place where thefe halibut were caught, is in the offing round the
point of land we firft made in the morning of the 23d of May.
Our whale-boat was one day fent with feven hands to this place,
on a fifhing party ; but their fuceefs was greatly inferior to that
of tieo Indians, who were fifhing at the fame time, which is rather
extraordinary, if we confider the apparent inferiority of their tackle
to our s. Their hook is a large fimple piece of wood, the fhank at
lead half an inch in diameter ; that part which turns up, and which
forms an acute angle, is confiderably fmaller, and brought gradually
to a point: a flat piece of wood, about fix inches long, and
mear two inches wide, is neatly lafhed to the fhank, on the back of
which is rudely carved the reprefentation of an human face.
I cannot think that this was altogether defigned as an ornament
to their hooks, but that it has fome religious allufion, and poffibly
as intended as a kind of Deity, to enfure their fuccefs in fifhing,
which is conducted in a Angular manner. They bait their hook
with a kind of fifh, called by the failors fq u id s, and having funk it
to the bottom, they fix a bladder to the end of the line as a buoy,
and fhould that not watch fufficiently, they add another. Their
lines are veryftrong, being made of thefinews or inteftines of animals.
One man is fufficient to look after five or fix of thefe buoys;
when he perceives a fifh bite, he is in no great hurry to haul up his
line, but gives him time to be well hooked; and when he has hauled
the fifh up to the furface of the water, he knocks him on the
-head with a fhort -club, provided for that purpofe, and afterwards
flows his prize away at -his leifure: this is done to prevent the
halibut (which fometimes are very large) from damaging, or per-
■ Iiaps upfetting his canoe in their dying ftruggles. Thus were, we
2 ' : fairly
fairly beat at our own weapons, and the natives conftantly bringing
us plenty of fifh, our boat was never' fent on this bufinefs afterwards.
They drefs their victuals by putting heated ftones into a kind
of wicker bafket, amongft pieces of fifh, feal, porpoife, &c. and covered
up olofe; fometimes they make broth and fifh foup by the -
fame method, which they always preferred to boiling, though we:
gave them fome brafs pans, and pointed out the mode of ufing,
them.
The Indians are particularly fond of chewing a plant, which ap- -
pears to be a fpecies of tobacco ; not content, however, with chewing
it in its fimple ftate, they generally mix lime along with it, .
and fometimes the inner rind of the pine-tree, together with . a. -
rofinous fubftance extracted- from it.
When we came into-this-harbour, on the 23d of May, our attention
was a good deal enga-ged'.by the fight. of a number of white -
rails, on a level piece of ground, not far from the creek which I
have already obferved was fituated to the Southward of us. Thefe
rails -were about-amile and half .from, the veflel,. and appeared, at
that diftance, to be conftrudled with fuch order and regularity, .
that we concluded them: beyond the reach of Indian, contrivance,
and confequently that they were erefled by fome civilized nation.
Captain Dixon, willing to be. fatisfied in this particular, took,
an opportunity of going to .the fpot, ami to his great furprize,
found.it to be a kind of burying-place, ■ i f I may be allowed -
to call that fo, where dead bodies are not depofited in the earth. -
The manneivin which they’difpofejof their deadiis very remarkable: -.
they feparate the head from the: hody, and wrapping them in furs, .
the ■