498 REPORT—1899. 
compieted during the coming year with respect to other large bodies of 
immigrants. 
The exceptional circumstances surrounding the Indians of British 
Columbia ; the fact that it is becoming more difficult each year to obtain 
reliable accounts of these people ; the rapid disappearance of old customs, 
dress, and mode of living ; and also the present availability of the services 
of an expert and enthusiastic observer, have seemed sufficient reasons for 
devoting to their study a much larger share of the resources of the Com- 
mittee than might otherwise appear justifiable. 
The work now in progress includes :— 
1. Customs and Traditions of the Huron Indians of Lorette, P.Q. 
Mr. Leon Gerin, Ottawa. 
2. Anthropometric Studies. Dr, C. A. Hibbert, Montreal; Mr. A. F, 
Hunter, Barrie, Ont.; Dr. F. A. Patrick, Yorkton, N.W.T.; Dr. F. 
Tracey, Toronto. 
3. Photographie Studies of the North-West Coast Indians. Dr. C. F. 
Newcombe, Victoria, B.C. 
4. Studies of the Early Settlers of Canada. Mr. B. Sulte, Ottawa. 
5. Ethnological Studies of the Indians of British Columbia. Mr. C. 
Hill-Tout. 
Apart from the records of measurements previously alluded to, the 
completed work of the past year is represented by the two papers 
appended hereto. 
1. The Origin of Early Canadian Settlers. Mr, B. Sulte, Ottawa. 
2. Studies of the Indians of British Columbia. Mr. C. Hill-Tout, 
Vancouver, B.C. 
The important studies of Mr. Hill-Tout have been prosecuted under 
considerable difficulties, but with the most painstaking care. They repre- 
sent, for the most part, material which is altogether new, while those 
which cover ground previously worked over embody results in such a way 
as to preserve their value as contributions to our knowledge of these 
people. 
One of the principal difficulties met with by Mr. Hill-Tout has been 
the reluctance of the Indians to submit themselves to the process of 
measurement, or even, under satisfactory conditions, to the camera. 
Prints, in duplicate, of a certain number of photographs already ob- 
tained by Mr. Hill-Tout accompany this report, and it is hoped that a 
more important contribution of this kind may be forthcoming next year. 
Also accompanying this report is a series of fifteen prints, in duplicate, 
of photographs of the villages and totem-poles of the Haida Indians of 
the Queen Charlotte Islands, taken by Dr. G. M. Dawson, Director of the 
teological Survey of Canada, while engaged in a survey of these islands 
in the year 1878. These are the first photographs taken of the villages in 
question, and they possess some interest as a matter of record in conse- 
quence of the fact that the objects and conditions represented by them have 
now almost wholly disappeared. Some of these views have been reproduced 
in the Report of Progress of the Geological Survey for 1878-79, to 
which reference may be made. 
