QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS. 105 B 



coast tribes, and possess somewhat finer features. In the coarseness 

 of the mouth, width and prominence of the cheek hones, and somewhat 

 disproportionately large size of the head as compared with the body, 

 the main departures from ideal symmetry are to be found. The body 

 is also not infrequently long and large as compared with the legs, a 

 circumstance doubtless brought about by the constant occupation of 

 these people in canoes and the infrequency of their land excursions. 

 The hair is black and coarse, and only in the case of ' medicine men ' 

 have I observed it to be allowed to grow long in the male sex. A 

 scanty moustache and beard sometimes clothe the upper lip and chin, 

 generally in the case of old people who have given up the habit of 

 eradicating the hair as it grows. In some instances, and these more 

 numerous than in the other coast tribes, both men and women of pre- 

 possessing appearance, and with features of considerable regularity as 

 measured by European standards, occur. The average physiognomy 

 of the Haida shows more evidence of intelligence and quickness than 

 that of most of the coast tribes, an appearance not belied on more 

 careful investigation. I have not been able to discern in their appear- 

 ance anything of that exceptional fierceness said to be characteristic 

 of them by the earlier voyagers, and can only suppose that these 

 statements may have arisen from the more elaborate character of their 

 armament and dress, and the liberal application of pigments to the 

 skin. Many of the Haidas are said to be strong and dexterous swim- 

 mers, but I have never seen them exercising the art, which may 

 probably be reserved for occasions of necessity. They are not long- Diseases, 

 lived, though grey-haired men and women may occasionally be seen. 

 Pulmonary diseases accompanied by spitting of blood, and blindness 

 generally caused by a species of opthalmia, are not uncommon ; and 

 other diseases incident to a life of exposure tend to reduce the term of 

 life, as they do among all the aborigines of the continent. Besides 

 these, however, and much more fatal, are diseases introduced among 

 them since contact with the whites. Great numbers of the Haidas, 

 with all the other tribes of the coast, have been cut off by small-pox r 

 both during their periodical visits to Victoria and after their return, 

 to their native islands. This disease is with them almost certainly 

 fatal, and I could learn of a single instance only in which recovery 

 had occurred. Owing to the complete demoralization of the Haidas 

 since contact with the whites, and their practice of resorting to Vic- 

 toria and other places, where they maintain themselves by shameless 

 j) institution, venereal diseases are extremely common and destructive. 



In dress the Haidas, like other Indians, have adopted, so far as costume, 

 their means enable them, the customs of the whites, though their 

 costume as a rule might be considered rather scanty, and some of the 



