634 ^^^^ POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The marriage ceremonies of these tribes are very complicated. 

 The young man must buy his bride from his future father-in-law before 

 he gets his consent to marry her. But even then the formalities he 

 has to go through are not at an end. He must come into the house 

 where the girl lives and sit down next to the door. Then the girl's 

 parents know what he comes for. They scold him and abuse him as 

 much as they can for two days. On the third day the mother gives 

 him a mat to sit on, and on the fourth he gets a little food. Then 

 he is invited to the fire, and the parents give their consent to the 

 marriage. The chief of the gens to which the young man belongs 

 now comes in great state and brings the price, which was agreed 

 upon beforehand, to the parents, who in their turn on the next day 

 pay a certain price, through the chief of their gens, to the parents of 

 the young man. Then both parties give a great feast. At last the 

 friends of the young man go to fetch the bride. They cover the road 

 leading from their house to the beach with gay mats and embark in 

 their boats. After a few hours thev land before the house of the srirl, 

 though it may stand close to theirs, and lay mats from the beach to the 

 house-door. Then the chief of the girl's gens dresses himself up with 

 all his dancing-ornaments, takes her by the hand, and leads her to the 

 boat, where she is received by the chief of the bridegroom's gens. 

 Then they return to their house, and the marriage ceremonies are at 

 an end. 



The efforts of the missionaries to Christianize these Indians have 

 in most places been very unsuccessful. The history of the mission is 

 quite interesting, and has been the subject of some publications in our 

 journals and newspapers. But, as in all these only one side of the 

 Indian question in British Columbia has been presented, a few re- 

 marks on the state of affairs, which is not without influence upon our 

 Alaska Indians, may not be out of place. 



The first to take up the work energetically was Mr. Duncan, who 

 established himself at Fort Simpson among the Tsimpshian tribe. His 

 influence upon the Indians has been enormous. 



These results haVe been brought about by the peculiar method Mr. 

 Duncan applied in Christianizing these Indians. He did not deem it 

 unworthy to trade for his pupils, and to teach them to icorh^ instead of 

 instructing them in the Christian faith alone. Thus he improved 

 their condition, and was remarkably successful. In order to protect 

 his adherents from the influence of the heathenish Indians and of the 

 worse influences of the white traders, he emigrated with them from 

 Fort Simpson and founded the settlement of Mestlakahtla, or more 

 properly Meghtlaqatla {qIi being pronounced like the German cA, and 

 g being a very guttural IS). He succeeded in keeping the destriTctive 

 whisky-trade from his followers. 



His success encouraged the missionaries of other churches. The 

 Catholic Church had tried to convert and civilize the tribes on both 



