QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS. 171 B 



articles, some choosing toes, and others pewter basons, tin kettles, 

 knives, &c. This tribe appeared the least we had yet seen ; I could 

 not reckon more than thirty-four or thirty-six people in the whole 

 party; but then it should be considered that these were probably 

 chosen men, who perhaps expected to meet with their enemies, as 

 they were equally prepared for war or trade." 



It is possible that the ' fortified hut ' seen by Dixon was a pallisaded Village on 

 enclosure intended for times of danger only, and not the village usually island. ' 

 inhabited. Such a retreat formerly existed on the little island opposite 

 Skidegate Village, though no trace of it now remains. 



The last village of which I have any knowledge, stood formerly on 

 or very near Frederick Island of the maps. Its name, or that of the 

 island, was Susk or Slsk. It is reputed to have been populous, but 

 may never have been very important. Haidas belonging to this tribe 

 came off to the Queen Charlotte on the 5th and 6th of July, " bringing 

 a number of good cloaks, which they disposed of very eagerly." It is 

 remarked further that: — "These people were evidently a different 

 tribe from that we met with in Cloak Bay, and not so numerous ; I 

 could not reckon up more than seventy-five or eighty persons along- 

 side at one time. The furs in each canoe seemed to be a distinct 

 property, and the people were particularly careful to prevent their 

 neighbours from seeing what articles they bartered for." 



Population of the Queen Charlotte Islands. 



As the population of the Queen Charlotte Islands has decreased, the 

 smaller and less advantageously situated towns have been abandoned 

 by the survivors, who have taken up their abode among the larger 

 tribes to which they have happened to be related by marriage or 

 otherwise. When the Indians are questioned as to why these places 

 have been given up, they invariably say that all the people are dead, 

 which may not be absolutely correct. Not any of the inhabited villages, 

 however, now contain a tithe of the people for whom houses are yet 

 standing. 



It is very difficult in all cases to form estimates of the number of the Estimate in 

 aboriginal tribes when first discovered, and it is a common error, frommrratiTe.- 

 the too literal acceptance of the half fabulous stories of the survivors, 

 to greatly over-estimate the former population. The writer of the 

 narrative of Captain Dixon's voyage has certainly not fallen into this 

 mistake. He writes (p. 224) : — " The number of people we saw during 

 the whole of our traffic, was about eight hundred and fifty ; and if we 

 suppose an equal number to be left on shore, it will amount to one 

 thousand seven hundred inhabitants, which, I have reason to think, 



