THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. 9 



of Biblical Literature, I showed some of the chiefs the cut of the Babylonian cheru- 

 bim, which came very near their idea of its real form. It was perfect, they said, with 

 the exception of not having the Ha-hek-to-ak around its waist, and of having feet 

 instead of bird's claws, which they think are necessary to grasp whales. But when 

 I informed them that there were no whales in Babylon, they were fully persuaded 

 that the identity was the same, claws being given to the T'hlu-kluts who live near 

 water, and feet to those living in the interior. Of their religious belief in this 

 thunder-bird, I shall make further mention in their ta-ma-na-was ceremonies. In 

 the design the T'hlu-kluts is represented as holding a whale in its talons, and the 

 accompanying figures are the Ha-hek-to-ak. These animals the bird is supposed to 

 collect from the ocean, and keep concealed in its feathers. 



Fig. 1. 



Thunder-bird of the Makalis. 



Among the most remarkable specimens of their painting which I have seen, was 

 a design on the conical hats worn during rain, and another on a board in a chief's 

 lodge, afterwards placed at the base of a monument erected over his body. The 

 circular design for the hat was said to represent a pair of eyes, a nose, and mouth. 

 The other was a rude one, in which eyes are very conspicuous. The form of these 

 designs is a distinctive feature in Indian painting, but I never could learn that they 

 attached any more meaning to them than we do to the designs on a shawl border, 

 or the combinations of a calico pattern artist.-^ 



I have painted various devices for these Indians, and have decorated their ta-ma- 

 na-was masks ; and in every instance I was simply required to paint something the 

 Indians had never seen before. One Indian selected from a pictorial newspaper a 

 cut of a Chinese dragon, and another chose a double-headed eagle, from a picture 

 of an Austrian coat-of-arms. Both these I grouped with drawings of crabs, faces 

 of men, and various devices, endeavoring to make the whole look like Indian work ; 

 and I was very successful in giving the most entire satisfaction, so much so that 

 they bestowed upon me the name of Cha-tic, intimating that I was as great an 



' The constant recurrence of certain conventional figures in the ornamentation of all the tribes from 

 Cape Flattery to Sitka would seem to indicate a symbolical meaning, now lost. Examples may be 

 found in the Clyoquot paddle ; in the trencher and dish ; and two of the masks, post. (G. G.) 



2 June 1869. 



