Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 2.djvu/319

Rh Any idea that the Nez Perce language is scant or inexpressive is at once dispelled by a glance at the dictionary compiled by the Jesuits, in which upwards of five thousand words are defined. The great work on this language, however, has not yet been published. This was compiled by Miss Sue Macbeth, and listed and defined upwards of eleven thousand words—possibly as many as fifteen thousand. This was forwarded, according to the provisions of her will, to the Smithsonian Institute, where it has remained. It is to be hoped that the attention of the authorities will be fittingly called to the desirability of speedy publication, as the Nez Perce is a living language, and is extending to nearly all the Rocky Mountain Indian tribes, and is doubtless a much better medium of civilization and religious thought to a people still accustomed to think in images rather than by definitions, than our English.

Miss Kate Macbeth, a sister of Miss Susan, who is still carrying on the mission at Lapwai with great earnestness and success, has also her own working lexicon, but this is by no means equal, so she says, to her sister's.

H. S. LYMAN.