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Show 384 REPORT OF SUPERLKTENDENT OF INDIIS -CHtJOLh. they coveretl an area a rod or a rod and a half in diameter;. but gen. erally the bree breaks above t,he stuiup,so firmly are the root,s nnbedded in t,he earth. TITE MONGOLIAN TYPE. Tlie Indians of Poget Sound present a striking coutrast to 111ost of those east of the Rockies, and, indeed, to those ea,st of the Cascades andsonth of the Oregon line. In complexion and ge~iera,plh ysique, save a somewl~nt square build, they resemble the Mongolians. For themost part; they are wnoe Indians, and, as might be expected, short legged and incliue(1 t.o stoop, ant1 the consta~it use of the paddle has given them a dir~~ror~ortiondaetvcc lol~mento f the shoulders a11d chest. The - - - of Sq'uaxiu Irland, near Olympia. Ethnologists have done some extraordinary guessing upon the origin of these l'uget Sound Indians. Their stature-short and squatty; their pl~ysiog~~o~nies-hicghhe ek bones and flat faces-and their dispo-sitions, so diflcrent from those of the meat-eating India,ns east of the Rockies, l ~ a r seu g.gested a strong resemblance to the Chine~e. One differeuce, so~uetimer emarked upon, is that the Chinese are clean, but the Siwash (a Chiuook term for a Puget Sound Indiau) is generally dirty and ragged. For the Asiatic origiu of these tribes it is argued chat there is a neighborly Japanese current which has drifted sail-ing craft peculiar to the Japanesc to these northwest shores south. of Cape Flattery as far as the Columbia River; that Japa~iese pottery and wax have been fo~urdin them, and that whalers are said to have met remnants of verita,ble Japanese junks in the eastern Pacific waters. The Pnget Soimcl Indians are natural sailors, and construct their on-11 canoes, which are much uulike the simple, cigar.shaped' dugont of most Indians ea,st of the mountains-moreelaborate, oapacioas, and beautiful ill st~le. Great cedars, 11nequaled anywhere else, are used for this purpose. The heart. of the log is dug ont with a11 adzelike tool of Indian invention-a blarle fastened to a crooked bone h a n d l e and the outer sides are shaped like a boat. The holloved log is sled with wa t ~arn d heated stones are dropped in. When well steamed the sides of the boat arc spread and crossbars fitted ill, to serve the treble purpose of preserving width, increasing strength, and use as seats. Thus the canoe becomes a more solid boat thau those made by white illen. A piece of finely carved wood is fitted to eaoh end, rising from 6 to 10 iliches above tbe middle section, and fastened by a dnral7le pitch, givi~ig the canoe an architectural, graceful, aud even birdlike appearauce. The boats areneatly and often f.rtncifully painted. These cauoes arc sometimes 60 feet, loug and are used for wliali~iga nd long voyages 011 rough seas. One willcarrytonsof fish. on which the peo-ple live. Sometimes a single catch out on the "banks," on the coast near Cape Flattery, where cod and halibut abou~lcl,w ill s ~ ~ p la~ flaym - ily for a large part of a year, or w1le11 sold at Victoria gixe money suf-ficient to buy mauy necessaries of life. Before wliize lnen came, with nets, hooks, ete., aud, therefore, when fish mere more abundant, t,he Siwash had ingenious methods of capturing a boat loa11 of fiah in a short time. With fish and fur from the waters, wild game an11 fur from t.he ir~oun-tains, some small patches of vegetables, and money earnedin lumbering: these Indians all live well and are far on tlle road t,o civilization. They wear citizen costume, indulge in white men's vir:es, haye h<)osea |
