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10 - 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 ten of a captivity of nearly three years among
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  Speaker 1: the Savages of Nutkah's Sound by John R. Jewett. This
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. On the third
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  Speaker 1: of September, the whole tribe quitted Nutka according to their
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  Speaker 1: constant practice, in order to pass the autumn and winter
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  Speaker 1: at Tassis and Koupti. The latter lye about thirty miles
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  Speaker 1: up the sound in a deep bay, the navigation of
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  Speaker 1: which is very dangerous from the great number of reefs
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  Speaker 1: and rocks with which it abounds. On these occasions everything
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  Speaker 1: is taken with them, even the planks of their houses,
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  Speaker 1: in order to cover their new dwellings. To a European,
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  Speaker 1: such a removal exhibits a scene quite novel and strange.
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  Speaker 1: Canoes piled up with boards and boxes, and filled with men,
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  Speaker 1: women and children of all ranks and sizes, making the
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  Speaker 1: air resound with their cries and songs. At these times,
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  Speaker 1: as well as when they have occasion to go some
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  Speaker 1: distance from their houses, the infants are usually suspended across
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  Speaker 1: the mother's shoulders in a kind of cradle or hammock,
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  Speaker 1: formed of bark of about six inches in depth and
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  Speaker 1: of the length of the child by means of a
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  Speaker 1: leather band inserted through the loops on its edges. This
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  Speaker 1: they also keep them in when at home, in order
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  Speaker 1: to preserve them in a straight position and prevent any
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  Speaker 1: distortion of the limbs, most probably a principal cause of
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  Speaker 1: these people being so seldom deformed or crooked. The long
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  Speaker 1: boat of our ship, having been repaired and furnished with
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  Speaker 1: a sail by Thompson, Makina gave us the direction of it,
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  Speaker 1: we being better acquainted with managing it than his people,
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  Speaker 1: and after loading her as deep as she could swim,
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  Speaker 1: we proceeded in company with them to the north, quitting
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  Speaker 1: Nootka with heavy hearts, as we could entertain no hopes
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  Speaker 1: of release until our return, no ships ever coming to
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  Speaker 1: that part of the coast. Passing Koopti, which is situated
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  Speaker 1: on the southern bank, just within the mouth of a
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  Speaker 1: small river flowing from the east in a narrow valley
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  Speaker 1: at the foot of a mountain, we proceeded about fifteen
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  Speaker 1: miles up this stream to Tassis, between a range of
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  Speaker 1: lofty hills on each side, which extend a great distance
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  Speaker 1: inland and are covered with the finest forest trees of
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  Speaker 1: the country. Immediately on our arrival, we all went to
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  Speaker 1: work very diligently in covering the houses with the planks
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  Speaker 1: we had brought, the frames being ready erected, these people
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  Speaker 1: never pretending to remove the timber. In a very short time,
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  Speaker 1: the work was completed and we were established in our
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  Speaker 1: new residence. Tasi is pleasantly situated and in a most
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  Speaker 1: secure position from the winter storms, in a small vale
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  Speaker 1: or hollow on the south shore at the foot of
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  Speaker 1: a mountain. The spot on which it stands is level,
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  Speaker 1: and the soil very fine, the country in its vicinity
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  Speaker 1: abounding with the most romantic views, charmingly diversified and fine
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  Speaker 1: streams of water falling in beautiful cascades from the mountains.
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  Speaker 1: The river at this place is about twenty rods in width,
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  Speaker 1: and in its deepest part from nine to twelve feet.
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  Speaker 1: The village is the extreme point of navigation, as immediately
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  Speaker 1: beyond the river becomes much more shallow and is broken
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  Speaker 1: into rapids and falls. The houses here are placed in
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  Speaker 1: a line like those at Nootka, but closer together, the
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  Speaker 1: situation being more confined. They are also smaller, in consequence
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  Speaker 1: of which we were much crowded and incommoded for room.
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  Speaker 1: The principal object in coming to this place is the
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  Speaker 1: facility it affords these people of providing their winter stock
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  Speaker 1: of provisions, which consists principally of salmon and the spawn
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  Speaker 1: of that fish, to which may be added herring and
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  Speaker 1: sprats and herring spawn. The latter, however, is always procured
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  Speaker 1: by them at Nootka previous to their quitting it. At
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  Speaker 1: the seasons of spawning, which are early in the spring
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  Speaker 1: and the last of August, they collect a great quantity
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  Speaker 1: of pine branches, which they place in different parts of
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  Speaker 1: the cove at the depth of about ten feet, and
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  Speaker 1: secure them by means of heavy stones. On these the
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  Speaker 1: herring deposit their spawn in immense quantities. The bushes are
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  Speaker 1: then taken up, the spawn stripped from the branches, and,
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  Speaker 1: after being washed and freed from the pine leaves by
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  Speaker 1: the women, is dried and put up in baskets for use.
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  Speaker 1: It is considered as their greatest delicacy and eaten both
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  Speaker 1: cooked and raw, in the former case being boiled and
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  Speaker 1: eaten with train oil, and in the latter mixed up
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  Speaker 1: with cold water alone. The salmon are taken at Tassis
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  Speaker 1: principally in pots or weirs. Their method of taking them
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  Speaker 1: in weirs is thus a pot of twenty feet in
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  Speaker 1: length and from four to five feet at the mouth,
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  Speaker 1: is formed of a great number of pine splinters, which
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  Speaker 1: are strongly secured an inch and a half from each
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  Speaker 1: other by means of hoops made of flexible twigs, and
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  Speaker 1: placed about eight inches apart. At the end, it tapers
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  Speaker 1: almost to a point, near which is a small wicker
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  Speaker 1: door for the purpose of taking out the fish. This
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  Speaker 1: pot or weir is placed at the foot of a
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  Speaker 1: fall or rapid, where the water is not very deep,
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  Speaker 1: and the fish, driven from above with long poles, are
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  Speaker 1: intercepted and caught in the weir, and from whence they
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  Speaker 1: are taken into the canoes. In this manner I have
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  Speaker 1: seen more than seven hundred salmon caught in the space
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  Speaker 1: of fifteen minutes. I have also sometimes known a few
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  Speaker 1: of the striped bass taken in this manner, but rarely
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  Speaker 1: at such times there is great feasting and merriment among them,
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  Speaker 1: the women and female slaves being busily employed in cooking
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  Speaker 1: or in curing the fish for their winter stock, which
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  Speaker 1: is done by cutting off the heads and tails, splitting them,
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  Speaker 1: taking out the backbone, and hanging them up in their
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  Speaker 1: houses to dry. They also dry the halibut and cod,
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  Speaker 1: but these, instead of curing whole, they cut up into
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  Speaker 1: small pieces for that purpose and exp to the sun.
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  Speaker 1: The spawn of the salmon, which is a principal article
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  Speaker 1: of their provision, they take out and without any other preparation,
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  Speaker 1: throw it into their tubs, where they leave it to
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  Speaker 1: stand and ferment. For though they frequently eat it fresh,
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  Speaker 1: they esteem it much more when it has acquired a
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  Speaker 1: strong taste. And one of the greatest favors they can
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  Speaker 1: confer on any person is to invite him to eat
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  Speaker 1: quacamis the name they give this food. Though scarcely anything
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  Speaker 1: can be more repugnant to a European palate than it
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  Speaker 1: is in this state. And whenever they took it out
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  Speaker 1: of these large receptacles which they are always careful to fill,
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  Speaker 1: such was the stench which it exhaled on being moved,
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  Speaker 1: that it was almost impossible for me to abide it.
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  Speaker 1: Even after habit had in a great degree dulled the
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  Speaker 1: delicacy of my senses. When boiled, it becomes less offensive,
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  Speaker 1: though it still retained much of the putrid smell, and
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  Speaker 1: something of the taste. Such is the immense quantity of
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  Speaker 1: these fish, and they are taken with such facility that
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  Speaker 1: I have known upwards of twenty five hundred brought into
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  Speaker 1: Makina's house at once, and at one of their great feasts,
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  Speaker 1: have seen one hundred or more cooked in one of
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  Speaker 1: their largest tubs. I used frequently to go out with
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  Speaker 1: Makina upon these fishing parties, and was always sure to
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  Speaker 1: receive a handsome present of salmon, which I had the
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  Speaker 1: privilege of calling mine. I also went with him several
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  Speaker 1: times in a canoe to strike the salmon, which I
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  Speaker 1: have attempted to do myself, but could never succeed it,
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  Speaker 1: requiring a degree of adroitness that I did not possess.
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  Speaker 1: I was also permitted to go out with a gun,
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  Speaker 1: and was several times very successful in shooting wild ducks
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  Speaker 1: and teal, which are very numerous here, though rather shy.
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  Speaker 1: These they cooked in their usual manner, by boiling without
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  Speaker 1: any further dressing than skinning them. In many respects, however,
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  Speaker 1: our situation was less pleasant here than at Nootka. We
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  Speaker 1: were more incommoded for room, the houses not being so
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  Speaker 1: spacious nor so well arranged. And as it was colder,
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  Speaker 1: we were compelled to be much more within doors. We, however,
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  Speaker 1: did not neglect on Sundays, when the weather would admit,
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  Speaker 1: to retire into the woods and by the side of
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  Speaker 1: some stream after bathing, return our thanks to God for
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  Speaker 1: preserving us, and offer up to him our customary devotions.
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  Speaker 1: I was, however, very apprehensive soon after our arrival at
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  Speaker 1: this place that I should be deprived of the satisfaction
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  Speaker 1: action of keeping my journal as Makina one day, observing
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  Speaker 1: me writing in it, inquired of me what I was doing,
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  Speaker 1: and when I endeavored to explain it by telling him
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  Speaker 1: that I was keeping an account of the weather, he
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  Speaker 1: said that it was not so, and that I was
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  Speaker 1: speaking bad about him and telling how he had taken
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  Speaker 1: our ship and killed the crew so as to inform
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  Speaker 1: my countrymen, and that if he ever saw me writing
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  Speaker 1: in it again, he would throw it into the fire.
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  Speaker 1: I was much rejoiced that he did no more than threaten,
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  Speaker 1: and became very cautious afterwards not to let him see
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  Speaker 1: me write. Not long after, I finished some daggers for him,
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  Speaker 1: which I polished highly. These pleased him much, and he
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  Speaker 1: gave me directions to make a cheat tool, in which
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  Speaker 1: I succeeded so far to his satisfaction that he gave
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  Speaker 1: me a present of cloth sufficient to make me a
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  Speaker 1: complete suit of raiment, besides other things. Thompson, also, who
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  Speaker 1: had become rather more of a favorite than formerly, since
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  Speaker 1: he had made a fine sale for his canoe, and
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  Speaker 1: some garments for him out of European cloth, about this time,
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  Speaker 1: completed another which was thought by the savages a most
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  Speaker 1: superb dress. This was a kutsack or mantle, a fathom
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  Speaker 1: square made entirely of European vest patterns of the gayest colors.
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  Speaker 1: These were sewed together in a manner to make the
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  Speaker 1: best show, and bound with a deep trimming of the
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  Speaker 1: finest otter skin, with which the armholes were also bordered,
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  Speaker 1: while the bottom was further embellished with five or six
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  Speaker 1: rows of gilt buttons placed as near as possible to
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  Speaker 1: each other. Nothing could exceed the pride of Makina when
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  Speaker 1: he first put on this royal robe, decorated like the
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  Speaker 1: coat of Joseph, with all the colors of the rainbow,
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  Speaker 1: and glittering with the buttons, which, as he strutted about,
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  Speaker 1: made a tinkling while he repeatedly exclaimed in a transport
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  Speaker 1: of exultation, klu shish kutsack wikkum Ataknutka a fine garment,
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  Speaker 1: Nootka can't make them. Makina, who knew that the chiefs
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  Speaker 1: of the tribes who came to visit us had endeavored
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  Speaker 1: to persuade me to escape, frequently cautioned me not to
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  Speaker 1: listen to them, saying that should I make the attempt
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  Speaker 1: and he were to take me, he would certainly put
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  Speaker 1: me to death. While here he gave me a book
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  Speaker 1: in which I found the names of seven persons belonging
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  Speaker 1: to the ship Manchester of Philadelphia, Captain Bryan, namely Daniel Smith,
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  Speaker 1: Lewis Gillen, James, Tom Clark, Johnson, Ben and Jack. These men,
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  Speaker 1: as Makina informed me, ran away from the ship and
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  Speaker 1: came to him, but that six of them soon after
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  Speaker 1: went off in the night with an intention to go
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  Speaker 1: to the Wiccaninnish, but were stopped by the Eshquots and
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  Speaker 1: sent back to him, and that he ordered them to
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  Speaker 1: be put to death, and a most cruel death. It was,
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  Speaker 1: as I was told by one of the natives, four
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  Speaker 1: men holding one of them on the ground and forcing
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  Speaker 1: open his mouth, while they choked him by ramming stones
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  Speaker 1: down his throat. As to jack the boy, who made
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  Speaker 1: no attempt to go off, Makina afterwards sold him to
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  Speaker 1: the Wickaninnish. I was informed by the Princess Yuqua that
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  Speaker 1: he was quite a small boy who cried a great
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  Speaker 1: deal being put to hard labor beyond his strength by
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  Speaker 1: the natives in cutting wood and bringing water, and that
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  Speaker 1: when he heard of the murder of our crew, it
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  Speaker 1: had such an effect on him that he fell sick
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  Speaker 1: and died shortly after. On learning the melancholy fate of
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  Speaker 1: this unfortunate lad, it again awakened in my bosom those
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  Speaker 1: feelings that I had experienced at the shocking death of
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  Speaker 1: my poor comrades. The King, finding that I was desirous
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  Speaker 1: of learning their language, was much delighted and took great
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  Speaker 1: pleasure in conversing with me. On one of these occasions,
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  Speaker 1: he explained to me his reasons for cutting off our ship,
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  Speaker 1: saying that he bore no ill will to my countryman,
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  Speaker 1: but that he had been several times treated very ill
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  Speaker 1: by them. The first injury of which he had cause
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  Speaker 1: to complain was done to him by a Captain Tonington,
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  Speaker 1: who commanded a schooner, which passed a winter at Friendly Cove,
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  Speaker 1: where he was well treated by the inhabitants. The man,
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  Speaker 1: taking advantage of Makina's absence, who had gone to the
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  Speaker 1: Wiccaninich to procure a wife, armed himself and crew and
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  Speaker 1: entered the house, where there were none but women, whom
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  Speaker 1: he threw into the greatest consternation, and, searching the chests,
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  Speaker 1: took away all the skins, of which Makina had no
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  Speaker 1: less than forty of the best, And that about the
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  Speaker 1: same time four of their chiefs were barbarously killed by
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  Speaker 1: a Captain Martinez, a Spaniard. That soon after, Captain Hannah
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  Speaker 1: of the Sea Otter, in consequence of one of the natives,
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  Speaker 1: having stolen a chisel from the carpenter, fired upon their
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  Speaker 1: canoes which were alongside, and killed upwards of twenty of
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  Speaker 1: the natives, of whom several were tayis or chiefs, And
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  Speaker 1: that he himself, being aboard the vessel, in order to escape,
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  Speaker 1: was obliged to leap from the quarter deck and swim
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  Speaker 1: for a long way under water. These injuries had excited
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  Speaker 1: in the breast of Makina an ardent desire of revenge
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  Speaker 1: the strongest passion of the savage heart, and though many
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  Speaker 1: years had elapsed since their commission, still they were not forgotten,
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  Speaker 1: and the want of a favorable opportunity alone prevented him
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  Speaker 1: from sooner avenging them. Unfortunately for us, the long wished
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  Speaker 1: for opportunity at length presented itself in our ship, which Makina,
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  Speaker 1: finding not guarded with the usual vigilance of the Northwest traders,
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  Speaker 1: and feeling his desire of revenge rekindled by the insult
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  Speaker 1: offered him by Captain Salter, formed a plan for attacking, and,
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  Speaker 1: on his return called a council of his chiefs and
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  Speaker 1: communicated it to them, acquainting them with the manner in
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  Speaker 1: which he had been treated. No less desirous of avenging
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  Speaker 1: this affront offered their king than the former injuries, they
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  Speaker 1: readily agreed to his proposal, which was to go on
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  Speaker 1: board without arms as usual, but under different pretexts in
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  Speaker 1: greater numbers, and wait his signal for the moment of
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  Speaker 1: attacking their unsuspecting victims. The execution of this scheme, as
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  Speaker 1: the reader knows, was unhappily too successful, And here I
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  Speaker 1: cannot but indulge a reflection that has frequently occurred to
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  Speaker 1: me on the manner in which our people behave towards
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  Speaker 1: the natives, for though they are a thievish race. Yet
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  Speaker 1: I have no doubt that many of the melancholy disasters
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  Speaker 1: have principally arisen from the imprudent conduct of some of
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  Speaker 1: the captains and crews of the ships employed in this trade,
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  Speaker 1: in exasperating them by insulting, plundering, and even killing them
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  Speaker 1: on slight grounds. This, as nothing is more sacred with
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  Speaker 1: the savage than the principle of revenge, and no people
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  Speaker 1: are so impatient under insult induces them to wreck their
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  Speaker 1: vengeance upon the first vessel or boat's crew that offers,
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  Speaker 1: making the innocent too frequently suffer for the wrongs of
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  Speaker 1: the guilty, as few of them know to discriminate between
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  Speaker 1: persons of the same general appearance, more especially when speaking
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  Speaker 1: the same language. And to this cause, I do believe
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  Speaker 1: must principally be ascribed the sanguinary disposition with which these
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  Speaker 1: people are reproached. As Makina repeatedly told me, that it
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  Speaker 1: was not his wish to hurt a white man, and
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  Speaker 1: that he never should have done it, though ever so
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  Speaker 1: much in his power had they not injured him, and
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  Speaker 1: were the commanders of our ships to treat the savages
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  Speaker 1: with rather more civility than they sometimes do, I am
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  Speaker 1: inclined to think they would find their account in it.
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  Speaker 1: Not that I should recommend to them a confidence in
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  Speaker 1: the good faith and friendly professions of these people, so
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  Speaker 1: as in any degree to remit their vigilance, but on
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  Speaker 1: the contrary, to be strictly on their guard, and suffer
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  Speaker 1: but a very few of them to come on board
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  Speaker 1: the ship, and admit not many of their canoes alongside
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  Speaker 1: at a time, a precaution that would have been the
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  Speaker 1: means of preventing some of the unfortunate events that have occurred,
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  Speaker 1: and if attended to, may in future preserve many a
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  Speaker 1: valuable life. Such a regulation, too, from what I know
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  Speaker 1: of their disposition and wants, would produce no serious difficulty
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  Speaker 1: in trading with the savages, and they would soon become
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  Speaker 1: perfectly reconciled to it. End of Section ten.