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BBPOBT ON BXPlX)BATIONS AND COLLECTIONS IN THE
QUEEN CHAELOTTE ISLANDS, BRITISH COLUMBIA.

By James G. Swan.

In 1873 1 wrote a memoir on the Haidah Indians, of Qneen Charlotte
Islands, which was published in the Smithsonian Contributions to
Knowledge (No. 267), Jannary, 1874. In the advertisement the late
Professor Henry says that, " under the head of ethnology, it raises
some questions which seem of great significance, and which it is hoped
will lead to farther investigations." It was not, however, till 1883 that
an arrangement was efiectcd, when, early in that year, I was sent by
Profe^^sor Baird to that interesting group of islands lying in the North
Pacific Ocean, off the coast of British Columbia, between lat. 51^ 30^
and 54<> 20' north, to make collections and obtain useful information for
the United States Fish Commission, the National Museum, and the
Bureau of Ethnology.

On the 29th day of May, 1883, 1 left Port Towusend, Wash., for Vic-
toria, B* C, to make my arrangements for the cruise, by purchasing all
necessaly stores and outfits, and securing a credit with the Hudson Bay
Company to make purchases and draw orders on their traders at Fort
Simpson, B.C., and atMasset, on Graham Island,the largest of the Queeu
Charlotte group. I also made a similar arrangement with the Skidegate
Oil Company to give orders on their store at their oil works, near Skide-
gate village, B. C. This was to enable me better to trade with Indians
for the procuring of specimens of their manufactures, and to avoid the
trouble and risk of carrying coin with me to those islands, and to ena-
ble me to keep an account of my expenditures in a more satisfactory
manner. Having completed my arrangements, I next secured the serv*
ices of an assistant and interpreter, a young Haidah Indian, a native
of the Elueor Cumshewa district on the. eastern coast of Moresby
Island, the second largest of the Qneen Charlotte Islands. This Indian,
whose name is Johnny Kit Elseva, I had personally known for some
time as one of the most intelligent, faithful, and reliable natives I ever
have seen. To his qualifications as a cook and general servant he
added those of an interpreter; his knowledge of English, which he
speaks fluently, enabling him to understand me fully at all times. He
is also a working jeweler, skilled in making silver bracelets, ear-rings,
and charms, and a good carver in wood and stone. He is also an artist,
and has dniwn for me in India ink a series of mythological sketches
lllastrative of the folk-lore of his tribe, and is still at work in finishing
cX 187

138

BEPOBT ON THE QUEEN CHARL(JTT£ ISLANDS.

other sketches, which, when completed and fully described by me, ^11
be forwarded for the use of the Smithsonian Institution.

As the communication with Queen Gbarlotte Islands is very uucer-
tiain I was obliged to wait for the steamer " Otter," which for many years
has made semi-annual voyages to the islauds, going in tie spring with
supplies for the Hudson Bay Company trading-post at Masset, and
with goods for the oil company at Skidegate, and returning in October
to take away the furs, fish, and oil that have been collected during the
season.

From some cause of delay the "Otter" did not leave Victoria until
Monday, June 18, when we made a start at noon for Masset via all
the trading stations and canneries on the route. I did not object to
this, as I was thereby enabled to see many places where I expected to
procure specimens, without additional cost for passage. As the detail
of a sea voyage would be unnecessary here, I will omit all mention of
it except of the places where we stopped.

The next day, June 19, wearrive^at Alert Bay, on Cormorant Island,
the trading-post and cannery of Mr. Wesley Hudson, who has been there
a number of years, and takes an interest in scientific matters, and is
considered a reliable man in all his statements regarding fisheries, seals,
and other fur-bearing animals, and in Indian lore. I shall refer to this
gentleman in my general report.

At 11.45 p. m. we left; Alert Bay and ran down Johnson's strait to
Queen Charlotte Sound, and at 1 p. m. on the 20th we arrived at the
canneries of Shotbolt & Co., at the head of Biver's Inlet, where we dis-
charged some freight, and left at 2.30 p. m. In this inlet, besides Shot-
bolt's canneries, are a saw-mill and canning establishment of Messrs.
Saunders and Warren, of Victoria, but I did not visit them, as the steu mer
remained so short a time.

After leaving Biver's Inlet we ran up Fitzhugh Sound to the Hudson
Bay Company's trading-post of Bella Bella, where we arrived June 21 at
1.30 a. m., and left at 2. a. m. for the mouth of the Skeena Biver, where
there is another cannery, at a place called Port Essington, where we ar-
rived at midnight; but I did not go ashore, as we shortly left for Metla-
katla, where we arrived at 6.30 a. m. on Friday the 22d.

Shortly after our arrival Bishop Ridley, the bishop of the diocese,
came on board and kindly invited me to go ashore with him, which I
did, and was introduced by him to Eev. Mr. Colliuson, one of the mis-
sionaries, who has a fine collection of fossils and Indian curiosities, which
he kindly showed me, but as I had but a short time to remain on shore
I made a hurried visit, which I would gladly have prolonged, and then
went to the residence of the Rev. Mr. Duucau, the founder of the Met-
lakatla mission, and the teacher aud preacher to the Indians of the
Tsimsean tribe, who have a settlement at Motlakatlu.

I W83 very cordially received by Mr. Duucau, who showed me some
blankets and shawls made by the mission Indians, and then took me to

BEPORT ON THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS.

130

his oa!hiiery, where some flfty Indians, men and women, were engaged
canning salmon. Eveiything was scrnpulously n^at and clean, and the
whole work done with a precision and exactness which showed that
Indians can be taught to do sach kind of work, and, when taaght, are
as capable as a majority of white men, and are far preferable to Chinese.
Mr. Duncan next wished me to visit his church, which I desired very
much to do, but just then the whistle of the old steamer Otter gave the
signal for departure, and, escorted by Mr. Duncan, I returned on board,
and at 8.15 a. m. we left for the Hudson Bay Company's post at Fort
Simpson, where we arrived at 12 o'clock noon.

Fort Simpson is situated on the mainland but a few miles south of
the boundary between British Columbia and Alaska. It is one of the
principal trading posts of the company, and is under charge of Mr. B. H.
Hall, from whom I purchased a quantity of Indian manufactures in
carved stone, to be sent by him to Victoria for me. I also saw Eev.
Thomas Crosby, Wesleyau missionary, from whom I purchased several
articles made by Tsimsean Indians, and then went with him to visit hi.3
church and school. I found a marked improvement in the appearance
of Fort Simpson since I visited it seven years ago in the U. S. 8.
" Wolcott." The old unsightly Indian houses of former days had been
removed, and a pretty village of neat cottages surrounds the fine chur<;h,
and gives evidence of the skill and taste of the Indians, when encour-
aged by intelligent sympathy, to emulate the dwellings of white men.
The general effect of the village, when viewed from the anchorage, is
very pleasing, and would be creditable to any of our frontier towns.

At 1.30 P. M. we left Fort Simpson for Fort Wranpel, Alaska, where
we arrived the next morning (Saturday, 23d) at 8 o'clock.

At Fort Wrangel I purchased several articles of Indian manufacture,
and saw many more, but as they all came from Queen Charlotte Islands,
where I was going, I concluded to make my purchases there. Having
finished our business at Fort Wrangel we were ready to leave at noon, but
there being a very heavy sea and stormy SB. gale of wind all day we re-
-^ained until the next morning (Sunday, 24th). At 3 o'clock we started
u.ad ran down Stachinski Strait into Duke of Clarence Strait, where we
encountered a stormy head wind and heavy head sea, which retarded
our progress till the next morning (Monday the 25th), when we had a
teniflc time with a stormy tide-rip and SE. gale, which tossed the old
steamer as if she were an egg shell. At 2 p. m. the wind and sea went
down and we soon got out of Clarence Strait iuto Dixon's Entrance and
ran across to Masset Inlet, north end of Graham Island, and anchored
off the Hudson Bay Company's post at Uttewas village, two miles up
the inlet, where I was kindly and most hospitably received by Alex-
ander McKenzie, esq., the company's agent at Masset, who furnished
me comfortable quarters in a cottage within the company's inclosure.

Masset is a very pretty place, situated on the east side of Masset Inlet.
The land is low and level, and covered with dense foliage of evergreen

140

BEPORT ON THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS.

treeci, spraoe, bemlook, and oedar, and an undergrowth of shrabbery,
roue bnshes, wild oarrant, raspberry, and hazel, with mnoh open grass-
land, on which wild strawberries are foond in great qoantitles, of nn-
nsnal size and superior flavor. Strawberries and wild roses seem to be
a specialty at Massut, and are noted by every i>er8on who visits Gra-
ham Island in Jane.

Masset is the site of the Indian town of Uttewas, a village containing
65 houses old and new, some of them deserted and in ruins ; nearly every
house has a carved column erected in front covered with heraldic or
totemic designs of the family residing within. These columns are pic-
ture writings and illustrate the folk-lore of the tribe, and most oc' them
are allegorical or mythical fables which I succeeded in (U'ciphering, and
my account of them, with illustrations, will be prepared by me for my
complete monograph on Queen Charlotte Islands.

Fish. — ^The principal fish used by the Masset Indians for food, is the
halibut, which abounds in the waters of the inlet and along the whole
of the north shore of Graham Islflnd. Several varieties of salmon run
up Masset Inlet, one of which, a small variety calle<l by the Haidahs
" Stpogan^ (0. heta, Walb.), is as fat and fine flavored as the '^uenaiult
salmon of the same variety, and is taken in considerabce quantities by
the natives, as is also a fine quality of salmon trout which are taken in
weirs and traps in the small creeks which empty into the nilet. The
dog salmon (0. AiMittoA, Walb.) is taken in the fall iu considerable nunt-
bers for winter use. Dogfish abound, and a large quantity of their oil
is collected by the Hudson Bay Company every season from the In-
dians.

Codfish (Oadus morrhua) seem to breed in thtt waters of Masset Inlet,
where I procured several specimens from 1^ to 2 inches long, which
I preserved in alcohol. Mr. McKenzie, tho Hudson Bay Company's
tiader, purchased a few hundred pounds ot' true cod from the Indians
which he salted in kench. I ate some of tbem and they were quite equal
to pickled eastern cod, but the Haidahs do not seem to care for them,
and when occasionally they catch the cyd while fishing for halibut, they
are always ready to sell them to white men. From what the Indians
told me, and from my own observation, I think the true cod abound all
along the northern and western coatst of the whole group. These, with
the Ophiodon ehngatus, Kultas cod, or inferior cod, several species of
Sebaatichthys, and the black cod {Anophpoma fimbria), lamprey, eels,
herring, smelt, &c., form an extenfiiveahd plentiful variety of food- fish.

Of the plants observed by me, were Abronia arenaria, L.; Lupinua
Nootkatensi8, Donn ; Raminculm Nelsoni, Gray ; Rubus ursinus (Cham.),
Schl.; Nutkanna mocino, R.; Spfrgularia, Pursh., Rosa Nutkana, Presl;
Epilobium angxutifoUu.n, L.; Erigeron salsuginoaus, Gr< Campanula
SoheuehzerijOrT&j', Gaultheria Shallon, Pursh.; Mimulm luteas, Willd;
Oastilleia pallida, Kunth; Aquilegiaformosa, Fisch. ; Oentiana Amarella,
L.; Pinut contortaf Douglar.; Abies Ungelmannif Parry; A, amabilia^

■

BEPOBT ON THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS.

141

Forbes; Thuya gigantea,l^uU; Cupresmtn Nuthatengia, Lamb; Fritillaria
lanceolata, Book; Fragaria Chiknxu, Dxn^hcane; Mahonia, licrberis Aqui-
folium^ &o. All of tbe I'oregoinjj 1 observed in tbe vicinity of Masset,
and along the north shore of Gruliam Island. All of them are identical
with the plants at Cape Flattery, Wash., except the Cupressm Nufka-
tensift, and the Caatilleia pallida, which latter at Cape Flattery is bright
red, while at Masset and elsewhere on Queen Charlotte Islands it is
pale yellow.

Oollectiona. — 1 was fortunate while at Masset in obtaining articles of
great interest, such as models of ancient war canoes, salmon and trout
nets, stone mortars, hammers, mauls, carved boxes, carved dishes of
wood and horn. But the objects of the greatest interest to me were five
images, three inches long, made of pure native copper by swedging
and cutting. These images represent naked men and women dancing.
They were worn at the belt in front of the person dancing, and made a
tinkling sound.

I procured them of an old woman, who told me that they had been in
her family before her great grandmother could remember. The legend
respecting them is that au ancestor of hers while on a trading excursion
to Sitka procured them of an Atna or Copper River Indian from the
tribe of that name to the northwest of Sitka. These images were con-
sidered of such value that I was ofi'ered a large sum if I would part witn
them, which I declined, as I considered them the best proof I have seen
of the ancient intercourse between the Aztecs of Mexico and the tribes
of the Northwest coast. On my subsequent return to Victoria^ Mr.
Alexander McKeuzie, who had come from Masset, mentioned about
these copper images on board Her Majesty's ship Swiftsure, then lying
in Esquiuault Harbor. The surgeon of the ship. Dr. Moore, produced
a silver image, IJ inches long, which he had procured at Guatemala
during the summer of 1^3. This was made of pure nugget silver, and
had been worn by a lady as a charm and suspended to the neck by a
ribbon through a ring on the top of the head of the image. Mr. Mc-
Keuzie was so struck with the similarity of design with the copper
images that he borrowed it of Surgeon Moore, and had it photographed
in four different positions. By comparing the two photographs the
Aztec style seems to be seen in both alike.

I also found in the grave of an old doctor, or 8kaga,'^ho had been
dead fifty years or more, a couple of carved tusks, which I at first
thought were those of a peccary or Mexican wild hog, but subsequent
examination in Washington proved them to be the babyroussa or Asi-
atic wild hog, and the question is how they reached Queen Charlotte
Island. A gentleman, long a resident in Japan, informs me that the
Siamese junks are accustomed to trade on the African coast, running
down with the northeast monsoons and returning with the southwest
monsoon. These Siamese junks bring everything they can get, and
trade with the Japanese and Chinese. These Japanese or Siamese junks

148

REPORT ON THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS.

have been frequently wrecked on the northwest coast, and in 1831 one
of these janks was wrecked on the Qneen Charlotte Islands, and we have
records which show that in 1604 a Japanese jnnk was wrecked on the
Kamtchatkan coast. And at various intervals since that date we And
five Junks reported as being wrecked on the northwest coast, previous
to the one I have mentioned in 1831. It is therefore easy to assume as
a logical conclusion that the tusks of the babyroussa were procured
from the wreck of some one of those old junks and I)ecame the property
of the old shaman, and from their rarity were considered a highly
prized medicine, which were bnried with their owner as some of his
treasures. *

During my visit at Masset I went up the inlet and made several col-
lections in natural history. I also t<ook occasion to study the manners
and customs of the Indians, which will be illustrated and explained in
my future report.

I remained at Masset until August 6, having been detained two weeks
waiting the return of the Indian who was to take me to Korth Island
and around the west coast to Skidegate. Everything being ready, I left
Masset on Monday, August 6, at 8.30 a. m., in a large canoe with seven
Indians, two of whom were boys thirteen or fourteen years of age.

The canoe was owned and commanded by " Edinso," chief of North
Island, where I wished particularly to make examinations. Edinso for-
merly lived at a village called Eioosta, on the northwest end of Gra-
ham Island, opposite North Island. We camped that night at Yatze
village, a little to the west of Virago Sound, and the next morning,
August 7, at 5 o'clock, we broke camp and proceeded to Jalun River,
where we stopped for breakfast, the Indians meanwhile having speaied
ten humpback salmon {0. gorbtucha).

At this place is a singular exhibit of volcanic action ; the lava had
burst up through the superincumbent rocks a^ though the region had
boiled like a pot. The lava was of a brick-red color, and in some plactes
a pale sulphur yellow, and filled with bowlders and pebbles of stone
blackened outside with the heat, and looking like a gigantic plum pud-
ding. This is the first instance I have seen of such an evident volcanic
action on the direct sea-beach.

From Jalun Biver we passed on leisurely, examining the shore from
the canoe as we went. At 1.30 we passed the pillar rock at Pillar Point,
and I made a sketch of the pillar, which shows quite diff'erent from Pro-
fessor Dawson's sketch mule from the shore, and gives a better ide^ of
the surrounding country.

At 2 p. m. we went ashore in Parry Passage avA gathered some speci-
mens of shells, principally Heliotis and Pecteu. I took the tempera-
ture of the water in Parry Passage, and found it 54°, air 60°, barometer
30, 31, and at 4 p. m. we landed at Kioosta village, where I pitched
my tent and remained till the 14th, visiting in the meantime North
Island, Cloak Bay, and two burial caves, in one of which I found a

REPORT ON THE QUEEN CHAHLOTTE ISLANDS.

143

nnmber of boxes, carved and painted, each of which contains tlie
mummified remains of former inhabitants of the near villages. The
prejudices of the Indians and my overloaded canoo did not permit me
to collect any specimens of those mummies, which I could easily have
done if I had been in a steamer. I collected many interesting speci-
mens of fish and mollusks, and could have procured more, but unfor-
tunately the net which had been made for my dredge before leaving
Port Townsend proved useless on trying it, as the man who made it for
me had made a mistake in its shape, which made it impossible to use it
in deep water. Had my dredge worked properly I could have obtained
many interesting mollusks in Parry Passage, which is a rich field for
the natnralist.

While at Kioosta village I made sketches of carved columns and
heraldic designs and my Indian assistant, Johnny, drew, in India ink, a
number of sketches illustrative of Indian legends, which when com-
pleted will furnish an interesting and valuable addition to the general
report of my summer's work.

Near my camp at Kioosta village is the mausoleum or burial house
of old Doctor Koontz, a famous skaga or shaman, who died many
years ago and was famous in his time as a great medicine man. In his
grave I found the tusks of the babyroussa mentioned.

Directly opposite this point, on the southeast portion of North Island,
is Cloak Bay, made interesting by the mention of it by Captain Dixon,
who named it in 1787, and Captain Marchand, a French navigator, who
visited it in 1791. My notes and observations made during my week's
camp at Kioosta are too extensive to be inserted in this brief synopsis.

On Tuesday, August 14, we broke camp at Kioosta and started for
Skidegate at 10.20 a. m., with a fair tide which took us past Cape Knox,
the extreme northwest point of Graham Island, where we encountered
a tide-rip and rough cross-sea very dangerous to our heavily-laden
canoe. The wind now commencing to blow fresh from the south-
east with rain, we were forced to make a landing at a rocky point called
Klekwakoon, which we did at 1.30 p. m., and with diflBculty scrambled
over a reef which extends out from the shore a considerable distance
and is bare at half tide. I remained at this place till the 17th, being
unable to proceed owing to constant head wind and heavy sea. I oc-
cupied the time by explorations up und down the coast, collecting
curiosities and other fossils, and a few specimens of small cottoid and
other fish, and making notes of the appearance of the country, which
is thrown into various contorted and fantastic shapes by volcanic action.
It presents a most remarkable formation, and I regretted that I did not
have a photographic apparatus with me to have taken a view of the
S4iene, which it is impossible othf rwise to describe.

I foudd quantities of drift stuff on the beaches and in the coves,
among which were logs, and broken boards of redwood from California,

144

BEfOftT ON THE QUEEN CHARLOtTE ISLANDS.

sbowiDg the northerly drift along the shoree of Oregon, ^/ashington
Territory, and Britigh Columbia.

On Friday, August 17, 1 left Elekwakoon for the vill.igo of Tleduo,
near Sask or Frederick Inland, at a. m., ar<d reachr<l camp at 2.30
p. m. There were a few Indian bonses nnoocnpied a jd I took posses*
aion of one, gla<l to get under shelter from the rain which was falling
fast.

This village, which we found vacant on our arrival, is occupied during
the season by sea-otter /inutors.

I had procured a chart of Queen Charlotte Islands published by the
English admiralty from a map by O. M. Dawson, of the Geological Sur-
vey office, Montreal, who made a reconnaissance of the east coast of the
group in the summer of 1878. The west coast has never been surveyed,
but the chart of that portion wus made up from an old Russian map of
1849, which is very incorrect. I kept this chart before me as I cruised
along the coast in the canoe, and old Edinso, who is an excellent pilot,
pointed out to me the errors in the chart as we passed along, and gave
me the nomenclature of all the capes, points, bays, inlets, harbors, and
islands. Frederick or Susk Island and Hippa or Kesto Island had
been pretty accumtely laid down, but the intervening spaces from Cape
Knox to Skidegbte Channel were not correctly laid down, and I marked
the corrections as we came to each place. At TTippah Island in par-
ticular is a fine inlet not laid down, which makes a complete harbor of
refuge for vessels bound up or down the coast. It is hidden from the
view of passing vessels by Nesto or Hippah Island, and will be found
when properly surveyed to be of much importance to commerce. All
my new work I have marked in red ink on the copy of the chart which
I sent to Washington from Victoria, Angnst 6.

I was detained at Camp Tledoo from August 17 to August 21 by head
winds and heavy breakers, which prevented our pansing through the
only opening in the reef to the ocean, and I occupied the time in making
such collections as I could and making notes of the country for several
miles each side of our camp.

On Tuesday, August 21, 1 started at 5.20 a m. and proceeded as far
as Hippah Island, where we camped for the night with much discomfort
The following morning I made a reconnaissance of Skaloo Inlet and
noted it on my map, and proceeded leisurely along, noting every point
and change in the coast, till we came to Bunnell Sound, when it com-
menced to blow from the south, with fog and rain, and we were forced
to take refuge in a cove called Ichnwn, where I had to remain, wind and
storm bound, till Saturday, the 25th, when I started at 7 a. m., and
having camped that night in Skidegate Channel, I reached the SHdc-
gate Oil Works at 8 o'clock Sunday morning, August 26. I at «o>f.'n
made arrangements with the Skidegate Oil Company to assist m^ \a
procuring some black cod {AwypUypoma fimbria)^ which was doa^ Sy
sending Indians to the west coast, where they abound, and in a ft'vi'

BKPOBT ON THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE I8LAND8.

146

days I had over one liun Uetl fine flsli, which I had split like cod and
salted.

I remained at Skidegate making collections of the Indians till Tues-
day, Septemlier 4, when I started on a visit to the villages of Skedans,
Oumshewa, and I iskcek, in the southern portion of the group, and suc-
ceeded in obtaining some rare specimenn of Indian work used in their
masquerade performances and highly prized hy them.

At the village of Laskeek, on IHiuoo Island, . the most interesting
collection of columns, both heraldic and mortuarj and more monuments
for the dead than I had seen in any other vtPage. The Indian house in
which I stop|)ed is u new one, of large dime >> ions, built fitter the ancient
style. In this house will be held the most extendi ve ceremo.nies that
ha» t ti.ken pla'.;e for many years, consisting oC the tomanawas or secret
performances, then the public tatooing^f persons of all ages and sexes,
then the masquerade dances and the distribution uf yiresents, when sev-
eral thousand dollars' worth of blankets, calico, clothing, and ^)rovisions
will be given away, and the whole interspersed with feast« at dill'erent
booses in the village. The occasion of this is the erection of one or
more huge columns, elaborately carved with totenic devices, to show the
wealth and imi)ortance of the chief in front of whose bouse the column
will be erected. This great ceremony will take place in the fall of this
year and will be well worth seeing, as it is probable that it will be the
last grand display of the kind that will take place, the inflnence of mis-
sionaries being directed to supitrensiug these ancient ceremonies, in
which they have succeeded, so far as regards the villages at Masset
and Skidegate, where the ceremonies of the tomanawM^ if performed at
present, are greatly shorn of their honors, and I was thereby enabled
to obtain many articles of ceremonial usage, which formerly ho white
man was suffered to look at, much less to purchase and take away.

The grand tomanawaa of next fall will last from two to three weeks.
I left Laskeek village on my return to Skidegate on Saturday afternoon,
September 8th,ai>d ran back with a fair wind to Koona village, the resi-
dence of Captain Skidance, the chief of the Klue district, where I re-
mained till the 10th, when I arrived at Skidegate village at 8 !>. m., and
the following morning returned to the oil works, when I at once packed
my Skidegate collection into cases, took passage on the company's little
steamer Skidegate, for Victoria, leaving Skidegate on Friday, September
21st, and reaching Victoria on the afternoon of the 27th.

The result of my work may be briefly summ|^ up as follows : I have
a most interesting and valuable collection of articles of Indian manu-
facture. I have succeeded in iutrodacing the black cod, a new and valu-
able food ilsh. I have determined the locality of several new inlets
and harbors on the west coast of Graham Island. I have succeeded in
deciphering the true meaning of the hieroglyphics of the carve<l col-
umns, which are in great profusion in every village, and the meaning of
the tattoo marks on the persons of the natives. I have collected ev.
S Mis. 33 10

•f^r^:

146

BEPOBT ON THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS.

dence of the farmer interconrse between the Haidahs and the Aztec
races of Mexico, and have accumulated an amount of information re-
specting the interesting tribe inhabiting the Queen Charlotte group of
islands never yet made public, but which I shall elaborate in form for
publication.

It may i)erhaps be proper for me to mention at this time, without be-
ing charged with egotism, that my work in the Queen Charlotte Islands
has been considered of such value to the Province of British Columbia-
that I have received an ofBcial invitation to deliver a lecture before the
government and legislature of that province and to other government
officials in Victoria on the subject of the Queen Charlotte Islands, which
lecture I propose to deliver this present month, having obtained permis-
sion so to do from Professor Baird.

Although I have accomplished much, yet there remains much of in-
terest to science to be further investigated, not only on the Queen Char-
lotte Islands, but among the Haidahs of the Prince of Wales Archipel-
ago, in Alaska; and anything intended to be done among those Indians
to still ftirther develop objects of interest should be done at once, before
the tourists gather in all articles of Indian nlanufactare, and before the
Indians themselves shall have passed away.

mpmmam