RIGHT OF CHIEFSIIIP. 241 



way, but riches generally carry the palm. In- 

 stance : Lolo of Kamloops, formerly a scullion, 

 now a so-called chief. 



A. (Tolmie.) The authority of the chiefs is 

 limited, and depends greatly on individual force 

 of character. On the coast, chiefship is hereditary 

 by the female line. In the interior (Kliketat 

 tribes and Flatheads), rank passes by the male 

 line, but courage and ability are the best re- 

 commendations to leadership amongst the tribes 

 encountering the hostile Blackfoot every summer 

 in the buffalo-country. 



Q. Have they any laws ? If so, how are they 

 preserved? How is delinquency punished and 

 how are judges constituted ? What are the crimes 

 taken notice of by the laws ? Is there gradation 

 or commutation of punishment? 



A. (Anderson.)- -Yes, i.e. Social Laws, which 

 as a point of honour are generally well observed. 

 Any dereliction is generally remedied by the 

 ultima ratio. 



A. (Tolmie.'] No law but custom. Yery 

 troublesome characters sometimes shot by agree- 

 ment between a few leading men in a tribe. 

 Medicine men the most frequent victims of this 

 and of individual vengeance. They frequently 

 avert further evil by retuminff fees when the 



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VOL. II. li 



