A Cruise in the Cassiar 



— granite erratics that had been dropped by the melt- 

 ing ice toward the close of the glacial period — were 

 piled in parallel rows at right angles to the shore-line, 

 out of the way of the canoes that had belonged to the 

 village. 



Most of the party sauntered along the shore; for 

 the ruins were overgrown with tall nettles, elder 

 bushes, and prickly rubus vines through which it was 

 difficult to force a way. In company with the most 

 eager of the relic-seekers and two Indians, I pushed 

 back among the dilapidated dwellings. They were 

 deserted some sixty or seventy years before, and some 

 of them were at least a hundred years old. So said our 

 guide, Kadachan, and his word was corroborated by 

 the venerable aspect of the ruins. Though the damp 

 climate is destructive, many of the house timbers were 

 still in a good state of preservation, particularly those 

 hewn from the yellow cypress, or cedar as it is called 

 here. The magnitude of the ruins and the excellence 

 of the workmanship manifest in them was astonish- 

 ing as belonging to Indians. For example, the first 

 dwelling we visited was about forty feet square, with 

 walls built of planks two feet wide and six inches 

 thick. The ridgepole of yellow cypress was two feet 

 in diameter, forty feet long, and as round and true as 

 if it had been turned in a lathe; and, though lying in 

 the damp weeds, it was still perfectly sound. The 

 nibble marks of the stone adze were still visible, 

 though crusted over with scale lichens in most places. 

 The pillars that had supported the ridgepole were still 

 standing in some of the ruins. They were all, as far as 



1711 



