410 



WALLAWALLA. 



and filthy with dirt; and some have apart of a blanket. The children 

 go entirely naked, the boys wearing nothing but a small string round 

 the body. It is only necessary to say that some forty or fifty live in a 

 temporary hut, twenty feet by twelve, constructed of poles, mats, and 

 cedar bark, to give an idea of the degree of their civilization. 





FISHING-HUTS AT THE DALLES. 



The men are engaged in fishing, and do nothing else. On the 

 women falls all the work of skinning, cleaning, and drying the fish 

 for their winter stores. As soon as the fish are caught, they are laid 

 for a few hours on the rocks, in the hot sun, which permits the skins 

 to be taken off with greater ease ; the flesh is then stripped off the 

 bones, mashed and pounded as fine as possible; it is then spread 

 out on mats, and placed upon frames to dry in the sun and wind, 

 which effectually cures it ; indeed, it is said that meat of any kind 

 dried in this climate never becomes putrid. Three or four days 

 are suSicient to dry a large matfuU, four inches deep. The cured 

 fish is then pounded into a long basket, which will contain about 

 eighty pounds ; put up in this way, if kept dry, it will keep for three 

 years. 



During the fishing season, the Indians live entirely on the heads, 

 hearts, and offal of the salmon, which they string on sticks, and roast 

 over a small fire. 



The fishing here is very much after the manner of that at Willa- 

 mette Falls, except that there is no necessity for planks to stand on, as 

 there are great conveniences at the Dalles for pursuing this fishery. 

 They use the hooks and spears, attached to long poles : both the 

 hook and the spear are made to unship readily, and are attached to 

 the pole by a line four feet below its upper end. If the hook were 

 made permanently fast to the end of the pole, it would be liable to 

 break, and the large fish would be much more difficult to take. The 

 Indians are seen standing alonof the walls of the canals in great num- 



