NORTH WEST ERN AMERICA. 535 



y and r. This ditlerem-e m:iy have arisen from the intercourse of the Umkwa people 

 with the neinhboimii:,' trills of the southern division. 



The little thai is known of tin- iiraiiiniatifal characteristics of these three Ian- 



s in coiiliriii the opinion of their allinity, deduced from a comparison of the vocabu- 

 laries. In all three, In is the word lor hand. In the first sVu is, my hand, and /r'/<r, 

 thy hand. In the second the forms are precisely the same. In the third, fVd is my 

 hand, and iitui/n, thy hand. Other points of resemblance, of a similar kind, will be 

 observed in the vocabularies. 



2. K I TUN A HA. 



(D. Kituntiy.a.) 



These words were obtained from a Cree (or Knisteneau) Indian, who had been much 

 with the Kitunaha, or Coutnnies, and spoke their language with fluency. Full reliance, 

 however, can never be placed upon information respecting a language derived from any 

 to whom it is not the native tongue, at least as regards its minute peculiarities. 



3. TSIHAILI-SELISH FAMILY. 



(E. Quftcapumg. F. Seliy [c. KOlespelm ; d. "Rukaetsitlin ; e. Sf.oaialf.lpi."] 

 G. Skitsuif. H. Piskwdus. I. Sku'dle. J. I'sf.ailig [f. Ts/.ailig ; g. Kwaiantfl ; 

 h. Kwenaiicityl.] K. Kawelitsk. L. NsietfdwOs.) 



All these vocabularies (with the exception of the Skwale, which was received from an 

 interpreter) were obtained from natives of the respective tribes, generally under favour- 

 able circumstances. For the Selish, Skitsuish, and Piskwaus, we are indebted to the 

 kindness of Messrs. Walker and Eels, missionaries of the American Board at Tshama- 

 kain, near the Spokan River. It was through the interpretation of these gentlemen, and 

 the explanations which their knowledge of the Selish enabled them to give, that the words 

 of all three languages, and the numerous sentences in the Selish illustrative of the gram- 

 matical peculiarities of that tongue, were correctly written. 



The languages of this family are all harsh, guttural, and indistinct. It is to the latter 

 quality that many of the variations in the vocabularies are owing. In other cases, these 

 proceed from dialectical differences, almost every clan or sept in a tribe having some 

 peculiarity of pronunciation. In the Selish, three dialects have been noted, and more 

 might have been given, had it not been considered superfluous. These three are first, 

 the Kullespelm, spoken by a tribe who live upon a river and about a lake known by that 

 name ; they are called by the Canadians Pend-oreilles, which has been corrupted to 

 Ponderays ; secondly, that of the proper Selish, or Flatheads, as they are called, and of 

 the Spokan Indians ; and that of the Soaiatlpi, Okinakain, and other tribes upon the 

 Columbia. 



Of the Tsihailish, also, three dialects are given, which differ considerably from one 

 another. The Quaiantl reside upon a river of the same name, north of the Tsihailish (or 



