THE CHINOOK INDIANS. 11 



of the proposed sleepers to decay as the only basis of the calculation, 

 a large proportion of this sum would be saved. Assuming the dura- 

 tion of the sleeper to be doubled, and taking into account the 

 mechanical causes of destruction, a saving of £300,000 per annum, 

 would be effected to the railway interest in England alone. 



From these data, the value of the invention in Europe will readily 

 be seen, and although it has been patented in France and England, 

 and, as it would seem, to some extent, in Canada, it is believed that 

 the use in this Province is unfettered ; 1st, because by the Statutes 

 of Canada, no foreigner can obtain a patent monopoly in this country ; 

 and, 2nd, because, being already known and used in other countries, 

 it cannot be patented here. 



THE CHINOOK INDIANS. 



BY PAUL KANE, TORONTO. 



In accordance with an invitation of the Council of the Canadian 

 Institute to communicate notices of some of the tribes of Indians 

 amongst whom I have travelled, I selected the Chinooks, one of the 

 tribes most remote from this part of the continent, and whose manners 

 and customs are so much at variance with our own, as to render some 

 notice of them, from personal observation, probably both novel and in- 

 teresting. Other communications of the incidents and results of my 

 travels among the Indians of the North West, having since appeared 

 in the Journal, I have revised my account of the Chinooks, with a 

 view to its appearance, along with the notices of the Walla Wallas, 

 and others of the Aborigines of this continent in the New Series. 



The Flat-Head Indians are met with along the banks of the Col- 

 umbia river from its mouth eastward to the Cascades, a distance of 

 about 130 miles ; they extend up the Walamett river south about 30 

 or 40 miles, and through the district lying between the Walamett and 

 Fort Astoria, now called Fort George. To the north they extend 

 along the Cowlitz river and the tract of land lying between that and 

 Puget's Sound. About two-thirds of Vancouver's Island is also oc- 

 cupied by them, and they are found along the coasts of Puget's Sound 

 and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The Flat-Heads are divided into 

 numerous tribes, each having its own peculiar locality, and differing 

 more or less from the others in language, customs, and manners. 



