Muir's sense of humor cost us one-third of a roll of
butter. We invited our captain to take dinner with us. I got out the
bread and other viands, and set the two-pound roll of butter beside the
bread and placed both by Tow-a-att. He glanced at the roll of butter and
at the three who were to eat, measured with his eye one-third of the
roll, cut it off with his hunting knife and began to cut it into squares
and eat it with great gusto. I was about to interfere and show him the
use we made of butter, but Muir stopped me with a wink. The old chief
calmly devoured his third of the roll, and rubbing his stomach with
great satisfaction pronounced it "_hyas klosh_ (very good) glease."

Of necessity we had chosen the rainiest season of the year in that
dampest climate of North America, where there are two hundred and
twenty-five rainy days out of the three hundred and sixty-five. During
our voyage it did not rain every day, but the periods of sunshine were
so rare as to make us hail them with joyous acclamation.

We steered our course due westward for forty miles, then through a
sinuous, island-studded passage called Rocky Strait, stopping one day to
lay in a supply of venison before sailing on to the village of the Kake
Indians. My habit throughout the voyage, when coming to a native town,
was to find where the head chief lived, feed him with rice and regale
him with tobacco, and then induce him to call all his chiefs and head
men together for a council. When they were all assembled I would give
small presents of tobacco to each, and then open the floodgate of talk,
proclaiming my mission and telling them in simplest terms the Great New
Story. Muir would generally follow me, unfolding in turn some of the
wonders of God's handiwork and the beauty of clean, pure living; and
then in turn, beginning with the head chief, each Indian would make his
speech. We were received with joy everywhere, and if there was suspicion
at first old Tow-a-att's tearful pleadings and Kadishan's oratory
speedily brought about peace and unity.

These palavers often lasted a whole day and far into the night, and
usually ended with our being feasted in turn by the chief in whose house
we had held the council. I took the census of each village, getting the
heads of the families to count their relatives with the aid of
beans,--the large brown beans representing men, the large white ones,
women, and the small Boston beans, children. In this manner the first