116 
( Thaleichtliys pad ficus) passed from the Xass river outward to the 
Queen Charlotte islands, and inland by what is still called the 
Grease Trail to Kuldo on the upper Skeena river. “Chilcat’’ blankets 
travelled down from southeast Alaska to Vancouver island, elk 
hides travelled up from the south, and furs from the interior passed 
out to the coast and islands. Owing to visits from European vessels, 
the overland trade had already begun to swtII in volume when 
Mackenzie ajiproached the valley of the Bella Coola river, but the 
scenes he witnessed in that district faithfully reproduced the 
conditions of prehistoric times. “ Every man, woman, and child,” 
he says, “carried a proportionate burden, consisting of beaver coating 
and parchment, as well as skins of the otter, the marten, the bear, 
the lynx, and dressed moose skins. The last they procure from the 
Rocky Mountain Indians. . . Several of their relations and friends, 
they said, were already gone, as well provided as themselves, to barter 
with the people of the coast.” i 
During the winter months all the Pacific coast tribes held 
festivals, or potlatches, at which every visitor received a present 
more or less in accordance with his rank. They were not true presents, 
however, but loans payable with interest at some future potlatch 
under penalty of a loss in social prestige. Often the man who was 
holding the feast found himself short of gifts at the critical moment, 
and sought the assistance of kinsmen and neighbours, borrowing with 
one hand to lend with the other. These debts were strictly heritable; 
they descended from one generation to another until lost in the mists 
of antiquity. Every native of rank found himself inextricably 
enmeshetl, and children were schooled to memorize their debts much 
as our owm children learn the multiplication table. The most amazing 
feature of this “banking” system was its complete independence of 
any currency; for the loans, with few exceptions, were articles of 
everyday household use, principally the skins of various animals. 
The system was so deeply rooted in the social life that the natives 
have adapted it to modern conditions, substituting blankets, guns, 
and even dollar bills for the skins, horn spoons, and ornaments of 
earlier years. In a few cases at least, they have actually kept credit 
and debit accounts of their transactions in tiny notebooks. 
1 ^fackpn■sie: Op. cit., p, 310. 
