WARFARE 367

Coola the important men of Sizx?, Tcumotf, and Algalix? met at Qomgo-ts
and discussed the matter stormily. Poffes was the leading Bella Coola
chief at the time, but he alone did not attend the meeting at which all
the others were present, though he sent a man to search a storehouse
owned by the murdered woman on the south side of the mouth of Bella
Coola River, near the former Hudson’s Bay Company’s post. Bulxwalaks
had a large amount of ammunition stored within, and this was brought
to the house of Poffes. Next morning, the chief himself appeared, his
face smeared with ashes and his hair tied in a top-knot with a weasel-skin.
This is done by anyone who has killed a man, and it was a clear inti-
mation that Poffes had decided on war. He seated himself in the doorway
of his house, a cocked musket in either hand, and intimated that he would
shoot anyone who passed on the sidewalk before him. For four days he
sat there, neither speaking nor eating: he was numit?, so no one disre-
garded his wishes and the inmates even of his own house used the refuse
holes for egress during that period. No other case is known of such an
action, but Poffes could do as he liked, and he manifested his grief and
determination in this spectacular manner. On the fifth day, he ordered
drums to be beaten, and the inhabitants of the adjacent villages gathered;
Pottes wasted no words:

“Buxwalaks has been murdered,” he said. ‘““She was a chief and my
relative.!2 I am going to war. We shall use her own powder and shot.”

The ammunition was distributed and the Bella Coola prepared for the
expedition.

Owing to the prestige of Poffes, volunteers came swarming in, not only
from Bella Coola itself, but from Kimsquit and Ta/-io as well. Noone
was thoroughly acquainted with the geography of the Kwakiutl territory
except a slave named, like the Kwakiutl warrior chief, Siwid, though not,
however, related tohim. This man had lived among the Bella Coola for
so long that he was thought reliable; he readily agreed to act as guide,
only asking that his old mother be spared, a request which was granted.

After the usual delays, the expedition set out and spent the first night
at Kwatna. Next morning, Kwa/sdni, one of the leading warriors, tied
his hair into a top-knot and smeared his face with ashes. He was a man
whose bravery had been firmly established by the distribution of valuable
presents. To show his valour, he stood up on the beach within easy
musket range and called out:

“Please fire at my top-knot. If you hit it and make it fall, so will we
lay low our foes.”

“It is doubtful whether she was a kinswoman, but Poffes used the term figura-
tively in speaking of one who, like himself, was a person of importance.