18 THE CHINOOK INDIANS. 



six feet in length. Upon coming up with, the whale, the barbed heads, 

 with the bags attached, are driven into it and the handles withdrawn. 

 The attack is continually renewed until the whale is no longer able to 

 sink from the buoyancy of the bags, when he is despatched and towed 

 ashore. The blubber of the whale is much prized amongst them, and 

 is cut into strips about two feet long and four inches wide, and eaten 

 generally with their dried fish. 



Clams and oysters are very abundant, and seals, wild ducks and 

 geees, are taken in great plenty, but their fishing is so productive that 

 the Indians subsist with little labour. They are also very fond of her- 

 rings' roe, which they collect in the following manner : — They sink 

 cedar branches to the bottom of the river, in shallow places, by plac- 

 ing upon them a few heavy stones, taking care not to cover the green 

 foliage, as the fish prefer spawning on anything green, and they liter- 

 ally cover all the branches by next morning with spawn. The Indians 

 wash this off in their water-proof baskets, to the bottom of which the 

 roe sinks ; this is squeezed by the hands into little balls and then dried, 

 and is very palatable. 



The only vegetables in use amongst the Chinooks are the Camas 

 and Wappattoo. The Camas is a bulbous root much resembling the 

 onion in outward appearance but is more like the potato when cooked 

 and is very good eating. The Wappattoo is somewhat similar but 

 larger and not so dry or delicate in its flavour. They are found in 

 immense quantities in the plains in the vicinity of Fort Vancouver, 

 and in the. spring of the year present a most curious and beautiful ap- 

 pearance, the whole surface presenting an uninterrupted sheet of 

 bright ultramarine blue from the innumerable blossoms of these plants. 

 They are cooked by digging a hole in the ground, then putting down 

 a layer of hot stones, covering them with dry grass, on which the 

 roots are placed ; they are then covered with a layer of grass, and on 

 the top of this they place earth, with a small hole perforated through 

 the earth and grass down to the vegetables. Into this they pour 

 water, which, reaching the hot stones, forms sufficient steam to com- 

 pletely cook the roots in a short time, the hole being immediately 

 stopped up after the introduction of the water. They often adopt the 

 same ingenious process for cooking fish, meat, and game. 



There is another article of food made use of amongst them, which 

 from its disgusting nature I should have been tempted to omit, were it 

 not a peculiarly characteristic trait of the Chinook Indian, both from 

 its extraordinary character, and its use being confined solely to this 

 tribe ; it is, however, regarded only as a luxury and not as a general 



