THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. 19 



sides of the cradle ; thus the infant remains, seldom taken out more than onco a 

 day while it is very young, and then only to wash it and dry its bedding. The 

 male children have a small opening left in the covering, through which the penis 

 protrudes to enable them to void their urine. The same style of cradle appears to 

 be used whether it is intended to compress the skull or not, and that deformity is 

 accomplished by simply drawing the strings of the head-pad tightly and keeping up 

 the pressure for a long time. Children are usually kept in these cradles till they 

 are a year old, but as their growth advances they are not tied up quite so long as for 

 the first few months. The mother, in washing her child, seldom takes the trouble 

 to heat water ; she simply fills her mouth with the water, and when she thinks it 

 warm enough spirts it on the child and rubs it with her hand. If the child is very 

 dirty, and they generally get thoroughly grimed up with soot and grease, a wash 

 of stale urine is used, which effectually removes the oil and dirt, but docs not 

 impart a fragrant odor. This species of alkali as a substitute for soap is the general 

 accompaniment of the morning toilet of both males and females. They wash as 

 soon as they get up, and may be seen any morning proceeding to the brook with 

 their urinals in their hands. In the winter months, in stormy weather, when they 

 have been confined to the house, or after they have been curing fish or trying out 

 oil, they get exceedingly dirty, and then they go through a process of scouring 

 themselves with a wisp of grass or cedar leaves and sand and urine ; after which 

 they give themselves a rinse in fresh water and come out as red as boiled lobsters. 

 Although, in respect of bathing, they may be said to be comparatively cleanly, yet 

 they are not so particular about washing their clothes, which they wear till they 

 are positively filthy before they will take the trouble to cleanse them ; and as their 

 washing is done in cold water, with but little if- any soap, their clothes have always 

 a dingy appearance. There are exceptions, however, to this, both among the males 

 and females, particularly the younger ones, who, since the advent of the whites, 

 seem more desirous of having clean apparel than their elders, who retain all their 

 old savage customs. 



FOOD, AND METHOD OF PROCURING IT. The principal subsistence of the Makahs is 

 drawn from the ocean, and is formed of nearly all its products, the most important of 

 which arethe whale and halibut. Of the former there are several varieties which are 

 taken at different seasons of the year. Some are killed by the Indians ; others, 

 including the right whale, drift ashore, having been killed either by whalemen, sword 

 fish, or other casualties. The various species of whales are : The sperm whale, 

 kots-ke, which is very rarely seen ; right whale, yakh -yo-bad-di ; black fish, klas- 

 ko-kop-ph ; fin-back, kau-wid ; sulphur bottom, kwa-kwau-yak -t hle ; California 

 gray, che-che-wid, or chet -a-puk ; killer, se-hwau. The generic name of whales is 

 chet -a-puk. The California gray is the kind usually taken by the Indians, the 

 others being but rarely attacked. 



Their method of whaling, being both novel and interesting, will require a minute 

 description not only the implements used, but the mode of attack, and the final 

 disposition of the whale, being entirely different from the practice of our own 

 whalemen. The harpoon consists of a barbed head, to which is attached a rope 

 or lanyard, always of the same length, about five fathoms or thirty feet. This 



