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12 - Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Savages of Nootka Sound by John R. Jewitt · Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Savages of Nootka Sound

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  Speaker 1: Section twelve of a captivity of nearly three years among
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  Speaker 1: the Savages of Nukah's Sound by John R. Jewett. This
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. On the twenty
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  Speaker 1: fifth of February, we quitted Kupti and returned to Nootka.
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  Speaker 1: With much joy did Thompson and myself again find ourselves
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  Speaker 1: in a place where, notwithstanding the melancholy recollections which it excited,
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  Speaker 1: we hoped before long to see some vessel arrive to
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  Speaker 1: our relief. And for this we became the more solicitous.
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  Speaker 1: As of late, we had become much more apprehensive of
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  Speaker 1: our safety in consequence of information brought Makina a few
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  Speaker 1: days before we left Kupti by some of the Cayukeets
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  Speaker 1: that there were twenty ships at the northward, preparing to
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  Speaker 1: come against him, with an intent of destroying him and
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  Speaker 1: his whole tribe for off the Boston. This story, which
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  Speaker 1: was wholly without foundation, and discovered afterwards to have been
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  Speaker 1: invented by these people for the purpose of disquieting him,
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  Speaker 1: threw him into great alarm. And notwithstanding all I could
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  Speaker 1: say to convince him that it was an unfounded report,
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  Speaker 1: so great was his jealousy of us, especially after it
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  Speaker 1: had become confirmed to him by some others of the
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  Speaker 1: same nation that he treated us with much harshness and
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  Speaker 1: kept a very suspicious eye upon us. Nothing, indeed, could
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  Speaker 1: be more unpleasant than our present situation, when I reflected
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  Speaker 1: that our lives were altogether dependent on the will of
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  Speaker 1: a savage on whose caprice and suspicions no rational calculation
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  Speaker 1: could be made. Not long after our return, a son
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  Speaker 1: of Makina's sister, a boy of eleven years old, who
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  Speaker 1: had been for some time declining, died. Immediately on his death,
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  Speaker 1: which was about midnight, all the men and women in
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  Speaker 1: the house set up loud cries and shrieks, which, awakening
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  Speaker 1: Thompson and myself, so disturbed us that we left the house.
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  Speaker 1: This lamentation was kept up during the remainder of the night.
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  Speaker 1: In the morning, a great fire was kindled, in which
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  Speaker 1: Makina burned in honor of the deceased, ten fathoms of cloth,
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  Speaker 1: and buried him with ten fathoms more eight of iwa
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  Speaker 1: four prime sea otter skins, and two small trunks containing
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  Speaker 1: our unfortunate captains clothes and watch. This boy was considered
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  Speaker 1: as a Tayee or Chief, being the only son of Tautouche,
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  Speaker 1: one of the principal chiefs, who had married Makina's sister,
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  Speaker 1: whence arose this ceremony on his interment, it being an
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  Speaker 1: established custom with these people that whenever a chief dies,
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  Speaker 1: his most valuable property is burned or buried with him.
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  Speaker 1: It is, however, wholly confined to the chiefs, and appears
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  Speaker 1: to be a mark of honor appropriate to them. In
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  Speaker 1: this instance, Makina furnished the articles in order that his
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  Speaker 1: nephew might have the proper honors rendered him. Tatouche, his father,
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  Speaker 1: was esteemed the first warrior of the tribe, and was
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  Speaker 1: one who had been particularly active in the destruction of
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  Speaker 1: our ship, having killed two of our poor comrades who
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  Speaker 1: were ashore, whose names were Hall and Wood. About the
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  Speaker 1: time of our removal to TASiS, while in the enjoyment
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  Speaker 1: of the highest health, he was suddenly seized with a
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  Speaker 1: fit of delirium, in which he found that he saw
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  Speaker 1: the ghosts of these two men constantly standing by him
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  Speaker 1: and threatening him, so that he would take no food
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  Speaker 1: except what was forced into his mouth. A short time
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  Speaker 1: before this, he had lost a daughter of about fifteen
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  Speaker 1: years of age, which afflicted him greatly, and whether his
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  Speaker 1: insanity a disorder very uncommon amongst these savages, no instance
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  Speaker 1: of the kind having occurred within the memory of the
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  Speaker 1: oldest man amongst them, proceeded from this cause, Or that
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  Speaker 1: it was the special interposition of an all merciful God
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  Speaker 1: in our favor, who, by this means thought proper to
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  Speaker 1: induce these barbarians still further to respect our lives, Or that,
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  Speaker 1: for hidden purposes, the supreme disposer of events sometimes permits
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  Speaker 1: the spirits of the dead to revisit the world and
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  Speaker 1: haunt the murder her. I know not, but his mind
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  Speaker 1: from this period until his death, which took place but
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  Speaker 1: a few weeks after that of his son, was incessantly
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  Speaker 1: occupied with the images of the men whom he had killed.
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  Speaker 1: This circumstance made much impression upon the tribe, particularly the chiefs,
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  Speaker 1: whose uniform opposition to putting us to death at the
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  Speaker 1: various councils that were held on our account. I could
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  Speaker 1: not but in part a tribute to this cause. And
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  Speaker 1: Makina used frequently, in speaking of Tatusha's sickness, to express
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  Speaker 1: much satisfaction that his hands had not been stained with
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  Speaker 1: the blood of any of our men. When Makina was
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  Speaker 1: first informed by his sister of the strange conduct of
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  Speaker 1: her husband, he immediately went to his house, taking us
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  Speaker 1: with him, suspecting that his disease had been caused by us,
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  Speaker 1: and that the ghosts of our countrymen had been called
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  Speaker 1: thither by us to torment him. We found him raving
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  Speaker 1: about Hall and wood, saying that they were peshak, that
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  Speaker 1: is bad. Makina then placed some provisions before him to
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  Speaker 1: see if he would eat. On perceiving it, he put
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  Speaker 1: forth his hand to take some, but instantly withdrew it
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  Speaker 1: with signs of horror, saying that Hall and Wood were
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  Speaker 1: there and would not let him eat. Makina, then, pointing
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  Speaker 1: to us, asked if it was not John and Thompson
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  Speaker 1: who troubled him wick. He replied, that is no John
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  Speaker 1: clucsish Thompson clousish. John and Thompson are both good. Then,
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  Speaker 1: turning to me and patting me on the shoulder, he
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  Speaker 1: made signs to me to eat. I tried to persuade
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  Speaker 1: him that Hall and Wood were not there, and that
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  Speaker 1: none were near him but ourselves. He said, I know
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  Speaker 1: very well you do not see them, but I do.
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  Speaker 1: At first, Makina endeavored to convince him that he saw
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  Speaker 1: nothing and to laugh him out of his belief, but
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  Speaker 1: finding that all was to no purpose, he at length
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  Speaker 1: became serious and asked me if I had ever seen
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  Speaker 1: anyone afflicted in this manner, and what was the matter
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  Speaker 1: with him? I gave him to understand, pointing to his head,
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  Speaker 1: that his brain was injured and that he did not
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  Speaker 1: see things as formerly, being convinced by Tatusha's conduct that
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  Speaker 1: we had no agency in his indisposition. On our return home,
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  Speaker 1: Makina asked me what was done in my country in
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  Speaker 1: similar cases. I told him that such persons were closely
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  Speaker 1: confined and sometimes tied up and whipped in order to
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  Speaker 1: make them better. After pondering for some time, he said
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  Speaker 1: that he should be glad to do anything to relieve him,
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  Speaker 1: and that he should be whipped, and immediately gave orders
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  Speaker 1: to some of his men to go to Tatusha's house,
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  Speaker 1: bind him, and bring him to his in order to
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  Speaker 1: undergo the operation. Thompson was the person selected to administer
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  Speaker 1: this remedy, which he undertook very readily, and for that
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  Speaker 1: purpose provided himself with a good number of spruce branches,
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  Speaker 1: with which he whipped him most severely, laying it on
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  Speaker 1: with the best will imaginable, while Tatouche displayed the greatest rage, kicking, spitting,
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  Speaker 1: and attempting to bite all who came near him. This
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  Speaker 1: was too much for Makina, who, at length, unable to
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  Speaker 1: endure it, longer ordered Thompson to desist and to Touche
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  Speaker 1: to be carried back, saying that if there was no
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  Speaker 1: other way of curing him but by whipping, he must
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  Speaker 1: remain mad. The application of the whip produced no beneficial
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  Speaker 1: effect unto Toushe, for he afterwards became still more deranged
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  Speaker 1: in his fits of fury, sometimes seizing a club and
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  Speaker 1: beating his slaves in a most dreadful manner, and striking
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  Speaker 1: and spitting at all who came near him, till at
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  Speaker 1: length his wife, no longer daring to remain in the
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  Speaker 1: house with him, came with her son to Makina's. The
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  Speaker 1: whailing season now commenced, and Makina was out almost every
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  Speaker 1: day in his canoe in pursuit of them, but for
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  Speaker 1: a considerable time with no success, one day breaking the
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  Speaker 1: staff of his harpoon, another after having been a long
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  Speaker 1: time fast to a whale, the weapon drawing owing to
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  Speaker 1: the breaking of the shell which formed its point, with
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  Speaker 1: several such like accidents arising from the imperfection of the instrument.
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  Speaker 1: At these times, he always returned very morose and out
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  Speaker 1: of temper, upbraiding his men with having violated their obligation
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  Speaker 1: to countenance preparatory to whailing. In this state of ill humor,
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  Speaker 1: he would give us very little to eat, which, added
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  Speaker 1: to the women not cooking when the men are away,
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  Speaker 1: reduced us to a very low fare. In consequence of
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  Speaker 1: the repeated occurrence of similar accidents, I proposed to Makina
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  Speaker 1: to make him a harpoon or foreganger of steel, which
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  Speaker 1: would be less liable to fail him. The idea pleased him,
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  Speaker 1: and in a short time I completed one for him,
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  Speaker 1: with which he was much delighted, and the very next
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  Speaker 1: day went out to make a trial of it. He
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  Speaker 1: succeeded with it in taking a whale. Great was the
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  Speaker 1: joy throughout the village. As soon as it was known
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  Speaker 1: that the king had secured a whale by notice from
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  Speaker 1: a person stationed in the headland in the offing, all
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  Speaker 1: the canoes were immediately launched and furnished with harpoons and
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  Speaker 1: seal skin floats, hastened to assist in buoying it up
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  Speaker 1: and towing it in. The bringing in of this fish
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  Speaker 1: exhibited a scene of universal festivity. As soon as the
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  Speaker 1: canoes appeared at the mouth of the cove, those on
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  Speaker 1: board of them singing a triumph to a slow air,
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  Speaker 1: to which they kept time with their paddles. All who
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  Speaker 1: were on shore, men, women and children, mounted the roofs
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  Speaker 1: of their houses to congratulate the king on his success,
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  Speaker 1: drumming most furiously on the planks and exclaiming wokosh wokash taee.
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  Speaker 1: The whale, on being drawn on shore, was immediately cut up,
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  Speaker 1: and a great feast of the blubber given at Makina's house,
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  Speaker 1: to which all the village were invited, who indemnified themselves
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  Speaker 1: for their lent by eating as usual to excess. I
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  Speaker 1: was highly praised for the goodness of my harpoon, and
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  Speaker 1: a quantity of blubber given me, which I was permitted
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  Speaker 1: to cook as I pleased. This I boiled in salt
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  Speaker 1: water with some young nettles and other greens for Thompson
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  Speaker 1: and myself, and in this way we found it tolerable food.
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  Speaker 1: Their method of procuring the oil is to skim it
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  Speaker 1: from the water in which the blubber is boiled, and
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  Speaker 1: when cool put it up into whale bladders for use.
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  Speaker 1: And of these I have seen them so large as,
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  Speaker 1: when filled, would require no less than five or six
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  Speaker 1: men to carry. Several of the chiefs, among whom were
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  Speaker 1: Markina's brothers, who, after the King has caught the first whale,
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  Speaker 1: are privileged to take them, also were very desirous, on
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  Speaker 1: discovering the superiority of my harpoon, that I should make
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  Speaker 1: some for them. But this Markina would not permit reserving
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  Speaker 1: for himself this improved weapon. He, however, gave me directions
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  Speaker 1: to make a number more for himself, which I executed,
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  Speaker 1: and also made him several lances, with which he was
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  Speaker 1: greatly pleased. As these people have some very singular observances
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  Speaker 1: preparatory to whaling, and account of them will I presume
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  Speaker 1: not prove uninteresting, especially as it may serve to give
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  Speaker 1: a better idea of their manners. A short time before
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  Speaker 1: leaving Tassis, the King makes a point of passing a
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  Speaker 1: day alone on the mountain. Whether he goes very privately.
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  Speaker 1: Early in the morning, and does not return till late
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  Speaker 1: in the evening. This is done, as I afterwards learned,
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  Speaker 1: for the purpose of singing and praying to his God
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  Speaker 1: for success in wailing the ensuing season. At Kupti the
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  Speaker 1: same ceremony is performed, and at Nutka after the return
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  Speaker 1: thither with still greater solemnity. As for the next two days,
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  Speaker 1: he appears very thoughtful and gloomy, scarcely speaking to any one,
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  Speaker 1: and observes a most rigid fast. On these occasions he
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  Speaker 1: has always a broad red filet made of bark, bound
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  Speaker 1: round his head in token of humiliation, with a large
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  Speaker 1: branch of green spruce on the top, and his great
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  Speaker 1: rattle in his hand. In addition to this, for a
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  Speaker 1: week before commencing their wailing, both himself and the crew
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  Speaker 1: of his canoe observed a fast, eating but very little,
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  Speaker 1: and going into the water several times in the course
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  Speaker 1: of each day to bathe, singing and rubbing their bodies,
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  Speaker 1: limbs and faces with shells and bushes, so that on
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  Speaker 1: their return I have seen them look as though they
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  Speaker 1: had been severely torn with briars. They are likewise obliged
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  Speaker 1: to abstain from any commerce with their women for the
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  Speaker 1: like period, the latter restriction being considered as indispensable to
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  Speaker 1: their success. Early in June totushe the Crazy chief, died.
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  Speaker 1: On being acquainted with his death, the whole village, men,
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  Speaker 1: women and children set up a loud cry with every
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  Speaker 1: testimony of the greatest grief, which they continued for more
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  Speaker 1: than three hours. As soon as he was dead, the body,
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  Speaker 1: according to their custom, was laid out on a plank,
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  Speaker 1: having the head bound round with a red bark filet,
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  Speaker 1: which is with them an emblem of mourning and sorrow.
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  Speaker 1: After laying some time in this manner, he was wrapped
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  Speaker 1: in an otter skin robe, and three fathoms of eyewah
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  Speaker 1: being put about his neck. He was placed in a
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  Speaker 1: large coffin or box of about three feet deep, which
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  Speaker 1: was ornamented on the outside with two rows of the
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  Speaker 1: small white shells. In this the most valuable articles of
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  Speaker 1: his property were placed with him, among which were no
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  Speaker 1: less than twenty four prime sea otter skins. At night,
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  Speaker 1: which is their time for interring the dead, the coffin
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  Speaker 1: was borne by eight men with two poles thrust through
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  Speaker 1: ropes passed around it to the place of burial, accompanied
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  Speaker 1: by his wife and family, with their hair cut short
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  Speaker 1: in token of grief, all the inhabitants joining the procession.
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  Speaker 1: The place of burial was a large cavern on the
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  Speaker 1: side of a hill at a little distance from the village,
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  Speaker 1: in which, after depositing the coffin carefully, all the attendants
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  Speaker 1: repaired to Makina's house, where a number of articles belonging
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  Speaker 1: to the deceased, consisting of blankets, pieces of cloth, et cetera,
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  Speaker 1: were burned by a person appointed by Makina for that purpose,
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  Speaker 1: dressed and painted in the highest style, with his head
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  Speaker 1: covered with white down, who, as he puts in the
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  Speaker 1: several pieces one by one, poured upon them a quantity
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  Speaker 1: of oil to increase the flame in the intervals between
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  Speaker 1: making a speech and playing off a variety of buffoon tricks,
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  Speaker 1: and the whole closed with a feast and a dance
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  Speaker 1: from Satsatsaksis, the King's son. The man who performed the
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  Speaker 1: ceremony of burning on this occasion was a very singular
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  Speaker 1: character named Kinney Clemits. He was held in high estimation
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  Speaker 1: by the king, though only of the common class, probably
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  Speaker 1: from his talent for mimicry and buffoonery, and might be
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  Speaker 1: considered as a kind of king's jesture, or rather as
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  Speaker 1: combining in his person the character of a buffoon with
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  Speaker 1: that of master of ceremonies and public orator to his majesty,
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  Speaker 1: as he was the one who at feasts always regulated
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  Speaker 1: the places of the guests, delivered speeches on receiving or
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  Speaker 1: returning visits, besides amusing the company at all their entertainments
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  Speaker 1: with a variety of monkey pranks and antique gestures, which
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  Speaker 1: appeared to these savages the height of wit and humor,
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  Speaker 1: but would be considered as extremely low by the least
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  Speaker 1: polished people. Almost all the kings or head chiefs of
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  Speaker 1: the principal tribes were accompanied by a similar character, who
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  Speaker 1: appeared to be attached to their dignity, and are called
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  Speaker 1: in their language klimmer Hobby. This man Kennechlemitz was particularly
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  Speaker 1: odious to Thompson, who would never join in the laugh
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  Speaker 1: at his tricks, but when he began, would almost always
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  Speaker 1: quit the house with a very surly look and an
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  Speaker 1: exclamation of cursed fool, which Makina, who thought nothing could
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  Speaker 1: equal the cleverness of his climmer Hobby, used to remark
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  Speaker 1: with much dissatisfaction asking me why Thompson never laughed, observing
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  Speaker 1: that I must have had a very good tempered woman
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  Speaker 1: indeed for my mother, as my father was so very
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  Speaker 1: ill natured a man. Among those performances that gained him
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  Speaker 1: the greatest applause was his talent of eating to excess,
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  Speaker 1: For I have known him devour at one meal no
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  Speaker 1: less than seventy five large herrings. And at another time,
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  Speaker 1: when a great feast was given by Makina, he undertook,
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  Speaker 1: after drinking three pints of oil by way of a
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  Speaker 1: wet to eat four dried salmon and five quarts of
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  Speaker 1: spawn mixed up with a gallon of train oil, and
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  Speaker 1: actually succeeded in swallowing the greater part of this mess
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  Speaker 1: until his stomach became so overloaded as to discharge its
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  Speaker 1: contents in the dish. One of his exhibitions, however, had
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  Speaker 1: nearly cost him his life. This was on the occasion
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  Speaker 1: of clock quawk Ena, one of the chiefs, having bought
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  Speaker 1: him a new wife, in celebration of which he ran
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  Speaker 1: three times through a large fire and burned himself in
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  Speaker 1: such a manner that he was not able to stir
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  Speaker 1: for more than four weeks. These feats of savage skill,
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  Speaker 1: were much praised by Makina, who never failed to make
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  Speaker 1: him presence of cloth, muskets, et cetera on such occasions.
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  Speaker 1: The death of Tatousche increased still more the disquietude which
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  Speaker 1: his delirium had excited among the savages, and all those
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  Speaker 1: chiefs who had killed our men became much alarmed, lest
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  Speaker 1: they should be seized with the same disorder and die
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  Speaker 1: like him. More particularly as I had told Makina that
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  Speaker 1: I believed his insanity was a punishment inflicted on him
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  Speaker 1: by Quahouts for his cruelty in murdering two innocent men
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  Speaker 1: who had never injured him. End of Section twelve.