348 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

celebrated Tciuhisa was he who held sway between 1850 and
1870, a man of almost gigantic proportions, of tremendous phy-
sical strength, and endowed with force of character and initi-
ative as well. Pitted against him, the Kimsquit people suf-
fered even more than before; there were few direct assaults,
but Kitkatla canoes seemed always to be lurking in the vicinity,
ready to kill or enslave heedless fishermen or those travelling
between Kimsquit and Bella Coola or Ta/-io. Friends of the
victims repeatedly discussed counter-measures, but lack of
leadership prevented them from coming to a decision for
several years.

One winter, about the middle of the last century, the Kimsquit
determined to take the offensive in May. This plan was discussed both
at Bella Coola and Ta/-io; at Qomgo-ts the leading chief, Nusmét-a, gave
his support and many men whose relatives had been killed or enslaved
promised to join the Kimsquit raiders. Among others who took part in
the conference was a certain Lo-qwa-t, an influential Bella Bella chief
who chanced to be visiting relatives in Qomgo-ts at the time. It was
decided that the rendezvous should be Qot#na/os, on Labouchere Channel.

During the spring those who planned to take part in the expedition
busied themselves with their preparations. No one knew how large
would be the force, since as usual, everyone used his own discretion
whether or not to join it; some did so to avenge injuries to their relatives,
some merely to display martial ability, whereas others declined to repay
their wrongs. At last the appointed date came round, and some fifty
canoes, each containing twenty to thirty men, gathered at the appointed
place.* Thence they set out and encamped for the first night at Scratch
River, Qe/djut, near Bella Bella. Lo-qwa-t knew the time of meeting and
the route that would be followed, so sent out two lads to hunt deer at
the spot, though, not wishing to circulate news of the raiders, he did not
tell them what they were likely to find. The two hunters stumbled upon
the encampment without being observed, and hurried home to report
what they had seen. Lo-gwa-t had intended to join the party, so he
now set out in a small canoe with the two as paddlers, after warning them
that they must say nothing at home of his movements. His war equip-
ment consisted of a musket and two palette-shaped boards with small

‘The approximate date was judged from the fact that the old man who told of
the expedition in 1922 said that his father was about five years of age at the time.
‘The strength of the expedition was probably exaggerated.