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/321

 perfect safety the highest waves, and venture without the least concern in seas where other boats or seamen could not live an instant. They sit quietly and paddle, with no other movement, except when any large wave throws the boat on her side, and to the eye of the spectator she seems lost: the man to windward then steadies her by throwing his body towards the upper side, and sinking his paddle deep into the waves, appears to catch the water, and force it under the boat, which the same stroke pushes on with great velocity."

The description of their houses, and their manner of building them, I also extract from the same authority:—

"The houses in this neighbourhood are all large wooden buildings, varying in length from twenty to sixty feet, and from fourteen to twenty in width. They are constructed in the following manner: Two or more posts of split timber, agreeably to the number of partitions, are sunk in the ground, above which they rise to the height of fourteen or eighteen feet. They are hollowed at the top so as to receive the ends of a round beam or pole, stretching from one end to the