235 



tiie mouth of tlie river were on Shoalwater Bay, eng-aged in taking winter 

 salmon. The following extract embodies his principal observations : 



"The natives differed in nothing verj^ materially from those we had 

 visited during the summer, but in the decoration of their persons ; in this 

 respect they surpassed all the other tribes, with paints of different colors, 

 feathers, and other ornaments. Their houses seemed to be more comfortable 

 than those at Nootka; the roof having a greater inclination, and the planking 

 being thatched over with the bark of trees. The entrance is through a hole 

 in a broad plank, carved in such a manner as to resemble the face of a 

 man, the mouth serving for the purpose of a door-way. The fire-place is 

 sunk in the earth, and confined from spreading above by a w^ooden frame. 

 The inhabitants are universally addicted to smoking. Their pipe is similar 

 to ours in sliape. The bowl is made of very hard wood, and is externally orna- 

 mented with carvings ; the tube, about two feet long, is made of a small 

 branch of the elder. In this they smoke an herb which the country pro- 

 duces, of a very mild nature, and by no means unpleasant ; they, however, 

 took great pleasure in smoking tobacco ; hence it is natural to conclude it 

 might become a valuable article of traffic amongst them. In most other 

 respects, they resemble their neighbors as to their manners and mode of 

 living, being equally filthy and uncleanly." 



Mr. Whidbey's account of the examination of Gray Harbor contains 

 even less information. The total number of inhabitants seen by him was 

 estimated at one hundred ; most of tlie remainder being, in all probability, 

 at Shoalwater Bay, which, as before mentioned, was the winter ground of 

 the Tsihalis equally with the Chinuk. 



The next, and a far more valuable account of the Columbia River 

 Indians, is that of Lewis and Clarke, thirteen years later. Their descrip- 

 tions of Indian manners, dwellings, and hfe are accurate, and they have 

 not, like manj other writers, indulged in speculation, or attempted to draw 

 inferences and assign motives for action on insufficient basis. The nomen- 

 clature assigned by them to many of the bands, with which they met or of 

 which they obtained information, is not recognizable at the present day. 

 There are, in fact, no generic names used by tlie Indians among their own 

 tribes, but each band is distinguished by its appropriate aj^pellation, that of 



