628 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



knows I ought to bo thankful for such a jDerennial interest, which 

 makes me forget for some hours every day ray accursed stomach." 

 An extreme tenderness for suffering marked his whole life. But 

 when the subject of vivisection came under discussion, he recognized 

 the importance of experimental physiology. While insisting upon 

 the imposition of close restrictions in operation, and the adoption of 

 all possible measures to save pain to the objects of experiment, he 

 approved of that method of study, for the sake of the wide and per- 

 manent relief from suffering that would accrue from the knowledge 

 thereby gained. 



A 



THE IN"DIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



By De. FKANZ BOAS. 



PICTURE of the Indians whose life we intend to describe in 

 the following pages does not bear the well-known features of 

 the renowned hunters and daring warriors whom we are acquainted 

 with from "Leather-Stocking" and other Indian stories. They are no 

 noble figures roaming on horseback over the endless prairie ; they are 

 a quiet people of fishermen, whose appearance is so different from that 

 of our Indians that at first sight one feels astonished and disappointed. 

 They are of short stature, light complexion, with prominent cheeks, 

 straight black hair, and sparkling black eyes. Their type reminds one 

 BO much of that of the races of Eastern Asia that in British Columbia 

 they are generally considered the descendants of ship'UTecked Japan- 

 ese navigators. 



The stranger who first visits Victoria, the capital of British Colum- 

 bia, is struck by the great number of Indians Avho live in the city. 

 They wear clothing of European style. The men work on the wharves 

 and steamers, sell fish and skins, or are occupied in different trades, 

 particularly as carpenters. The women wash and work for the whites, 

 or stroll idly about the streets. The suburbs of Victoria arc almost 

 exclusively inhabited by the Indians. There they live in miserable, 

 filthy shanties and sheds, or even in thin canvas tents. The city has 

 about thirteen thousand inhabitants, and of these about two thousand 

 are Indians who stay there over summer. Besides these, about three 

 thousand Chinese, many Sandwich-Islanders, a few negroes, and a 

 white population coming from all parts of Europe and America, live 

 in the city. The internationality of the population and its easy- going 

 ways give it a peculiar character. 



But this is not the place to study the customs of the Indian. We 

 must visit him in his village, where he lives undisturbed by the con- 

 tact with Europeans, according to his ancient customs. 



When the rainy season of fall approaches, most of the Indians who 

 worked in Victoria over summer return to their villages, either in their 



