WARFARE 339

seldom a chief who had given many potlatches. Successful
raiders rarely slew such an one; his position placed him above
the dangers to which lesser men were subject.

Raids appear never to have been carried out solely for the
purpose of giving warriors opportunities to display their
prowess, or of permitting young men to prove their mettle.
Scarcity of food was the commonest cause for forays when, of
course, the victims were chosen for their accumulated supplies.
The Kwakiutl especially, lacking abundance of salmon, often
attacked the Bella Coola. Even more dreaded were the
Kitkatla, the most warlike people of the central coast, who
used to raid for many miles to carry off slaves whom they sold
or traded for other commodities. Trespassing, too, was a
source of friction which often led to hostility. In such a case,
the offenders were usually held up to ridicule at potlatches,
and the irritation gradually increased until wiped out in blood-
shed. Members of a tribe which had suffered from a raid
prompted by any of these motives would await a suitable
opportunity for retaliation; this in turn would be avenged,
and a vendetta often ensued lasting for generations. As already
described, a ceremonial error brought punishment from a
neighbouring tribe; this was the only motive which caused
fighting between different Bella Coola villages. In the last
century there was a struggle of this kind between the people
of Stux and Afgaéléx? in which the former were victorious and
took many slaves who were later ransomed. When ill-luck had
dogged a village or a group of villages for some time, the
inhabitants sometimes endeavoured to wipe out their mis-
fortunes by attacking another tribe.

The teeming salmon at Bella Coola, Kimsquit, and Tai/-io,
made it unnecessary for the Bella Coola to wage aggressive
war for which they were unfitted both on account of their
unmilitary attitude and their lack of central authority. On
the other hand, they were tempting victims for more belligerent
neighbours. The narrow Bella Coola valley, however, far re-
moved from the open sea, and densely populated, was difficult