1855.] 



FOOD AND ITS ADULTEKATIONS. 



279 



while lie was sitting in liis lodge surrounded by Lis eight wives, 

 for the same favor, but the ladies all commenced violently jab- 

 bering at me until I was glad to get off : he apparently was much 

 gratified at the interest which his wives took in his welfare. I 

 however met him alone some short timeaftei-wards and got him 

 to consent, with my usual bribe, a piece of tobacco. I could 

 relate numerous instances of this superstitious dread of portrait 

 painting, but the foregoing will sufficiently illustrate the general 

 feeling on the subject. 



I shall conclude this paper by relating a legend told me by 

 an old Indian while paddling in a canoe past an isolated rock 

 on the shore of the Pacific, as it will give an idea of the gene- 

 ral character of the legends on the coast, which are however 

 very few, and generally told in a very unconnected and con- 

 fused manner. The rock with which the following Indian 

 legend is associated, rises to a height of between six and seven 

 feet above the water, and measures little more than four feet 

 in circumference. I could not observe any very special pecu- 

 liarity in the formation of this rock while paddling past it in 

 a canoe; and, at least from the points of observation pre- 

 sented to my eye, no resemblance to the human figure, — 

 such as the conclusion of the legend might lead us to antici- 

 pate, — appeared to be traceable. Standing, however, as this rock 

 does, entirely isolated, and without any other being visible for 

 miles around, it has naturally become an object of special note 

 to the Indians, and is not uncalculated, from its solitary posi- 

 tion to be made the scene of some of the fancifirl creations of 

 their superstitious credulity. ' It is many moons since a Nas- 

 qviawley family lived near this spot. It consisted of a widow 

 with four sons ; one of them was by her fii'st husband the other 

 three by her second, the three younger sons treated their elder 

 brother with great unkindness, refusing him any share of the 

 produce of their hunting and fishing ; he, on the contrary, 

 wishing to conciliate them, always gave them a share of his 

 spoils. He in fact was a great medicine man, although this 

 was unknown to them, and being tired of their harsh treat- 

 ment, which no kindness on his part seemed to soften, he at 

 length resolved to retaliate. He accordingly one day entered 

 the lodge where they were feasting and told them that there 

 was a large seal a short distance off. They instantly seized 

 their spears and started in the direction he pointed out, and 

 coming up to the animal the eldest drove his spear into it. 

 This seal was " a great medicine," a familiar of the elder 

 brother who had himself created him for the occasion ; the 

 foi'emost of them had no sooner driven in his spear than he 

 found it impossible to disengage his hand from the handle or 

 to draw it out ; the two others drove in their spears and with 

 the like effect. The seal now took to the water, dragging them 

 after it, and swam far out to sea ; having travelled on for many 

 miles they saw an island in the distance, towards which the 

 seal made, on nearing the shore they found that they could, 

 for the first time, remove their Lands from their spears ; they 

 accordingly landed, and supposing themselves in some enemies 

 countiy, they hid themselves in a clump of bushes from ob- 

 servation ; while lying concealed they .saw a diminutive 

 canoe coming round a point in the distance, paddled by a very 

 little man, who, when he came opposite to where they were, 

 anchored his boat with a stone attached to a long line, without 

 perceiving them. He now sprang over the side, and diving 

 down, remained a long time under water, at length he rose to 

 the surface and Ijrought with him a large fish, which he threw 

 into the boat ; this ho repeated several times, each time look- 

 ing in to count the fish he had caught. The three brothers 

 being very hungiy, one of them offered to swim out while- the 



little man was under water and steal one of the fish ; this he 

 safely accomplished before the return of the fisherman, but the 

 little fellow no sooner returned with another fish than he dis- 

 covered that one of those already caught was missing, and 

 stretching out his hand he passed it slowly along the horizon, 

 until it pointed directly to their place of concealment. He 

 now drew up his "anchor and paddled to the shore, and imme- 

 diately discovered the three brothers ; and being as miraculously 

 strong as he was diminutive, he tied their hands and feet 

 together and throwing them into his canoe, jumped in and 

 paddled back in the direction from whence he had come. 

 Having rounded the distant point where they had first descried 

 him, they came to a village inhabited by a race of people as small 

 as their captor, their houses, boats and utensils being all inpro- 

 poi-tion to themselves. The three brothers were taken out and 

 thrown bound as they were into a lodge, while a council was con- 

 vened to decide upon their fiite. During the sitting of the council 

 an immense flock of birds resembling geese, but much larger, 

 pounced down upon the inhabitants and commenced a violent 

 attack. These birds had the power of throwing their sharp 

 quills like the porcupine, and though the little warriors fought 

 with great valour they soon became covered with the piercing 

 darts, and all sunk insensible on the ground ; when all resistance 

 had ceased the birds took to flight and disappeared. The three 

 brothers had witnessed the conflict from their place of confine- 

 ment, and with much labour had succeeded in releasing them- 

 selves from their bonds, when they went to the battle ground 

 and commenced pulling the quills from the apparently lifeless 

 bodies, but no sooner had they done this than all instantly 

 returned to consciousness. When all of them had become well 

 again they wished to express their gratitude to their preser^'crs and 

 they offered to grant whatsoever they should desire ; the throe 

 brothers therefore requested to be sent back to their own coun- 

 try. A council was accordingly called to decide on the easiest 

 mode of doing so, and they eventually determined upon em- 

 ploying a whale for the purpose. The three brothers were 

 then seated on the back of the monster and proceeded in the 

 direction of Nasquawley ; however, when they had reached 

 about half way the whale began to think what a fool he was 

 for carrying them instead of turning them into porpoises and 

 letting them swim home themselves. Now the whale is con- 

 sidered as a "Soch-a-li" or Great Spirit, — although not the 

 same as the " Hias Ti-j-ah," possessing greater powers than 

 all other animals put together, and no .sooner had he thouaht 

 upon the matter than he carried it into oflect. This accord- 

 ingly is the way that the poi-poises first came into existence, 

 and accounts for their being constantly at war Avith the 

 seals, one of which species wa.s the cause of their fii-st misfor- 

 tunes. After the three brothers had so strangely disappeared 

 their mother came down to the beach and remained there for 

 days watching for their return and bewailing their absence with 

 tears. "Whilst thus engaged one day the whale happened to 

 pass by, and taking pity on her distress he turned her into 

 that stone.' 



Food and its Adulterations.* 

 The world at large has almost forgotten Aceum's celebrated 

 work ' Dciith in the Pot ;' a new generation has indeed sprung 

 up since it was written, and fraudulent tradesmen and manu- 

 facturers have gone on in silence, and, up to this time, in 

 securit)', falsifying the food and picking the pockets of the 

 people. Startling indeed as were the revelations in that 



* Abiidgcd from tlio London Quarterlij, April, 1855. 



