TO ALERT BAY 83 



powder, oatmeal, dried apples and peaches, 

 a couple of tins of meat, a couple of tins of 

 jam — one of which only sufficed for a meal — 

 some butter as a great treat, and a few potatoes 

 and onions on which I insisted. 



No liquor could be purchased in Alert Bay ; 

 the sale was prohibited on account of the 

 Indian Settlement. Fortunately, I had secured 

 two bottles of rum from the Queen City, or 

 otherwise I should have fared badly — as it 

 was, I had to be content with about a dessert- 

 spoonful of rum each night before turning in. 

 It is said that the Indians will do anything 

 for liquor, and once they get hold of any, drink 

 without any self-restraint. At Campbell River 

 I had more than once seen an Indian lying on 

 the side of the road hopelessly drunk and 

 insensible. It is therefore a wise provision 

 that the sale of liquor should be prohibited 

 at Alert Bay. The settlement was full of 

 Indians and their squaws, and a very un- 

 attractive lot the squaws were. Once having 

 seen them, it was difficult to believe in 

 the immorahty with which they are credited. 

 These Siwashes seemed a degraded race, and 

 one heard of men who deliberately took 

 their wives to logging camps to live on their 

 earnings. 



The provisions we laid in were supposed to 



G 2 



