206 ETHNOGRAPHY. 



between the tribes of the coast, and those to the south and east. In 

 stature and proportion they are superior to the Chinooks and Chikai- 

 lish, but inferior to the Sahaptin. Their features are not so regular 

 nor their skins so clear as those of the latter, while they fall far short 

 of the grossness of the former. In bodily strength they are inferior to 

 the whites. 



A description of the habits of this tribe will give a good idea of the 

 life of systematic wandering peculiar to the natives of Oregon. They 

 derive their subsistence from roots, fish, berries, game, and a kind of 

 moss or lichen which they find on trees. At the opening-of the year, 

 as soon as the snow disappears, (in March and April), they begin to 

 search for the pokpoh, a bulbous root, shaped somewhat like a small 

 onion, and of a peculiarly dry and spicy taste. This lasts them till 

 May, when it is exchanged for the spatlam, or " bitter root," which is 

 a slender, white root, not unlike vermicelli; when boiled, it dissolves 

 like arrow-root, and forms a jelly of a bitter but not disagreeable 

 flavor. Some time in June, the itwha or camass comes in season, 

 and is found at certain well-known " grounds" in great quantities. In 

 shape it resembles the pohpoh, and when baked for a day or two in 

 the ground, has a consistency and taste not unlike those of a boiled 

 chestnut. It supplies them for two or three months, and while it is 

 most abundant in June and July the salmon make their appear- 

 ance, and are taken in great numbers, mostly in weirs. This, with 

 these people, is the season when they are in the best condition, 

 having a plentiful supply of their two prime articles of food. During 

 this period, the men usually remain at the fishing-station, and the 

 women at the camass-ground, but parties are continually passing from 

 one to the other. August, during which the supplies from both these 

 sources commonly fail, is the month for berries, of which they some- 

 times collect enough both for immediate subsistence, and to dry for 

 winter. The service-berry and the choke-cherry are the principal 

 fruits of this kind which they seek. In September, the " exhausted 

 salmon," or those which, having deposited their roes, are now about 

 to perish, are found in considerable numbers, and though greatly 

 reduced both in fatness and flavor, are yet their chief dependence, 

 when dried, for winter consumption. Should they be scarce, a 

 famine would be likely to ensue. At this season, also, they obtain 

 the mesaui, an inferior root, resembling somewhat, in appearance, a 

 parsnip. When baked, it turns perfectly black, and has a peculiar 

 taste, unlike that of any of our common roots. This lasts them 



