22 



THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. 



Fig 8. 



Saddle of whale s blubber. 



feathers at each end, and the whole covered over with spots and patches of down. 

 Underneath the blubber is a trough to catch the oil which drips out. The u-butsk 

 remains in a conspicuous part of the lodge until it is considered ripe enough to eat, 

 when a feast is held, and the whole devoured or carried off by the guests, who are 



at liberty to carry away what they cannot eat. 

 After the blubber is removed into the lodge 

 the black skin is first t taken off, and either 

 eaten raw or else boiled. It looks like India 

 rubber ; but though very repulsive to the eye 

 it is by no means unpalatable, and is usually 

 given to the children, who are very fond of 

 it, and manage to besmear their faces with 

 the grease till they are in a filthy condition. 

 The blubber, after being skinned, is cut 

 into strips and boiled, to get out the oil that 

 can be extracted by that process ; this oil is 

 carefully skimmed from the pots with clam 

 shells. The blubber is then hung in the 

 smoke to dry, and when cured, looks very 



much like citron. It is somewhat tougher than pork, but sweet (if the whale has 

 been recently killed), and has none of that nauseous taste which the whites attri 

 bute to it. When cooked, it is common to boil the strips about twenty minutes ; 

 but it is often eaten cold and as an accompaniment to dried halibut. 



From information I obtained, I infer that formerly the Indians were more suc 

 cessful in killing whales than they have been of late years. Whether the whales 

 were more numerous, or that the Indians, being now able to procure other food 

 from the whites, have become indifferent to the pursuit, I cannot say ; but I have 

 not noticed any marked activity among them, and when they do go out they 

 rarely take a prize. They are more successful in their whaling in some seasons 

 than in others, and whenever a surplus of oil or blubber is on hand, it is exchanged 

 or traded with Indians of other tribes, who appear quite as fond of the luxury as 

 the Makahs. The oil sold by these whalers to the white traders is dogfish oil, 

 which is not eaten by this tribe, although the Clyoquot and Nootkan Indians use it 

 with their food. There is no portion of a whale, except the vertebrae and offal, 

 which is useless to the Indians. The blubber and flesh serve for food; the sinews 

 are prepared and made into ropes, cords, and bowstrings ; and the stomach and in 

 testines are carefully sorted and inflated, and when dried are used to hold oil. 

 Whale oil serves the same purpose with these Indians that butter does with civilized 

 people ; they dip their dried halibut into it while eating, and use it with bread, 

 potatoes, and various kinds of berries. When fresh, it is by no means unpalatable ; 

 and it is only after being badly boiled, or by long exposure, that it becomes rancid, 

 and as offensive to a white man s palate as the common lamp oil of the shops. 



The product of the ocean next in importance for food is the halibut. These are 

 taken in the waters of the strait in certain localities, but as the depth of water at 

 the mouth of the strait is very great, the Indians prefer to fish on a bank or shoal 



