120 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



prefix — that is, as an inflection ; for the separate pronoun meaning 

 " he " is ipi. Tau has reference to anything done in the night — 

 tuala to an action performed in the rain ; but these expressions ai'e 

 never used alone, and are not derived, so far as is known, from any 

 verbal root. Wihnan is from tlie simple verb loihnasa, to travel on 

 foot. The verbal noun, which is the simplest form of the root, is 

 wihiia ; the last n in the compound form seems to be added merely 

 for euphony. Kau is from the verb k"kau7ia, (root kokaun) to pass 

 by. Na is the suffix of the indicative mood, aorist tense, direction 

 from the speaker. A literal version of this most picturesque and 

 expressive sentence-word would be — " he, at night, in the rain 

 travelling on foot, passed by, away from me." By three additional, 

 syllables we can bring the verb into the causative conjugation, and 

 change the dii'ection of the movement towards the speaker : Hi-shap- 

 a-tati-tuala-wihnan-kau-nim-a will signify " he made him travel this 

 way on foot in a I'ainy night." 



But it may be said that to form and preserve such a language as 

 the Sahaptin or the Sanscrit, something more than a sti'ong linguistic 

 faculty is needed, both in its first framers and in their descendants. 

 Thei-e must be higher endowments — power's of combination, of 

 memory, of abstraction, of logical reasoning, working perhaps uncon- 

 sciously, but still working effectively and constantly. 



This view is apparently a just one, and it is i:)roper to show that 

 the circumstances in the present case fully confirm it. While gather- 

 ing the language of this tribe, I had occasion to study their chai*acter, 

 and an excellent oppoitunity of ascei'taining it from the missionaries 

 and other white residents. At that time I wrote of them — •' The 

 Sahaptins or (Nez-perces), are the tribe who, several years ago, des- 

 patched a deputation to the United States, to request that teachers 

 might be sent to instruct them in the arts and religion of the whites. 

 Their good dispositions have been much eulogized by travellers, and 

 there seems to be no reason to doubt that they are superior to the 

 other tribes of this territory in intellect and in moral qualities." 

 Nearly thirty years after this measured commendation was piiblished, 

 the whole continent rang with the praises of the intellectual power, 

 the eloquence, the military skill, the unconquerable firmness, the 

 magnanimity, the humanity, and the other noble qualities of these 

 remarkable barbarians. In the admirable work of that able and 



