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08 - 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 eight 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. The natives of
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  Speaker 1: Nutka appear to have but little inclination for the chase,
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  Speaker 1: though some of them were expert marksmen and used sometimes
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  Speaker 1: to shoot ducks and geese. But the seal and the
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  Speaker 1: sea otter form the principal objects of their hunting, particularly
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  Speaker 1: the latter of this animal, so much noted for its
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  Speaker 1: valuable skin. The following description may not be uninteresting. The
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  Speaker 1: sea otter is nearly five feet in length, exclusive of
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  Speaker 1: the tail, which is about twelve inches and is very
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  Speaker 1: thick and broad where it joins the body, but gradually
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  Speaker 1: tapers to the end, which is tipped with white. The
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  Speaker 1: color of the rest is a shining, silky black, with
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  Speaker 1: the exception of a broad white stripe on the top
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  Speaker 1: of the head. Nothing can be more beautiful than one
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  Speaker 1: of these animals when seen swimming, especially when on the
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  Speaker 1: lookout for any object. At such times, it raises its
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  Speaker 1: head quite above the surface, and the contrast between the
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  Speaker 1: shining black and the white, together with its sharp ears
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  Speaker 1: and a long tuft of hair rising from the middle
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  Speaker 1: of its forehead, which looks like three small horns, render
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  Speaker 1: it quite a novel and attractive object. They are in
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  Speaker 1: general very tame, and will permit a canoe or boat
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  Speaker 1: to approach very near before they dive. I was told, however,
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  Speaker 1: that they are become much more shy since they have
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  Speaker 1: been accustomed to shoot them with muskets than when they
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  Speaker 1: used only arrows. The skin is held in great estimation
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  Speaker 1: in China, more especially that of the tail, the fur
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  Speaker 1: of which is finer and closer set than that on
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  Speaker 1: the body. This is always cut off and sold separately
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  Speaker 1: by the natives. The value of a skin is determined
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  Speaker 1: by its size, that being considered as a prime skin,
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  Speaker 1: which will reach in length from a man's chin to
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  Speaker 1: his feet. The food of the sea otter is fish,
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  Speaker 1: which he is very dexterous in taking, being an excellent swimmer,
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  Speaker 1: with feet webbed like those of a goose. They appear
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  Speaker 1: to be wholly confined to the sea coast, at least
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  Speaker 1: to the salt water. They have usually three or four
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  Speaker 1: young at a time, but I know not how often
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  Speaker 1: they breed, nor in what place they deposit their young,
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  Speaker 1: though I have frequently seen them swimming around the mother
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  Speaker 1: when no larger than rats. The flesh is eaten by
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  Speaker 1: the natives, cooked in their usual mode by boiling, and
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  Speaker 1: is far preferable to that of the seal, of which
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  Speaker 1: they make much of count. But if not great hunters,
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  Speaker 1: there are few people more expert in fishing. Their lines
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  Speaker 1: are generally made from the sinew of the whale and
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  Speaker 1: are extremely strong. For the hook, they usually make use
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  Speaker 1: of a straight piece of hard wood in the lower
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  Speaker 1: part of which is inserted and well secured with thread
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  Speaker 1: or whale sinew, a bit of bone made very sharp
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  Speaker 1: at the point and bearded. But I used to make
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  Speaker 1: for them hooks from iron, which they preferred, not only
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  Speaker 1: as being less liable to break, but more certain of
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  Speaker 1: securing the fish. Cod, halibut and other seafish were not
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  Speaker 1: only caught by them with hooks, but even salmon. To
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  Speaker 1: take this latter fish, they practice the following method. One
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  Speaker 1: person seats himself in a small canoe and baiting his
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  Speaker 1: hook with a sprat, which they are always careful to
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  Speaker 1: procure a fresh as possible, fastens his line to the
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  Speaker 1: handle of the paddle. This as he plies it in
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  Speaker 1: the water keeps the fish in constant motion, so as
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  Speaker 1: to give it the appearance of life, which the salmon seeing,
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  Speaker 1: leaps at it, and is instantly hooked, and by a
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  Speaker 1: sudden and dexterous motion of the paddle drawn on board.
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  Speaker 1: I have known some of the natives take no less
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  Speaker 1: than eight or ten salmon of a morning in this manner,
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  Speaker 1: and have seen from twenty to thirty canoes at a
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  Speaker 1: time in friendly cove. Thus employed, they are likewise little
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  Speaker 1: less skillful in taking the wil. This they kill with
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  Speaker 1: a kind of javelin or harpoon. Thus constructed and fitted,
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  Speaker 1: the barbs are formed of bone, which are sharpened on
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  Speaker 1: the outer side and hollowed within for the purpose of
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  Speaker 1: forming a socket for the staff. These are then secured
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  Speaker 1: firmly together with a whial's sinew, the point being fitted
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  Speaker 1: so as to receive a piece of mussel shell, which
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  Speaker 1: is ground to a very sharp edge and secured in
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  Speaker 1: its place by means of turpentine. To this head or
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  Speaker 1: prong is fastened a strong line of whale sinew about
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  Speaker 1: nine feet in length, to the end of which is
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  Speaker 1: tied a bark rope from fifty to sixty fathoms long.
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  Speaker 1: Having from twenty to thirty seal skin floats or boys
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  Speaker 1: attached to it at certain intervals in order to check
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  Speaker 1: the motion of the whale and obstruct his diving. In
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  Speaker 1: the socket of the harpoon, a staff or pole of
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  Speaker 1: about ten feet long, gradually tapering from the middle to
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  Speaker 1: each end, is placed. This the harpooner holds in his
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  Speaker 1: hand in order to strike the whale and immediately detaches it.
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  Speaker 1: As soon as the fish is struck, the whale is
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  Speaker 1: considered as the kingsfish, and no other person, when he
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  Speaker 1: is present, is permitted to touch him until the Royal
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  Speaker 1: harpoon has first drawn his blood. However near he may approach,
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  Speaker 1: and it would be considered almost as sacrilege for any
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  Speaker 1: of the common people to strike a whale before he
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  Speaker 1: is killed, particularly if any of the chiefs should be present.
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  Speaker 1: They also kill the porpoise and seek cow with harpoons,
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  Speaker 1: but this inferior game is not indicted the lower class.
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  Speaker 1: With regard to their canoes, some of the handsomest to
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  Speaker 1: be found on the whole coast are made at Nootka,
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  Speaker 1: though very fine ones are brought by the Wiccaninish and
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  Speaker 1: quaiet Zarts, who have them more highly ornamented. They are
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  Speaker 1: of all sizes, from such as are capable of holding
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  Speaker 1: only one person to their largest war canoes, which will
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  Speaker 1: carry forty men, and are excpt extremely light. Of these,
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  Speaker 1: the largest of any that I ever saw was one
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  Speaker 1: belonging to Mochina, which I measured and found to be
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  Speaker 1: forty two feet six inches in length at the bottom
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  Speaker 1: and forty six feet from stem to stern. These are
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  Speaker 1: made of pine hollowed out from a tree, with their
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  Speaker 1: chisels solely, which are about three inches broad and six
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  Speaker 1: in length, and set into a handle of very hard wood.
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  Speaker 1: This instrument was formerly made of flint or some hard stone,
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  Speaker 1: ground down to as sharp an edge as possible, but
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  Speaker 1: since they have learned the use of iron, they have
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  Speaker 1: almost all of them of that metal. Instead of a
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  Speaker 1: mallet for striking the chisel, they make use of a
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  Speaker 1: smooth round stone, which they hold in the palm of
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  Speaker 1: the hand. With this same awkward instrument, they not only
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  Speaker 1: excavate their canoes and trays and smooth their plank, but
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  Speaker 1: cut down such trees as they want, either for building
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  Speaker 1: fuel or other purposes, a labor which is mostly done
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  Speaker 1: by their slaves. The felling of trees, as practiced by
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  Speaker 1: them is a slow and most tedious process, three of
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  Speaker 1: them being generally from two to three days in cutting
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  Speaker 1: down a large one. Yet so attached were they to
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  Speaker 1: their own method, that, notwithstanding they saw Thompson frequently, with
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  Speaker 1: one of our axes, of which there was a number saved,
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  Speaker 1: fell a tree in less time than they could have
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  Speaker 1: gone round it with their chisels. Still they could not
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  Speaker 1: be persuaded to make use of them. After hollowing out
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  Speaker 1: their canoes, which they do very neatly, they fashion the
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  Speaker 1: outside and slightly burn it for the purpose of removing
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  Speaker 1: any splinters or small points that might obstruct its passage
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  Speaker 1: through the water, after which they rub it over with
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  Speaker 1: rushes or coarse mats in order to smooth it, which
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  Speaker 1: not only renders it almost as smooth as glass, but
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  Speaker 1: forms a better security for it from the weather. This
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  Speaker 1: operation of burning and rubbing down the bottoms of their
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  Speaker 1: canoes is practiced as often as they acquire any considerable
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  Speaker 1: degree of roughness from use. The outside, by this means
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  Speaker 1: becomes quite black, and to complete their work they paint
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  Speaker 1: the inside of a bright red with ochre or some
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  Speaker 1: other similar substance. The prows and sterns are almost always
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  Speaker 1: ornamented with figures of ducks or some other kind of bird,
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  Speaker 1: the former being so fashioned as to represent the head
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  Speaker 1: and the latter the tail. These are separate pieces from
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  Speaker 1: the canoe and are fastened to it with small flexible
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  Speaker 1: twigs or bark cord. Some of these canoes, particularly those
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  Speaker 1: employed in whaling, which will hold about ten men, are
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  Speaker 1: ornamented within about two inches below the gunwale, with two
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  Speaker 1: parallel lines on each side of very small white shells
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  Speaker 1: running for an aft, which has a very pretty effect.
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  Speaker 1: Their war canoes have no ornament of this kind, but
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  Speaker 1: are painted on the outside with figures in white chalk
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  Speaker 1: representing eagles, whales, human heads, et cetera. They are very
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  Speaker 1: dexterous in the use of their paddles, which are very
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  Speaker 1: neatly wrought and are five feet long, with a short
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  Speaker 1: handle and a blade seven inches broad in the middle
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  Speaker 1: tapering to a sharp point. With these they will make
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  Speaker 1: a canoe skim very swiftly on the water with scarcely
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  Speaker 1: any noise, while they keep time to the stroke of
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  Speaker 1: the paddle with their songs. With regard to these, they
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  Speaker 1: have a number, which they sing on various occasions as war,
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  Speaker 1: whaling and fishing, at their marriages and feasts, and at
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  Speaker 1: public festivals or solemnities. The language of the most of
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  Speaker 1: these appears to be very different in many respects from
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  Speaker 1: that used in their common conversation, which leads me to
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  Speaker 1: believe either that they have a different mode of expressing
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  Speaker 1: themselves in poetry, or that they borrow their songs from
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  Speaker 1: their neighbors. And what the more particularly induces me to
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  Speaker 1: the latter opinion, is that whenever any of the Nuchimas,
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  Speaker 1: a people from the northward and who speak a very
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  Speaker 1: different language, arrived, they used to tell me that they
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  Speaker 1: expected a new song, and were almost always sure to
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  Speaker 1: have one. Their tunes are generally soft and plaintive, and
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  Speaker 1: though not possessing great variety, are not deficient in harmony.
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  Speaker 1: Their singing is generally a companied with several rude kinds
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  Speaker 1: of instrumental music, among the most prominent of which is
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  Speaker 1: a kind of drum. This is nothing more than a
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  Speaker 1: long plank hollowed out on the underside and made quite thin,
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  Speaker 1: which is beat upon by a stick of about a
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  Speaker 1: foot long, and renders a sound not unlike beating on
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  Speaker 1: the head of an empty cask, but much louder. But
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  Speaker 1: the two most favorite instruments are the rattle and the
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  Speaker 1: pipe or whistle, which are however, only used by the King,
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  Speaker 1: the chiefs, or some particular persons. The former is made
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  Speaker 1: of dried seal skin so as to represent a fish,
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  Speaker 1: and is filled with a number of small, smooth pebbles.
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  Speaker 1: It has a short handle and is painted red. The
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  Speaker 1: whistle is made of bone, generally the leg of a deer.
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  Speaker 1: It is short, but amidst a very shrill sound. They
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  Speaker 1: have likewise another other kind of music, which they make
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  Speaker 1: use of in dancing in the manner of castanets. This
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  Speaker 1: is produced by a number of mussel or cockle shells
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  Speaker 1: tied together and shaken to a kind of tune which
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  Speaker 1: is accompanied with the voice. Their slaves, as I have observed,
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  Speaker 1: form their most valuable species of property. These are of
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  Speaker 1: both sexes, being either captives taken by themselves in war
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  Speaker 1: or purchased from the neighboring tribes, and who reside in
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  Speaker 1: the same house, forming as it were, a part of
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  Speaker 1: the family. Are usually kindly treated, eat of the same food,
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  Speaker 1: and live as well as their masters. They are compelled, however,
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  Speaker 1: at times, to labor severely, as not only all the
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  Speaker 1: menial offices are performed by them, such as bringing water,
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  Speaker 1: cutting wood, and a variety of others, but they are
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  Speaker 1: obliged to make the canoes, to assist in building and
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  Speaker 1: repairing the house, uses, to supply their masters with fish,
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  Speaker 1: and to attend them in war, and to fight for them.
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  Speaker 1: None but the king and the chiefs have slaves, the
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  Speaker 1: common people being prevented from holding them, either from their
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  Speaker 1: inability to purchase them, or, as I am rather inclined
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  Speaker 1: to think, from its being considered as the privilege of
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  Speaker 1: the former alone to have them, especially as all those
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  Speaker 1: made prisoners in war belong either to the king or
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  Speaker 1: the chiefs who have captured them, each one holding such
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  Speaker 1: as have been taken by himself or his slaves. There
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  Speaker 1: is probably, however, some little distinction in favor of the king,
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  Speaker 1: who was always the commander of the expedition, as Makina
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  Speaker 1: had nearly fifty male and female in his house, a
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  Speaker 1: number constituting about one half of its inhabitants, comprehending those
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  Speaker 1: obtained by war and purchase, whereas none of the other
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  Speaker 1: chiefs had more than twelve. The females are employed principally
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  Speaker 1: in making cloth, in cooking, collecting berries, et cetera, and
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  Speaker 1: with regard to food and living in general, have not
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  Speaker 1: a much harder lot than their mistresses, the principal difference
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  Speaker 1: consisting in these poor, unfortunate creatures being considered as free
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  Speaker 1: to any one, their masters prostituting them whenever they think
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  Speaker 1: proper for the purpose of gain. In this way, many
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  Speaker 1: of them are brought on board the ships and offered
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  Speaker 1: to the crews. From whence an opinion appears to have
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  Speaker 1: been formed by some of our navigators injurious to the
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  Speaker 1: chastity of their females, than which nothing can be more
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  Speaker 1: generally untrue, as perhaps in no part of the world
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  Speaker 1: is that virtue more prized. The houses at Nootka, as
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  Speaker 1: already stated, are about twenty, without comprising those inhabited by
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  Speaker 1: the Kiahars, a small tribe that has been conquered and
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  Speaker 1: incorporated into that of Nutka, though they must be considered
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  Speaker 1: as in a state of vassalage, as they are not
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  Speaker 1: permitted to have any chiefs among them, and live by
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  Speaker 1: themselves in a cluster of small houses at a little
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  Speaker 1: distance from the village. The Nutka tribe, which consists of
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  Speaker 1: about five hundred warriors, is not only more numerous than
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  Speaker 1: almost any of the neighboring tribes, but far exceeds them
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  Speaker 1: in the strength and martial spirit of its people. And
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  Speaker 1: in fact, there are but few nations within a hundred
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  Speaker 1: miles either to the north or south, but are considered
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  Speaker 1: as tributary to them. End of Section eight.