136 
NOOTKA SOUND. 
fliort truncheons of bone, and a fmall pick-axe like the 
American tomahawk; it is a done, fix or eight inches 
long, pointed at one end, and by the other fattened into 
a handle of wood : the handle refembles the head and 
neck of the human figure, and the (tone is fixed in the 
mouth, fo as to reprefent an enormoufly-large tongue ; 
and, to make the refemblance ftronger, they affix human 
hairs to it. That their w'ars are frequent and bloody is 
evident, from the number of human lkulls which they 
offered for fale. Their manufactures and mechanical arts 
are more extenfive and ingenious, both as to defign and 
execution, than might have been expedited among a peo¬ 
ple in fo bad a ftate of civilization, and of fo indolent a 
temper. Their flaxen garments are made of the bark of 
a pine-tree, beaten into a hempen ftate. Their woollen 
garments have the ftrongeft refemblance to woven cloth, 
though they are unacquainted with the ufe of the loom. 
The wool is taken from different animals, as the fox and 
brown lynx. The ornamental figures in thefe different 
garments are difpofed with great tafte, and dyed of dif¬ 
ferent colours. Their fondnefs for carving is manifefted 
in every thing that is made of wood. Small whole human 
figures, representations of birds, fifh, land and fea animals, 
models of their houfehold utenfilsand of theircanoes, are 
found among them in great abundance. They alfo praCtife 
drawing for various purpofes. The whole procefs of their 
whale-fifhery is painted on the caps they wear. Their rude 
performances in this way ferve to ftiow, that, though 
there be no appearance of the knowledge of letters amonglt 
them, they have fome notion of commemorating and re- 
prefenting aftions in a permanent manner, independently 
of wdiat may be recorded in their fongs and traditions. 
Their canoes are of a Ample ftruCture, but well adapted 
to every ufeful purpofe. The largeft, which carry twenty 
people or more, are formed of one tree. Many are forty 
feet long, feven broad, and about three deep. From the 
middle, towards each end, they become gradually nar¬ 
rower, the after-part, or ftern, ending abruptly or per¬ 
pendicularly, with a fmall knob on the top ; but the fore¬ 
part is lengthened out, ftretching forward and upw'ard, 
ending in a notched point or prow', confiderably higher 
than the fides of the canoe, which run nearly in a ftraight 
line. They are moftly without ornament; nor have they 
any feats, or fupporters, on the in tide, except feveral 
round flicks, fomewhat thicker than a cane, placed acrofs, 
at mid-depth. They are very light, and by means of their 
breadth and flatnefs they fwim firmly, without an out¬ 
rigger, which none of them have, and in which refpeCt 
they differ from thofe of other countries. Their paddles 
are fmall and light, and in managing them they are very 
dextrous. Their implements for fifhing and hunting, 
which are ingenioufly contrived and w>ell made, are nets, 
hooks and lines, harpoons, gigs, and an inftrument like 
an oar ; which laft is about twenty feet long, four or five 
inches broad, and about half an inch thick. Each edge, 
for about tw'o-thirds of its length, the other part being 
a handle, is fet with fliarp bone-teeth, about two inches 
long. Herrings and fardines, and fuch other fmall fifli as 
come in flioals, are attacked with this inftrument, which 
is ftruck into theftioal,and the fifli are caught either upon 
or between the teeth. Their hooks are made of bone and 
wood; and the harpoon, which is excellently contrived, 
is compofed of a piece of bone, cut into two barbs, in 
which is fixed the oval blade of a large mufcle-fliell, in 
which is the point of the inftrument. To this is fattened 
a rope of about two or three fathoms; and for throwing 
this harpoon they ufe a fliaft of about twelve or fifteen 
feet long, to which the line or rope is attached, and to 
one end of it the harpoon is filled, fo as to feparate from 
the thaft, and leave it floating upon the water as a buoy, 
when the animal darts away with the harpoon. In kill¬ 
ing land-animals of the fmaller fort, they ufe arrows; and 
engage bears, wolves, and foxes, with their fpears. In 
decoying animals they cover themfelves with a fkin, and 
run nimbly about upon all fours, making at the fame 
time a kind of noife or neighing ; and on thefe occafions 
they put on the matks, or carved heads, as well as the real 
dried heads, of the different animals. Their ropes are 
made either from thongs of fkins and finews of animals, 
or of the flaxen fubftance which is the material of their 
mantles. The chiffel and the knife are the only inftru- 
ments of iron which they ufe. Their iron tools are ftiar- 
pened upon a whetftone, and always kept bright. The 
mod probable method by which they get their iron is by 
trading for it with other Indian tribes, who either have 
immediate communication with European fettlements 
upon that continent, or receive it, perhaps, through fe¬ 
veral intermediate nations. Mr. Gore even procured two 
filver fpoons, of a conftruClion fimilar to what may be 
obferved in fome Flemifli pictures, from a native who 
wore them round his neck as an ornament. It is moft 
probable that thefe had been conveyed to them by the 
way of Hudfon’s Bay and Canada; or even from the 
north-weftern parts of Mexico. 
Their language is neither harfh or difagreeable, any 
farther than proceeds from their ufing the h and h with 
more force than we do; and, upon the whole, it abounds 
rather with labial and dental than with guttural founds. 
The fimple founds, that are either wholly wanting, or 
rarely uied, are thofe reprefented by the letters b, d, f,g , 
r, and v. In their language there feem to be few preposi¬ 
tions or conjunctions; and it is altogether deftitute of 
even a Angle interje&ion to exprefs furprife or admiration. 
The affinity it may bear to other languages, we have not 
been able fufficiently to trace, not having proper fpecimens 
to compare it with ; but, from the few Mexican words 
we have procured, there is an obvious agreement through¬ 
out the language, in the frequent terminations of the 
words in l, tl, or z. 
A fmall affociation of Britifti merchants refidentin the 
Eaft Indies had, early in the year 1786, formed the pro¬ 
ject of opening a trade to this part of the world, for the 
purpofe of fupplying the Chinefe market with furs. The 
principal point towards which thefe expeditions were di¬ 
rected, was Nootka Sound ; and the adventurers, being 
in fome degree fatisfied with their traffic, took meafures, 
in the year 1788, to fecure to themfelves a permanent 
fettlement. But the Spaniards were jealous of the in- 
trufion of the Englifh into a part of the world which they 
had long been deiirous to regard as their exclufive pro¬ 
perty ; and accordingly a frigate was difpatched from the 
province of Mexico, for the purpofe of putting an end to 
this commerce. The^panifh frigate arrived in May 1789, 
and captured two Englifh veffels in the following July, at 
the fame time taking poffeffion of the little fettlement 
which had been formed upon the coaft. Thefe circum- 
ftances appeared likely to involve us in an expenfive war. 
Happily, however, for both countries, and perhaps for 
Europe, the matter w’as amicably fettled, as related under 
the article England, vol. vi. p. 774, 5. See alfo Mante’s 
Hift. of the Wars of England, vol. vii. Cooke’s Third 
Voyage, vol. ii. and Meares’s Voyage to the North-Weft 
Coaft of America. 
NOOVIL'LA, a town of Eaft Florida: fifty-four miles 
eaft-fouth-eaft of St. Mark. 
NOP', or No'pe, f. A kind of bird; the Loxia rubi- 
cilla.—The redfparrow, the nope, the redbreaft, and the 
wren. Drayton's Polyolbion. 
NOPH, [Heb. a honeycomb.] The name of a coun¬ 
try mentioned in Ifaiah ; fuppofed to be Memphis, in 
Egypt. 
NO'PELN, or Chris'tianopel, a town of Denmark, 
in the province of Blekingen : it is fortified, and almoft 
furrounded by the Baltic, in the manner of a peninfula. 
In 1603, Chriftian IV. king of Denmark, gave it a charter 
of privileges, and called it by Jus name. But it loft thofe 
privileges in the year 1610, when it was taken by Guftavus 
Adolphus, who was at. that time hereditary prince, or 
heir-apparent to the crown. It is twenty-five miles north- 
eaft of Carlfcrona, 
NO'QUET’s 
