6 REPORT—1890,

arge size and very neatly made, and on shelves overhead, were stowed
the family chattels and stores, a vast and miscellaneous assortment.
‘Mr. Goldsborough,’ he adds, ‘ who visited the village in 1850, informed
me tl.at the houses generally were on an even larger scale at that time ;
that the chief’s house was no less than 100 feet in length, and that
about twenty women were busily engaged in it, making bark mats and
dog-hair blankets.’

It is evident that these people differ in character and habits as widely
from the Indians of the interior as the Chinese and Japanese differ from
the Tartar nomads. The coast tribes of British Columbia are communi-
ties of fishermen, mechanics, and traders, with a well-defined political
and commercial system. They were to all appearance especially suited
for accepting the industrial methods of modern Europe; and it becomes a
subject of interest to inquire into the probabilities of the future in this
respect.

In this inquiry the element of the radical difference of stocks comes
very distinctly into view. We find that, despite the superficial resem-
blance in polity and usages which has been noted among these tribes,
their moral and intellectual traits, like their languages, remain widely
dissimilar. These differences become strikingly apparent in reviewing
the recent information given respecting the condition and progress of
the British Columbian tribes in the valuable annual reports of the Cana-
dian Department of Indian Affairs.

Thus the Kwakiutl people—known in these documents by the griev-
ously disordered name of ‘ Kwaw-kewlth ’—are described in a late report
(1887) as ‘the least advanced and most averse to civilisation of any in
the province.’ ‘The missionaries of several Churches,’ we are further
told, ‘ have endeavoured to carry on mission work among them, but each
was obliged to abandon them as hopeless, until, several years ago, the
Rev. Mr. Hall, of the Church of England, was stationed there, and, in
spite of all the obstacles and discouragemerfts encountered by him, re-
mained, and has apparently won the confidence of some of these poor,
ignorant creatures.’ Jn the following year the local agent reports some
improvement, but adds that ‘the school is not so well attended as could
be desired. The children are not averse to learning, but their parents
see in education the downfall of all their most cherished customs.’ In
1889 he finds among them some signs of progress in the mechanic arts,
and a willingness to give up some of their superstitions. ‘Only to the
potlatch,’ he adds significantly, ‘do they cling with great pertinacity.’

To understand these facts it should be known that the Kwakiutl, by
virtue of their force of character, their stubborn conservatism, and what
may be called, in reference to their peculiar creed and rites, a strong
religious sentiment, held a high position, and exercised a prevailing
influence among the neighbouring tribes. The changes introduced by
civilisation have naturally been repugnant to them. They cling to their
ancient customs and laws; and when these are set aside, the sense of
moral restraint is lost, and the Spartan-like persistency which made
them respected degenerates into a sullen recklessness, combined with an
obstinate hostility to all foreign influences.

A remarkable contrast appears in the character and conduct of their
northern neighbours, the T'simshians, These are the people among whom
Mr. Duncan had such distinguished success in founding his mission of
Metlakahtla. According to the brief description given in H. H. Ban-