136 B GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OP CANADA. 



A man of property may have several hundred. The practice of 

 amassing wealth in blankets, no doubt had its origin in an earlier 

 one of accumulating the sea-otter and fur-seal robes, which stood in 

 the place of blankets in former days. This may help to explain the 

 rich harvest of these skins which the first traders to the Queen 

 Charlotte Islands gathered. 

 Payment for Besides the payments already mentioned, as exacted from a stranger 



privilege** 



wishing to fish or gather berries in the territory of another, the 

 Tshimsian Indians, who sometimes resort to the southern end of 

 the islands to hunt the sea-otter, are forced to pay the neighbouring 

 tribe for the privilege, though the chase is carried on on the open sea. 

 Certain men, too, supposed to be specially skilled in various kinds of 

 work, are regularly paid for their services. This is expressly the case 

 with workers in wood and those competent to carve and paint the-- 

 peculiar posts. 

 Trade in oola- Oolachen grease, bought from the Tshimsians, is paid for in blankets, 

 while a return trade in canoes — in the making of which the Haidas 

 excel — is conducted on the same basis. 



While at Cumshewa Inlet, we witnessed the arrival of some Tshim- 

 sian Indians who had come in canoes loaded with oolachen grease,, 

 hoping to sell it to the Haidas. Veritable merchants, ready if they 

 find no market here, to go on to the next village. The sky was just 

 losing the glow of sunset when the two canoes were seen coming round 

 the point. The Haidas, looking attentively at them, pronounced them 

 Tshimsians, and proved to be correct. The greater number of the 

 occupants of the canoes were women, all fairly well dressed, and 

 wearing clean blankets to make a good appearance on their arrival 

 among strangers. The faces of some of them, covered with a nearly 

 black coat of gum and grease, had a wild aspect, which was rendered 

 rather comical, however, by the various and inappropriate nature of 

 the hats and caps — all of civilized patterns — which they wore. Each 

 of the canoes has a couple of masts,, to which the light sails are now 

 tightly clewed up, but from the foremost canoe floats a wide strip of 

 red bunting. The paddles are dipped with a slow, monotonous persis- 

 tency indicative of the close of a long day's work, and they tell us they 

 have only slept twice since leaving Kit-katla. Arrived at the beach 

 opposite the Haida village, the canoes are stranded, and the villagers 

 crowd round to render assistance. The bark boxes holding the 

 precious grease are carefully set in the water, beside the canoes. 

 Kettles, mats, paddles and all the varied articles of the travelling 

 outfit are carried ashore. The canoes are hauled up by united exer- 

 tion, the boxes of grease carefully carried beyond high-water mark, 

 and covered with brush; r.nd in half an hour, the travellers, distributed 



