BOAS] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE TSIMSHIAN 45 



her lay her naked chest on it and press it with all her weight. On no account must 

 a male undertake to do this. Cast what remains in the basket anywhere near the 

 house, but take the liquid just saved and use it over again, instead of fresh water. 

 The refuse must be allowed to accumulate, and though it will soon become putrid 

 and change into a heap of creeping maggots and give out a smell almost unbearable, 

 it must not be removed. The filth contracted by those engaged in the work must 

 not be washed off until all is over, that is, until all the fish are boiled, and this will 

 take about two or three weeks. All these plans must, be carried out without any addi- 

 tion or change, otherwise the fish will be ashamed, and perhaps never come again. 

 So," concludes Mr. Duncan, 'think and act the poor Indians." 



Clams are dug on the beaches and are dried for winter use. This 

 work devolves on the women; in olden times it was done by women 

 and slaves. Mayne (p. 254) describes their preparation as follows: 



When a large quantity of these clams has been collected, they make a pit, eight or 

 ten feet deep; a quantity of firewood is put in the bottom, and it is then filled up 

 with clams; over the top is laid more firewood, and the whole is covered in with fir 

 branches. In this way they are boiled for a day or more, according to circumstances. 

 When cooked, they are taken out of the shells, spitted on sticks, three or four feet 

 long, and exposed to the sun to dry, after which they are strung on strips of the inner 

 cypress bark or pliable reeds, and put away for the winter store. When the Indians 

 return to their winter villages they are strung along the beams, forming a sort of 

 inner roof. 



A favorite dish is snow mixed with oil. This dish is described by 

 Mayne (p. 252) as follows: 



The Indiana have a favorite dish at their leasts, which appears to answer to the carva 

 of the South Sea Islands. They bring canoe-loads of snow and ice, and with these 

 ingredients are mixed oil, and molasses if they have it: the slaves and old women 

 being employed to beat it up, which they do in large bowls, until it assumes the 

 appearance of whipped cream, when all attack the mess with their long wooden spoons. 



[Pp. 255-25G] The sea-cucumber, so well known in the South Seas as the Trepang 

 or Beche de Mer (Holothuria tubulosa) is . . . boiled and eaten fresh. . . . 



The lichen (L. jubatus) which grows on the pines, is also prepared for food. Twigs. 

 bark, etc., being cleared from it, it is steeped in water till it is quite soft; it is then 

 wrapped up in grass and leaves to prevent its being burnt, and cooked between hot 

 stones. It takes 10 or V2 hours cooking, and when done, while still hot, it is pressed 

 into cakes. Berries when fvesh are eaten in a way we should hardly appreciate — 

 viz, with seal oil! 



Hunters used bow and arrow and the spear, and in traveling over 

 mountains they carry a long mountain stick, provided at the tip with 

 a horn of the mountain goat. 



It seems that in former times it was difficult to lay by enough food 

 for the whole year, and there seem to have been periods of famine 

 toward the end of the winter before the appearance of the olachen. 

 This feature is quite prominent in the tales of the Tsimshian, much 

 more so than in the tales of the neighboring tribes. 



The industries of the Indians are based to a great extent on the 

 occurrence of the yellow and red cedars. The wood of the red cedar, 

 which is easily split, is worked into planks, which serve for building 



