THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE i 5 



publication of books describing the lives of Indian 

 tribes. 



Mr. C. Hill-Tout, who has spent much time in 

 observing the Indian tribes of the Pacific Coast of. 

 British North America, says : &quot; There is no doubt 

 in my mind that the present Salish population of 

 about 12,000 does not represent nearly a fifth of 

 the population of this stock at the time of Simon 

 Eraser s visit to them. One tribe alone, the 

 Lukungen/ whose settlements are at the south 

 eastern end of Vancouver s Island, was estimated 

 in 1859 to number 8500. To-day they could not 

 muster 200, or less than one -fortieth of their former 

 numbers.&quot; ...&quot; That dying race the Haida of 

 Queen Charlotte s Islands numbered, in 1840, 8328. 

 Twenty years ago that number had dwindled to 

 2000, and to-day the native population of these 

 small islands is about 700.&quot; Perhaps it is safe to 

 say that the total native population of British North 

 America is only one-tenth part of what it was 

 a hundred years ago. Alcohol, small-pox, and 

 pneumonia have caused a heavy death rate, in 

 addition to which the easier lives, and the adoption 

 of a good deal of European clothing, have made 

 the natives less robust, and therefore an easy prey 

 to all forms of sickness. 



