THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. 



coast, store great quantities of fish for their winter s use ; but the fish they dry 

 are salmon, which require to be cured in the smoke and protected from the sun and 

 rain. Consequently, the tribes above mentioned use pitched roofs, or roofs much 

 more elevated than those of the Makahs. But the staple of the Makahs is halibut, 

 which, to be properly cured, is cut into thin slices and dried, if possible, in the open 

 air without smoke ; the best portions being those that have kept white and free 

 from any color. As the climate is very humid, it is rare that a season is propi 

 tious for the curing their fish ; so they have their roofs as flat as possible, and 

 during fair weather, in the fishing season, not only are these covered with the slices 

 of fish, but quantities are hung on horizontal poles fastened across the ends of the 

 uprights that form the side fastenings to the houses. The appearance of one of 

 the lodges on a fine day in summer when plenty of fish are drying is that of a 

 laundry with clothes out bleaching. When the weather threatens to be rainy, the 

 occupants proceed to the roof, and by removing several boards, they can stow away 

 their provender in a very few minutes, and again replace it in the open air on the 

 return of fair weather. 



The interior of a lodge often presents a curious domestic scene. In one corner 

 may be seen a mother rocking her child to sleep, securely lashed in its cradle, which 

 is suspended by strings to the top of a pliant pole, that moves with every motion 

 of her hand. If the mother is engaged in making baskets or mats, she transfers 

 the string from her hand to her great toe, and moving her foot, produces the 

 required motion, not unlike that of a modern baby jumper. In the centre a chain 

 hangs from the roof, supporting over the fire the kettle in which is the foofa for 

 her husband, while a boy, having cooked his own meal, is taking it alone. In 

 another part of the house, separated from this apartment by a board set up on 

 edge to serve as a partition, is another family, the father holding an infant in 

 his arms, while another child is playing with kittens ; the child s mother seated / 

 on the bed, wrapped in her blanket, and a group of friends in the centre cooking 

 their supper. 



PICTURE WRITING. In almost every lodge may be seen large boards or planks 

 of cedar carefully smoothed and painted with rude designs of various kinds. 

 With one exception, however, I have found nothing of a legendary or historic char 

 acter, their drawings being mostly representations of the private totem or tamanous 

 of individuals, and consisting of devices rarely understood by their owners and never 

 by any one else. The exception referred to is a representation of the thunder-bird 

 (T hlu-kluts), the whale (chet-up-uk), and the fabulous animal supposed by the 

 natives to cause lightning (Ha-hek-to-ak). This painting, is on a large board 

 in the lodge of one of the chiefs of Neeah Bay, and was executed by a Clyoquot 

 Indian named &quot;Cha-tik,&quot; a word signifying painter or artist. A painting is 

 termed Cha-tai-uks, and writing Chu-tatl. 



The coast Indians, as well as those I have conversed with, living on Puget Sound, 

 believe that thunder is caused by an immense bird whose size darkens the heavens, 

 and the rushing of whose wings produces peals of thunder. The Makahs, how 

 ever, have a superstition which invests the thunder-bird with a twofold character. 

 This mythological being is supposed by them to be a gigantic Indian, named, in 



