114 B GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OP CANADA. 



are utilized as potato gardens, but are generally small and often scat- 

 tered far away from the main villages, wherever suitable localities can 

 be found. Little attention is paid to the cultivation of the plant, and 

 the varietj T in use is generally run down so as to yield very small and 

 poor tubers. 



Roots, bark, &c. Formerly many small roots indigenous to the country, and contain- 

 ing more or less starch, were eagerly sought after, dried and stored 

 away. One of these was a wild lily. No effort is now made to gather 

 these, though a few may be collected where they occur abundantly. 

 The cambium layer of the spruce (A. Menziesii) and hemlock (A. Mer- 

 temiand) is collected, the trees being cut down and barked for the 

 purpose, and is eaten in a fresh or dried state. This substance has a 

 not disagreeable sweet and mucilaginous taste, but also possesses a 

 distinct resinous flavour. It is considered \ei-y wholesome.. The 

 cambium layer of the scrub pine (P. contortd) is not eaten, though this 

 tree is found in some abundance on the west coast of the islands, and 

 on the mainland of British Columbia is barked for this purpose almost 

 exclusively. The growing shoots of the epilobium, heracleum and 

 other plants are eaten when in season. A sea-weed resembling clulce, 

 but which I have only seen in dried cakes, is found, especially in the 

 southern islands, preserved by drying and boiled into a sort of tea or 

 soup. 



Berries. Berries abound, the most .important being the sal-lal (Gaultheria 



shallori), known to the Haidas as skit-hun, and crab-apple or k\j\U (Pyrus 

 rivvlaris). The latter, about one-third of an inch in length and less in 

 width, has much the taste of a sour Siberian crab. It is gathered late 

 in the autumn, and general^ boiled and put away in boxes, covered 

 with water, and allowed to remain so till winter, when the berries are 

 sorted, mixed with oolachen grease, and thus made ready for use. The 

 sal-lal berries are eaten fresh in great quantities, and are also dried for 

 use in winter. The strawberry (Fragaria Chilensis), flowering rasp- 

 berry (Rubus Nutkanus), current (Ribes sp.), Vaccinium parviflorum, &c, 

 occur in some places abundantly. The mahonia (Berberis aguifolium) 

 is not found. The service-berry (Amalanchier alnifolia), so much j>rized 

 b}* the Indians of the interior, occurs sparingly, and scarcely seems to 

 ripen its fruit. 



Native tobacco. Before the introduction of the jiotato, the only plant cultivated was 

 one which has been described to me as 'Indian tobacco.' There is a 

 mythical tradition concerning the origin of this plant, which is given 

 in another place. Its cultivation is now entirely abandoned except at 

 Cumshewa, where a single old woman continues to grow it, some of 

 the older Indians still relishing it. This I learnt after leaving Cum- 

 shewa, and have consequently been unable to ascertain whether the 



