438 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



not used her native tongue for a considerable period, rendered her 

 a poor, though willing informant. In the course of this investiga- 

 tion it was therefore necessary to employ such additional inform- 

 ants and interpreters as were available. By far the most important 

 of these was William Smith, an Alsea Indian and the husband of 

 Louisa, who had spent his childhood among the Siuslaw Indians, 

 from whom he had gained a fairly good knowledge of their language. 

 But he, too, was far from being an ideal informant. His command 

 of English was imperfect, his degree of intelligence rather limited, 

 his pronunciation of Lower Umpqua was affected by Alsea pho- 

 netics, and he was only too often unable to keep apart the Siuslaw, 

 Lower Umpqua, and Alsea forms of a given word. However, in 

 spite of these deficiencies, his services proved highly valuable, 

 because, having previously assisted me in my work on the Alsea 

 language, he knew more or less what was wanted of him. My 

 other informants were Spencer Scott, a son of Louisa; Louis Smith, 

 a full-blooded *Lower Umpqua Indian; and Hank Johnson, the son 

 of a Lower Umpqua father and of an Alsea mother. The three 

 last mentioned were, comparatively speaking, young men, whose 

 knowledge of Lower Umpqua was imperfect and rather vague. 

 They were employed solely for the purpose of settling questions 

 that pertained to phonetics, and of . disentangling the frequent diffi- 

 culties that were involved in the collection and translation of texts; 

 and if I add that throughout the progress of this work, Louisa 

 Smith was suffering from a severe ear-ache (which at times ren- 

 dered her absolutely deaf), that William Smith had to undergo 

 frequent surgical operations because of a poisoned finger, and that 

 my other informants could give me only part of their time, I shall 

 have mentioned all the difficulties under which the following mate- 

 rial was collected. Should this sketch, therefore, be found deficient 

 in completeness of treatment and clearness of interpretation, it will 

 have to be accounted for by the extraordinary circumstances under 

 which the work was conducted. 



But if the actual work involved in this investigation was rather 

 trying and tiresome, there were other features connected with it that 

 rendered it pleasant and enjoyable. These features consist of the 

 many courtesies and helpful assistance received from the inhabitants 

 of Siletz; and it is a great source of pleasure to me to record my deep 

 gratitude to these kind friends. My greatest obligations are due to 



