FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. [94] 



more numerous the Indians have accustomed themselves to other arti. 

 cles of diet, such as flour, hard bread, rice, and beans, which are always 

 acceptable to them. They are also fond of molasses and sugar, for 

 which they are ever anxious to trade their furs, oil, or fish. Next in im- 

 portance to the halibut are the salmon and a species of fish known as 

 the " cultus," or bastard cod, which are usually eaten fresh except in 

 seasons of great plenty, when the salmon are smoked. They capture 

 all of the fish with the hook, using herring as bait. The squid is used 

 as food and also as bait for halibut. Skates, though abundant, are sel- 

 dom eaten, because they make their appearance during the halibut sea- 

 son. Three varieties of Uchimis are abundant and eaten in great quan- 

 tities. Mussels, barnacles, crabs, sea-slugs, perriwinkles, and limpets 

 furnish occasional repasts. Scallops are excluded from their list of food, 

 but their shells are used as rattles in ceremonials. Although oysters 

 are found in the bays and inlets of Vancouver Island the Indians do 

 not eat them. 



Of land animals they eat the flesh of the elk, deer, and bear ; but 

 smaller animals, such as raccoons, squirrels, and rabbits, are seldom, if 

 ever, eaten by them, and are killed only for their skins. They are par- 

 ticularly fond of sea-fowl, including pelicans, loons, cormorants, ducks 

 of several kinds, grebes, and divers of various sorts. The roots of cer- 

 tain ferns, some species of meadow grass, water-plants, and several kinds 

 of sea- weed, particularly eel-grass, are also used as food, as well as the 

 young sprouts and fruit of the "salmon berry" and "thumb berry." 

 Their method of serving up food is very primitive, the same forms being 

 observed by all. The food is served in courses, and, when feasts are 

 given, the guests are expected to carry away what they cannot eat. The 

 host is offended if his guests do not partake of everthing that is placed 

 before them, and if strangers are among the visitors it is not uncommon 

 for four or five feasts to be given in the course of a single day or even- 

 ing. An Indian is looked upon as a welcome guest who does justice to 

 the hospitality of his host, and, in order that he may not offend any one^ 

 thrusts his fingers down his throat and throws off a load from his 

 stomach to enable him to be prepared for the next feast. Although 

 smoking is not universally practiced among them, they sometimes in- 

 dulge in a whiff of tobacco mixed with dried leaves, after eating, fishing^ 

 and whaling. The "pipe of peace" is unknown among them. 



Dog-fish are taken in large quantities for the oil contained in the 

 liver, which forms the principal article of traffic between these Indians 

 and the whites. But the fish itself is seldom eaten by the Makahs, un- 

 less the oil has been thoroughly removed. Dog-fish oil has a nauseous 

 taste, and is not relished hj these Indians, who are epicures in their 

 way and prefer the oils of whales and seals. A very large species of 

 shark, known among whalemen as " bone-shark," is occasionally killed 

 by the Makahs on account of the great quantities of oil found in the 

 liver. A fish of the genus Anarrhichthys, called the " doctor-fish," is 



