558 REPORT—1890. 
large size and very neatly made, and on shelves overhead, were stowed 
the family chattels and stores, a vast and miscellaneous assortment. 
‘Mr. Goldsborough,’ he adds, ‘ who visited the village in 1850, informed 
me that the houses generally were on an even larger scale at that time ; 
that the chief’s house was no less than 100 feet in length, and that 
about twenty women were busily engaged in it, making bark mats and 
dog-hair blankets.’ 
It is evident that these people differ in character and habits as widely 
from the Indians of the interior as the Chinese and Japanese differ from 
the Tartar nomads. The coast tribes of British Columbia are communi- 
ties of fishermen, mechanics, and traders, with a well-defined political 
and commercial system. They were to all appearance especially suited 
for accepting the industrial methods of modern Europe; and it becomes a 
subject of interest to inquire into the probabilities of the future in this 
respect. 
a this inquiry the element of the radical difference of stocks comes 
very distinctly into view. We find that, despite the superficial resem- 
blance in polity and usages which has been noted among these tribes, 
their moral and intellectual traits, like their languages, remain widely 
dissimilar. These differences become strikingly apparent in reviewing 
the recent information given respecting the condition and progress of 
the British Columbian tribes in the valuable annual reports of the Cana- 
dian Department of Indian Affairs. 
Thus the Kwakiutl people—known in these documents by the griev- 
ously disordered name of ‘ Kwaw-kewlth ’—are described in a late report 
(1887) as ‘the least advanced and most averse to civilisation of any in 
the province.’ ‘The missionaries of several Churches,’ we are further 
told, ‘ have endeavoured to carry on mission work among them, but each 
was obliged to abandon them as hopeless, until, several years ago, the 
Rey. Mr. Hall, of the Church of England, was stationed there, and, in 
spite of all the obstacles and discouragements encountered by him, re- 
mained, and has apparently won the confidence of some of these poor, 
ignorant creatures.’ Jn the following year the local agent reports some 
improvement, but adds that ‘the school is not so well attended as could 
be desired. The children are not averse to learning, but their parents 
see in education the downfall of all their most cherished customs.’ In 
1889 he finds among them some signs of progress in the mechanic arts, 
and a willingness to give up some of their superstitions. ‘Only to the 
potlatch,’ he adds significantly, ‘do they cling with great pertinacity.’ 
To understand these facts it should be known that the Kwakiutl, by 
virtue of their force of character, their stubborn conservatism, and what 
may be called, in reference to their peculiar creed and rites, a strong 
religious sentiment, held a high position, and exercised a prevailing 
influence among the neighbouring tribes. The changes introduced by 
civilisation have naturally been repugnant to them. They cling to their 
ancient customs and Jaws; and when these are set aside, the sense of 
moral restraint is lost, and the Spartan-like persistency which made 
them respected degenerates into a sullen recklessness, combined with an 
obstinate hostility to all foreign influences. 
A remarkable contrast appears in the character and conduct of their 
northern neighbours, the Tsimshians. These are the people among whom 
Mr. Duncan had such distinguished success in founding his mission of 
Metlakahtla. According to the brief description given in H. H. Ban- 
ae 
