NORTHWESTERN AMERICA. 643 



All tli'isc exclamations wliic-h arc the nr.'urnl expressions of feeling and passion may 

 be saiil In Ix'lonir, tX m-i^im-. to lliis iilioni. The; only one really peculiar to It (and that 

 borrowed partly from the Kniilish) is the i "linn! Iniu ! ///////" which is 



used In iir^c or hasten a part) in any work. 



It ma\ Kem a! lir-' dile that a language, if such it mny he called, 



composed of si i lew wnnls, thus inartilicially combined, should he exlenslvelv iisi'd as 



the inn of intercommunication ainmi-j nnn\ ll -and individuals. Various 



circumstances arc, houi ver, in ! borne in mind, in estimating its value as such a 

 medium. In llie first |i ! d is expressed hy ihe tone of voice, the 1,. ok, and 



'itrary to what is, we believe, the 



comiiion o|.ini riculaiiniis. No 1 probably. 



than tin i . ry circumstance and qualifica- 



tion of their ideas is expressed in their speech with a minuteness which to those accus- 

 tom (! and idle, as much so as 

 the forms nf the (Icrnian and Latin may seem to (lie ('liinese. We frequently had occa- 

 sion e the sudden change produced when a party of natives, who had been con- 

 . i their own tongue, were joined by a loreinner, with whom it was necessary to 

 speak in the Jargon. The countenances which before had been grave, stolid, and inex- 

 prc instantly lighted up with animation; the low, monotonous tone became 

 livcl\ ami modulated ; every leature as active ; the head, the arms, and the whole body 

 in motion, and e\er\ l",.k and gesture became instinct with meaning. One who 

 knew merely the subject of the discourse might often have comprehended, from this 



neral purport of the conversation. 



It should further lie observed that many of the words have a very general sense, and 



ma\ \eral diticrcnt though allied significations, according to the context. Thus 



inn,', 'null', l,iui, .sr//, or lmrt<-f ; .W.v///', or .<<///,-//<, e\i.:-.\sses above, up, over, 



: xtil; is .*//'//. , loood, tree, forest, club, caw, &c. ; sakks is angry, hostile, to 



_'///.- mill, til. is tn ait, '/tti, stop; multinnik is to take any thing 



into (lie mouth, hence niiikniinik aiiii/u//,'to eat salmon; /niikaniak tsok, to drink 



, null, to smoke tobacco. 



But it is in the faculty of combining and compounding its simple vocables, a power 

 which it derives, no doubt, from its connexion with the Indian tongues, that the Jargon 

 finds its special adaptation to the purposes to which it is applied. Two or three hundred 

 words may \x" learned without difficulty in a day, and a very short time will make the 

 learner familiar with their ordinary use and construction. He will then have no diffi- 

 culty in understanding the numerous compounds which, if they had been simple words, 

 would have cost him much additional labour. Almost every verb and adjective may 

 receive a new signification by prefixing the word mdmuk, to make or cause. Thus 

 ma'tiii'i; t*/t<i/.tt (to make to come), to bring; mdmuk kldtaica (make to go), to send or 

 drive away; iiiiiniiil; i/i<ish, to throw down, to smash; mdmuk po, to fire a gun; 

 /'/. klush, to repair, put in order, arrange, cure; mamuk kikwi/i, to put down, to 

 lower, to bury ; /./h/iiti, to make fine, like sand, hence to grind ; mdmuk pepa, 



to write; nninnik kumataks, to make to know, to teach, &c. 



The following instances will show the usual mode of forming compound terms. From 

 the English words innn, aliij), xtik, sf<i, sel, haus, skin, are formed shipman, a sailor; 

 shipstik, a spar; stikskin, bark; selhaus, a tent; stikston, a piece of petrified wood. 



