IN THE FAR WEST. 75 



occasionally during the night, and it was not until daylight 

 appeared that they ceased ; but even then we could hear the 

 guttural tones of the gamesters as they droned out their 

 "1m ha" in the game of " Guess which hand holds the pebble." 

 This childish game is played by opposite sides, there being 

 from five to twenty on each side, and they continue it until 

 they become weary or some of the members lose everything, 

 even to the honour of their family. After these gambling 

 contests some of the men are homeless and perhaps wifeless, 

 and cannot even claim their life if their opponents wish to take 

 it from them. 



When I arose the next day many of the visitors to the 

 potlatch were leaving for home, but they departed without 

 even saying good-bye to their hosts, so far as I could see. I 

 do not know that they have even a word to express this 

 sentiment, but they evidently, whether they have or not, care 

 little for mere phrases, and depart without considering that 

 a word or two would mar or make their welcome, as it does 

 in civilized communities. When the majority of the guests 

 had left we struck our tent, and bidding the chief good-bye, 

 secured a canoe to take us to salt water in Pug-et Sound, 

 whence we could find a sailing-vessel or a steamer to take us 

 to our destination in Washington Territory. The run down 

 the river was made in a short time, as the current bowled us 

 along at the rate of eight or nine knots an hour, and our three 

 paddles increased this speed considerably. On reaching Puget 

 Sound my companion wended his way northward to British 

 Columbia, while I proceeded to Muckilteo, a fishing hamlet on 

 the Sound, thence moved into the country, where I remained 

 until my arm was in us good condition as ever. While stop- 

 ping there I had an adventure with a bear that promised to 

 be more dangerous than my last encounter. While trout 

 fishing one day a bear, which was pursued by dogs, swam the 

 river a short distance below me, and thinking I could get a shot 

 at it with my revolver, I concealed myself in some tall bushes 

 in order to be ready to pounce upon it the moment it struck 

 land. Not hearing any noise, I began to poke my head above 



