THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. 91 



and to be armed at each end with powerful claws with which to grasp any unhappy 

 person who may come within their reach. 



Of time they keep but little record. They have names for the different months 

 or moons, twelve of which constitute with them two periods, the warm and cold. 

 They can remember and speak of a few days or a few months, but of years, 

 according to our computation, they know nothing. Their " year" consists of six 

 months or moons, and is termed tsark-warh it-chie. The first of these periods 

 commences in December, when the days begin to lengthen, and continues until* 

 June. Then, as the sun recedes and the days shorten, another commences and lasts 

 till the shortest days. It is owing to the fact of these periods being only six months 

 in duration, that it is so difficult for them to tell their ages according to our esti- 

 mate, for as their knowledge of counting is very limited, they cannot be made to 

 understand our reckoning. I have never known them to remember the proper 

 age of a child of over two years. Sometimes they give the age of an individual 

 by connecting his birth with some remarkable event, as, for instance, the year of 

 the smallpox, or when a white man came to reside among them, or that when a 

 vessel was wrecked. 



The seasons are recognized by them as they are by ourselves, namely, spring, 

 by the name of klairk-shiltl ; summer, by that of kla-pairtch; autumn, by kwi-atch ; 

 and winter, by wake-puett. 



The names of the months are as follows : — 



December is called se-hwow-as-put'hl, or the moon in which the se-whow, or chet- 

 a-pook, the California gray whale, makes its appearance. 



January is a-a-kwis-put'hl, or the moon in which the whale has its young. 



February, kluk-lo-chis-to-put'hl, or the moon when the weather begins to grow 

 better and the days are longer, and when the women begin to venture out in canoes 

 after firewood without the men. 



March is named o-o-lukh-put'hl, or the moon when the finback whales arrive. 



AprU, ko-kose-kar-dis-put'hl. The moon of sprouts and buds. 



May, kar-kwush-put'hl. Moon of the strawberry and " salmon berry." 



June, hay-sairk-toke-put'hl. The moon of the red huckleberry. 



July is kar-ke-sup-he-put'hl, or the moon of the wild currants, gooseberry, and 

 sallal, GauUheria. 



August is wee-kookh, or season of rest ; no fish taken or berries picked, except 

 occasionally by the children or idle persons ; but it is considered by the tribe as a 

 season of repose. 



September is kars-put'hl, when all kinds of work commence, particularly cutting 

 wood, splitting out boards, and making canoes. 



October, or kwar-te-put'hl, is the moon for catching the tsa-tar-wha, a variety of 

 rockfish, which is done by means of a trolling line with a bladder buoy at each 

 end, and a number of hooks attached. 



November is called cha-kairsh-put'hl, or the season of winds and screaming birds. 



The terminal put'hl seems to be equivalent to our word " season,"for although 

 the words to which it is added signify but one moon, yet when speaking of a 

 month's duration the word dah-kah is used, as tsark-wark dah-kah, one month. 



