213 



women. I know, however, of nothing hko ]>(;riods of purificulion. Some 

 of the coast tribes, as those at Humboldt Bay in Cahfornia, make a practice 

 of bathing, the women accompanying the young girl on the occasion; but 

 this is in consonance with their general habits. The observance has been 

 absurdly considered as a Jewish rite, and cited in proof of the preposterous 

 idea that they are descendants of the Israelitish tribes. It seems natural 

 enough that such a custom should prevail among barbarians, ho^vever dis- 

 connected. With their limited field for mental exercise, the speculative 

 powers are likely to be most active upon points of this very nature; perio- 

 dicity being a fact which attracts observation and suggests at once the idea 

 of cause. The refined objects of a difference in sex being foreign to their 

 minds, that event which announces fitness for sensual purposes is, of all others, 

 the most important. Among the Wasko, at tlie Dalles of the Columbia, it 

 is stated the event is celebrated more publicly. As the period approaches 

 its close, the father of the girl makes great preparations, invites his friends, 

 and has a general feast, which reaches its height on her re-appearance. The 

 young men who wish to buy wives are then ready, with their horses, &c., 

 to treat for the purchase. 



MEASURES OF VALUE, TIME, ETC. 



Distances were only marked by days' journeys, or their fractions, as 

 made on horseback or in canoes. Measures of length were probably all 

 referred to parts of the body, the princij^al being the extent of the out- 

 stretched arms, which was used in valuing their money, the haikwa, or 

 wampum of the Pacific. This shell, a species of DentaUum, was procured 

 on the northern coast by letting down long poles, to which was attached a 

 piece of wood filled with spikes, or teeth, between which the shell became 

 fixed. Its price depended entirely upon its length; forty to the fathom being 

 the standard of value. When the shells were so short that it required more to 

 make up the required length, they were of very inferior account, but rose 

 proportionately with increased size. A fathom of forty was formerly worth 

 a slave, and even now will bring five dollars in money. Single shells were 

 shown me on the Tsihalis for which the owner refused a dollar apiece. 

 This money is, however, becoming scaice, and is far less used than formerly, 



