( 



QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS. 167 B 



''enemies who were slain in battle; and though I could not understand 

 the chief clearly enough positively to assert, that they are feasted on by 

 the victors ; yet there is too much reason to fear, that this horrid 

 custom is practised on this part of the coast; [!] the heads are always 

 preserved as standing trophies of victory. 



"Of all the Indians we had seen, this chief had the most savage Chief of re- 



. ° markable ap- 



aspect, and his whole appearance sufficiently marked him as a proper pearance. 

 person to lead a tribe of cannibals. His stature was above the common 

 size ; his body spare and thin, and though at first sight he appeared 

 lank and emaciated, yet his step was bold and firm, and his limbs 

 apparently strong and muscular ; his eyes were large and goggling, 

 and seemed ready to start out of their sockets ; his forehead deeply 

 wrinkled, not merely by age, but from a continual frown ; all this, joined 

 to a long visage, hollow cheeks, high, elevated cheek bones, and a 

 natural ferocity of temper, formed a countenance not easily beheld 

 without some degree of emotion. However, he proved very useful in 

 conducting our traffic with his people, and the intelligence he gave us, 

 and the methods he took to make himself understood, shewed him to 

 possess a strong natural capacity. 



" Besides the large quantity of furs we got from this party, (at least 

 350 skins) they brought several racoon cloaks, each cloak consisting 

 of seven racoon skins, neatly sewed together ; they had also a good 

 quantity of oil in bladders of various sizes, from a pint to near a 

 gallon, which we purchased for rings and buttons. This oil appeared 

 to be of a most excellent kind for the lamp, was perfectly sweet, and 

 chiefly collected from the fat of animals." 



On the following day some of the same people, in eight canoes, 4 t e t ft mpted 

 again came alongside, but had very few and inferior skins, their store 

 being nearly exhausted. An attempt was made to steal some of the 

 skins already purchased, on which several shots were fired after the 

 offending canoe. On the day following, while endeavouring to make 

 southward with baffling winds, the vessel was followed by a canoe 

 containing fourteen people, who said that one of their companions had 

 since died from a wound inflicted. No resentment was, however, 

 shown toward the ship's company on that account, nor any fear exhi- 

 bited on approaching the ship. The old chief, who seems so much to 

 have impressed the narrator, may very probably have been the same 

 before referred to, and described by the Haidas as of great size and 

 striking appearance. It is unnecessary to say that no evidence of ]sro cannibalism 

 cannibalism properly so called is found among these people, though as 

 a part of the ceremony of certain religious rites flesh was bitten from 

 the naked arm ; and in some cases it is said old people have been torn 

 limb from limb and partly eaten, or pretended to be eaten, by several 



