176 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY 



are attached little loops of hempen cord or leather, and other 

 similar cords are passed across and back , in a zig-zag manner, 

 through these loops, enclosing the child, and binding it firmly- 

 down. To the upper edge of this board, in which is a depression 

 to receive the back part of the head, another smaller one is 

 attached by hinges of leather, and made to lie obliquely upon the 

 forehead, the force of the pressure being regulated by several 

 strings attached to its edge, which are passed through holes in 

 the board upon which the infant is lying, and secured there. 



The mode of the Chinooks, and others near the sea, differs 

 widely from that of the upper Indians, and appears somewhat 

 less barbarous and cruel. A sort of cradle is formed by exca- 

 vating a pine log to the depth of eight or ten inches. The child 

 is placed in it on a bed of little grass mats, and bound down in 

 the manner above described. A little boss of tightly plaited and 

 woven grass is then applied to the forehead, and secured by a 

 cord to the loops at the side. The infant is thus suffered to remain 

 from four to eight months, or until the sutures of the skull have in 

 some measure united, and the bone become solid and firm. It is 

 seldom or never taken from the cradle, except in case of severe 

 illness, until the flattening process is completed. 



I saw, to-day, a young child fi'om whose head the board had 

 just been removed. It was, without exception, the most frightful 

 and disgusting looking object that I ever beheld. The whole 

 front of the head was completely flattened, and the mass of brain 

 being forced back, caused an enormous projection there. The 

 poor little creature's eyes protruded to the distance of half an 

 inch, and looked inflamed and discolored, as did all the sur- 

 rounding parts. Although I felt a kind of chill creep over me 

 from the contemplation of such dire deformity, yet there was 

 something so stark-staring, and absolutely queer in the physiog- 

 nomy, that I could not repress a smile; and when the mother 

 amused the little object and made it laugh, it looked so irresist- 



