Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/202

196 196 DR. JOHN SCOULER. & Nitlinat), & many of the slaves they obtain are sold to the Indians of the South & arrive at the Columbia. The natives of Tatooch show much ingenuity in manu- facturing blankets from the hair of their dogs. On a little island a few miles from the coast they have a great num- ber of white dogs which they feed regularly every day. From the wool of these dogs & the fibres of the Cypress they make a very strong blanket. They have also some method of making red & blue stripes in their blankets in imitation of European ones. At a little distance it is diffi- cult to distinguish these Indian blankets from those of Europe. 9th. On continuing our course down the straits, canoes came of[f] from every quarter, bringing beaver & other skins. Most of the Indians belonged to a powerful tribe called the Klallums. When they found that we came from the Columbia they became very friendly. In the evening we anchored of[f] their villages in Port Discovery. We had no sooner anchored than about 20 canoes came of[f] to us. In one of the canoes was a young man who had seen several of the traders from Ft. George who had made a journey to this part of the coast last winter. These people much resemble the Indians of the Columbia in their dress, manners & personal appearance. In the vicinity of their village are many of those poles so much represented in Captain Vancouver's voyage. We found it difficult to ascertain the use of this curious apparatus, but was told by some of the Indians they were for catch- ing birds. Most of the canoes had long spears, armed with iron points, & ornamented with human hair ; these spears were about ten feet in length. They had also a kind of harpoon about the same length as their spears but not so strong, & at the extremity had a bifurcated piece of wood fixed to them & both its points armed with bones.