A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xvi Part 13

From this place, I crossed over to the other, or east side of the Sound, pa.s.sing an arm of it that runs in N.N.E., to appearance not far. I now found, what I had before conjectured, that the land, under which the s.h.i.+ps lay, was an island; and that there were many smaller ones lying scattered in the Sound on the west side of it. Opposite the north end of our large island, upon the main land, I observed a village, and there I landed. The inhabitants of it were not so polite as those of the other I had just visited. But this cold reception seemed, in a great measure, if not entirely, owing to one surly chief, who would not let me enter their houses, following me wherever I went; and several times, by expressive signs, marking his impatience that I should be gone. I attempted in vain to sooth him by presents, but though he did not refuse them, they did not alter his behaviour. Some of the young women, better pleased with us than was their inhospitable chief, dressed themselves expeditiously in their best apparel, and, a.s.sembling in a body, welcomed us to their village, by joining in a song, which was far from harsh or disagreeable.

The day being now far spent, I proceeded for the s.h.i.+ps, round the north end of the large island; meeting, in my way, with several canoes laden with sardines, which had been just caught, somewhere in the east corner of the Sound. When I got on board, I was informed, that, while I was absent, the s.h.i.+ps had been visited by some strangers, in two or three large canoes, who, by signs, made our people understand that they had come from the S.E., beyond the bay. They brought several skins, garments, and other articles, which they bartered. But what was most singular, two silver table-spoons were purchased from them, which, from their peculiar shape, we supposed to be of Spanish manufacture. One of these strangers wore them round his neck, by way of ornament. These visitors also appeared to be more plentifully supplied with iron than the inhabitants of the Sound.

The mizen-mast being finished, it was got in, and rigged, on the 21st; and the carpenters were set to work to make a new fore-top-mast, to replace the one that had been carried away some time before.

Next morning, about eight o'clock, we were visited by a number of strangers, in twelve or fourteen canoes. They came into the cove from the southward, and as soon as they had turned the point of it, they stopped, and lay drawn up in a body above half an hour, about two or three hundred yards from the s.h.i.+ps. At first, we thought, that they were afraid to come nearer; but we were mistaken in this, and they were only preparing an introductory ceremony. On advancing toward the s.h.i.+ps, they all stood up in their canoes, and began to sing. Some of their songs, in which the whole body joined, were in a slow, and others in quicker time; and they accompanied their notes with the most regular motions of their hands; or beating in concert, with their paddles, on the sides of the canoes, and making other very expressive gestures. At the end of each song, they remained silent a few seconds, and then began again, sometimes p.r.o.nouncing the word _hooee!_ forcibly, as a chorus. After entertaining us with this specimen of their music, which we listened to with admiration, for above half an hour, they came alongside the s.h.i.+ps, and bartered what they had to dispose of. Some of our old friends of the Sound were now found to be amongst them, and they took the whole management of the traffic between us and the strangers, much to the advantage of the latter.

Our attendance on these visitors being finished, Captain Clerke and I went, in the forenoon, with two boats, to the village at the west point of the Sound. When I was there before, I had observed, that plenty of gra.s.s grew near it; and it was necessary to lay in a quant.i.ty of this, as food for the few goats and sheep which were still left on board. The inhabitants received us with the same demonstrations of friends.h.i.+p which I had experienced before; and the moment we landed, I ordered some of my people to begin their operation of cutting. I had not the least imagination, that the natives could make any objection to our furnis.h.i.+ng ourselves with what seemed to be of no use to them, but was necessary for us. However, I was mistaken; for, the moment that our men began to cut, some of the inhabitants interposed, and would not permit them to proceed, saying they must "_makook_," that is, must first buy it. I was now in one of the houses; but as soon as I heard of this, I went to the field, where I found about a dozen of the natives, each of whom laid claim to some part of the gra.s.s that grew in this place. I bargained with them for it, and having completed the purchase, thought that we were now at liberty to cut wherever we pleased. But here, again, it appeared, that I was under a mistake; for the liberal manner in which I had paid the first pretended proprietors, brought fresh demands upon me from others; so that there did not seem to be a single blade of gra.s.s, that had not a separate owner, and so many of them were to be satisfied, that I very soon emptied my pockets. When they found that I really had nothing more to give, their importunities ceased, and we were permitted to cut where-ever we pleased, and as much as we chose to carry away.

Here I must observe, that I have no where, in my several voyages, met with any uncivilized nation, or tribe, who had such strict notions of their having a right to the exclusive property of every thing that their country produces, as the inhabitants of this Sound. At first, they wanted our people to pay for the wood and water that they carried on board; and had I been upon the spot, when these demands were made, I should certainly have complied with them. Our workmen, in my absence, thought differently, for they took but little notice of such claims; and the natives, when they found that we were determined to pay nothing, at last ceased to apply. But they made a merit of necessity, and frequently afterward took occasion to remind us, that they had given us wood and water out of friends.h.i.+p.[1]

[Footnote 1: Similar to the behaviour of the natives of Nootka, on this occasion, was that of another tribe of Indians, farther north, in lat.i.tude 57 18', to the Spaniards, who had preceded Captain Cook only three years, in a voyage to explore the coast of America, northward of California. See the journal of that voyage, writ by the second pilot of the fleet, and published by the Honourable Mr Daines Barrington, to whom the literary world owes so many obligations.--_Miscellanies_, p.

505, 506.--D.]

During the time I was at this village, Mr Webber, who had attended me thither, made drawings of every thing that was curious, both within and without doors. I had also an opportunity of inspecting more narrowly, the construction of the houses, household furniture, and utensils, and the striking peculiarities of the customs and modes of living of the inhabitants. These shall be described in another place, in the best manner I can, calling in to my a.s.sistance the observations of Mr Anderson. When we had completed all our operations at this village, the natives and we parted very good friends, and we got back to the s.h.i.+ps in the afternoon.

The three following days were employed in getting ready to put to sea; the sails were bent, the observatories and instruments, brewing vessels, and other things, were moved from the sh.o.r.e; some small spars, for different uses, and pieces of timber, which might be occasionally sawn into boards, were prepared and put on board; and both s.h.i.+ps were cleared, and put into a sailing condition.

Every thing being now ready, in the morning of the 26th, I intended to have put to sea; but both wind and tide being against us, was obliged to wait till noon, when the S.W. wind was succeeded by a calm, and the tide turning in our favour, we cast off the moorings, and with our boats towed the s.h.i.+ps out of the cove. After this, we had variable light airs and calms, till four in the afternoon, when a breeze sprung up northerly, with very thick, hazy weather. The mercury in the barometer fell unusually low, and we had every other fore-runner of an approaching storm, which we had reason to expect would be from the southward. This made me hesitate a little, as night was at hand, whether I should venture to sail, or wait till the next morning. But my anxious impatience to proceed upon the voyage, and the fear of losing this opportunity of getting out of the Sound, making a greater impression on my mind, than any apprehension of immediate danger, I determined to put to sea at all events.

Our friends, the natives, attended us, till we were almost out of the Sound; some on board the s.h.i.+ps, and others in their canoes. One of their chiefs, who had, some time before, attached himself to me, was amongst the last who left us. Having, before he went, bestowed upon him a small present, I received in return a beaver-skin, of much greater value. This called upon me to make some addition to my present, which pleased him so much, that he insisted upon my acceptance of the beaver-skin cloak which he then wore; and of which I knew he was particularly fond. Struck with this instance of generosity, and desirous that he should be no sufferer by his friends.h.i.+p to me, I presented to him a new broad sword, with a bra.s.s hilt, the possession of which made him completely happy. He, and also many others of his countrymen, importuned us much to pay them another visit; and, by way of encouragement, promised to lay in a good stock of skins. I made no doubt, that whoever comes after me to this place, will find the natives prepared accordingly, with no inconsiderable supply of an article of trade, which, they could observe, we were eager to possess; and which we found could be purchased to great advantage.[2]

[Footnote 2: Captain King, as we shall afterwards find, proposes a plan for the establishment of a fur-trade with this coast of America.

To this he was incited by the experience of the value of these articles in the Chinese market. In fact, a settlement for the purpose of carrying on this trade was commenced in 1786, by an a.s.sociation of British merchants resident in India. It was soon afterwards seized on by the Spaniards who pretended a prior right. But they, as we have already mentioned, vol. xv. p. 157, abandoned all claim to this Sound in 1790; and in 1795, it was formally taken possession of, in name of his Britannic Majesty.--E.]

Such particulars about the country, and its inhabitants, as came to our knowledge during our short stay, and have not been mentioned in the course of the narrative, will furnish materials for the two following sections.

SECTION II.

_The Name of the Sound, and Directions for Sailing into it.--Account of the adjacent Country.--Weather.--Climate.--Trees.--Other Vegetable Productions.--Quadrupeds, whose Skins were brought for Sale.--Sea Animals.--Description of a Sea Otter.--Birds.--Water Fowl.--Fish.--Sh.e.l.l-fish, &c.--Reptiles.--Insects.--Stones, &c.--Persons of the Inhabitants.--Their Colour.--Common Dress and Ornaments.--Occasional Dresses, and monstrous Decorations of wooden Masks.--Their general Dispositions.--Songs.--Musical Instruments.--Their Eagerness to possess Iron and other Metals._

On my arrival in this inlet, I had honoured it with the name of King George's Sound; but I afterward found, that it is called Nootka by the natives. The entrance is situated in the east corner of Hope Bay, in the lat.i.tude of 49 33' N., and in the longitude of 233 12' E.

The east coast of that bay, all the way from Breaker's Point to the entrance of the Sound, is covered by a chain of sunken rocks, that seemed to extend some distance from the sh.o.r.e; and, near the Sound, are some islands and rocks above water.

We enter this Sound between two rocky points, that lie E.S.E., and W.N.W. from each other, distant between three and four miles. Within these points the Sound widens considerably, and extends in, to the northward, four leagues at least, exclusive of the several branches toward its bottom, the termination of which we had not an opportunity to ascertain. But, from the circ.u.mstance of finding that the water freshened where our boats crossed their entrance, it is probable that they had almost reached its utmost limits. And this probability is increased by the hills that bounded it toward the land, being covered with thick snow, when those toward the sea, or where we lay, had not a speck remaining on them, though, in general, they were much higher. In the middle of the Sound are a number of islands of various sizes. The depth of water in the middle of the Sound, and even close home to some parts of its sh.o.r.e, is from forty-seven to ninety fathoms, and perhaps more. The harbours, and anchoring-places within its circuit, are numerous; but we had no time to survey them. The cove in which our s.h.i.+ps lay is on the east side of the Sound, and on the east side of the largest of the islands. It is covered from the sea, but has little else to recommend it, being exposed to the S.E. winds, which we found to blow with great violence; and the devastation they make sometimes was apparent in many places.

The land bordering upon the sea-coast is of a middling height and level; but within the Sound, it rises almost every-where into steep hills, which agree in their general formation, ending in round or blunted tops, with some sharp, though not very prominent, ridges on their sides. Some of these hills may be reckoned high, while others of them are of a very moderate height; but even the highest are entirely covered to their tops with the thickest woods; as well as every flat part toward the sea. There are sometimes spots upon the sides of some of the hills which are bare; but they are few, in comparison of the whole, though they sufficiently point out the general rocky disposition of these hills. Properly speaking, they have no soil upon them, except a kind of compost, produced from rotten mosses and trees, of the depth of two feet or more. Their foundations are, therefore, to be considered as nothing more than stupendous rocks, of a whitish or grey cast, where they have been exposed to the weather; but, when broken, they appeared to be of a blueish grey colour, like that universal sort which were found at Kerguelen's Land. The rocky sh.o.r.es are a continued ma.s.s of this; and the little coves, in the Sound, have beaches composed of fragments of it, with a few other pebbles. All these coves are furnished with a great quant.i.ty of fallen wood lying in them, which is carried in by the tide; and with rills of fresh water, sufficient for the use of a s.h.i.+p, which seem to be supplied entirely from the rains, and fogs that hover about the tops of the hills. For few springs can be expected in so rocky a country, and the fresh water found farther up the Sound, most probably arose from the melting of the snow; there being no room to suspect, that any large river falls into the Sound, either from strangers coming down it, or from any other circ.u.mstance. The water of these rills is perfectly clear, and dissolves soap easily.

The weather, during our stay, corresponded pretty nearly with that which we had experienced off the coast. That is, when the wind was any where between N. and W., the weather was fine and clear; but if to the southward of W., hazy with rain. The climate, as far as we had any experience of it, is infinitely milder than that on the east coast of America, under the same parallel of lat.i.tude. The mercury in the thermometer never, even in the night, fell lower than 42, and very often, in the day, it rose to 60. No such thing as frost was perceived in any of the low ground; on the contrary, vegetation had made a considerable progress, for I met with gra.s.s that was already above a foot long.

The trees which chiefly compose the woods, are the Canadian pine, white cypress, _cypressus thyoides_, the wild pine, with two or three other sorts of pine less common. The two first make up almost two-thirds of the whole; and, at a distance, might be mistaken for the same tree, as they both run up into pointed spire-like tops, but they are easily distinguished on coming nearer from their colour, the cypress being of a much paler green, or shade, than the other. The trees, in general, grow with great vigour, and are all of a large size.

There is but little variety of other vegetable productions, though, doubtless, several had not yet sprung up at the early season when we visited the place, and many more might be hid from the narrow sphere of our researches. About the rocks, and verge of the woods, we found strawberry-plants, some raspberry, currant, and gooseberry bushes, which were all in a most flouris.h.i.+ng state, with a few small black alder-trees. There are, likewise, a species of sow-thistle, goose-gra.s.s, some crow's-foot, which has a very fine crimson flower, and two sorts of _antheric.u.m_, one with a large orange flower, and the other with a blue one. We also found, in these situations, some wild rose-bushes, which were just budding, a great quant.i.ty of young leeks, with, triangular leaves, a small sort of gra.s.s, and some water-cresses, which grow about the sides of the rills, besides great abundance of _andromeda_. Within the woods, besides two sorts of underwood shrubs unknown to us, are mosses and ferns. Of the first of which, are seven or eight different sorts, of the last, not above three or four, and the species of both, are mostly such as are common to Europe and America.

As the season of the year was unfavourable to our gaining much knowledge of the vegetable productions of this country, so our own situation while there, put it out of our power to learn much about its animals. For as the want of water made it necessary that we should enter the Sound at first, unforeseen accidents which happened afterward, though they lengthened our stay, were rather unfavourable to our obtaining any knowledge of this kind. The emergency of the case required, that every person should be constantly employed in the necessary business of the s.h.i.+ps, which was the capital object, as the season was advancing very fast, and the success of the voyage depended upon their diligence and alacrity in expediting the various tasks a.s.signed to them. Hence it happened, that excursions of every kind, either on the land, or by water, were never attempted. And as we lay in a cove on an island, no other animals were ever seen alive in the woods there, than two or three rac.o.o.ns, martins, and squirrels.

Besides these, some of our people who, one day, landed on the continent, near the S.E. side of the entrance of the sound, observed the prints of a bear's feet near the sh.o.r.e. The account, therefore, that we can give of the quadrupeds, is taken from the skins which the natives brought to sell; and these were often so mutilated with respect to the distinguis.h.i.+ng parts, such as the paws, tails, and heads, that it was impossible even to guess at the animals to whom they belonged, though others were so perfect, or at least so well known, that they left no room to doubt about them.

Of these the most common were bears, deer, foxes, and wolves. The bear-skins were in great numbers, few of them very large, but, in general, of a s.h.i.+ning black colour. The deer-skins were scarcer, and they seem to belong to that sort called the fallow-deer by the historians of Carolina, though Mr Pennant thinks it quite a different species from, ours, and distinguishes it by the name of Virginian deer.[1] The foxes are in great plenty, and of several varieties, some of their skins being quite yellow, with a black tip to the tail, others of a deep or reddish yellow, intermixed with black, and a third sort of a whitish grey or ash-colour, also intermixed with black. Our people used to apply the name of fox or wolf indiscriminately, when the skins were so mutilated as to leave room for a doubt. But we got, at last, an entire wolf's skin with the head on, and it was grey.

Besides the common sort of martin, the pine-martin is also here, and another, whose skin is of a lighter brown colour than either, with coa.r.s.er hair, but is not so common, and is, perhaps, only a mere variety arising from age, or some other accidental circ.u.mstance. The ermine is also found at this place, but is rare and small, nor is the hair remarkably fine, though the animal appeared to be perfectly white, except an inch or more at the tip of the tail. The rac.o.o.ns and squirrels are of the common sort; but the latter is rather smaller than ours, and has a deeper rusty colour running along the back.

[Footnote 1: See Virginian deer. Pennant's Hist. Quad. vol. i. No. 46, and Arctic Zool. No.6.]

We were clear as to the existence of all the animals already mentioned, but there are two others besides, which we could not distinguish with sufficient certainty. Of the first of these we saw none of the skins, but what were dressed or tanned like leather. The natives wear them on some occasions; and from the size as well as the thickness, they were generally concluded to belong to the elk, or mouse-deer, though some of them perhaps might belong to the buffalo.

The other animal, which seems by no means rare, was guessed to be a species of the wild cat or lynx. The length of the skins, without the head, which none of them had, was about two feet two inches. They are covered with a very fine wool or fur, of a very light-brown or whitish yellow colour, intermixed with long hairs, which on the back, where they are shortest, are blackish; on the sides, where they are longer, of a silver white; and on the belly, where they are longest, of the colour of the wool, but the whitish, or silver hairs, are often so predominant, that the whole animal acquires a cast of that kind. The tail is only three inches long, and has a black tip. The whole skin being, by the natives, called _wanshee_, that, most probably, is their name for this animal. Hogs, dogs, and goats, have not as yet found their way to this place. Nor do the natives seem to have any knowledge of our brown rats, to which, when they saw them on board the s.h.i.+ps, they applied the name they give to squirrels. And though they called our goats _eineetla_, this, most probably, is their name for a young deer or fawn.

The sea-animals seen off the coast, were whales, porpoises, and seals.

The last of these seem only of the common sort, judging from the skins which we saw here, their colour being either silvery, yellowish, plain, or spotted with black. The porpoise is the _phocena_. I have chosen to refer to this cla.s.s the sea-otter, as living mostly in the water. It might have been sufficient to have mentioned, that this animal abounds here, as it is fully described in different books, taken from the accounts of the Russian adventurers in their expeditions eastward from Kamtschatka, if there had not been a small difference in one that we saw. We, for some time, entertained doubts, whether the many skins which the natives brought, really belonged to this animal, as our only reason for being of that opinion, was founded on the size, colour, and fineness of the fur, till a short while before our departure, when a whole one, that had been just killed, was purchased from some strangers who came to barter; and of this Mr Webber made a drawing. It was rather young, weighing only twenty-five pounds, of a s.h.i.+ning or glossy black colour, but many of the hairs being tipt with white, gave it a greyish cast at first sight.

The face, throat, and breast were of a yellowish white, or very light-brown colour, which, in many of the skins, extended the whole length of the belly. It had six cutting teeth in each jaw, two of those of the lower jaw being very minute, and placed without, at the base of the two middle ones. In these circ.u.mstances, it seems to disagree with those found by the Russians, and also in not having the outer toes of the hind feet skirted with a membrane. There seemed also a greater variety in the colour of the skins, than is mentioned by the describers of the Russian sea-otters. These changes of colour certainly take place at different gradations of life. The very young ones had brown hair, which was coa.r.s.e, with very little fur underneath; but those of the size of the entire animal, which came into our possession, and just described, had a considerable quant.i.ty of that substance, and both in that colour and state the sea-otters seem to remain, till they have attained their full growth. After that, they lose the black colour, and a.s.sume a deep brown or sooty colour, but have then a greater quant.i.ty of very fine fur, and scarcely any long hairs. Others, which we suspected to be still older, were of a chesnut-brown; and a few skins were seen that had even acquired a perfectly yellow colour. The fur of these animals, as mentioned in the Russian accounts, is certainly softer and finer than that of any others we know of; and, therefore, the discovey of this part of the continent of North America, where so valuable an article of commerce may be met with, cannot be a matter of indifference.[2]

[Footnote 2: Mr c.o.xe, on the authority of Mr Pallas, informs us, that the old and middle-aged sea-otters' skins are sold at Kiachta, by the Russians to the Chinese, from 80 to 180 rubles a skin, that is, from 16l. to 20l. each.--See _c.o.xe's Russian Discoveries_, p. 13.--D.]

Birds, in general, are not only rare as to the different species, but very scarce as to numbers; and these few are so shy, that, in all probability, they are continually hara.s.sed by the natives, perhaps to eat them as food, certainly to get possession of their feathers, which they use as ornaments. Those which frequent the woods, are crows and ravens, not at all different from our English ones, a blueish jay or magpie, common wrens, which are the only singing bird that we heard, the Canadian or migrating thrush, and a considerable number of brown eagles, with white heads and tails, which, though they seem princ.i.p.ally to frequent the coast, come into the Sound in bad weather, and sometimes perch upon the trees. Amongst some other birds, of which the natives either brought fragments, or dried skins, we could distinguish a small species of hawk, a heron, and the _alcyon_, or large-crested American king-fisher. There are also some, which, I believe, are not mentioned, or at least vary, very considerably, from the accounts given of them by any writers who have treated professedly on this part of natural history. The two first of these are _species_ of wood-p.e.c.k.e.rs. One less than a thrush, of a black colour above, with white spots on the wings, a crimson head, neck, and breast, and a yellowish olive-coloured belly, from which last circ.u.mstance it might, perhaps, not improperly be called the yellow-bellied wood-p.e.c.k.e.r.

The other is a larger, and much more elegant bird, of a dusky brown colour, on the upper part, richly waved with black, except about the head, the belly of a reddish cast, with round black spots, a black spot on the breast, and the under-side of the wings and tail of a plain scarlet colour, though blackish above, with a crimson streak running from the angle of the mouth, a little down the neck on each side. The third and fourth, are a small bird of the finch kind, about the size of a linnet, of a dark dusky colour, whitish below, with a black head and neck, and white bill; and a sand-piper, of the size of a small pigeon, of a dusky brown colour, and white below, except the throat and breast, with a broad white band across the wings. There are also humming-birds, which yet seem to differ from the numerous sorts of this delicate animal already known, unless they be a mere variety of the _trochilus colubris_ of Linnaeus. These, perhaps, inhabit more to the southward, and spread northward as the season advances; because we saw none at first, though, near the time of our departure, the natives brought them to the s.h.i.+ps in great numbers.

The birds which frequent the waters and the sh.o.r.es, are not more numerous than the others. The quebrantahuessos, gulls, and s.h.a.gs, were seen off the coast, and the two last also frequent the Sound. They are of the common sorts, the s.h.a.gs being our cormorant or water-crow. We saw two sorts of wild-ducks; one black, with a white head, which were in considerable flocks, the other white, with a red bill, but of a larger size; and the greater _lumme_, or diver, found in our northern countries. There were also seen, once or twice, some swans flying across the Sound to the northward, but we knew nothing of their haunts. On the sh.o.r.es, besides the sand-piper, described above, we found another, about the size of a lark, which bears a great affinity to the burre, and a plover differing very little from our common sea-lark.

Fish are more plentiful in quant.i.ty than birds, though the variety is not very great; and yet, from several circ.u.mstances, it is probable, that even the variety is considerably increased at certain seasons.

The princ.i.p.al sorts, which we found in great numbers, are the common herring, but scarcely exceeding seven inches in length; a smaller sort, which is the same with the anchovy, or sardine, though rather larger; a white, or silver-coloured bream, and another of a gold-brown colour, with many narrow longitudinal blue stripes. The herrings and sardines, doubtless, come in large shoals, and only at stated seasons, as is common with that sort of fish. The bream of both sorts, may be reckoned the next to these in quant.i.ty; and the full-grown ones weighed, at least, a pound. The other fish, which are all scarce, are a small brown kind of _sculpin_, such as is found on the coast of Norway, another of a brownish red cast, frost-fish, a large one, somewhat resembling the bull-head, with a tough skin, dest.i.tute of scales; and now and then, toward the time of our leaving the Sound, the natives brought a small brownish cod, spotted with white, and a red fish of the same size, which some of our people said they had seen in the strait of Magalhaens, besides another differing little from the hake. There are also considerable numbers of those fish called the _chimaerae_, or little sea-wolves, by some, which is akin to, and about the size of, the _pezegallo_, or elephant-fish. Sharks, likewise, sometimes frequent the Sound, for the natives have some of their teeth in their possession; and we saw some pieces of ray, or scate, which seemed to have been pretty large. The other marine animals that ought to be mentioned here, are a small cruciated _medusa_, or blubber, star-fish, which differ somewhat from the common ones, two small sorts of crabs, and two others which the natives brought, one of them of a thick, tough, gelatinous consistence, and the other a sort of membranaceous tube or pipe, both which are probably taken from the rocks. And we, also, purchased from them once a very large cuttle-fish.

There is abundance of large muscles about the rocks, many sea-ears, and we often saw sh.e.l.ls of pretty large plain _chamae_. The smaller sorts are some _trochi_ of two species, a curious _murex_, rugged wilks, and a snail, all which are, probably, peculiar to this place, at least I do not recollect to have seen them in any country near the same lat.i.tude in either hemisphere. There are, besides these, some small plain c.o.c.kles, limpets; and some strangers, who come into the Sound, wore necklaces of a small blueish _volute_ or _panamae_. Many of the muscles are a span in length, and some having pretty large pearls, which, however, are both badly shaped and coloured. We may conclude, that there is red coral in the Sound, or somewhere upon the coast, some thick pieces, or branches, having been seen in the canoes of the natives.

The only animals of the reptile kind observed here, and found in the woods, were brown snakes two feet long, with whitish stripes on the back and sides, which are harmless, as we often saw the natives carry them alive in their hands; and brownish water-lizards, with a tail exactly like that of an eel, which frequented the small standing pools about the rocks.

The insect tribe seem to be more numerous. For though the season, which is peculiarly fitted to their appearing abroad, was only beginning, we saw four or five different sorts of b.u.t.terflies, none of which were uncommon, a good many humble-bees, some of our common gooseberry moths, two or three sorts of flies, a few beetles, and some musquitoes, which, probably, may be more numerous and troublesome in a country so full of wood, during the summer, though at this time they did little mischief.

As to the mineral substances in this country, though we found both iron and copper here, there is little reason to believe that either of them belong to the place. Neither were the ores of any metal seen, if we except a coa.r.s.e, red, earthy, or ochry substance, used by the natives in painting themselves, which probably may contain a little iron, with a white and a black pigment used for the same purpose. But we did not procure specimens of them, and therefore cannot positively determine what are their component parts.

Besides the stone or rock that const.i.tutes the mountains and sh.o.r.es, which sometimes contains pieces of very coa.r.s.e _quartz_, we found amongst the natives, things made of a hard black _granite_, though not remarkably compact or fine grained, a greyish whetstone, the common oil-stone of our carpenters, in coa.r.s.er and finer pieces, and some black bits which are little inferior to the hone-stone. The natives also use the transparent leafy _glimmer_, or Muscovy gla.s.s, a brown leafy or martial sort, and they sometimes brought to us pieces of rock-crystal, tolerably transparent. The two first are, probably, found near the spot, as they seemed to be in considerable quant.i.ties; but the latter seems to be brought from a greater distance, or is very scarce; for our visitors always parted with it reluctantly. Some of the pieces were octangular, and had the appearance of being formed into that shape by art.

The persons of the natives are, in general, under the common stature; but not slender in proportion, being commonly pretty full or plump, though not muscular. Neither doth the soft fles.h.i.+ness seem ever to swell into corpulence; and many of the older people are rather spare or lean. The visage of most of them is round and full, and sometimes also broad, with high prominent cheeks; and, above these, the face is frequently much depressed, or seems fallen in quite across between the temples; the nose also flattening at its base, with pretty wide nostrils, and a rounded point. The forehead rather low, the eyes small, black, and rather languis.h.i.+ng than sparkling; the mouth round, with large round thickish lips, the teeth tolerably equal and well set, but not remarkably white. They have either no beards at all, which was most commonly the case, or a small thin one upon the point of the chin, which does not arise from any natural defect of hair on that part, but from plucking it out more or less; for some of them, particularly the old men, have not only considerable beards all over the chin, but whiskers or mustachios, both on the upper lip, and running from thence toward the lower jaw obliquely downward.[3] Their eye-brows are also scanty, and always narrow; but the hair of the head is in great abundance, very coa.r.s.e and strong, and, without a single exception, black, straight, and dank, or hanging down over the shoulders. The neck is short, the arms and body have no particular mark of beauty or elegance in their formation, but are rather clumsy; and the limbs in all are very small in proportion to the other parts, and crooked or ill-made, with large feet badly shaped, and projecting ancles. Their last defect seems in a great measure to arise from their sitting so much on their hams or knees, both in their canoes and houses.

[Footnote 3: One of the most curious singularities observable in the natural history of the human species, is the supposed defect in the habit and temperature of the bodies of the American Indians, exemplified in their having no beards, while they are furnished with a profusion of hair on their heads. M. de Paw, the ingenious author of Recherches sur les Americains, Dr Robertson, in his History of America, and, in general, the writers for whose authority we ought to have the highest deference, adopt this as an indisputable matter of fact. May we not be permitted to request those who espouse their sentiments, to reconsider the question, when we can produce Captain Cook's evidence on the opposite side, at least so far as relates to the American tribe, whom he had intercourse with at Nootka? Nor is Captain Cook singular in his report. What he saw on the sea coast, Captain Carver also met with amongst the American Indians far up in the country. His words are as follow:--"From minute enquiries, and a curious inspection, I am able to declare (however respectable I may hold the authority of these historians in other points), that their a.s.sertions are erroneous, and proceeding from a want of a thorough knowledge of the customs of the Indians. After the age of p.u.b.erty, their bodies, in their natural state, are covered in the same manner as those of the Europeans. The men, indeed, esteem a beard very unbecoming, and take great pains to get rid of it, nor is there any ever to be perceived on their faces, except when they grow old, and become inattentive to appearances.--The Naudowesses, and the remote nations, pluck them out with bent pieces of hard wood, formed into a kind of nippers, whilst those who have communication with Europeans, procure from them wire, which they twist into a screw or worm; applying this to the part, they press the rings together, and with a sudden twitch, draw out all the hairs that are inclosed in them."--_Carver's Travels_, p. 224, 225. The remark made by Mr Marsden, who also quotes Carver, is worth attending to, that the visor or mask of Montezuma's armour, preserved at Brussels, has remarkably large whiskers; and that those Americans could not have imitated this ornament, unless nature had presented them with the model.

From Captain Cook's observation on the west coast of North America, combined with Carver's in the inland parts of that continent, and confirmed by the Mexican vizor as above, there seems abundant reason to agree with Mr Marsden, who thus modestly expresses himself: "Were it not for the numerous and very respectable authorities, from which we are a.s.sured that the natives of America are naturally beardless, I should think that the common opinion on that subject had been hastily adopted; and that their appearing thus at a mature age, was only the consequence of an early practice, similar to that observed among the Sumatrans. Even now, I must confess, that it would remove some small degree of doubt from my mind, could it be ascertained that no such custom prevails."--_Marsden's History of Sumatra_, p. 39, 40.--D.]

Their colour we could never positively determine, as their bodies were incrusted with paint and dirt; though, in particular cases, when these were well rubbed off, the whiteness of the skin appeared almost to equal that of Europeans; though rather of that pale effete cast which distinguishes those of our southern nations. Their children, whose skins had never been stained with paint, also equalled ours in whiteness. During their youth, some of them have no disagreeable look, if compared to the generality of the people, but this seems to be entirely owing to the particular animation attending that period of life; for, after attaining a certain age, there is hardly any distinction. Upon the whole, a very remarkable sameness seems to characterize the countenances of the whole nation; a dull phlegmatic want of expression, with very little variation, being strongly marked in all of them.

The women are nearly of the same size, colour, and form with the men, from whom it is not easy to distinguish them, as they possess no natural delicacies sufficient to render their persons agreeable; and hardly any one was seen, even amongst those who were in the prime of life, who had the least pretensions to be called handsome.

Their common dress is a flaxen garment, or mantle, ornamented on the upper edge by a narrow strip of fur, and, at the lower edge, by fringes or ta.s.sels. It pa.s.ses under the left arm, and is tied over the right shoulder, by a string before and one behind, near its middle, by which means both arms are left free, and it hangs evenly, covering the left side, but leaving the right open, except from the loose part of the edges falling upon it, unless when the mantle is fastened by a girdle (of coa.r.s.e matting or woollen) round the waist, which is often done. Over this, which reaches below the knees, is worn a small cloak of the same substance, likewise fringed at the lower part. In shape this resembles a round dish-cover, being quite close, except in the middle, where there is a hole just large enough to admit the head, and then, resting upon the shoulders, it covers the arms to the elbows, and the body as far as the waist. Their head is covered with a cap, of the figure of a truncated cone, or like a flower-pot, made of fine matting, having the top frequently ornamented with a round or pointed k.n.o.b, or bunch of leather ta.s.sels, and there is a string that pa.s.ses under the chin, to prevent its blowing off.

Besides the above dress, which is common to both s.e.xes, the men frequently throw over their other garments the skin of a bear, wolf, or sea-otter, with the hair outward, and tie it as a cloak near the upper part, wearing it sometimes before and sometimes behind. In rainy weather, they throw a coa.r.s.e mat about their shoulders. They have also woollen garments, which, however, are little in use. The hair is commonly worn hanging down loose; but some, when they have no cap, tie it in a bunch on the crown of the head. Their dress, upon the whole, is convenient, and would, by no means be inelegant, were it kept clean. But as they rub their bodies constantly over with a red paint, of a clayey or coa.r.s.e ochry substance, mixed with oil, their garments, by this means, contract a rancid offensive smell, and a greasy nastiness; so that they make a very wretched dirty appearance, and what is still worse, their heads and their garments swarm with vermin, which, so depraved is their taste for cleanliness, we used to see them pick off with great composure and eat.

Though their bodies are always covered with red paint, their faces are often stained with a black, a brighter red, or a white colour, by way of ornament. The last of these gives them a ghastly, disgusting aspect. They also strew the brown martial _mica_ upon the paint, which makes it glitter. The ears of many of them are perforated in the lobe, where they make a pretty large hole, and two others higher up on the outer edge. In these holes they hang bits of bone, quills fixed upon a leathern thong, small sh.e.l.ls, bunches of woollen ta.s.sels, or pieces of thin copper, which our beads could never supplant. The _septum_ of the nose, in many, is also perforated, through which they draw a piece of soft cord; and others wear, at the same place, small thin pieces of iron, bra.s.s, or copper, shaped almost like a horse-shoe, the narrow opening of which receives the _septum_, so as that the two points may gently pinch it, and the ornament thus hangs over the upper lip.

The rings of our bra.s.s b.u.t.tons, which they eagerly purchased, were appropriated to this use. About their wrists they wore bracelets or bunches of white bugle beads, made of a conic sh.e.l.ly substance, bunches of thongs, with ta.s.sels, or a broad black s.h.i.+ning h.o.r.n.y substance, of one piece. And about their ancles they also frequently wear many folds of leathern thongs, or the sinews of animals twisted to a considerable thickness.

Thus far of their ordinary dress and ornaments; but they have some that seem to be used only on extraordinary occasions, either when they exhibit themselves as strangers, in visits of ceremony, or when they go to war. Amongst the first may be considered the skins of animals, such as wolves or bears, tied on in the usual manner, but ornamented at the edges with broad borders of fur, or of the woollen stuff manufactured by them, ingeniously wrought with various figures. These are worn either separately, or over their own common garments. On such occasions, the most common head-dress is a quant.i.ty of withe, or half-beaten bark, wrapped about the head, which, at the same time, has various large feathers, particularly those of eagles, stuck in it, or is entirely covered, or we may say, powdered with small white feathers. The face, at the same time, is variously painted, having its upper and lower parts of different colours, the strokes appearing like fresh gashes, or it is besmeared with a kind of tallow, mixed with paint, which is afterward formed into a great variety of regular figures, and appears like carved work. Sometimes, again, the hair is separated into small parcels, which are tied at intervals of about two inches, to the end, with thread, and others tie it together behind, after our manner, and stick branches of the _cypressus thyoides_ in it. Thus dressed, they have a truly savage and incongruous appearance, but this is much heightened when they a.s.sume, what may be called, their monstrous decorations. These consist of an endless variety of carved wood masks or vizors, applied on the face, or to the upper part of the head or forehead. Some of these resemble human faces, furnished with hair, beards, and eye-brows; others, the heads of birds, particularly of eagles and quebrantahuessos, and many, the heads of land and sea-animals, such as wolves, deer, and porpoises, and others.

But, in general, these representations much exceed the natural size, and they are painted, and often strewed with pieces of the foliaceous _mica_, which makes them glitter, and, serves to augment their enormous deformity. They even exceed this sometimes, and fix on the same part of the head large pieces of carved work, resembling the prow of a canoe, painted in the same manner, and projecting to a considerable distance. So fond are they of these disguises, that I have seen one of them put his head into a tin kettle he had got from us, for want of another sort of mask. Whether they use these extravagant masquerade ornaments on any particular religious occasion, or diversion, or whether they be put on to intimidate their enemies when they go to battle, by their monstrous appearance, or as decoys when they go to hunt animals, is uncertain. But it may be concluded, that, if travellers or voyagers, in an ignorant and credulous age, when many unnatural or marvellous things were supposed to exist, had seen a number of people decorated in this manner, without being able to approach so near as to be undeceived, they would readily have believed, and, in their relations, would have attempted to make others believe, that there existed a race of beings, partaking of the nature of man and beast, more especially, when, besides the heads of animals on the human shoulders, they might have seen the whole bodies of their men-monsters covered with quadrupeds' skins.[4]