THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. 29 



cod, although not a codfish, lias not been described in any work that I have seen. 

 It is a deep water fish, being caught in eighty fathoms. I have never been able to 

 get one perfect. They are rarely taken, and those that I have seen had been split 

 for curing. The color of the skin is black, and the flesh white and fat like mackerel. 

 I have eaten some broiled, and the fl^ivor was like that of halibut fins, extremely 

 rich and fat. The weight varies from four to twelve pounds. 



The dogfish (ya-cha) Acanthias siicMeyi, is taken in great quantities for the sake 

 of the oil contained in the liver, which forms the principal article of traffic 

 between these Indians and the whites. Although this fish is plentiful on the coast 

 south of Cape Flattery, I have never known the Indians there to make a business 

 of fishing for them. Even at Kwilleyute, where I saw great quantities of dogfish 

 in the summer of 1861, the Indians of that tribe and locality did not know how to 

 extract the oil, and we had to send a Makah Indian, who was on board the vessel, 

 ashore to show them how to try out the livers of a lot of fish we had caught. 



The Indians on Vancouver Island, on the contrary, make a lucrative business of 

 extracting the oil, and sell large quantities to the Makahs in exchange for whale 

 oil, which they eat. The Clyoquots and Nootkans eat dogfish oil, but prefer whale 

 oil when they can obtain it. The method of extracting as practised by the Makahs 

 is to collect the livers, which are put into a tub and kept until a considerable 

 quantity has accumulated. They are then put into iron pots, and set to simmer 

 near the fire ; or else hot stones are placed among them and they are cooked by 

 the heat until all the oil is extracted, which is then carefully skimmed off and 

 stored in receptacles, made of the paunches and intestines of whales, fish, or seals. 

 In the fall of the year the flesh of the dogfish contains a considerable proportion 

 of oil, which at other times it does not appear to possess ; this is extracted in 

 the following manner : When the livers are taken out, the head and back bone are 

 also removed, and the rest of the body, being first slightly dried in the smoke, is 

 steamed on hot stones till it is thoroughly cooked. It is then put into little 

 baskets, made for the purpose, of soft cedar bark, and rolled and squeezed till all 

 the liquid is extracted. This in color resembles dirty milk. It is boiled and 

 allowed to cool and settle, and the oil is then skimmed off. After the oil is 

 extracted, the flesh is washed in fresh water and again squeezed in the baskets, 

 and in this state it is eaten by the Indians when other food is scarce. But dog- 

 fish is seldom tasted by the Makahs, and never until the oil has been thoroughly 

 removed. The oil has a nauseous taste, and is not relished by these Indians, who 

 are epicures in their way, and prefer the oil of whales and seals. The quality of 

 dogfish oil for burning is very good, quite superior to whale oil. In astral lamps 

 it burns with a clear, strong flame, and, when properly refined, is second only to 

 sperm oil. Dr. Suckley states that while he was on service as surgeon at the U. S. 

 military station at Fort Steilacoom, he used dogfish oil with great success in pul- 

 monary affections, and considered it, when fresh, equal to cod-liver oil. A very 

 large species of shark, known among whalemen as " bone shark," is occasionally 

 kiUed by the Makahs, and its liver yields great quantities of oil. I saw one in 

 October, 1862, killed in Neeah Bay, twenty-six feet long, and its liver yielded nearly 

 seven barrels of oil, or over two hundred gallons. These sharks are very abundant 



