LOSS OF THE PEACOCK. 511 



tizinsr and leavinfr tokens among these Indians, and have done much 

 good in promoting a good feeling among them. They were con- 

 structing a large building for a church, near which was erected a 

 large cross. 



Besides inculcating good moi'als and peace, the priests are inducing 

 the Indians to cultivate the soil, and there was an enclosure of some 

 three or four asres, in which potatoes and beans were growing. The 

 Indians were also cultivating large quantities of potatoes, in a soil 

 fertile and capable of producing every thing. Wild flowers were in 

 abundance, and with strawberry-vines covered the whole surface. 

 The fruit of the latter was large and of fine flavour. 



The Sachet tribe are obliged to provide for their defence against 

 the more northern tribes, by whom they are frequently attacked, for 

 the purpose of carrying them ofl" as slaves. For protection against 

 these attacks they have large enclosures, four hundred feet long, and 

 capable of containing many families, which are constructed of pickets 

 made of thick planks, about thirty feet high. The pickets are firmly 

 fixed into the ground, the spaces between them being only sufficient 

 to point a musket through. The appearance of one of these enclo- 

 sures is formidable, and they may be termed impregnable to any 

 Indian force ; for, in the opinion of the ofiicers, it would have 

 required artillery to make a breach in them. The interior of the 

 enclosure is divided into lodges, and has all the aspect of a fortress. 



Upon the whole, the tribe inhabiting Penn Cove are more advanced 

 than any others in civilization. 



The only spring found here was one of a mineral character, forming 

 a deposition on every thing around. 



On the main, there is much good land. 



Near the harbour of Port Gardner, a fine stream empties itself into 

 Possession Sound, by four mouths. The water was not found to be 

 sufficiently deep in any of these to admit boats at low water, in con- 

 sequence of a bar or flat extending across the mouths. 



Here they were surrounded by many canoes, containing Indians 

 from the various tribes to the southward, whom they had before seen. 

 The dress of the Sachet does not vary much from that of the other 

 tribes, and generally consists of a single blanket, fastened with a 

 wooden pin around the neck and shoulders. Those who are not able 

 to purchase blankets wear leathern hunting-shirts, fringed in part 

 with beads or shells, and very few are seen with leggins. The 

 women ornament themselves with small brass bells, or other trinkets. 



