The Country of the Chi I cats 



inveterate enemy and fighter of the Chilcats, but now, 

 having joined the church, he wished to forget the 

 past and bury all the hard feuds and be universally 

 friendly and peaceful. It was evident, however, that 

 he mistrusted the proud and warlike Chilcats and 

 doubted the acceptance of his friendly advances, and 

 as we approached their village became more and more 

 thoughtful. 



"My wife said that my old enemies would be sure 

 to kill me. Well, never mind. I am an old man and 

 may as well die as not." He was troubled with palpi- 

 tation, and oftentimes, while he suffered, he put his 

 hand over his heart and said, "I hope the Chilcats 

 will shoot me here." 



Before venturing up the river to the principal vil- 

 lage, located some ten miles up the river, we sent 

 Sitka Charley and one of the young Chilcats as mes- 

 sengers to announce our arrival and inquire whether 

 we would be welcome to visit them, informing the 

 chief that both Kadachan and Toyatte were Mr. 

 Young's friends and mine, that we were "all one 

 meat" and any harm done them would also be done 

 to us. 



While our messengers were away, I climbed a pure- 

 white, dome-crowned mountain about fifty-five hun- 

 dred feet high and gained noble telling views to 

 the northward of the main Chilcat glaciers and the 

 multitude of mighty peaks from which they draw 

 their sources. At a height of three thousand feet I 

 found a mountain hemlock, considerably dwarfed, in 

 company with Sitka spruce and the common hem- 



[ 175 1 



