95 
and length. Three enormous trees, rudely carved and painted, 
formed the rafters, which were supported at the ends and in the 
middle by gigantic images, carved out of huge blocks of timber. The 
same kind of broad planks covered the whole to keep out the rain; 
but they were so placed as to be removed at ]:>leasure, either to I’eceive 
the air and light, or let out the smoke. In the middle of this s])acious 
room were several fires. . . .The trees that su]:)ported the roof were 
of a size which would render the mast of a first-rate man of war 
diminutive, on a comparison with them. . . The door by which we 
entered this extraordinary fabric was the mouth of one of these huge 
images, which, large as it may be suj>posed, was not disproportioiied 
to the other features of this monstrous visage. We ascended by a few 
steps on the outside, and after passing this extraordinary kind of 
portal, descended down the chin into the house, where we found new 
matter for astonishment in the number of men, women, and children, 
who composed the family of the chief ; which consisted of at least 
eight hundred persons. These were divided into groups, according 
to their respective offices, wffiich had their distinct places assigned 
them. The whole of the building was surrounded by a bench, about 
two feet from the ground, on which the various inhabitants sat, eat, 
and slept.^’^ 
Not all the gabled houses of the Pacific Coast Indians were as 
large as that visited by Meares, which belonged to a principal chief 
of the Nootka. Kwakiutl houses normally held only four families, 
one in each corner.- There were other variations, too, at different 
points along the coast, particularly among the Haida of the Queen 
Charlotte islands, who often hollowed out the floor and used the 
underground level as an extra story. Some houses, again, had 
two or three tiers of benches around the walls, after the manner of 
an amphitheatre. 
Tlie most remarkable feature about all these West Coast houses 
was the extraordinary labour and patience required to fell and dress 
the trees, carve the posts, and split off and dress the planks, with 
no other tools than adzes and chisels of stone or shell, and wedges 
1 Meares: Op. cit., pp. 138-139. He perhaps exafigeiates ; the 800 probably gathered for tlie 
ceremony. 
2 Boas, F. : “The Houses of tlie Kwakiutl Indians, British Columbia”; Proc. United States Nat. 
Mus., vol. xi, 1888, p. 200 (Washington, 1889). 
3 Marchand, Etienne: “A Voyage Round the World”; translaterl by C.-P. Claret Fieurieu, vol. i, 
p. 400 (London, 1801). 
