215 



adzed down to the requisite thickness. Some of these boards are of gi'eat 

 size. One that I measured was 24 feet long and 4.^ in width. They are, in 

 preference, spHt from the arbor vita;, or as it is usually called, cedar, but 

 sometimes from the fir. There is some variety in the form adopted ; the 

 houses of the Tsinuk usually sloping each way from a ridge-pole in the 

 center, while those of the Sound Indians have but one pitch. They are 

 usually intended to accommodate several families, and frequently a whole 

 village was under the same roof An excavation of a foot or more in depth 

 is made through the center of the house, in which the fires are built, and 

 where the cooking is done ; the raised portion left on either side being 

 covered with boards or mats to serve as a seat, and the bunks for sleeping 

 placed against the sides, sometimes in two tiers. At one end of the house, 

 there is fi-equently a platform for dances or the tamahno-iis. The houses of 

 the Makah have been already described, and the better class of houses on 

 the Sound differ from them only in size. But the triumph of their archi- 

 tecture is displayed in the buildings erected for festivals. These were of 

 extraordinary size and strength, considering the means at their disposal. 

 Mr. H. A. Goldsborough measured one at Port Madison, erected by the 

 brother of Seat'hl, some forty years before, the frame of which was stand- 

 ing in 1855. This was 520 feet long, 60 feet wide, 15 feet high in front, 

 and 10 in the rear. It was supported on puncheons, or split timbers, 74 in 

 number, from 2 to 3 feet wide, and 5 to 8 inches thick, carved with grotesque 

 figures of men, naked and about half size. The cross-beams were round- 

 sticks, 37 in number, CO feetin length, and from 12 to 22 inches in diameter. 

 There was another similar house at Dungeness, built by King George, and 

 one at Penn Cove, by Sneetlum, similar but somewhat smaller than this. 

 They were erected for special occasions, and afterward dismantled. 



CANOES. 



Various descriptions of canoes ai'e used by the different tribes, suited to 

 the waters on which they dwell. Those generally used on the Columbia 

 above the Dalles are mere dug-outs, of very rude shape and finish, and, 

 though well enough adapted for carrying, have no particular merit. These 

 are also used on the Kowlitz and Tsihalis, and generally those streams 



