[97] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



February, the "■ moon " when the weather begins to grow better and 

 the days are longer, and when the women begin to venture out in canoes 

 after firewood without the men. 



March, the " moon " when the finback whales arrive. 



April, the "moon" of sprouts and buds. 



May, the " moon " of the strawberry and " salmon-berry." 



June, the "moon " of the red huckleberry. 



July, the "moon" of wild currants, gooseberries, etc. 



August is a season of rest. No fish are taken or berries picked, except 

 occasionally by children or idle persons. 



September, work of all kinds commences, particularly cutting wood, 

 splitting boards, and making canoes. 



October is the "moon" for catching the " tsa-tar-wha," a variety of 

 rock-fish, by means of a trolliug-liue, with a bladder buoy at each end 

 and a number of hooks attached. 



November is the season of winds and screaming birds. 



The winds are the breath of fabulous beings who reside in the quar- 

 ters whence they come, representing the different points of the compass. 

 The Indians are excellent judges of the weather and can predict a storm 

 or calm with almost the accuracy of a barometer. 



Both males and females are passionately fond of gambling, and con- 

 tinue their games for days at a time, or until one party or the other 

 loses all it has. They have several kinds of gambling instruments; 

 and one game in particular, common to all the Indians of this Terri- 

 tory, and called in their jargon "la-hull," is played with disks made of 

 hazel-wood, conclusions being arrived at by guessing, as is the case in 

 the majority of their games. Another game consists in passing a stick 

 rapidly from hand to hand, the object being to guess in which hand it 

 may be. A third game is played by females, with four beaver teeth, 

 marked on one side and plain on the other, which are thrown like dice. 



When a Makah dies the body is immediately rolled in blankets and 

 firmly bound with ropes and cords, then doubled up in the smallest 

 compass and placed in a box, which is also firmly bound with a rope. 

 A portion of the roof is removed, and the box with the body is taken 

 out at the top of the house and lowered to the ground, from a supersti- 

 tion that if a dead body is carried through a door- way any person who 

 passes through it afterwards will immediately sicken and die. It was 

 formerly the custom to dejwsit the body in a tree, but of late years it 

 has been buried in the earth, with a portion of the property of the de- 

 ceased placed on top of the box. If a man, his fishing or whaling-gear, 

 gun with lock removed, or his clothing and bedding are buried with 

 him. If a woman, her beads, bracelets, calico garments and other wear- 

 ing apparel, and baskets are buried with her. A little earth is thrown 

 on the box and i^roperty, and the space filled in with stones. The grave 

 is then decorated with blankets, calico shawls, handkerchiefs, looking- 

 glasses, crockery, tin-ware, and implements used in digging the grave. 



