70 



THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. 



having the eyes and lower jaw movable. By means of a string the performer can 

 make the eyes roll about, and the jaws gnash together with a fearful clatter. As 

 these masks are kept strictly concealed until the time of the performances, and as 



Fig. 39. 



Fig. 40. 



Fig. 41. No. 411T. 



they are generally produced at night, they are viewed with awe by the spectators ; 

 and certainly the scene in one of these lodges, dimly lighted by the fires which show 

 the faces of the assembled spectators and illuminate the performers, presents a most 

 weird and savage spectacle when the masked dancers issue forth from behind a 

 screen of mats, and go through their barbarous pantomimes. The Indians them 

 selves, even accustomed as they are to these masks, feel very much afraid of them, 

 and a white man, viewing the scene for the first time, can only liken it to a carnival 

 of demons. 



Among the masquerade performances that I have seen was a representation 

 of mice. This was performed by a dozen or more young men who were entirely 

 naked. Their bodies, limbs, and faces were painted with stripes of red, blue, and 

 black ; red bark wreaths were twisted around their heads, and bows and arrows 

 in their hands. They made a squealing noise, but otherwise they did nothing that 

 reminded me of mice in the least. Another party was composed of naked boys, 

 with bark fringes, like veils, covering their faces, and armed with sticks having 



