TRAITS OF NORTHWESTERN INDIANS. 823 



connection between each kind of sound and a color. We should 

 not suggest the problem if we thought it impossible to solve it by 

 some direct method, and we have a firm hope that well-conducted 

 personal investigations will at length discover the origin of the 

 association. It may be that some importance may be attached to 

 the picture reading books in which the letters are colored for the 

 pleasure of children. Possibly, too, the consonance of certain 

 words designating colored objects has been detached, by a kind of 

 abstraction, from the word itself, and has carried the reflection of 

 its color to other words in which it is found, although their mean- 

 ing is entirely different. This second opinion is supported by an 

 observation cited by Mr. Galton, of a lady who gave e the color of 

 red, and believed it was because there is an e in the English word 

 red. 



We may summarize the knowledge we have concerning the 

 mechanism of colored audition as follows : It is certain that the 

 impressions of color suggested by certain acoustic sensations are 

 mental images ; it is probable that those persons who experience 

 these impressions belong to a visual type ; and it is possible that 

 the bond between the impressions is the result of associated per- 

 ceptions. Translated for The Popular Science Monthly from the 

 Revue des Deux Mondes. 



SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTHWESTERN 



INDIANS. 



Kootenay Indians, who number between five hundred and 

 a thousand persons, inhabit a strip of country between the 

 Rocky and the Selkirk Mountains, partly in the United States 

 and partly in British Columbia. As a rule, their moral character 

 and behavior are good, and they are honest, kind, and hospitable ; 

 but a few incidents cited by Dr. A. F. Chamberlain, in his report 

 concerning them to the British Association, indicate that they are 

 sometimes moody and easily offended, especially when their de- 

 mands are refused. They have also a keen sense of the ludicrous, 

 and laugh at the misfortunes that befall their fellows. A favorite 

 Sunday amusement among the Lower Kootenays is horse-run- 

 ning. " All the horses are assembled in a large, open space near 

 the camp, and the Indians form a large circle round them, and, 

 provided with long whips, they drive the horses to and fro for an 

 hour or so, laughing and yelling to their hearts' content. Even 

 the little boys take part in this sport. They also take great de- 

 light in breaking stubborn horses, and the whole camp looks on 

 until the young man has succeeded in controlling his animal, 

 guying him unmercifully if he makes mistakes." Although no 



