliged to abstain from any commerce with their women for the like period,\nthe latter restriction being considered as\nindispensible to their success.\nEarly in June Tootoosch, the crazy chief,\ndied. On being acquainted with his death\nthe whole village, men, women, and children\niset up a loud cry, with every testimony of\nthe greatest grief, which they continued for\nmore than three hours. As soon as he was\ndead, the body, according to their custom,\nWas laid out on a plank, having the head\nbound round with a red bark fillet, which is\nwith them an emblem of mourning and sorrow. After laving some time in this man-\nner, he was wrapped in an otter skin\nrobe, and three fathoms of I-wbaw being\nput about his neck, he was placed in a large\ncoffin or box of about three feet deep, which\nwas ornamented on the outside with two\nrows of the small white shells. In this, the\nmost va$tt$J)le articles of his property wore\nplaced with him, among wiiich were no less\nman twenty four prime sea-otter skins. .i\u2122t*\nnight, which is their time for interring the\ndead, the coffin was borne bv eight men\nwith two poles, thrust through ropes passed\n^ground it, to the place of burial, accompanied by his wife and family, with their hair\nc%t short\/ m token of grief, all the inhabi-\n33-\n\u25a0\u00ab\u25a0\n%\\\n \u25a0iti.l\ntanfs joining the procession. The place of\nburial was a large cavern on the side of a\nhill at a little distance from the village, in\nwhich, after depositing the coffin carefully,\nall the attendants repaired to Maquina's\nhouse, where a number of articles belonging\nto the deceased, consisting of blankets, pieces of cloth, &c. were burned by a person\nappointed by Maquina for that purpose,\ndressed and painted in the highest style,\nwith his head covered with white down,\nwho, as he put in the several pieces, one by\none, poured upon them a quantity of oil to\nincrease the flame, in the intervals between,\nmaking a speech and playing off a variety\nof buffoon tricks, and the whole closed with\na feast, and a dance from Sat-sat-sak-sis,\nthe king's son.\nThe man who performed the ceremony of\nburning on this occasion, was a very singular\ncharacter, named Kinneclimmets. He was\nheld in high estimation by the king, though\nonly of the common class, probably from\nhis talent for mimicry and bu^ffbonry, and\nmight be considered as a kinjd of king's\njester, or rather as combining in his person8\nthe character of a buffoon with that of master of ceremonies, and public orator to his\nmajesty, as he was the one who at feasts always regulated the places of the guests, delivered speeches on receiving or returning\nvisits^ besides amusing the company at all\n 138\ntheir entertainments, with a variety of monkey\npranks and antic gestures, which appeared to\nthese savages the height of wit and humour,\nbut would be considered as extremely low\nby the least polfihed people. Almost all\nthe kings or head chiefs of the principal\ntribes, were accompanied by a similar character, who appeared to be attached to their\ndignity, and are called in their language,\nClimmer-habbee.\nThis man, Kimieclimmets, was particularly\nodious to Thompson, who would never join\nin the laugh at his tricks, but when he began, would almost always quit the house\nwith a very surly look, and an exclamation\nof, cursed fool! which Maquina, who thought\nnothing could equal the cleverness of\nhis Climmer-habbee, used to remark with\nmuch dissatisfaction, asking me why Thompson never laughed, observing that I must\nhave had a very ' good tempered woman indeed for my mother, as my father was so\nvery ill-natured a man. Among those performances that gained him the greatest applause, wras his talent of eating to excess,\nfor I have known him devour at one ineal*\nno less than seventy-five large herring, and\nat another time when a great feast was given by Maquina, heHundertook, after drinking\nthree pints of oil by way of whet, to eat\nfour dried salmon, and five quarts of spawn,\nmixed up with a gallon of train oil, and #e-\n 7\n\u00a7\n139\ntually succeeded in swallowing the greater\npart of this mess, until his stomach became\nso overloaded, as to discharge its contents\nin the dish. One of his exhibitions, however,\nhad nearly cost him his life, this was on occasion of Kla-quak-ee-na, one of the chiefs,\nhaving bought him a new wife, in celebration\nof which he ran three times through a large\nfire, and burned Ejniself in such a manner,\nthat he was not able to stir for more than*\nfour weeks. These feats of savage skill,\nwere much praised by Maquina, who never\nfailed to make him a present, of cloth, muskets, &c. on sucn occasions.\nThe death of Tootoosch increased still\nmote the disquietude which his delirium had\nexcited among the savages, and all those\nchiefs who had killed our men became\nmuch alarmed, lest they should be seized\nwith the same disorder and die like him;\nmore particularly, as I had told Maquina,\nthat I believed his insanity was a punishment inflicted on him by Quahootze, for bis\ncruelty in murdering two innocent men, who\nhad never injured him.\nOur situation had now become unpleasant in the extreme. The summer was so\nfar advanced, that we nearly despaired of a\nship arriving to our relief, and with that expectation, almost relinquished the hope of\never having it in our power to quit this\nsavage land. We were treated too with\n 140\nless indulgence than before, both\/Thompson\nand myself being obliged, in addition to our\nother employments, to perform the laborious\ntask of cutting and collecting fuel, which\nwe had to bring on our shoulders from\nnearly three miles distant, as it consisted\nwholly of dry trees, all of which near the\nvillage, had been consumed. To add to\nthis, we suffered much abuse from the common people, who, when Maquina or some\nof the chiefs were not present, would insult\nus, calling us wretched slaves, asking us\nwhere was our Tyee or captain, making\ngestures signifying that his head had been\ncut off, and that they would do the like to\nus ; though they generally took good care\nat such times to keep well out of Thompson's reach, as they had more than once experienced to their cost the strength of his\nfist. This conduct was not only provoking\nand grating to our feelings in the highest\ndegree, but it convinced us^of the ill disposition of these savages towards us, and rendered\nus fearful lest they might at some time or\nother persuade or force Maquina and the\nchiefs, to put us to death.\nWe were also, often brought to great distress for the want of provision, so far as to\nbe reduced to collect a scanty supply of\nmuscles and limpets from the rocks, and\nsometimes even compelled to part with some\n\u00a9f our most necessary articles of clothings\nm i\n in order to purchase food for our subsistence. This was, however, principally owing to the inhabitants themselves experiencing a great scarcity of provisions this\nseason ; there having been, in the first place,\nbut very few salmon caught at Friendly\nCove, a most unusual circumstance, as they\ngenerally abound there in the spring, which\nwas by the natives attributed to their having\nbeen driven away by the blood of our men,\nwho had been thrown into the sea, which\nwith true savage inconsistency, excited their\nmurmurs against Maquina, who had proposed cutting off our ship. Relying on this\nsupply, they had in the most inconsiderate\nmanner squandered away their winter stock\nof provisions, so that in a few days after\ntheir return, it was entirely expended. Nor\nwere the king and chiefs mucji more fortunate in their whaling, even after I had furnished Maquina with the improved weapon\nfor that purpose; but four whales having\nbeen taken during the season, which closes\nthe last of May, including one that had\nbeen struck by Maquina and escaped, and\nwas afterwards driven on shore about six\nmiles from Nootka, in almost a state of putridity. These afforded bnt a short supply, to a population, including all ages\nand sexes, of no less than fifteen hundred\npersons, and of a character so very improvident, that after feasting most gluttonously\nI\nIL\n 142\nwhenever a whale was caught, they were sev*\neral times for a week together, reduced to the\nnecessity of eating but once a day, and of\ncollecting cockles and muscles from the\nrocks for their food. And even after the\ncod and halibut fishing commenced in June,\nin which they met with tolerable success,\nsuch was the savage caprice of Maquina\nthat he would often give us but little to eat,\nfinally ordering ns to buy a canoe and[\nfishing implements, and go out ourselves and\nfish, or we should have nothing. To do\nthis, we were compelled to part with our\ngreat coats, which were not only important\nto us as garments, but of which we made\nshir beds, spreading them under us when we\n*8lept. From our want of skill, however, in\nthis new employ, we met with no success,\non discovering which, Maquina ordered us to\nremain at home.\nAnother thing, which to me in particular,\nproved an almost constant source of vexation and disgust, and which living among\nthem had not in the least reconciled me to,\nwas their extreme tilthiness, not only in eating fish, especially the whale, when in a state\nof offensive putridity, but while at their\nmeals of making a practise of taking thfe\nvermin from their heads or clothes, and\neating them, by\u00bbturns thrusting their fingers\ninto their hair, and into the dish, and spreading their garments over the tubs in which the\n 143\n\u2022\nil\nBiF<\nprovision was cooking, in order to set in\nmotion their inhabitants. Fortunately for\nThompson, he regarded this much less than\nmyself, and when 1 used to point out to him\nany instance of their filthiness in this respect, he would laugh and reply, Never\nmind John, the more good things the better.\ni must how ever do Maquina the justice to\nstate, that he was much neater both in his\nperson and eating than were the others, as\nwas likewise his queen, owing no doubt to\nhis intercourse with foreigners, which had\ngiven him ideas of cleanliness, for I never\nsaw either of them eat any of these animals,\nbut on the contrary they appeared not much to\nrelish this taste in others. Their garments^5\nalso, wore much cleaner, Maquina having\nbeen accustomed to give his away when\nthey became soiled, till after he discovered\nthat Thompson and myself kept ours clean\nby washing them, when he used to make\nThompson do the same for him.\nYet amidst this state of endurance and\ndisappointment, in hearing repeatedly of the\narrival of ships at the north and south, most\nof which proved to be idle reports, while\nexpectation was almost wearied out in looking for them, we did not wholly despond, relying on the mercy of the Supreme Being, to\noffer up to whom our devotions on the dayir\nappointed for his worship, was our chief\nconsolation and support, though we wer\u00a3\n 144\nsometimes obliged by our task-masters to\ninfringe upon the Sabbath, which was to me\na source of much regret.^\nWe were nevertheless, treated at times, with\n; much kindness by Maquina, who would\ngive us a plenty of the best that he had to\neat, and occasionally, some small present of\ncloth for a garment, promising me, that if\nany ship should arrive within a hundred\nmiles of Nootka, he would send a canoe\nwith a letter from me to the captain, so that\nhe might come to our release. These flattering promises and marks of attention were\nhowever, at those times, when he thought\nhimself in personal danger from a mutinous\nspirit, which the scarcity of provision had\nexcited among the natives, who, like true\nsavages, imputed all their public calamities,\nof whatever kind, to the misconduct of their\nchief, or when he was apprehensive of an attack from some of the other tribes who were\nirritated with him for cutting off the Boston,\nas it had prevented ships from coming to\ntrade with them, and were constantly alarming him with idle stories of vessels that were\npreparing to come against him, and exterminate both him and his people. At such\ntimes, he made us keep guard over hinis\n|&oth night and day, armed with cutlasses;\nand pistols, being apparently afraid to trust\nany^pL his own men. At one tmie^t!J&:was3\na general revolt of his people that he appro*\nI\n 145\nJlf\nIf\nhemlled\u2014then three of his principal chiefs,\namong whom was his elder brother, ha#\nconspired to take away his life, and at\nlength, he fancied that a small party of Kla-\nooquales, between whom and the NootkfS\nans, little friendship subsisted, had come to\nNootka, under a pretence of trade, for the\nsole purpose of murdering him and his farrfi\nily, telling us, probably to sharpen our vigilance, that their intention was to kill us\nlikewise, and so strongly were his fears excited on this occasion, that he not only or-'\ndered us to keep near him armed by day,\nwhenever he went out, and to patrole at\nnight before his house while they remained,\nbut to continue the same guard for three\ndays after they were gone, and to fire at one\nand at four in the morning, one of the great\nguns, to let them know, if, as he suspected,\nthey were lurking in the neighbourhood,\nthat he was on his guard. While he was\nthus favourably disposed towards us, I\ntook an opportunity to inform him of the'\nill treatment that we frequently received\nfrom his people, and the insults that were\noffered us by some of the stranger tribes in\ncalling us white slaves, and loading us with\nother opprobrious terms.- He was much\ndispleased, and said that his subjects should\nnot be allowed to treat us ill, and that if any;\nof the strangers did it, he wished uVto punish the offenders with deaths at the samfj\n 146\ntime directing us for our security, to go\nconstantly armed. This permission was\nsoon improved by Thompson to the best advantage ; for a few days after, having gone\nto the pond to wash some of our clothes, and\nblanket for Maquina, several Wickinniuish\nwho were then at Nootka, came thither, an^\nseeing him washing the clothes, and the\nblanket spread upon the grass to dry, they\nbegan according to custem to insult him,\nand one of them bolder than the others,\nwalked over the blanket. Thompson was\nhighly incensed, and threatened the Indian\nwith death if he repeated the offence, but\nhe, in contempt of the threat, trampled upon the blanket, when drawing his cutlass,\n\u25a0Without farther ceremony, Thompson cut\noff his head, on seeing which the others ran\noff at full speed ; Thompson then gather.-\ning up the clothes and blanket on which\nwere the marks of the Indian's dirty feet,\nand taking with him the head, returned\nand informed the king of what had passed,\nwho was much pleased, and highly commended his conduct. This had a favourable effect for us, not only on the stranger\ntribes, but the inhabitants themselves, who\ntreated us afterwards with less disrespect.\nIn the latter part of July, Maquina informed me that he was going to war witfc\nlQe 4*E$a$tP' a *r*De liviog af about fifty\nnuJes fifthe south, on account of some con-\n 147\ntroversy that had arisen the preceding summer, and that I must make a number of\ndaggers for his men, and cheetoolths for his\nchiefs, which having completed, he wished\nme to make for his own use a weapon of\nquite a different form, in order to dispatch\nhis enemy by one blow on the head, it being\nthe calculation of these nations on going to\nwar, to surprize their adversaries while\nasleep. This was a steel dagger, or more\nproperly a spike, of about six inches long\nmade very sharp, set at right angles in an\niron handle of fifteen inches long, terminating at the lower end in a crook or turn, so as\nto prevent its being wrenched from *3the\nhand, and at the upper, in around knob or\nhead, from whence the spike protruded.\nThis instrument I polished highly, and the\nmore to please Maquina, formed on the\nback of the knob, the resemblance of a\nman's.head, with the mouth open, substituting for eyes, black beads, which I fastened\nin with red sealing wax. This pleased him\nmuch, and was greatly admired by his chiefs,\nwho wanted me to make similar ones for\nthem, but Maquina would not suffer it, re-'\nserving for himself alone this weapon.\nWhen these people, have finally determined on war, they make it an in variable practise for three or four weeks prior to the expedition, to go into the water five or six\ntimes a day, when they wash and scrub.\n 148\nthemselves from head to foot with bushes\nintermixed with briars, so that their bodies\nand faces will often be entirely covered with\nblood. During this severe exercise, they\nare continually exclaiming, \" Wocash Qau-\nhootze, 7 eechamme ah ivelih, wik-etish tau-\nilth\u2014Kar-sab-matemas\u2014Wik-sish to hauk\nmatemas\u2014\/ ya-ish kah-shittle-\u2014As-smootish\nwarich matemas\u2014Which signifies, Good, or\ngreat God, let me live\u2014Not be sick\u2014Find\nthe enemy\u2014Not fear him\u2014Find him asleep,\nand kill a great many of him.\nDuring* the whole of this period, they\nhave no intercourse with their women, and\nfor a week, at least, before setting out,\nabstain from feasting or any kind of inerri-\nment, appearing thoughtful, gloomy, find\nmorose, and for the three last days, are almost constantly in the water, both by day\nand night, scrubbing and lacerating themselves in a terrible manner. Maquina having informed Thompson and myself that he\nshould take us w ith him, was very solicitous\nthat we should bathe and scrub ourselves in\nthe same way with them, telling me that it\nwould harden our skins so that the weapons\nof the enemy would not pierce them, but as\nwe felt no great inclination to amuse ourselves in this manner, wo declined it.\nThe expedition consisted of forty canoes,\ncarrying from ten to twenty men each.\nThompson and myself armed ourselves with\nN\n 149\nIw\ncutlasses and pistols,- but the natives, although they had a plenty of European arms#\ntook with them only their daggers and\ncheetoolths, with a few bows and arrows,\n\u2022the latter being about a yard in length, and\npointed with copper, muscle shell, or bone;\nthe bows are four feet and a half long, with\nstrings made of whale sinew.\nTo go to Ay-chart, we ascended from\ntwenty to thirty miles, a river about the\nsize of that of Tashees, the banks of whicb\nare high and covered with wood. At midnight, we came in sight ofthe village, which\nwas situated on the west bank near the\nshore, on a steep hill difficult of access,\nand well calculated for defence. It consisted of fifteen or sixteen houses, smaller than\nthose at Nootka, and built in the samest^le,\nbut compactly placed. B\\ Maquina's directions, the attack was deferred unlil the\nfirst appearance of dawn, as he said that\nwas the time when men slept the soundest.\n,.|il:At length all being ready for the attack,\nwe landed with the greatest sil^ice, and going around so as to come upon the foe in the\nrear, clambered up the hill, and while the\nnatives, as is their custom, entered the several huts, creeping on all fours, my comrade\nand myself stationed ourselves without,\nto intercept those jkwho should j ttempt\nto escape, or come to the aid of their\nfriends. I wished if possible, not to stain\n 150\nitf^hands in the blood of any fellow creature,\nand though Thompson would gladly have\nput to death all the savages in the country,\nhe was too brave to think of attacking a\nsleeping enemy. Having entered the hous\u00ab\nes,on the war-whoop being given by Maquina, as he seized the head of the chief, and\ngave him the fatal blow, all proceeded to the\nwork of death. The A-y-charts being thus\nsurprised, were,unable to make resistance,\nand with the exception of a very few, who\nwere so fortunate as to make their escape,\nWiere all killed or taken prisoners on condition of becoming slaves to their captors.\nI had the good fortune to take four captives,\nwhom Maquina, as a favor, permitted me to\nconsider as mine, and occasionally employ\nthem in fishing for me; as for Thomp*\nson, who thirsted for revenge, he had no\nwish to take any prisoners, but with his cutlass, the only weapon he would employ\nagainst them, succeeded in killing seven\nstout fellows, who came to attack him, %n\nact which obtained him great credit with\nMaquina and the chiefs, who after this, held\nhim in mucli higher estimation, and gave\nhim the appellation of Chehiel-suma-har, it\nbeing the name of a very celebrated warrior\nof thefr nation in ancient times, whose exploits were the constant theme of their\npraise.\n 151\n\u00ab\nAfter having put to death all the old and\ninfirm of either sex, as is the barbarous practise of these people, and destroyed the\nbuildings, wereembarked with our booty in\nour canoes, for Nootka, where we were received with great demonstrations of joy by\nthe women and children, accompanying our\nwar song with a most furious drumming\non the houses. The next day a great feast\nwas given by Maquina, in celebration of his\nvictory, which was terminated as usual with\na dance by Sat-sat-sak-sis.\nRepeated applications had been made to\nMaquina, by a number of kings or chief*-, to\npurchase me, especially after he had shewed\nthem the harpoon 1 had made for him, which\nhe took much pride in, but he constantly\nrefused to part with me on any terms.\u2014\nAmong these, the king of the Wickinnimsfe\nwas particularly solicitous to obtain me,\nhaving twice applied to Maquina for that\npurpose, once in a very formal manner, by\nsending his messenger with four canoes,\nwho as he approached the shore, decorated\nin their highest style, with the white down on\nhis head, &c. declared that he us on shore to eat.\nWe followed 4iim in procession to the^ihief's\nhouse, Maquina at our head, taking care\nto leave a sufficient number in the boats to\nprotect the property^ When we ^came to\nthe house, we were ushered in with much\nceremony, and our respective seats pointed\nout to us, mine being next to Maquina by\nhis request.\nAfter having been regaled with a feast of\nherding spawn and oil, Maquina asked me if\nI saw any among the women who were present that I liked, I immediately pointed oi^\nto him a young girl of about seventeen, the\ndaughter of Upquesta, the chief, who was\nsitting near him by her mother. On this\nMaquina making a sign to his men, arose\nand taking me by the hand, walked into the\nmiddle of the room, and sent off two of his\nmen to bring the boxes containing the presents from the canoes. In the mean 4\u00a7me\nKinneclimmets, the master of ceremonies,\nwhom I have already spokesrof, made him-\n 156\nself ready for the part ha was to act, by\npowdering his hair with the white down.\u2014\nWhen the chests were brought in, specimens\nof the several articles were taken out, and\nshewed by our men, one of whotnr held up a\nmusket, another a skin, a third a piece of\ncloth, &c. On this, Kinneclimmet$8siepped\nforward, and addressing the chief, informed\nhim that all these belonged to me, mentioning the number of each kind, arid that they\nwere offered him for the purchase of his\ndaughter Eit-stacfa*ee-exqua, as a wife for\nme. As he said this, the men who held up\nthe various articles, walked up to the chief,\nand with a very stern and morose look, the\ncomplimentary one on these occasions,\nthrew them at his feet. Immediately on\nwhich, all the tribe, both men and women,\nwho were assembled on this occasion, set\nup a cry of Kiack-ko-Tyee, that is, Thanh\nye chief. His men, after this ceremony,\nhaving returned to their places, Maquina\nrose, and in a speech of more than half an\nhour, said much in my praise to the A-i-tiz-\nzart chief, telling him that I was as good a\nman as \"themselves, differing from them only\nin being white, that I was besides acquainted with many things of which they were\nignorant; that I knew how to make daggers,\ncheetooMis, and harpoons, and was a very\nvaluable person, whom.he was determined\nto keep always with him; praising me at\n fm:\n157\n|P\nill\nthe same time for the goodness of tny temper, and the manner in which I had com\nducted since I had been with them, observing that all the people of Nootka, and even\nthe children loved me.\nWhile Maquina was speaking, his master\nof ceremonies was cont&uaNy skipping\nabout, making the most extravagant gestures, and exclaiming Wocash. When he\nhad ceased, the A-i-tiz-zart chief arose amidst\nthe acclamations of his people, and began\nwith setting forth the many good qualities\nand accomplishments of his daughter; that\nheaved her greatly, and as she was his only one, he c^uld not think of parting with\nher. He spoke in this manner for some\ntime, but finally concludedlby consenting to\nthe proposed union, requesting that she\nmight be well used and kindly treated by\nher husband. At the close of this speech,\nwhen the chief began to manifest a disposition to consent to our union, Kinneclimmets\nagain began to call out as loud as he could\nbawl, Wocash, cutting a thousand capers\nand spinning himself around on his heel like\na top.\n\u00abi#Vhen Ilpquesta had finished his speech,\nhe directed his people to carry back the\npresents which Maquina had given him, to\nme, together with^wo young male slaves to\nassist me in fishing. These, after having\nbeen placed before me, were by Maquina's\n 158\nmen taken onboard the canoes. This ceremony being over, we were invited by one of\nthe principal chiefs to a feast, at his hous^,\nof Klussamit, or dried herring, where after\nthe eating was over, Kinneclimmets amused\nthe company very highly with his tricks, and\nthe evening's entertainment was closed by\na new war-song from our men, and one in\nreturn from the A-i-tiz-zarts, accompanied\nwith expressive gestures, and wielding of\ntheir weapons.\nAfter this, our company returned to lodge\nat Upquesta's, except a few who were left\nJ^jl board the canoes to watch the property.\nIn the morning 1 received from the chief his\ndaughter, with an earnest request that I\nwould use her well, which I promised Sim,\nwhen taking leave of her parents, she accompanied me with apparent satisfaction on\nboard of the canoe.\nThe wind being ahead, the natives were\nobliged to have recourse to their paddles,\naccompanying them with their songs, interspersed with the witticisms and buffoonry of\nKinneclimmets, who, in his capacity of\nking's steersman, one of his functions which\nI forgot to enumerate, not only guided the\nCourse of the canoe, but regulated the singing of the boatmen. At about five in the\nmorning, we reached Tashees, where we\nfound all the inhabitants collected on the\n-shore to receive us. We were welcomed\n 159\nwith loud shouts of joy, and exclamations\nof Wocash, and the women taking my bride\nunder their charge, conducted her to Ma-\nquina's house, to be kept with them for ten\ndays ; it being an universal custom, as Maquina informed me, that no intercourse\nshould take place between the new married pair during that period. At night Maquina gave a great feast, which was succeeded by a dance, in which all the women\njoined, and thus ended the festivities of my\nmarriage.\nThe term of my probation over, Maquina\nassigned me as an apartment, the space in\nthe upper part of his house, between him\nand his elder brother, whose room was opposite. Here 1 established myself witti my\nfamily, consisting of ijiy self and wife|*Thomp-\nson, and the little Sat-sat-sak-sis, who had\nalways been strongly attached to me, and\nnow solicited his father to Jet him live with\nme, to which he consented. This boy w:as\nhandsome, extremely well formed, amiable,\nand of a pleasant sprightly disposition. I\nused to take a pleasure in decorating him\nwith rings, bracelets, ear jewels, &c. \"W%jch\nI made for him of copper, and ornamented\nand polished them iu?n%y best mielniier. I\nwas also very careful to keep him free from\nvermin of every kind, washing- him and\ncombing his hair every day JflThese marks of\nattention wore not only very pleasing to the\n >160\nchild, who delighted in being kept neat and\nclean, as well as in being dressed off* in his\nfinery, but was highly gratifying both to\nMaquina and his queen, who used to express much satisfaction at my care of him.\nIn making my domestic establishment, I\ndetermined, as far as possible, to live in a\nmore comfortable and cleanly manner than\nthe others. For this purpose, I erected with\nplanks, a partition of about three feet high,\n.between mine and the adjoining rooms, and\nmade three bedsteads of the same, which\nI covered with boards, for mv family to\nsleep on, which I found much more comfortable than sleeping on the floor amidst the\ndirt.\nFortunately I found my Indian princess\nboth amiable and intelligent, for one whose\niljknited sphere of observation must necessarily give rise to.but a few ideas. She was\nextremely ready to agree to any thing that I\nproposed relative to our mode of living, was\nvery attentive in keeping her garments and\nperson neat and clean, and appeared in every respect, solicitous to please me. She\nwas, as I have said, about seventeen ; her\n\u2666person was small, but well formed, as were\nher features, her complexion w7as, without\nexception, fairer than any of the women,\nwith considerable colour in her cheeks, her\nhair long, black, and much softer than is\nusual with them, and her teeth small,\nO\n 161\n1 Hh\neven, and of a dazzling whiteness, while the\nexpression of her countenance, indicated\nsweetness of temper and modesty. She\nwould, indeed, have been considered as very\npretty in any country, and excepting Ma-\nquina's queen, was by far the handsomest\nof any of their women.\nWith a partner possessing so many attractions, many may be apt to conclude, that I\nmust have found myself happy, at least\ns^Smparatively so; but far otherwise was it\nwith me, a compulsory marraige with the\nmost beautiful and accomplished person in\nthe world, can never prove a source of real\nhappiness, and in my situation, I co|fld not\nbut view this connection as a chain that was\nto bind me down to this savage land, and\nprevent my ever again seeing a civilized\ncountry ; especially, when in a few days after, Maquina informed me that there had\nbeen a meeting of his chiefs, in which it had\nbeen determined, that as I had married one\nof their women, I must be considered as one\nof them, and conform to their customs, and\nthat in future, neither myself nor Thompson should wear our European clothes, but\ndress in Kutsaks like themselves. This order was to me most painful, but I persuaded\nMaquina, at length, so far to relax in it as\nto permit me to wear those I had at present,\nwhicKvwere almost worn out, and not to\ncompel Thompson to change his dress, ob-\nmm\n 162\nserving, that as he was an old man, such a\nchange would cause his death. |\nTheir religious celebration, which the last\nyear took place in December, was in this,\ncommenced on the 15th of November, and\ncontinued for fourteen days. As I was now\nconsidered as one of them, jnstead of being\nordered to the woods, Maquina directed\nThompson and myself to remain, and pray\nwith them to Quahootze to be good to them,\nand thank him for what he had done. It\nwas opened in much the same manner as\nthe former. After which, all the men and\nwomen in the village assembled at Maqui-\nna's house, in their plainest dresses, and\nwithout any kind of ornaments about them,\nhaving their heads bound around with the\nred fillet, a token of dejection and humiliation, and their countenances expressive of\nseriousness and melancholy. The performances during the continuance of this celebration, consisted almost wholly in singing\nah umber of songs to mournful airs, the king\nregulating the time by beating on his hollow\nplank or drum, accompanied by one of his\nchiefs, seated near him with the great, rattle.\nIn the mean time, they eat but seldom, and\nthen very little, retiring to sleep late, and\nrising at the first appearance of dawn, and\neven inttriopting thisshort period of repose,\nby getting up at midnight and singing. It\nwas terminated by an exhibition of a similar\n 16S\ncharacter to the one of the last year, but\nstill more cruel. A boy of twelve years old,\nwith six bayonets run into his flesh, one\nthrough each arm and thigh, and through\neach side close to tie ribs, was carried\naround the room, suspended upon them,\nwithout manifesting any symptoms of pain.\nMaquina, on my enquiring the reason of this\ndisplay, informed me that it was an ancient\ncustom of his nation, to sacrifice a man at\nthe close of this solemnity in honour of\ntheir God, but that his father had abolished\nit, and substituted this in its place. The\nwhole closed on the evening of the 29th,\nwith a great feast of salmon spawn and oil,\nat which the natives as usual, made up for\ntheir late abstinence.\nA few days after a circumstance occurred,\nm '\nwhich, from its singularity, I cannot forbear\nmentioning. I was sent for by my neighbour Yealihloiver, the king's elder brother,\nto file his teeth, which operation having\nperformed, he informed me that a new wife,\nwhom he had a little time before purchased,\nhaving refused to sleep with him, it was\nhis intention, provided she persisted in her\nrefusal, to bite off her nose. I endeavoured\nto dissuade him from it, but he was determined, and in fact, ^ performed his savage\nthreat that very night, saying that since she\nwould not be his wife, she should not be\n 164\nthat of any other, and in the morning sent\nher back to her father. ^\nThis inhuman act did not, however, proceed from -any innate cruelty of disposition,\nor malice, as he wasjar from being of a barbarous temper; but such is the despotism\nexercised by these sayages over their women, that he no doubt considered it as a just\npunishment for her offence, in being so obr\nstinate and perverse; as he afterwards told\nme, that in similar cases, the husband had\na right, with them, to disfigure his wife in\nthis way, or some other, to prevent her ever\nmarrying again.\nAbout the middle of December, we left\nTashees for Cooptee. As usual at this season, we found the herring in great plenty,\nand here t& same scene of riotous feasting\nas 1 witnessed the last year, was renewed by\njQfir improvident natives, who, in addition to\ntheir usual fare, had a plentiful supply of\nwild geese;, which were brought us in great\nquantities by the Esquates. These, as Maquina informed^me^wore caught w>ith nets\nmade from bark, in the fresh waters of that\ncountry. Those who take them, make\nchoice for that purpose, of a dark and rainy\nnight, and with their canoes stuck with\nlighted torohes, proceed with as little noise\nas possible, to the place where the geese are\ncollected, who, dazzled by the light,isuffer\nthemselves to be approached very near,\no 2\n II,\n]\nwhen the net is thrown over them, and in\nthis manner, from fifty to sixty, or even\nmore, will sometimes be taken at one cast.\nOn the 15th of January, 1805, aboat mid*\nnight, I was thrown into considerablealarm,\nin consequence of an eclipse of the moon,\nbeing awakened from my sleep by a great\noutcry of the inhabitants. On going to dis*\ncover the cause of this tumult, I fount!\nthem all out of their houses, bearing? lighted\ntorches, singing and beating upon pieces of\nplank, and when I asked them the reason\nof this proceeding, they pointed to the\nmoon, and said that a great cod-fish was endeavouring to swallow her, and that they\nwere driving him away. ?$Fhe origin of this\nsuperstition I could not discover.\nThough, in some respects, my situation\nwas rendered more comfortable since my\nmarriage, as I lived in a more cleanly manner, and had my food better and more neatly cooked, of which, besides, I had al#ays\na plenty, my slaves generally furnishing me,\nand Upquesta never failing to send me an\nample supply by the canoes that came from\nA-i-tiz-zart; still, from my feeing obliged at\nthis season of the year, to change my accuse\ntomed clothing, and to dresSlike the natives,\nwith only a piece of cloth of about two\nyards long, thrown loosely around me, my\nEuropean clothes having been for some\ntime entirely worn out, I suffered more than\n I can express from the cold, especially as 1\nwascompeliM to perform the laborious task\nof cutting and bringing the fire wood, which\nwas rendered still more oppressive to me,,\nfrom fify comrade for a considerable part of\n$fee winter, not having it in his pdfwer to lend\nme his aid, in consequence of an attack of\nthe rheumatism in one of his knees, with\n\\ybich he suffered for more than four%ionths,\ntwo or three weeks of which, he was so ill\nas to be unable to leave the house. -This\nstate of suffering5, with the little hope I now\nhad of ever escapin^from ffee savages, be-\ngan|$!Prender my life irfeisome to me, still,\nhowever, 1 lost not my confidence in the aid\nof the Supreme Being, t# wnom, whenever\nthe weather and a suspension from the tasks\nimposed on me, would permit, I never failed\nregularly, on Sundays, to retire to the woodS\nto Worship, taking Thompson with me when\nfee was able to*go.\nOn the 20th of February, we returned to\nour summer quarters at Nofitka, but on my\npart, wilh far different sensations than the\nlast spring, being now almost in despair of\nany vessel arriving to release us, or our being permitted to depart if there should.^\nSoon after our return, as preparatory to the\nwhaling season, Maquina ordered me to\nmake a good number of harpoons for himself\nand his chiefly several of which I had completed with some lances, when on the 16fh ol\n Fkssd\n167\nMarch, I was taken very ill with a violent\ncholic, caused, I presume, from my having\nsuffered so much from the cold in going\nwithout proper clothing. For a number of\nhours I was in great pain, and expected to\ndie, and on its leaving me, I was so weak as\nscarcely to be able to stand, while I had\nnothing comforting to take, nor any thing to\ndrink but cold water. On4the day following, a slave belonging to Maquina died, and\nwas immediately, as is their custom in such\ncases, tossed uncereraoniouslpout of doors,\nfrom whence he was taken Jay some others,\nand thrown into the water. The treatment\nof this poor creature made a melancholy\nimpression upon my mind, as I could mpkl\nbut think, that such probably, would be my\nfate should I die among these heathen,\nand so far from receiving a decenl burial,\nthai I should not even be allowed t^e common privilege of having a little earth thrown\nover my remains.\nThe feebleness in which the violent attack\nof my disorder had left me, the dejection I\nfelt at the almost hopelessness of my situation, and the want of warm clothing and\nproper nursing^though my Indian wife, as\nfar as she knew how, was always ready, and\neven solicitous, to do every thing for me\nshe could, still kept me very much indispose\ned, which Maquina perceiving, he finally\ntold me, that if I did not like living wjth my\n 168\nwife, and that was the cause of my being s$\nsad, I imghJt'part with her. This proposal\nI readily accepted, and the next day Maquina sent her back to her father. 0%parting with me, she discovered much emotion,\nbegging me that I would suffer her to remain tyi I had recovered, as there was no\none who would take so good care of me as\nherself. Bujrwhen I told her she must go,\nfor that I did not think 1 should ever get\nwell, which in truth I but little expected,\nand that her father would take good care of\nher, and treat her much more kindly than\nMa^mina* she took an affectionate leave,\ntelling me that she hoped I should soon get\nbetter, and left her two slaves to take ca$e of\nme.\nThough I rejoiced at her departure, I was\ngreatly affected with the simple expressions\nof her regaid for me, and could not but feel\nstrongly interested for this poor girl, who in\nall her conduct towards me, had discovered\nso much mildness, and attention to my\nwishes; and had it not been that I considered her as an almost insuperable obstacle to my being permitted to leave the coun^\ntry, I should no doubt have felt the deprivation of her society a real loss. After her\ndeparture, I requested Maquina, that, as I\nhad;parted with my wife, he would permit\nme to resume my European dress, as, otherwise, from not having been acusfcomed to\n 169\ndress like them, I should certainly die. To\nthis he consented, and I once more became\ncomfortably clad.\nChange of clothing, but more than all,\nthe hopes which I nc&& began to indulge,\nthat in the course of the summer I should\nbe able to escape, in a short tima(igtored\nme to health, so far, that I could again\ngo to work in making harpoons for Maquina, who, probably, foaring that he should\nhave to part with mef determined to provide\nhimself with a good stock.\nI shall not howover, longer detain the\nreader with a detail of occurrences that intervened between this period, and that of\nmy escape, which, from that dull uniformity\nthat marks the savage life, would be in a\nmeasure, but repetitions, nor dwell upon that\nmental torture I endured, from a constant\nconflict of hope and fear, when the former,\nalmost wearied out with repeated disappointment,^ offered to our sinking hearts no\nprospect of release, but death, to which\nwo were constantly exposed from the brutal\nignorance and savage disposition of the\ncommon people, who in the various councils\nthat were held this season to determine\nwhat to do with us, in case of the arrival of\na ship, were almost always for putting us to\ndeath, expecting by that means to conceal\nthe murder of our crew, and to throw the\nblame of it on some other tribe. These\nm\n 170\nbarbarous sentiment^, were, however,,uniformly opposed by Maquina and his chiUS;\nwho would not consent to our being injureft.\nBut as some of their customs and traits of\nnational character, w7hich I think deserving\nof notice, have not been mentioned, I shall\nproceeoLtp give a brief account of them.\nTheWfice of king oifohief, is, with those\npeople, hereditary, and descends to the eldest son, or in failure of male i\u00a7sue, to the\nelder brother, who in the regal line, is considered as the second person in the kingdom. At feasts, as I have observed, the\nking is always placed in the highest, or seat\nof honour, and the chiefs according to their\nrespective ranks, which appear, in general,\nto be determined by their affinity to the royal family, they are also designated by the\nembellishments of their mantles, or Kut-\nsaks. The king, or head Tyee, is their\nleader in war, in the management of which\nhejis perfectly absolute. He is also presi-\ndentjof their councils, which are almost always regulated by his opinions But he has\nno kind of pow er over the property of his subjects, nor can he require them to contribute\nto his wants, being in this respect, no more\nprivileged than any other person. He has\nin common with his chiefs, the right of holding slaves, whichrJ$ not enjoyed by private\nindividuals, a regulation probably arising\nfrom their having been originally captives\n Wi\n-taken in battle, the spoils of war being understood as appertaining to the king, who\nreceives and ^portions them among his\nseveral chiefs and warriors, according to\n'theirtijjRibk. and deserts. In conformity with\nthis idea, the plunder of the Boston, was all\ndeposited in Maquina's house, whojUstribu-\n\u2022ted part of it among his chiefs, aceurning to\ntheir respective ranks or degree of favour\nwith him, giving to one, three hundred muskets, to another, one hundred and fifty,\nwith other things in l|ke proportion. The\nking is, however, obliged to support his dignity by making frequent entertainments, and\nwhenever he receives a large supply of prV^\nvision, he must invite all the men of his\ntribe to his'oouse, to eat it up, otherwise, as\nMaquina told me, he would not be considered as conducting like a Tvee, and would be\nno more thought of tha% a common man.\nWith regard to their religion\u2014They believe in the existence of a Supreme Being,\nwhom they call Q\u00abuhootze, and who, to use\nMaquina's expression, was one great Tyee\nin the sky, who gave them their fish, and\ncould take them from them,-and wasjhe\ngreatest of all kings. Their ngual place of\nworship, appeared to be the water, for whenever they bathed, they^ddrefsed some words\nin form of prayer to the God abov^ in treating\nthat he would preserve them in health, g$Ve\nthem good success in fishing, &c. These\n 172\nMayers were repeated with much more energy, on preparing for whaling or for war, as\nI have already mentioned. Some of them\nwould sSfnetimes go several miles to bathe,\nin order to do it in secret, the reason for this\nI could never learn, though I am induced to\nthink itwas in consequence of some family\nor prJL|p*te quarrel, and that they did not\nwish what they said to be heard ; while at\nother times, they would repair in the same\nsecret manner to the woods, to pray. This\nwas more particularly the case with the women, who might also, have been prompted by a\nsentiment of decency, to retire for the purpose of bathing, as they are remarkably\nmodest. I once found one of our women\nmore than two miles from the village, on her\nknees in the woods, with her eyes shut, and\nheir face turned towards heaven, uttering\nwords in a lamentable tone, among which I\ndistinctly heard, Wocash Ah-welth, meaning\ngood Lord, anofHvhich has nearly the same\nsignification with Quahootze. .Though I\ncame very near her, she appeared not to notice me, but continued her devotions, and I\nhave frequently seen the women go alone\ninto the woods, evidently for the purpose of\naddressing themselves to a superior being,\nand it was always very perceptible on their\nreturn, when they had been thus employed,\nfrom their silence and melancholy looks.\n 173\nr\nThey have no belief, however, in a state\nof future exfrle&jGfi, as I discovered~in conversation with^Maquina, at Tootoosch's\ndeath, on my'atterirpting to convince him,\nthat he still existed, and that he would again\nsee him after his death : but he could comprehend nothing of it, and pointings to the\nground, said that there was the encfllf him,\nand that he was like that. Nor do they believe in ghosts, notwithstanding the case of\nTootoosch would appear to contradict this\nassertion, but that was a remarkable instance,\nand such a one as had never been known to\noccur before ; yet from the mummeries performed over the sick, it is very apparent that\nthey believe in the agency of spirits, as they\nattribute diseases to some evil one that has\nentered the body of the patient. Neither\nhave they any priests, unless a kind of conjurer may be so considered, who sings and\nprays over the sick, to 'drive away the evil\nspirit.\nOn the birth of twins, they have a most\nsingular custom, which, I presume, has its\norigin in some religious opinion, but what it\nis I could never satisfactorily learn. The\nfather is prohibited for the space of two\nyears from gating any kind of meat, or fresh\nfish, during which time, he does no kind of\nlabour whatever, being supplied with what\nhe has occasion for from the tribe. In the\nmean time he and his wife, who is also oblig-\n 174\ned to conform to the same abstinence, with,\ntheir children, live entirely separate from\nthe others, a small hut being built for their\naccommodation, and he is never invited to\nany of the feasts, except such as consist\nwholly of dried provision, where he is treated wid^reat respect, and seated among the\nchiefs^nough no more himself, than a private individual. Such births are very rare\namong them, an instance of the kind how-\never occurred while I was at Tashees the\nlast time, but it was the only one known\nsince the reign of the former king. The\nfather always appeared very thoughtful and\ng[oomy, never associated with the other inhabitants, and was at none of the feasts but\nsuch as were entirely of dried provision,\nand of this, he eat not to excess, and constantly retired before the amusements commenced. His dress was very plain, and he\nwore around his head the red fillet of bark,\nthe symbol of mourning and devotion.. It\nwas his daily practise to repair to the\nmountain, with a chiefs rattle in his hand,\nto sing and pray, as Maquivia informed me,\nfor the fish to come into jf\u00a7^$ waters. When\nnot thus employed, he Kept continually at\nhome, except when sc^t for to sing and perform his ceremonirjS over the sick, being\nconsidered as a s,acred character, and one\nmuch in favour ^ith their gods.\n WW\n175\nThese people are remarkably healthful,\nand live to a very advanced age, having\nquite a youthful appearance for their years.\nThey have scarcely any disease but the\ncholic, their remedy for which, is friction, a\nperson rubbing the bowels of the sick violently, until the pain has subsided, while\nthe conjuror, or holy man, is employed, in\nthe mean time, in making his, gestures, singing, and repeating certain words, and blowing offthe evil spirit, wdien the patient is wrapped up in a bear slyn in order to produce\nperspiration. Their cure for the rheumatism, or similar pains, which I saw applied\nby Maquina, in the case of Thompson, to\nwhom it gave relief, is by cutting or scarifying\nthe part affected. In dressing wounds,\nthey simply wash them with salt water, and\nbind them up with a strip of cloth, or\nthe bark of a tree. They are, however, very\nexpert and successful in the cure of fractured or dislocated limbs, reducing them very\ndexterously, and after binding them up with\nbark, supporting them with blocks of wood,\nso as to preserve their position. During the\nwhole time I was among them, but five natural deaths occurred, Tootoosch and his\ntwo children, an infant son of Maquina, and\nthe slave whom Ihave mentioned, a circumstance not a little remarkable in a population of about fifteen hundred; and as respects child-birth, so light do they make of\nj!\n1\nK\n 176\nit, that I have seen their women the day after, employed as usual, as if little or nothing\nhad happened.\nThe Nootkians in their conduct towards\neach other, arevin general pacific and inoffensive, and appear by no means an ill tempered race, for I do not recollect any instance of a violent quarrel betw-een any of\nthe men, or the men and their wives, while\nI was with them, that of Yaelthlower excepted. But when they are in the least offended, they appear to be in the most violent rage, acting like so many maniacs,\nfoaming at the mouth, kicking and spitting\nmost furiously ; but thisis rather a fashion\n%ith them, than a demonstration of malignity, as in their public speeches, they use the\nsame violence, and he is esteemed the grea#\nest orator, who bawls the loudest, stamps,\ntosses himself about, foams and spits the\nmost.\nIn speaking of their regulations, I have\nomitted mentioning, that on attaining the\nage of seventeen, the eldest son of a chief,\nis considered as a chief himself, and\nthat whenever the father makes a pre-\nggnt, it is always done in the name of his\neldest son, or if he has none, in that of\nhis daughter. The fchiefs, frequently purchase theirawives at the age of eight or ten,\nto prevent their being engaged by others*\n:M p2\n 177\ni; l\nthough they do not take them from their\nparents until they are sixteen.\nWith regard to climate, the greater part\nof the spring, summer, and autumn, is very\npleasant, the weather being at no time oppressively hot, and the winters uncommonly\nmild, for so high a latitude, at least as far as\nmy experience went, j At Tashees and\nCooptee, where we passed the coldest part\nof the season, the winter did not set in till\nlate in December, nor have I ever known\nthe ice, even on the fresh water ponds, more\nthan two or three inches in thickness, or a\nsnow exceeding four inches in depth, but\nwhat is wanting in snow, is amply made up\nin rain, as I have frequently known it during\nthe winter months, rain almost incessantly\n^r five or six days in succession.\nIt was now past mid-summer, and the\nhopes wehad indulged of our release, became\ndaily more faint, for though wo had heard of\nno less than seven vessels on the coast, yet\nnone appeared inclined to venture to Nootka. The destruction of the Boston, the\nlargest, strongest, and best equipped ship,\nwith much the most valuable cargo of any\nthat had ever been fitted out for the North\nWest trade, had inspired the commanders\nof others with a general dread of coming\nthither, lest they should share the same fate;\n$jad though in the letters I wrote (knplofing\nthose who should receive them, to come to\n 178\nthe relief of two unfortunate Christians\nwho were suffering among heathen) I stated\nthe cause of the Boston's capture, and that\nthere was not the least danger in coming to\nNootka, provided they would follow the directions I laid down, still I felt very little\nencouragement, that any of these letters\nwould come to hand, when on the morning\nof the nineteenth of July, a day that will be\never held by me in grateful remembrance, of\nthe mercies of God, while I was employed\nwith Thompson in forging daggers for the\nking, rny ears were saluted with the joyful\nsound of three cannon, and the cries of the\ninhabitants, exclaiming, Weena, weena\u2014\nMamethlee\u2014that is, strangers\u2014white men.\nSoon after several of our people, came\nrunning into the house, to inform me that a\nvessel under full sail was coming into the\nharbour. Though my heart bounded with\njoy, I repressed my feelings, and affecting to\npay no attention to what was said, told\nThompson to be on his guard, and not betray\nany joy, as our release, and perhaps our lives,\ndepended on our conducting ourselves so\n2\u00a7S to induce the natives to suppose we were\nnot very anxious to leave them. We continued our work as if nothing had happened,\nwhen in a few minutes after, Maquina came\nin, and seeing us at work, appeared much\nJprprised, and asked me if I did not know\nthat a vessel had come. I answered in a\n 179\ncareless manner, that it was nothing to me.\nHow, John, said he, you no glad go board.\nI replied that I cared very little about its as I\nhad become reconciled to their manner of\nliving, and had no wish to go away. He\nthen told me, that he had called a council\nof his people respecting us, and that we\nmust leave off work and be present atUt.\nThe men haying assembled at Maquina's\nhouse, he asked them what was their opin^\nion should be done with Thompson and my>\nself now a vessel had arrived, and wheth^F\nhe had not better go on board himself^ to\nmake a trade, and procure such articles as\nwere wanted. Each one of the tribe who\nwished, gave his opinion. Some wore for\nputting us to death, and pretending to\nthe strangers, that a different nation had\ncut off the Boston, while others, less barbarous, wore for sending us fifteen or twenty\nmiles back into the country until the departure of the vessel. These, however, were\nthe sentiments of the common people, the\nchiefs opposing our being put to death, or\ninjured, jind several of them, among the\nmost forward of whom were Yaelthlower\nand the young chief, Toowinnakinnish, were\nfor immediately releasing us ; but this, if he\ncoujcl avoid it, by no means appeared to accord with Maquina's wishes.\nHavipgjnentioned Toowinnakinnish, I shall\nbriefly observe, |that he was a young ma|t of\n 180\nabout twenty three years old, the only son of\nToopeeshottee, the oldest and most respected chief of the tribe. His son had always\nbeen remarkably kind and friendly to me,\nand I had in return frequently made for him\ndaggers, cheetoolths, and other things, in\nmy best manner. He was one of the handsomest men among them, very amiable, and\nmuch milder in his manners than any of the\nothers, as well as neater both in his person\nand house, at least his apartment, 1without\neven excepting Maquina.\nWith regard, however, to Maquina's going\non board the vessel, which he discovered a\nstrong inclination to do, there was but one\nopinion, all remonstrating against it, telling\nhim that the captain would kill him or keep\nhim a prisoner, in consequence of his having\ndestroyed our ship. When Maquina had\nheard their opinions, he told them that he\nwas not afraid-of being hurt from going on\nboard the vessel, but that he would, however, as it respected that, be guided by\nJohn, whom he had always found true. He\nthen turned to me, and asked me if I\nthought there would be any danger in his\ngoing on board. I answered, that I was not\nsurprised at the advice his people had given\nhim, unacquainted as they were with the\nmanners of the white men, and judging them\nby their own, but if they had been with\nthem as mucias I had, or even himself, they\n a-j\n181\nwould think very different. That he had\nalmost always experienced good and civil\ntreatment from them, nor had beany reason to\nfear the*contrary now, as they never attempt*\ned to harm those who did not injure them,\nand if he wished to go on board, he might\ndo it, in my opinion, with security. After\nreflecting a few moments, he said, with much\napparent satisfaction, that if I would write\na letter to the captain, telling him good of\nhim, that he had treated Thompson and myself kindly since we had been with him,\nand to use him well, he would go. It may\nreadily be supposed that I felt much joy aL\nthis determination, but knowing that the least\nincaution might annihilate all my hopes o\u00a3\nescape, was careful not to manifest it,\nand to treat his going or staying as a mattery\nperfectly indifferent to me. I tdjd him thSk*\nif he wished me to write such a letter, I had\nno objection, as it was the trnth, otherwise I\ncould not have done it. iy\nI then proceeded to write the recommendatory letter, which the reader will naturally imagine was of a somewhat different\ntenor from the one he had required; for if\ndeception is in any case warrantable, it was\ncertainly so in a situation like ours, where\nthe only chance of regaining that freedom\nof which wo had been so unjustly deprived!?\ndepended upon it; and I; trpst that few,\neven of the most rigid, will condemn me\nti \\\n with ieverity for mafpng use of it, on an\noccasion which afforded me the only hope\nof ever more beholding a Christian country,\nand preserving myself, if not from death, at\nleast from a life of continued suffering.\nThe letter which I wrote, was nearly in\nthe following terms :\u2014\nTo Captain\nof the Brig\nNootka, July 19, 1805.\nSir,\nThe bearer of this letter is the Indian king by the name\nof Maquina. He was the instigator of the capture of the\nship Boston, of Boston in .North America, John Salter\ncaptain, and of the murder of twenty five men of her crew,\nthe two only survivors being now on shore\u2014Wherefore I\nhope you will take care to confine him according to his\nmerits, putting in your dead-lights, and keeping so good a\nwatch over him, that he cannot escape from you. Byr so\ndoing we shall be able to obtain our release in the course\nof a few hours.\nJOHN R. JEWITT, Armourer\noj the Boston, for himself and\nJt)HN Thompson, Sail maker of said ship.\nI have been asked how I dared to write in\nthis manner, my answer is, that from my long\nresidence among these people, 1 knew that\nI had little to apprehend from their anger on\nhearing of their king being confined, while\nthey knew his life depended upon my re-\n 1\u00a33\nlp|!\nlease, and that they would sooner have given\nup five hundred white men, than have had\nhim injured. This will serve to explain the\nlittle apprehension I felt at their menaces afterwards, for otherwise, sweet as liberty was\nto me, I should hardly have ventured on so\nhazardous an experiment.\nOn my giving the letter to Maquina, he\nasked me to explain it to him. This I did\nline by line, as he pointed them out with his\nfinger, but in a sense very different from\nthe real, giving him to understand that I had\nwritten to the captain, that as he had been Mind\nto me since I had been taken by him, that\nit was my wish that the captain should treat\nhim accordingly, and give him what rnolla#v\nses, biscuit and rum he wanted. When I\nhad finished, placing his finger in a significant manner on my name at the bottom, and\neyeing me with a look that seemed to read\nmy inmost thoughts, he said to me, \" John,\nyou no lie?\" Never did I Ifcdergo such a\nscrutiny, or ever experience greater apprehensions than I felt at that moment, when\nmy destiny was suspended on the slightest\nthread, and the least mark of embarrassment on mine, or suspicion of treachery on\nhis part, would probably have rendered my\nlife the sacrifice. Fortunately I was able to\npreserve my composure, and my being painted in the Indian manner, which Maquina\nhad since my marriage, reqnired^of me,\n 184\nprevented any change in my countenance\nfrom being noticed, and I replied with considerable promptitude, looking at himr in\nmy turn, with all the confidence I could\nmuster, \" Why do you ask me such a question* Tyee? have you ever known me to\nlie ?\" | No.\" I Then how can you suppose I should tell you a lie now, since I\nhave never done it.\" As I was speaking,\nhe still continued looking at me with the\nsame piercing eye, but observing nothing to\nexcite his suspicion, he told me that he believed what I said was true, and that he\nwould go on board, and gave orders to get\nready his canoe. His chiefs again attempted to dissuade him, using every argument\nfor that purpose, while his wives crowded\naround him, begging him on their knees,\nnot to trust himself with the white men.\nFortunately for my companion and myself,\nso strong was his wish of going on board\nthe vessel, that he was deaf to their solicitations, and making no other reply to them,\nthan, \" John no lie,\" left the house, taking\nfour prime skins with him as a present to\nthe captain. i|l\nScarcely had the canoe put off, when he\nordered his men to stop, and calling to me,\nasked me if I did not want to go on board\nwith him. Suspecting this as a question\nmerely intended to ensnare me, I replied\nQ\n 185\nthat I had no wish to do it, not having any\ndesire to leave them.\nOn going on board the brig, Maquina immediately gave his present of skins and my\nletter to the captain, who on reading it, ask-\n$d him into the cabin, where he gave him\nsome biscuit and a glass of rum, at the same\ntime, privately directing his mate to go forward, and return with five or six of the men\narmed. When they appeared, the captain\ntold Maquina that he was his prisoner, and\nshould continue so, until the two men,\nwhom he knew to be on shore, were released, at the same time ordering him to be put\nin irons, and the windows secured, which was\ninstantly done, and a couple of men placed as\na guard over him. Maquina was greatly\nsurprised and terrified at this reception ; he\nhowever, made no attempt to resist, but requested the captain to permit one of his men\nto come and see him. One of them was\naccordingly called, and Maquina said something to him which the captain did not understand, but supposed to be an order to\nrelease us, when the man returning to the canoe, it was paddled off with the utmost expedition to the shore. As the canoeapproach-\ned, the inhabitants, who had all collected\nupon the beach, manifested some uneasiness\nat not seeing their king on board, but when\non its arrival, they were told that the captain had made him a prisoner, and that John\n 186\nhad spoke bad about him in the letter, they\nall both men and women, set up a loud\nhowl, and ran backwards and forwards upon\nthe shore like so many lunatics, scratching\ntheir faces, and tearing the hair in handfuls\nfrom their heads.\nAfter they had beat about in this manner\nfor some time, the men ran to their huts for\ntheir weapons, as if preparing to attack an\ninvading enemy * while Maquina's^wives\nand the rest of the women, came around\nme, and throwing themselves on their knees,\nbegged me with tears to spare his life, and\nSat-sat-sak-sis, who kept constantly with\nme, taking me by the hand, wept bitterly,\nand joined his entreaties to theirs, that I\nwould not let the white men kill his father.\nI told them not to afflict themselves, that\nMaquina's life was in no danger, nor would\nthe least harm be done to him.\nThe men were however, extremely exas-\nperated with me, more particularly the common people, who came running in the most\nfurious manner towards me, brandishing\ntheir weapons, and threatening to cut me in\npieces no bigger than their thumb nails,\nwhile others declared they would burn me\nalive over a slow fire, suspended by my\nheels. All this fury, however, caused me\nbut little alarm, as I felt convinced they\nwould not dare to execute their threats while\nthe king was on board the brig. The chiefs\n 13?\nlook no part in this violent conduct, but\ncame to me, and enquired the reason why\nMaquina had been thus treated, and if th$\ncaptain intended to kill him. 1 told them\nthat U they would silence the people, so\nthat I could be heard, I would explain all\nto them. They immediately put a stop to the\nnoise, when I informed them that the captain,\nin confining Maquina, had done it onlg in\norder to make them release Thompson and\nmyself, as he well knew we wore with them,\nand if they would do #|at, thejr king would\nreceive no in|nry, but be wejl treated, otl&|\nerwise he would be kept a prisoner. As\nmany 6f them did not appear to be satisfied\nwith this, an d began t%repea|^h|ir murder\nous threats\u2014Kill me, said I to them, if it is\nyour wishj, throwing open the bear skin\nwhich I wore, here is my breast, I am only\none among so many, and can make no resistance, but unless you wish to see your\n'Iting hanging by his nagk to that^pole, pointing to the yard-arm of the. (brig, and the\nsailers firing at him with bullets$$ou will\nnot do it. O no, was the general cry, that\nmust never be ; but what must we do ? $&\ntold them that their besfe|>fain would bjg; to\nsend Thompson on board, to desire the captain to use Maquijia well till I was released^\nwhich would be soon. This they were\nperfectly willing to do, and 1 directed^\nThompson to. go on board. But he $j>ject\"\n ,188\ned,ffeaying that hetjwould not leave|mo alone\nwith the savages. I toldlhim not to be under ally fear for me, for that if I could get\nhim off^T could manage well enough for\nmyself,!le to be described, did 1 quit this savage\nshore, confident now that nothing couki\nthwart my escape, or prevent the execution\n&.\n ma\nof the plan I had formed, as the men appointed to convey and guard me, were armed with nothing Wut their paddles. As we*\ncame within hail of the brig, they at once\nceased paddling, when presenting my pfe\ntols at them, I ordered 'ifehem instantly t^\ngo on, or I would shoot the whole of th\u00aem.\nA proceeding so wholly unexpected, threw\nthem into great consternation, and resuming*\ntheir paddles, in a few moments, to my inex*\npressible delight, I once more found myself\nalong side of a Christian ship, a happiness^\nwhich I had almost despaired of ever again\nenjoying. All theierew crowded to the side\nto see me as the canoe came up, and mante\nfested much joy at my safety. I immediately leaped on board, where I was welcomed by the Captain, Samuel Hill, of the brig\nLydia of Boston, who congratulated me on\nmy escape, informing me that he had received my letter off Klaiz-zart, from the chief\nMackee Ula^lla, who came off hiniself if*\nhis canoe, to* deliiser it to him, on which m\u00a3\nimmediately proceeded hither to aid me. I\nreturned him my thanks in the best manner\nI c\u00a9uldv?for his humanity, though I hardly\nknew whatt^i tsaid, such was the agitated\nstate of my feelings at that moment, with?\njoy for my escape^ thankfulness to the Sip\npreme Being 'wtio-'&ad so mercifully pre*\nlerved me, and gratitude to those whom h6\nbad rendered instrumental in my ^telivery,\n I\n101\ntfiat I have no doubt, that what with my\nstr^rige dress, being painted withered and\nblack from head to foot, having a bear skin\nwrapped around me, and my Icing hair,\nwhich I w as not allowed to cut, fastened oV\nthe>top of my head in a large bunch, with a\nsprig of green spruce, I must have appeared\nmore like one deranged than a rational creift\nture, as captain Hill afterwards told me,\nthat he never saw any thing in the form of\nman, look so wild as FAid when I first ctlme\non board.\nThe daptaih then asked me into the cabin, where I found Maquina in irons, with a\nguard over him. He looked very melaneoo-\nly, but on seeing me, his countenance brightened up, and he expressed his pleasure with\nthe welcome of 1 Wocash John ;\" when\ntaking him by the hand, I asked the captain's\npermission to take off his irons, assuring him\nthat as I was with him, there was no danger\nof his being irifthe least troublesome. He\naccordingly consented, and. I felt a sincere\npleasure in freeing from fetters, a man, who,\nthough he had caused the deam of my poor\ncomrades, had nevertheless, always proved\nmy friend and protector, and whom I had\nrequested to be thus treated#only with a\nview of securing my liberty. Maquina\nsmiled and appeared much pleased at ws\nmark of attention from me. Wheri^had\nfreed the king from his irons, captain Hill\n 192\nwished to learn the particulars of our cap*\nture, observing that an account of the de*\nstruction of the ship and her crew had been\nreceived at Boston before he sailed, but that\nnothing more was known, except that two\nof the men were living, for whose rescue\nt^e owners had offered a liberal reward, and\nthat !$\u00a3 had been able to get nothing out of\nthe old man, whom the sailors had supplied\nso plentifully with grog, as to bring him too\nmuch by the head to give any information.\nI gave him a correct statement of the\nwhole*proceedifig, together with^the manner\nin which my life and that of my comrade\nhad been preserved. On hearing my story,\nhe was greatly irritated against Maquina,\nand said he ought to be killed. I observed\ntfeat however ill he migh&have acted in\ntaking our ship, yet that it might, perhaps,\nbe w7rong to judge an uninformed savage,\nwith the same severity as a civilized person,\nwho had^fel^^ of religion and the laws of\nsociety to guide him. That Maquina's conduct in taking our ship, arose from an insult\nthat he thought he had received from captain Salter, and from the unjustifiable con->\nduct of some masters of vessels, who had\nrobbed him, and without provocation, killed\na nurhber of bis people. Besides that, a re*^\ngard for the safety of others ought to prevent his being put to death, as I had lived\nJong enough with these people to know tjjat*\n 193\nrevenge of an injury, is held sacred by them,\nand that they would not fail to retaliate,\nshould wo kill their king, on the first vessel or\nboat's crew that should give them an opportunity ; and that, though he might consider executing him as but an act of justice, it would\nprobably cost the lives of many Americans.\nThe captain appeared to be convinced\nfrom what 1 said, of the impolicy of taking\nMaquina's life, and said that he would leave\nit wholly with me whether to spare or kill\nhim, as he was resolved to incur no censure\nin either case. I replied that I most certainly should never take the life of a man who\nhad preserved mine, had I no other reason,\nbut as there was some of the Boston's property still remaining on shore, I considered it a\nduty that I owed to those who were interested in that ship, to try to save it for them,\nand with that view I thought it would be\nwell to keep him on board till it was given\nup. He concurred in this proposal, saying\nif there was any of the property left, it most\ncertainly ought to be got.\nDuring this conversation Maquina was\nin great anxiety, as from what English he\nkrieW he perfectly comprehended the subject of our deliberation ; constantly interrupting me to enquire what w7e had determined to do with him, what the captain said,\nif his life would be spared, and if I did not\nthink that Thompson would kill him. I\n 194\nm^k\npacified him as well as I was able, by telling\nhim that he had nothing to fear from the\ncaptain, that he would not be hurt, and that\nif Thompson wished to kill him, he woul4\nnot be allowed to do it. He would then remind me that I was indebted to him for my\nlife, and that I ought to do by7 him, as he\nhad done by me. I assured him that such\nwas my intention, and I requested him\nto remain quiet, and not alarm himself, as\nno harm was intended him. But I found it\nextremely difficult to convince him of this,\nas it accorded so little with the ideas of revenge entertained by them. I told him\nhowever, that he must restore all the property still in his possession,i belonging to the\nship. This he was perfectly ready to do,\nhappy to escape on such terms. But as\nit was now past five, and too late for the articles to be collected, and brought off,, I told\nhim that he must content himself to remain\non board with me that night, and in the\nmorning he should be set on shore as soon\nas the things were delivered. To this he\nagreed, on condition that I would remain\nwith him in the cabin. I then went upon\ndeck, and the canoe that brought me having\nbeen sent back, I hailed the inhabitants, and\ntold them that their king had agreed to stay\n||h board till the next day, when he would return, but that no canoes must attempt jS>\ncome near the vessel during the night, as\ni^-stfl\n Wr\n1$5\n-Ihey would beIf^M ujim. They answered,\nWoH$, woho\u2014~\\\u20ac&f well^cvery w%ll. #then\n^turned to Maquina, but so great were his\nterrors, that 8% would not allow me to sleep,\nconstantly disturbing me with his questions,\nand repeating, \" John, you know when yon\nwa#alone, and more than five hundred men\nwere your enemies, I was youffriend, and\nprevented them from putting you and\nThompson to death, and now I am in the\npower of your friend^Pyou ought to do the\nsame bv me. I assured him that he woulfi\nbe detained on board no longer than itjfc\nproperty was released, and that as soon as\nit was done, he would be set at liberty.\nAt day break I hailed the'^wStlVes, **and\nfold them that it was Maquina's order that\nthey should bring off the cannon, and an-\njljiors, and whatever remained with them of\nthe cargo of the ship. This they set about\ndoing wittffhe utmost expedition, transdeW*\n.ftjg the cannon and anchors by lashing together two of their largest canoes, Smd\ncovering them with planks, and in the\ncourse of two hours, they delivered every\nthing on board that I could recolffict, with\nThompson's and my chest,containing the pjk*\npers of the ship, &c.\nWhen every thing belonging to the sUm\nhad been restored, Maquina was permil^pq\nJfe) return in his canoe, which hatf%een sent\nfor him, with a present of what skin& he had\n 196\ncollected, which were about sixty, for the\ncaptain, in acknowledgment of his having\nspared his life and allowed him to depart\nunhurt. Such was also, the transport he felt\nwhen captain Hill came into the cabin, and\ntold him that he was at liberty to go, that\nhe threw off his mantle, which consisted of\nfour of the very best skins, and gave it\nto him, as a mark of his gratitude\/ in return for which, the captain presented him\nwith a new great coat and hat, with which\nhe appeared much delighted. The captain\nthen desired me to inform him that he should\nreturn to that part of the coast in Noverriber,\nand that he wished him to keep what skins\nhe should get, which he would buy of him.\nThis Maquina promised, saying to me at the\nsame time, \"John, you know I shall be then\nat Tashees, but when you come make pow,\nwhich means, fire a gun to let me know, and I\nwill come down.\" When he came to the side\nofthe brig, he shook me cordially by the hand,\nand told me that he hoped I would come to\nsee him again in a big ship, and bring much\nplenty of blankets, biscuit, mollasses and\nrum, for him and his son who loved me a\ngreat deal, and that he would keep all the\nfurs he got for me, observing at the same time,\nthat he should never more take a letter of\nrecommendation from any one, or ever trust\nhimself on board a vessel unless I was there.\nThen grasping both my hands, with much\nemotion, while the tears trickled down his\nR\n $iveen whom and myself, a considerable intimacy had subsisted, was a pleasure thafcr\n 202\nthose alone who have beetf^n a similar situation can properly estimate. He appeared\non his part, no less happy to see me, whom\nhe Supposed to be dead, as the account of\nour capture had been received in England\nsome time before his sailing, and all my.\nfriends supposed me to have been murdered. From this young man, I received every\nattention and aid, that a feeling heart, interested imsthe fate of another, could confer.\nHe supplied me with a new suit of clothes,\nand a hat, a small sum of money for my necessary expences, and a number of little articles for sea-stores on my voyage to Arneri-\nca*|f I also gave him a letter for my father,\nin which I mentioned my wonderful preservation, and escape, through the humanity of\ncaptain Hill, with whom I should return to\nBoston. This letter he enclosed to his fath-\ner;!\u00a9y a ship that was just sailing, in consequence of which it was received much earlier\nthan it otherwise would have been,\nIprWeleft China in February,- 1807, and after\na pleasant voyage of one hundred and fourteen days, arrived at Boston. My feelings\non once more finding myself in a Christian\ncountry, among a people speaking the same\nlanguage with myself, may be more readily\nconceived than expressed. In the Post'^j^\nfice in that place, \u00a7 found a letter for me from\nmy mother, acknowledging the receipt of\nmine from China, expressing the great joy\nof my family on hearing of my being alive\n I 203\nand well, whom they had for a long time\ngiven up for dead, and requesting me to write\nto them on receiving her letter, which I accordingly did. While in Boston, I was\ntreated with much kindness and hospitality\nby the owners of the ship Boston, Messrs.\nFrancis and Thomas Amory of that place, to\nwhom I feel myself under great obligations\nfor their goodness to me, and the assistance\nwhich they so readily afforded a stranger in\ndistress.\nWAR-SONG OF THE NOOTKA TRIBE.\nCommencing with a chorus repeated at the end of each Imm.\nHah-yee hah yar har, he yar bah.\nHah-yah bee yar har\u2014he yar hah.\nIe yie ee yah har\u2014ee yie hah.\nIe yar ee yar hah\u2014ee yar yah.\nIe yar ee I yar yar hah\u2014Ie yar ee yee yah I\nI-ye iha hi-chill at-sish Kla-ha\u2014Ha-ye-hah.\n\/ Que nok ar parts-arsh waw\u2014Ie yie-yar.\nWaw-hoo naks sar hasch\u2014Yar-hah. I-yar hee I-yar\nWaw boo naks ar hasch yak-queets sish ni-ese,\nWaw har. Hie yee ah-hah.\nRepeated over and over with gestures and brandishing of\nweapons.\nNOTE.\nle-yee ma hi-chill, signifies, Ye do not know. It appears to\nbe a poetical mode of expression, the common one for you do\nnot know, being, Wik-fcum-atash I from this, it would seem\nthat they have two languages, one for their songs and another for common use. The general meaning of this first\nstanza appears to be, Ye little know ye men of Klahar,\nwhat valliant warriors we are. Poorly can our foes contend\nwith us, when we come on with our daggers, &c.\nThe Nootkians have no songs of a historical nature, nor do\nthey appear to have any tradition respecting their origin.\nFINISH &\nI\n ","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"Two pages numbered 28.
Other Copies: http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/3182927","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/hasType":[{"value":"Books","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"Travel literature","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/identifier":[{"value":"FC3821.1 .J491 1815b","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"II-0280","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/isShownAt":[{"value":"10.14288\/1.0222551","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/language":[{"value":"English ; Nootka","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/provider":[{"value":"Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/publisher":[{"value":"Middletown : Loomis & Richards","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/rights":[{"value":"Images provided for research and reference use only. For permission to publish, copy, or otherwise distribute these images please contact digital.initiatives@ubc.ca.","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/source":[{"value":"Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. FC3821.1 .J491 1815b","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/subject":[{"value":"Jewitt, John R. -- (John Rodgers), -- 1783-1821","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"Indian captivities--British Columbia","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"Nootka Indians--History","type":"literal","lang":"en"},{"value":"Nootka Sound (B.C.)","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/title":[{"value":"A narrative of 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, embellished with a plate representing the ship in possession of the savages","type":"literal","lang":"en"}],"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/type":[{"value":"Text","type":"literal","lang":"en"}]}}