THE CHINOOK INDIANS. 27 



them in the water, and pretended to hold down with great difficulty 

 the disease which he had extracted lest it might spring out and re- 

 turn to its victim. At length having obtained the mastery over it, 

 turning himself round to me in an exulting manner, he held some- 

 thing up between the finger and thumb of each hand, which had the 

 appearance of a piece cf cartilage, whereupon one of the Indians 

 sharpened his knife and divided it in two, leaving one end in each 

 hand. One of the pieces he threw into the water and the other into 

 the fire, accompanying the action with a diabolical noise which none 

 but a medicine man can make ; after which he got up perfectly well 

 satisfied with himself, although the poor patient seemed to me any- 

 thing but relieved by the violent treatment she had undergone. 



My principal object in travelling among the Indian tribes of the 

 Far West was to obtain accurate sketches of their Chiefs, medicine 

 men, &c, and representations of their most characteristic manners 

 and customs, but it was only by great persuasion that I could induce 

 the Indians to allow me to take their portraits. They had an unde- 

 fined superstitious dread of losing something by the process, as 

 though in taking their likeness something pertaining to themselves 

 was carried off. The women, moreover, had the idea that the pos- 

 sessor of their picture would hold an unlimited influence over them. 

 In one case I had taken the likeness of a woman at the Cowlitz river, 

 and on my return about three months afterwards, I called at the 

 lodge of Kisscox, the chief of the tribe, where I had been in the 

 habit of visiting frequently, and had always been received with great 

 kindness, but on this occasion I found him and his family unusually 

 distant in their manner, and the children even running away from me 

 and hiding ; at last he asked me if I had not taken the likeness of a 

 woman when last amongst them, I said I had, and mentioned her 

 name, " Cawitchum," a dead silence ensued, nor could I get the 

 slightest answer to my enquiries. Upon leaving the lodge I met a 

 half-breed, who told me that Cawitchum was dead, and that I was 

 supposed to be the cause of her death. The silence was occasioned 

 by my having mentioned a dead person's name, which is considered 

 disrespectful to the deceased, and unlucky. I immediatly left the 

 neighbourhood, well knowing the danger that would result from my 

 meeting with any of her relations. 



Upon trying to persuade another Indian to sit for his likeness he 

 asked me repeatedly if it would not endanger his life. Being very 

 m'ich in want of tobacco he at length appeared convinced by my 

 assurances that it could do him no harm, but when the picture was 



