The Adventures of John Jewitt Part 9

Among the provisions which the Indians procure at Tashees, I must not omit mentioning a fruit that is very important, as forming a great article of their food. This is what is called by them the _Yama_,[108] a species of berry that grows in bunches like currants, upon a bush from two to three feet high, with a large, round, and smooth leaf. This berry is black, and about the size of a pistol shot, but of rather an oblong shape, and open at the top like the blue whortleberry. The taste is sweet, but a little acrid, and when first gathered, if eaten in any great quant.i.ty, especially without oil, is apt to produce colics. To procure it, large companies of women go out on the mountains, accompanied by armed men to protect them against wild beasts, where they frequently remain for several days, kindling a fire at night, and sheltering themselves under sheds constructed of boughs. At these parties they collect great quant.i.ties. I have known Maquina's queen and her women return loaded, bringing with them upwards of twelve bushels.

In order to preserve it, it is pressed in the bunches between two planks, and dried and put away in baskets for use. It is always eaten with oil.

Of berries of various kinds, such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc., there are great quant.i.ties in the country, of which the natives are very fond, gathering them in their seasons, and eating them with oil, but the yama is the only one that they preserve.

Fish is, however, their great article of food, as almost all the others, excepting the yama, may be considered as accidental. They nevertheless are far from disrelis.h.i.+ng meat, for instance, venison and bear's flesh.

With regard to the latter, they have a most singular custom, which is, that any one who eats of it is obliged to abstain from eating any kind of fresh fish whatever for the term of two months, as they have a superst.i.tious belief that, should any of their people, after tasting bear's flesh, eat of fresh salmon, cod, etc., the fish, though at ever so great a distance off, would come to the knowledge of it, and be so much offended thereat as not to allow themselves to be taken by any of the inhabitants. This I had an opportunity of observing while at Tashees, a bear having been killed early in December, of which not more than ten of the natives would eat, being prevented by the prohibition annexed to it, which also was the reason of my comrade and myself not tasting it, on being told by Maquina the consequences.

As there is something quite curious in their management of this animal, when they have killed one, I shall give a description of it. After well cleansing the bear from the dirt and blood with which it is generally covered when killed, it is brought in and seated opposite the king in an upright posture, with a chief's bonnet, wrought in figures, on its head, and its fur powdered over with the white down. A tray of provision is then set before it, and it is invited by words and gestures to eat. This mock ceremony over, the reason of which I could never learn, the animal is taken and skinned, and the flesh and entrails boiled up into a soup, no part but the paunch being rejected.[109]

This dressing the bear, as they call it, is an occasion of great rejoicing throughout the village, all the inhabitants being invited to a great feast at the king's house, though but few of them, in consequence of the penalty, will venture to eat of the flesh, but generally content themselves with their favourite dish of herring sp.a.w.n and water. The feast on this occasion was closed by a dance from Sat-sat-sok-sis, in the manner I have already described, in the course of which he repeatedly s.h.i.+fted his mask for another of a different form.

A few days after, a second bear was taken, like the former, by means of a trap. This I had the curiosity to go and see at the place where it was caught, which was in the following manner:--On the edge of a small stream of water in the mountains which the salmon ascend, and near the spot where the bear is accustomed to watch for them, which is known by its track, a trap or box about the height of a man's head is built of posts and planks with a flat top, on which are laid a number of large stones or rocks. The top and sides are then carefully covered with turf, so as to resemble a little mound, and wholly to exclude the light, a narrow entrance of the height of the building only being left, just sufficient to admit the head and shoulders of the beast. On the inside, to a large plank that covers the top is suspended by a strong cord a salmon, the plank being left loose, so that a forcible pull will bring it down. On coming to its usual haunt, the bear enters the trap, and, in endeavouring to pull away the fish, brings down the whole covering with its load of stones upon its head, and is almost always crushed to death on the spot, or so wounded as to be unable to escape.[110]

They are always careful to examine these traps every day, in order, if a bear be caught, to bring it immediately, for it is not a little singular that these people will eat no kind of meat that is in the least tainted, or not perfectly fresh, while, on the contrary, it is hardly possible for fish to be in too putrid a state for them, and I have frequently known them, when a whale has been driven ash.o.r.e, bring pieces of it home with them in a state of offensiveness insupportable to anything but a crow, and devour it with high relish, considering it as preferable to that which is fresh.

On the morning of the 13th of December, commenced what to us appeared a most singular farce. Apparently without any previous notice, Maquina discharged a pistol close to his son's ear, who immediately fell down as if killed, upon which all the women of the house set up a most lamentable cry, tearing handfuls of hair from their heads, and exclaiming that the prince was dead. At the same time a great number of the inhabitants rushed into the house, armed with their daggers, muskets, etc., inquiring the cause of their outcry. These were immediately followed by two others dressed in wolf-skins, with masks over their faces representing the head of that animal; the latter came in on their hands and feet in the manner of a beast, and, taking up the prince, carried him off upon their backs, retiring in the same manner they entered. We saw nothing more of the ceremony, as Maquina came to us, and, giving us a quant.i.ty of dried provision, ordered us to quit the house, and not return to the village before the expiration of seven days, for that if we appeared within that period, he should kill us.

At any other season of the year such an order would by us have been considered as an indulgence, in enabling us to pa.s.s our time in whatever way we wished; and even now, furnished as we were with sufficient provision for that term, it was not very unpleasant to us, more particularly Thompson, who was always desirous to keep as much as possible out of the society and sight of the natives, whom he detested.

Taking with us our provisions, a bundle of clothes, and our axes, we obeyed the directions of Maquina, and withdrew into the woods, where we built ourselves a cabin to shelter us, with the branches of trees, and, keeping up a good fire, secured ourselves pretty well from the cold.

Here we pa.s.sed the prescribed period of our exile, with more content than much of the time while with them, employing the day in reading and praying for our release, or in rambling around and exploring the country, the soil of which we found to be very good, and the face of it, beautifully diversified with hills and valleys, refreshed with the finest streams of water, and at night enjoyed comfortable repose upon a bed of soft leaves, with our garments spread over us to protect us from the cold.

At the end of seven days we returned, and found several of the people of Ai-tiz-zart with their king or chief at Tashees, who had been invited by Maquina to attend the close of this performance, which I now learned was a celebration, held by them annually, in honour of their G.o.d, whom they call _Quahootze_,[111] to return him their thanks for his past, and implore his future favours. It terminated on the 21st, the day after our return, with a most extraordinary exhibition. Three men, each of whom had two bayonets run through his sides, between the ribs, apparently regardless of the pain, traversed the room, backwards and forwards, singing war-songs, and exulting in this display of firmness.

On the arrival of the 25th, we could not but call to mind that this, being Christmas, was in our country a day of the greatest festivity, when our fellow-countrymen, a.s.sembled in their churches, were celebrating the goodness of G.o.d and the praises of the Saviour. What a reverse did our situation offer!--captives in a savage land, and slaves to a set of ignorant beings, unacquainted with religion or humanity, hardly were we permitted to offer up our devotions by ourselves in the woods, while we felt even grateful for this privilege. Thither, with the king's permission, we withdrew, and, after reading the service appointed for the day, sung the hymn of the Nativity, fervently praying that Heaven in its goodness would permit us to celebrate the next festival of this kind in some Christian land.

On our return, in order to conform as much as was in our power to the custom of our country, we were desirous of having a better supper than usual. With this view, we bought from one of the natives some dried clams and oil, and a root called _Kletsup_,[112] which we cooked by steaming, and found it very palatable. This root consists of many fibres, of about six inches long, and of the size of a crow quill. It is sweet, of an agreeable taste, not unlike the _Quawnoose_, and it is eaten with oil. The plant that produces it I have never seen.

On the 31st all the tribe quitted Tashees for Cooptee, whither they go to pa.s.s the remainder of the winter, and complete their fis.h.i.+ng, taking off everything with them in the same manner as at Nootka. We arrived in a few hours at Cooptee, which is about fifteen miles, and immediately set about covering the houses, which was soon completed.

This place, which is their great herring and sprat fishery, stands just within the mouth of the river, on the same side with Tashees, in a very narrow valley at the foot of a high mountain. Though nearly as secure as Tashees from the winter storms, it is by no means so pleasantly situated, though to us it was a much more agreeable residence, as it brought us nearer Nootka, where we were impatient to return, in hopes of finding some vessel there, or hearing of the arrival of one near.

The first snow that fell this season was the day after our arrival, on New Year's Day; a day that, like Christmas, brought with it painful recollections, but at the same time led us to indulge the hope of a more fortunate year than the last.

Early on the morning of the 7th of January, Maquina took me with him in his canoe on a visit to Upquesta, chief of the Ai-tiz-zarts, who had invited him to attend an exhibition at his village, similar to the one with which he had been entertained at Tashees. This place is between twenty and thirty miles distant up the Sound, and stands on the banks of a small river about the size of that of Cooptee, just within its entrance, in a valley of much greater extent than that of Tashees; it consists of fourteen or fifteen houses, built and disposed in the manner of those at Nootka. The tribe, which is considered as tributary to Maquina, amounts to about three hundred warriors, and the inhabitants, both men and women, are among the best-looking of any people on the coast.

On our arrival we were received at the sh.o.r.e by the inhabitants, a few of whom were armed with muskets, which they fired, with loud shouts and exclamations of _Wocash, wocas.h.!.+_

We were welcomed by the chief's messenger, or master of ceremonies, dressed in his best garments, with his hair powdered with white down, and holding in his hand the cheetolth, the badge of his office. This man preceded us to the chief's house, where he introduced and pointed out to us our respective seats. On entering, the visitors took off their hats, which they always wear on similar occasions, and Maquina his outer robes, of which he has several on whenever he pays a visit, and seated himself near the chief.

As I was dressed in European clothes, I became quite an object of curiosity to these people, very few of whom had ever seen a white man.

They crowded around me in numbers, taking hold of my clothes, examining my face, hands, and feet, and even opening my mouth to see if I had a tongue, for, notwithstanding I had by this time become well acquainted with their language, I preserved the strictest silence, Maquina on our first landing having enjoined me not to speak until he should direct.

Having undergone this examination for some time, Maquina at length made a sign to me to speak to them. On hearing me address them in their own language, they were greatly astonished and delighted, and told Maquina that they now perceived that I was a man like themselves, except that I was white, and looked like a seal, alluding to my blue jacket and trousers, which they wanted to persuade me to take off, as they did not like their appearance. Maquina in the meantime gave an account to the chief of the scheme he had formed for surprising our s.h.i.+p, and the manner in which he and his people had carried it into execution, with such particular and horrid details of that transaction as chilled the blood in my veins. Trays of boiled herring sp.a.w.n and train-oil were soon after brought in and placed before us, neither the chief or any of his people eating at the same time, it being contrary to the ideas of hospitality entertained by these nations, to eat any part of the food that is provided for strangers, always waiting until their visitors have finished, before they have their own brought in.

The following day closed their festival with an exhibition of a similar kind to that which had been given at Tashees, but still more cruel; the different tribes appearing on these occasions to endeavour to surpa.s.s each other in their proofs of fort.i.tude and endurance of pain. In the morning, twenty men entered the chief's house, with each an arrow run through the flesh of his sides and either arm, with a cord fastened to the end, which, as the performers advanced, singing and boasting, was forcibly drawn back by a person having hold of it. After this performance was closed, we returned to Cooptee, which we reached at midnight, our men keeping time with their songs to the stroke of their paddles.

The natives now began to take the herring and sprat in immense quant.i.ties, with some salmon, and there was nothing but feasting from morning till night.

The following is the method they employ to take the herring. A stick of about seven feet long, two inches broad, and half an inch thick, is formed from some hard wood, one side of which is set with sharp teeth, made from whalebone, at about half an inch apart. Provided with this instrument, the fisherman seats himself in the prow of a canoe, which is paddled by another, and whenever he comes to a shoal of herrings, which cover the water in great quant.i.ties, he strikes it with both hands upon them, and at the same moment, turning it up, brings it over the side of the canoe, into which he lets those that are taken drop. It is astonis.h.i.+ng to see how many are caught by those who are dexterous at this kind of fis.h.i.+ng, as they seldom fail, when the shoals are numerous, of taking as many as ten or twelve at a stroke, and in a very short time will fill a canoe with them. Sprats are likewise caught in a similar manner.

FOOTNOTES:

[106] This was probably Don Estevan Martinez, who, on the 6th of May 1789, arrived in the corvette _Princesa_, to take possession of the country for his sovereign. He it was who landed materials and artillery, and began to erect a fort on a small island at the entrance to Friendly Cove. He seems to have been a most high-handed kind of Don, for he seized the British vessels _Iphigenia_, _North-West America_, _Argonaut_, and _Princess Royal_, then trading under the Portuguese flag, and acted in so arbitrary a manner to the officers and crew, that it was easy to believe he was not over scrupulous in his dealings with the Indians. It was during his stay in Nootka Sound that Callic.u.m, a relation of Maquina's, and next to him in rank, was barbarously murdered by an officer on board one of the Spanish s.h.i.+ps, and his father refused permission to dive for the body until he had handed over a number of skins to the white savage.

[107] Captain James Hanna was the second European to enter Nootka Sound after Captain Cook had left it. The _Sea Otter_, a vessel under 70 tons, was fitted out in China, and reached Nootka in August 1785; when Maquina, presuming upon the inferior size of the craft and the small number of the crew, made a desperate attack upon her. This was repulsed by the courage of the s.h.i.+p's company, after which business proceeded on such friendly terms that he procured five hundred and eighty-five sea-otter skins in five weeks, which were sold in Canton for 20,600 dollars. It was Hanna who discovered Fitzhugh Sound, Lance Island, Sea Otter Harbour, and other now well-known spots on the North-West coast of America. The incident related by Maquina is not to be found in the records of the expedition which have descended to us. He made another voyage in 1786, solely for commercial purposes.

[108] _Gaultheria Shallon_ (see p. 137).

[109] These observances are well worth noting in connection with the others which attach to the bear among nearly all savage races.

[110] These traps are still in common use.

[111] _Quawteaht_, the supreme being of all the tribes speaking the "Aht" language.

[112] This seems the bracken fern root, which is eaten. But the name usually applied to it is _Sheetla_.

CHAPTER XI

RETURN TO NOOTKA (FRIENDLY COVE)--DEATH OF MAQUINA'S NEPHEW--INSANITY OF TOOTOOSCH--AN INDIAN MOUNTEBANK

About the beginning of February, Maquina gave a great feast, at which were present not only all the inhabitants, but one hundred persons from Ai-tiz-zart, and a number from Wickinninish who had been invited to attend it. It is customary with them to give an annual entertainment of this kind, and it is astonis.h.i.+ng to see what a quant.i.ty of provision is expended, or rather wasted, on such an occasion, when they always eat to the greatest excess. It was at this feast that I saw upwards of an hundred salmon cooked in one tub. The whole residence at Cooptee presents an almost uninterrupted succession of feasting and gormandising, and it would seem as if the princ.i.p.al object of these people was to consume their whole stock of provision before leaving it, trusting entirely to their success in fis.h.i.+ng and whaling, for a supply at Nootka.

On the 25th of February we quitted Cooptee, and returned to Nootka. With much joy did Thompson and myself again find ourselves in a place where, notwithstanding the melancholy recollections which it excited, we hoped before long to see some vessel arrive to our relief, and for this we became the more solicitous, as of late we had become much more apprehensive of our safety, in consequence of information brought Maquina a few days before we left Cooptee, by some of the Cayuquets, that there were twenty s.h.i.+ps at the northward, preparing to come against him, with an intent of destroying him and his whole tribe, for cutting off the _Boston_.

This story, which was wholly without foundation, and discovered afterwards to have been invented by these people, for the purpose of disquieting him, threw him into great alarm, and, notwithstanding all I could say to convince him that it was an unfounded report, so great was his jealousy of us, especially after it had been confirmed to him by some others of the same nation, that he treated us with much harshness, and kept a very suspicious eye upon us.

Nothing, indeed, could be more unpleasant than our present situation, when I reflected that our lives were altogether dependent on the will of a savage, on whose caprice and suspicions no rational calculation could be made.

Not long after our return, a son of Maquina's sister, a boy of eleven years old, who had been for some time declining, died. Immediately on his death, which was about midnight, all the men and women in the house set up loud cries and shrieks, which, awakening Thompson and myself, so disturbed us that we left the house. This lamentation was kept up during the remainder of the night. In the morning, a great fire was kindled, in which Maquina burned, in honour of the deceased, ten fathoms of cloth, and buried with him ten fathoms more, eight of Ife-whaw, four prime sea-otter skins, and two small trunks, containing our unfortunate captain's clothes and watch.

This boy was considered as a Tyee, or chief, being the only son of Tootoosch, one of their princ.i.p.al chiefs, who had married Maquina's sister, whence arose this ceremony on his interment: it being an established custom with these people, that whenever a chief dies, his most valuable property is burned or buried with him; it is, however, wholly confined to the chiefs, and appears to be a mark of honour appropriate to them.[113] In this instance, Maquina furnished the articles, in order that his nephew might have the proper honours rendered him.

Tootoosch, his father, was esteemed the first warrior of the tribe, and was one who had been particularly active in the destruction of our s.h.i.+p, having killed two of our poor comrades, who were ash.o.r.e, whose names were Hall and Wood. About the time of our removal to Tashees, while in the enjoyment of the highest health, he was suddenly seized with a fit of delirium, in which he fancied that he saw the ghosts of those two men constantly standing by him, and threatening him, so that he would take no food, except what was forced into his mouth.

A short time before this he had lost a daughter of about fifteen years of age, which afflicted him greatly, and whether his insanity, a disorder very uncommon amongst these savages, no instance of the kind having occurred within the memory of the oldest man amongst them, proceeded from this cause, or that it was the special interposition of an all-merciful G.o.d in our favour, who by this means thought proper to induce these barbarians still further to respect our lives, or that, for hidden purposes, the Supreme Disposer of events sometimes permits the spirits of the dead to revisit the world, and haunt the murderer, I know not, but his mind, from this period until his death, which took place but a few weeks after that of his son, was incessantly occupied with the images of the men whom he had killed.

This circ.u.mstance made much impression upon the tribe, particularly the chiefs, whose uniform opposition to putting us to death, at the various councils that were held on our account, I could not but in part attribute to this cause; and Maquina used frequently, in speaking of Tootoosch's sickness, to express much satisfaction that his hands had not been stained with the blood of any of our men.

When Maquina was first informed by his sister of the strange conduct of her husband, he immediately went to his house, taking us with him; suspecting that his disease had been caused by us, and that the ghosts of our countrymen had been called thither by us, to torment him. We found him raving about Hall and Wood, saying that they were _peshak_, that is, bad.

Maquina then placed some provision before him, to see if he would eat.

On perceiving it, he put forth his hand to take some, but instantly withdrew it with signs of horror, saying that Hall and Wood were there, and would not let him eat. Maquina then, pointing to us, asked if it was not John and Thompson who troubled him.