Mr Scolder's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 229 



so that friendship was soon established between us. They 

 were, however, very uneasy, as they did not wish to venture 

 far from their own coast, on account of the Clayoquats and 

 Nithnats of the opposite coast, with whom they were at war, for 

 the purpose of obtaining slaves. One remarkable circumstance, 

 with regard to these Nichases, is, that many of them were cloth- 

 ed in blankets of their own manufacture. The wool they em- 

 ployed was obtained from their dogs, but we could not learn 

 by what method they succeeded in weaving them. They 

 seemed sufficiently comfortable in their dog's-wool blankets, 

 and had dyed them of various colours. They said they kept 

 all their white dogs in a small island about two miles from 

 the main land, and fed them regularly every morning ; and 

 by this means they preserved their breed of dogs producing 

 white wool. Their dogs differed much in their appearance 

 from those of the other Indian tribes ; the ears were more pen- 

 dulous, and they had more the appearance of spaniels than of 

 the native dogs of America. 



9th. — The country, on both sides of the straits, had the 

 most beautiful appearance of any part of the coast we had 

 ever seen. It abounded in beautiful towns, interspersed with 

 trees, and in some of the finest shrubs of American growth ; and 

 the numerous villages we saw, showed that the country abound- 

 ed in the necessaries of life. In the afternoon, we anchored 

 in Port Discovery, where we were visited, by many canoes from 

 the Indian village. This tribe was named the Klallums, and 

 were superintended by an old chief called Squastin ; and be- 

 cause some of his people had been kindly received at Fort 

 George, he behaved in the most friendly manner. During the 

 five days we remained here, the old chief visited us every morn- 

 ing, bringing with him a present of berries of the Gualtheria 

 shallon, salmon, and shell-fish. In return for his hospitality, 

 he was very anxious we should assist him in making war on 

 the tribes farther up the straits, and was at great pains to per- 

 suade us, that we would meet with a people who would prove 

 extremely hostile, and would poison all the provisions they 

 sold us. To these representations of the chief we paid little at- 

 tention. In the neighbourhood of their village, we saw many 

 of those poles, so well described by Captain Vancouver. They 



