197 



With all those sources of subsistence, the greater part ot" which is 

 affoi'ded spontaneously by the land or water, nothing but indolence or want 

 of tlii'ift could lead to want among a population even greater than we have 

 reason to believe at any time inhabited this district. But they were at par- 

 ticular seasons, undoubtedly straitened for food, and nuich more formerl}^ 

 than now when they obtain assistance from settlers in compensation for 

 services. No instance of cannibalism has ever occurred to the knowledge 

 of the whites. 



To the necessity of seeking the different articles of food at different 

 times is to be attributed chiefly the constant locomotion of these tribes. 

 Not only do they at one time frequent the prairies or marshes for roots, at 

 another the forests for berries, and again the sounds and rivers for fish, but 

 they have particular points at which they seek the last at various seasons; 

 and although they have their jjermanent villages where their winter resi- 

 dence chiefly is, and their potato grounds, they are seldom to be found all 

 gathered there together except on special occasions. 



The fur-trade. — This may be said to be extinct in the western part of the 

 Territory. The Hudson Bay Company continue to purchase the few skins 

 brought to them, but they make no account of the trade. Beaver are again 

 abundant on all the streams because no longer sought for. Black bear, 

 land-otter, muskrat, mink, and a few others exist, but are only occasiouiilly 

 brought in for sale. 



SOCIETY, MARRIAGE, AND THE DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 



It is not unusual to find on the small prairies human figures rudely 

 carved ujion trees. These I have understood to have been cut by young- 

 men who were in want of wives, as a sort of practical intimation that they 

 were in the market as purchasers. Generally speaking, these Indians seek 

 their wives among other tribes than their own — whether from motives of 

 policy or an indistinct idea of physiological propriety, it is difficult to say; 

 more probably the former. It seems to be a matter of pride, in fact, to 

 unite the blood of several different ones in their own persons. The expres- 

 sion, "I am half Snokwalmu, half Klikatat," or some similar one, is of every- 

 day utterance. With the chiefs, this is almost always the case. 



