Page:The Columbia river , or, Scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes of Indians hitherto unknown (Volume 1).djvu/319

 covered by a species of helmet made of cedar bark, bear grass, and leather, and is also impenetrable by arrows. The neck, therefore, is the only vital part of the body exposed to danger in action. In addition to the above they have another kind of armour, which they occasionally wear in place of the leathern shirt. It is a species of corset, formed of thin slips of hard wood ingeniously laced together by bear grass, and is much lighter and more pliable than the former; but it does not cover so much of the body. They have a few guns, which they seldom use. They are not good hunters; and their chief dependence for support is on the produce of the water. It is unnecessary to mention that in their warlike expeditions their faces and bodies are painted in various colours, and with the most grotesque figures.

Their canoes are of various forms and sizes. The following description of the largest kind of these vessels I take from Lewis and Clark. It is perfectly accurate, and more technical than I could give it. "They are upwards of fifty feet long, and will carry from eight to ten thousand pounds weight, or from twenty to thirty persons. Like all the canoes we have mentioned, they are cut out of a single trunk of a tree, which is gene