The Days of a Man 1880 



Dogfish Squalus sucklii a kind of shark locally 

 abundant. Among the eager lads I remember one 

 'Eddie Meany," l now for twenty-three years the 

 professor of American History in the flourishing 

 university grown from the humble beginning I 

 have indicated. 



Since that time other cities have risen about the 

 Sound, but in population and business Seattle re- 

 tains a long lead. Meanwhile Olympia, still the 

 capital, and Port Townsend (both isolated from the 

 currents of traffic) have grown but little the 

 latter, indeed, not at all. 



At In the course of our work we spent some time at 

 Neah N ea h g ay an( j \Vaada Island at the entrance of the 

 Straits of Juan de Fuca, the outlet to Puget Sound. 

 There on the Makah Indian Reservation we saw 

 much of the natives, and acquired some mastery 

 of the Chinook jargon a mixture of Siwash, 

 English, and French, comparable to the "pidgin 

 English' 1 of China. A white man is Boston man; 

 an Indian, Sizvash; very, by as; worthless, cultus. 

 Thus by as cultus Boston man means a white idler; 

 Boston Siwasb, a negro or Chinese. Meaning often 

 matches sound; skookum chuck, for example, de- 

 notes a waterfall. French words are not uncommon, 

 laselle being a saddle latete, the head. And 

 Siwash boys are frequently eager to secure "Boston 

 names," among which Lincoln is a favorite one. 



The Indians of the Northwest are relatively in- 

 dustrious and competent, so that many of them 

 hold their own in business, or even in the profes- 

 sions, although it must be admitted that most 



1 Edmond Stephen Meany. 



C 224 ] 



