THE CHINOOK INDIANS. 21 



down the lodge and was gone. I was also told by an eye witness, of 

 a chief who, having erected a colossal idol of wood, sacrificed five 

 slaves to it, barbarously murdering them at its base, and asking in a 

 boasting tone who among them could afford to kill so many slaves. 

 One of these slaves was a handsome girl who had lived from her in- 

 fancy in his family, and begging most piteously for life, reminded him 

 of the care she had taken of his children and all the services she had 

 rendered ; but her pleadings were of no avail, and the brutal wretch 

 with his own hand plunged a knife four times into her body before 

 she ceased her appeals for mercy. The only distinction made in her 

 favour was that she was buried, instead of being, like her miserable 

 companions, thrown out on the beach. 



The principal amusement of the Chinooks is gambling, which is 

 carried to great excess amongst them. You never visit the camp but 

 you hear the monotonous gambling song of " he ha, ha, ""accompanied 

 by the beating of small sticks on some hollow substance. Their games 

 do not exceed two or three, and are of a simple nature. The one 

 most generally played consists in holding in each hand a small piece 

 of stick the thickness of a goose quill and about an inch and a-half 

 in length, one plain and the other distinguished by a little thread 

 wound round it, the opposite party being required to guess in which 

 hand the marked stick is to be found. A Chinook will play at this 

 simple game for days and nights together, until he has gambled away 

 everything he possesses, even his wife. They play, however, with 

 much equanimity, and I never saw any ill-feeling evinced by the loser 

 against his successful opponent. They will cheat if they can, and 

 pride themselves on its success ; if detected no unpleasant consequence 

 follows, the offending party being merely laughed at and allowed to 

 amend his play. 



Another game to which the Chinooks are very partial is played by 

 two or three on each side. The rivals sit on the ground opposite 

 each other with the stakes lying in the centre, one begins with his 

 hands on the ground in which he holds four small sticks covered from 

 sight by a mat, these he arranges in any one of a certain number of 

 forms prescribed by the rules of the game, and his opponent on the 

 opposite side endeavours to guess which form he has chosen ; if suc- 

 cessful a mark is stuck up in his favour, and the sticks are handed to 

 the next, if not the player counts and still goes on till discovered. 

 "When those on one side have gone through, the others commence. 

 At the conclusion the marks are counted and the holder of the 

 greater number wins. This game is also accompanied by singing, 

 in which all the bystanders join. 



