第80章

In these vessels they boil their food, by throwing hot stones into the water, and extract oil from different animals in the same way.

Spoons are not very abundant, nor is there anything remarkable in their shape, except that they are large and the bowl broad.

Meat is roasted on one end of a sharp skewer, placed erect before the fire, with the other end fixed in the ground.

"But the most curious workmanship is that of the basket.

It is formed of cedar-bark and bear-grass, so closely interwoven that it is water-tight, without the aid of either gum or resin.

The form is generally conic, or rather the segment [frustum] of a cone, of which the smaller end is the bottom of the basket; and being made of all sizes, from that of the smallest cup to the capacity of five or six gallons, they answer the double purpose of a covering for the head or to contain water.

Some of them are highly ornamented with strands of bear-grass, woven into figures of various colors, which require great labor; yet they are made very expeditiously and sold for a trifle.

It is for the construction of these baskets that the bear-grass forms an article of considerable traffic. It grows only near the snowy region of the high mountains; the blade, which is two feet long and about three-eighths of an inch wide, is smooth, strong, and pliant; the young blades particularly, from their not being exposed to the sun and air, have an appearance of great neatness, and are generally preferred. Other bags and baskets, not waterproof, are made of cedar-bark, silk-grass, rushes, flags, and common coarse sedge, for the use of families.

In these manufactures, as in the ordinary work of the house, the instrument most in use is a knife, or rather a dagger.

The handle of it is small, and has a strong loop of twine for the thumb, to prevent its being wrested from the band.

On each side is a blade, double-edged and pointed; the longer from nine to ten inches, the shorter from four to five.

This knife is carried habitually in the hand, sometimes exposed, but mostly, when in company with strangers, is put under the robe."

Naturally, all of the Columbia River Indians were found to be expert in the building and handling of canoes.

Here their greatest skill was employed. And, it may be added, the Indians of the North Pacific coast to-day are equally adept and skilful. The canoes of the present race of red men do not essentially differ from those of the tribes described by Lewis and Clark, and who are now extinct.

The Indians then living above tide-water built canoes of smaller size than those employed by the nations farther down the river.

The canoes of the Tillamooks and other tribes living on the seacoast were upwards of fifty feet long, and would carry eight or ten thousand pounds' weight, or twenty-five or thirty persons.

These were constructed from the trunk of a single tree, usually white cedar. The bow and stern rose much higher than the gunwale, and were adorned by grotesque figures excellently well carved and fitted to pedestals cut in the solid wood of the canoe.