cosmogony as well as the Almighty, and his tradition
in opposition to the divine.--ED.]

It is not to be expected that men perfectly ignorant, like these
Indians, should be free from superstitions: one of the most ridiculous
they have, regards the method of preparing and eating fish. In the month
of July, 1811, the natives brought us at first a very scanty supply of
the fresh salmon, from the fear that we would cut the fish crosswise
instead of lengthwise; being persuaded that if we did so, the river
would be obstructed, and the fishing ruined. Having reproached the chief
on that account, they brought us a greater quantity, but all cooked, and
which, not to displease them, it was necessary to eat before sunset.
Re-assured at last by our solemn promises not to cut the fish crosswise,
they supplied us abundantly during the remainder of the season.

In spite of the vices that may be laid to the charge of the natives of
the Columbia, I regard them as nearer to a state of civilization than
any of the tribes who dwell east of the Rocky mountains. They did not
appear to me so attached to their customs that they could not easily
adopt those of civilized nations: they would dress themselves willingly
in the European mode, if they had the means. To encourage this taste, we
lent pantaloons to the chiefs who visited us, when they wished to enter
our houses, never allowing them to do it in a state of nudity. They
possess, in an eminent degree, the qualities opposed to indolence,
improvidence, and stupidity: the chiefs, above all, are distinguished
for their good sense and intelligence. Generally speaking, they have a
ready intellect and a tenacious memory. Thus old Comcomly recognised the
mate of the _Albatross_ as having visited the country sixteen years
before, and recalled to the latter the name of the captain under whom he
had sailed at that period.

The _Chinook_ language is spoken by all the nations from the mouth of
the Columbia to the falls. It is hard and difficult to pronounce, for
strangers; being full of gutturals, like the Gaelic. The combinations
_thl_, or _tl_, and _lt_, are as frequent in the Chinook as in the
Mexican.[AA]

[Footnote AA: There can not be a doubt that the existing tribes on the
N.W. coast, have reached that country from the _South_, and not from the
North. They are the _debris_ of the civilization of Central America,
expelled by a defecating process that is going on in all human
societies, and so