5 i2 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



dians looked alike, pointed out to the writer several differences between 

 them of a physical character, and then remarked, in the Chinook 

 jargon, ' halo siwash ' — not Indian. The single braid, or ' pig-tail ' 

 of the Chinese is a matter of sport for the Indians who usually wear 

 their hair free, or in several braids. The Kootenay name for China- 

 man is Gooktlam, or ' tail head,' in reference to the hair-braid. The 

 Indians also make fun of the alleged use by the Chinese of cats as an 

 article of food. One of the Chinese of Wild Horse Creek, a certain 

 Lam Kin, acted as ' doctor ' for some of the Ft. Steele Indians, his 

 cure being a sort of medical tattooing, known by the Indians as katlku, 

 which many of them affected after their own ancient shamanism had 

 been more or less abolished through missionary influence. 



One afternoon, when camped in the Lower Kootenay country, the 

 writer thought he detected the presence of a skunk in the vicinity of 

 the tent. He saw his Indian guide some distance away and hailed him 

 about it. Only a non-committal answer was obtained. Noticing that 

 the Indian did not venture to come near, he asked him what he had 

 been doing, and started to go toward him, when he soon perceived what 

 was the matter. Amelu had been trying to kill a skunk, and his scanty 

 raiment exhaled abundant evidence of the encounter. He was given 

 some money to get new clothes at the little store not very far off, and 

 soon returned in triumph, having taken a bath in the river on the way 

 back. How he induced the storekeeper to let him get near enough to 

 purchase what he wanted he did not say, but perhaps the exchange was 

 effected after the primitive fashion sometimes indulged in by children. 

 However that may be, Amelu was a thoroughly shamefaced red-skin, as 

 he stood off at a distance, afraid to come near the tent until the cause 

 of his embarrassment had been disclosed. It appears that the Chinese 

 in the mining districts of the Kootenay use certain parts of this animal 

 for medicinal purposes, and the Indians catch them and sell them. 

 Some of the Kootenays are said to catch skunks with their naked 

 hands — usually they knock them over with sticks or stones. In cap- 

 turing these and other small animals they take pleasure in getting as 

 close to them as possible before striking. When using the writer's 

 gun, Amelu would creep up so close to the grouse, known locally as 

 * fool hens,' that they would be blown to pieces when he did discharge 

 his weapon. He also appeared to take great delight in ' gaffing ' fish 

 as compared with catching them with hook and line, although he en- 

 joyed that very much, especially when he became aware of the writer's 

 inexpertness as a fisherman. 



Past one of the camping-places on the Kootenay river a steamer 

 used to go every few days, and Amelu, from the moment he first heard 

 the whistle till the vessel disappeared from his sight, would stand upon 

 the bank waiting for it, gazing at it, peering after it. The sound of 



