300 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 



Gamassia is in full bloom, agreeably variegated with sundry 



getting sacks ready, which are mostly of Thuja bass, or Helonias roots ; 

 and at last family after family leave the village, chatting merrily, and 

 group after group arrive at the plains, where there all is bustle and 

 activity. After dismounting, they strike their camp in the groups of tall 

 pines j the boys take care of the horses, while the older people pay their 

 visits from lodge to lodge. Hunters return with game, or some young men 

 bring the first salmon from the distant river, to have something to feast 

 the visitors. All is merriment and joy, when the numerous large pine- 

 wood fires illuminate the wide classic plain in the evening. The digging 

 of the Gamass takes place as soon as the lower half of the flowers on the 

 raceme begin to fade, or better, when the time of flowering is entirely 

 passed. For that purpose, the Indian women use a stick two feet long, 

 curved like a sabre, of hawthorn wood, which is provided with a cross 

 piece of elk-horn on the top, serving as a handle. This instrument they 

 use with astonishing dexterity, so that they very seldom strike the point 

 twice after the same bulb. Four or five sacks of raw bulbs is a common 

 day's labour, which dwindle to about two after baking and drying. With 

 the first dawn of day the industrious women and mothers start from 

 the camp, which is frequently a little distant from the Gamass plains, 

 on account of wood and water. They are generally accompanied by a 

 little girl or boy to take care of the horses, and they return every evening 

 loaded to the lodge. As soon as they have gathered a sufficient quantity 

 of bulbs, they prepare for baking. For that purpose, they dig or scrape 

 a hole in the ground of three or four feet in depth, make a fire and throw 

 in a good layer of red hot stones, then a layer of clean grass over those, 

 and now a layer of Gamass, the latter having before been cleaned from 

 the adhering soil. This is repeated until the hole is level with the ground 

 above. The fire is now moved on the top of the pit, and kept burniug for 

 about twenty- four hours or longer. 



The raw Gamass bulb resembles in its substance, the common Squill. 

 By baking, it acquires a sweet taste, and when boiled the taste is not 

 unlike the syrup of Squills, but not so sweet. Those accustomed to that 

 food, like the Indians, remain strong and fleshy ; but a European falls off 

 very soon if he has nothing else. Eating a great quantity produces 

 flatulence, as has been observed by travellers before. 



As soon as the first Gamass are baked, the Indians, young and old, 

 pass from lodge to lodge to eat Gamass: every where is plenty and 

 content. The stranger is offered Gamass as soon as he steps into the 

 camp. But this is only part of the feast : the whole is perfect when the 

 salmon- begin to be plenty in the rivers, when the gathering of Gamass 

 comes to an end. Nothing can make the Indian recollect that he, with 

 his family, hungered and nearly starved for two months. His natural 

 carelessness and improvidence return with the abundant seasons, he 



