Page:Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America.djvu/149

 for them, at the distance of fifty or sixty paces from our tents. A friendly communication was immediately opened, in which our vocabularies were summoned to play their part, to the great amazement of the savages, who declared that the books spoke to us. A valuable selection of presents was then distributed among them, consisting of axes, trenches, knives, files, and fire-steels, to the men; awls, needles, rings, beads, and scissors, to the women and children. We next traded for a number of pairs of their waterproof boots, sufficient for ourselves and the crews; likewise for a few of their lip ornaments, on which they set a high value, demanding a dagger or a hatchet for each pair. Those purchased by us were formed of very large blue beads, glued on to pieces of ivory. We did not observe that this kind of labret constituted any distinction of rank, as remarked by Captain Beechey. The rest were, made of ivory only, and the boys wore them of a smaller size. Three of the men were remarkable for their good looks, and a stature of from five feet ten to six feet. We asked their names, and wrote them down as follows: Kenaweye-wāngha, Koowōknoo, Kooyouwok-chēna. Upon observing what we were about, all the men, and two or three of the old women, came forward to get their names similarly honoured; at the