They call themselves Wahkiacum, and their language differs
from that of the tribes above, with whom they trade for wappatoo-roots.
The houses are built in a different style, being raised entirely above
ground, with the caves about five feet high and the door at the corner.
Near the end, opposite this door, is a single fireplace, round which are
the beds, raised four feet from the floor of earth; over the fire
are hung the fresh fish, which, when dried, are stowed away with the
wappatoo-roots under the beds. The dress of the men is like that of the
people above, but the women are clad in a peculiar manner, the robe not
reaching lower than the hip, and the body being covered in cold weather
by a sort of corset of fur, curiously plaited and reaching from the arms
to the hip; added to this is a sort of petticoat, or rather tissue of
white cedar bark, bruised or broken into small strands, and woven into
a girdle by several cords of the same material. Being tied round the
middle, these strands hang down as low as the knee in front, and to the
mid-leg behind; they are of sufficient thickness to answer the purpose
of concealment whilst the female stands in an erect position, but in any
other attitude form but a very ineffectual defence. Sometimes the
tissue is strings of silk-grass, twisted and knotted at the end. After
remaining with them about an hour, we proceeded down the channel with an
Indian dressed in a sailor's jacket for our pilot, and on reaching the
main channel were visited by some Indians who have a temporary residence
on a marshy island in the middle of the river, where is a great
abundance of water-fowl.
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