'77.8- The ir furniture confifts chiefly o f a great number o f
chefts and boxes o f a ll fizes, w h ich a re generally piled
upon each other, clofe to the fides or ends o f the h o u fe ;
and contain their fpare garments* fkins, maiks, and other
things w hich they fet a value upon. Some o f thefe are
double, or one covers the other as a lid ; others have a lid
fattened with th o n g s ; and fome o f the ve ry la rg e ones
have a fquare hole, or fcuttle, cut in the- upper p a r t ; by
w hich the things are put in and taken out. T h e y are o ften
painted black, fludded with the teeth o f different animals,
or carved w ith a kind o f freeze-work, and figures o f birds
or animals, as decorations. T h e ir other domeftic utenfils
a r e moftly fquare and oblong pails or buckets to hold
water and other th in g s ; round wooden cups and b ow ls ;
and fmall iha llow wooden troughs, about two feet long,
out o f w hich they eat their fo od ; and baikets o f twigs,
bags o f matting, &c. T h e ir fiihin g implements, and other
things alfo, lie or han g up in different parts o f the houfe,
but without the leaft order; fo that the whole is a complete
fcene o f confufion ; and the only places that do not partake
o f this confufion are the fleeping-benches, that have noth
in g on them but the m a ts ; w hich are alfo cleaner, or o f
a finer fort, than thofe they commonly h ave to fit on in their
boats.
T h e naftinefs and ftench o f their houfes are, however, at
leaft equal to the confufion. For, as they dry their filh
with in doors, they alfo gu t them there, which, with their
bones and fragments thrown down at meals, and the addition
o f other forts o f filth, lie every where in heaps, and
are, I believe, never carried away, t ill it becomes trouble-
fome, from their fize, to w a lk over them. In a word, their
houfes are as filthy as hog-fties; every thing in and about
them (linking o f fiih, train-oil, and fmoke.
8 But,
But, amidft all the filth and confufion that are found in the >77?.
houfes, many o f them are decorated with images. The fe . /
are nothing more than the trunks o f very large trees, four
or five feet h igh , fet up fingly, or b y pairs, at the upper end
o f the apartment, with the front carved into a human fa c e ;
the arms and hands cut out upon the fides, and varioufly
painted; fo that the whole is a truly monftrous figure. The
general name o f thefe images is Klumma; and the names o f
tw o particular ones, which flood abreaft o f each other, three
or fo u r feet afunder, in one o f the houfes, were Natcbkea
and Matfeeta. Mr. Webber’s view o f the infide o f a Nootka
houfe, in w hich thefe images are reprefented, w ill convey a
more perfedl idea o f them than any defeription. A mat, by
w a y o f curtain, fo r the moil part h u n g before them, which
the natives were not w illin g , at all times, to remove ; and
when they did un ve il them, they feemed to fpeak o f them
in a very myfterious manner. It fhould feem that they are,
at times, accuftomed to make offerings to th em ; i f we can
draw this inference from their defiring us, as we interpreted
their figns, to give fomething to thefe images, when they
drew afide the mats that covered them *. It was natural,
from
* I t ihould feem, that Mr. Webber was obliged to repeat his offerings pretty frequently,
before he could be permitted to finiih his drawing o f thefe images. T h e following
account is in his own words : 41 After having made a -general view o f their
“ habitations, I fought for an infide, which might furniih me with fufficient matter
84 to convey a perfect idea o f the mode in which thefe people live. Such was foon
84 found. While I was employed, a man approached me with a large knife in his
84 hand, ieemingly difpleafed, when he obferved that my eyes were fixed on two repre-
“ fentations o f human figures, which were placed at one end o f the apartment, carv-
81 ed on planks, o f a gigantic proportion, and painted after thejr cuftom. However,
84 I took as little notice o f him as polfible, and proceeded j to prevent which, he foon
84 provided himfelf with a mat, and placed it in fuch a manner as to hinder my having
84 any longer a fight o f them. Being pretty certain that I could have no future op-
84 portunity to finiih my drawing, and the object being too interefting to be omitted,
841 con