Jan., 1912 
A VISIT TO NOOTKA SOUND 
19 
tribes, contains numerous accounts of the murders of traders and other visitors, 
with here and there some more conspicuous atrocity, such as the capture of the 
Boston or the destruction of the Ton quin. Even in recent years there have been 
occasions when cruelty and injustice, inflicted by reckless white men upon the de- 
spised “Siwash”, have been followed by prompt and bloody retribution; and today 
the visitor to some of the more remote villages will be conscious of the black looks 
and surly demeanor of a portion of the population. It is interesting to note, how- 
ever, an amiable weakness of these warlike savages, one noted by Jewitt and by Dr. 
Brown, and even at this late date corroborated by myself. Jewitt remarks on the 
Indians’ fondness for biscuit and molasses, “which they prefer to any kind of food 
that w'e can offer them”; and the later writer, commenting upon this, speaks of a 
prospective Indian uprising being immediately allayed by the opening of a keg of 
treacle and a box of biscuit. During our stay at Friendly Cove two “potlatches” 
took place. The first was given by a hunter, who had fortunately secured four 
seals. These were cut up and boiled in a huge kettle on the beach, around which 
the village gathered, while the host served the dainties. The second feast made 
Fig. 10. OUTER BEACH AT FRIENDLY COVE, NOOTKA SOUND 
more of a stir, the generosity of some visiting timber cruisers one evening supplying 
the whole population with pilot bread and store jam, in return for certain dances, 
which were most cheerfully executed. 
Another curious, and to me unexpected discover}^ was that to this day Ameri- 
cans are known to the west coast Indians as “Boston men”, Englishmen as “King 
George men”. Changing circumstances have made the Briton’s appellation appro- 
priate once more, but it is doubtful whether a Californian or a Texan would recog- 
nize the suitability of the above classification! 
The permanent white population of Friendly Cove, as indicated above, is limit- 
ed to Mr. Smith, the store keeper. The w'hole of the peninsula has been set aside 
as a reservation, for the use of the Indians, and the store is held by lease. There 
is a Catholic mission here, a neat little church in carefully kept grounds, and a priest 
is resident during the winter months, but was away at the time of our visit. 
The stay we made at the head of the Tahsis Canal enabled us to see a good deal 
of the Sound besides the immediate environs of Friendly Cove. The shores of the 
