PEOPLE OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 69 



which was tied to the end of several poles lashed together so as to reach the bottom, 

 the shells being impaled by driving the faggot into the muddy bottom. The Indians 

 of the village obtain water from the stream immediately behind the houses. A second 

 small stream in the same bay, a little further to the north, must neither be drunk from 

 nor washed in, being one of the malignant or ixulucky streams. When, ignorantly, on 

 the point of washing in it, I was prevented from doing so by a hurried remonstrance on 

 the part of some Indians near by, who scarcely seemed to know whether to be most 

 alarmed or amused at my siirprisiug ignorance, but to whose prejudice, as they were 

 quite earnest in the matter, I was glad to give way. 



(9) Ki'iw-pino (Ke-â-pe-uo). — This tribe was not distinguished from the Kûs'-kï-mo in lists 

 in the " Comparative Vocabularies." It now numbers twenty individuals in all, and these 

 have practically amalgamated with the Kôs-kT-mo, living with them in their principal 

 village (Hwat-fs). They were at one time, however, evidently an important inde- 

 pendent tribe, their principal village, named Bce,being situated six miles east of Koprino 

 Harbour of the chart, on the north side of Quatsiuo Sound. This village has now entirely 

 disappeared, but square sepulchral boxes, in good preservation, exist on the small island 

 near it, in which the dead appear to have been deposited since the abandonment of the 

 village site. They have a few rudely constructed houses on East Cove of Koprino 

 Harbour, to which they resort in the summer and particvxlarly in the salmon-curing time 

 in the autumn. As previously noted, they were driven from Forward Inlet by the 

 Kwâ'-tsï-no, where, I was informed by Ow-ït, they " came down" originally in two places, 

 viz., at the head of Browning Creek and ai Grrassy Point in Winter Harbour. This 

 account of their origin does not, however, tally with that which states that they originated 

 as runaways from the Kwâ'-tsï-no, according to the tale given further on. Such con- 

 tradictory stories are not uncommonly found among the natives, who do not appear to 

 have mentally compared conflicting evidence of this kind, which has been passed down 

 by word of mouth, and has probably suffered change in the process. 



(10) Kns'-kl-mo (Knse-ke-moo) — The people of this tribe are still somewhat numerous, and 

 their principal village, which is large and well built, is situated on the point between 

 Hecate CoA'e and Quatsino Narrows, in Quatsino Sound. They are physically much 

 superior to the Kwâ'-tsï-no, and better off in every respect. The village is named Hwat- 

 ês. A second or " summer village " is situated on the south side of the Sound, nearly 

 opposite Koprino Harbour, and is named Mâ-âtê. As before mentioned, the distinction 

 between winter and summer villages is a somewhat arbitrary one, depending rather on 

 the occupations of the people than on the seasons, though, to some extent, corresponding 

 with the latter. Thus, in August (1885) the Kôs'-kï-mo were all living in the winter or 

 principal village. 



There are a number of wooden slab tombs, of the usual character, on islands and rocks 

 near this village, and a few canoes which have been used for sepulchral purposes. A cave 

 on the west side of the Narrows, not far from the village, has also been employed for the 

 deposit of boxes containing the dead. I visited this place iu 1878 and again in 1885, but 

 the presence of the Indians prevented close investigation. There is a considerable 

 number of coffin-boxes in the cave rudely piled together, with a few carved wooden 

 dishes. None are recent, and some must be many years old, as they are falling to pieces 

 from decay. 



