340 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

to attack. It is said that the Fort Rupert people once raided
it, but their hair became entangled in the thorns growing near
the tide-flats and they were easily slain while struggling to free
themselves. Two warriors escaped and hid in the branches
of a huge spruce tree. They used to slip down at night and
steal food, thus supporting themselves for several weeks, but
were at last discovered and enslaved. On such occasions the
villages of the lower and central valley usually rallied to the
help of Qomgo-ts, the most exposed one, although there was
no mechanism to enforce such assistance. The inhabitants of
this town attributed their protection to dfguntdm, and used
to claim that he had decreed that they should be immune
owing to their close association with him. Though Bella Coola
itself was comparatively free from molestation, Kimsquit and
Tal-io, with smaller populations and less strategic positions,
were subject to frequent attacks. At least one of the villages at
the head of South Bentinck Arm was defended with a stockade
of cedar trunks, set upright in a double row and entered by a
water-gate with a drop-door.? This water-gate protected the
residents on many occasions, and it is remembered that one
Fort Rupert raiding-party was annihilated while endeavouring
to batter down the door with a huge ram. The defenders,
armed with muskets, picked off the attackers as they struggled
in the open.

All the older men were emphatic in stating that most of
their raids were in revenge for such attacks. Although such
statements were partisan, they were confirmed in every way
and were probably tolerably correct. Lack of a strong govern-
ment was a serious handicap to the Bella Coola. After being
assailed, the members of the town would discuss retaliation,
and if unanimity of opinion was reached, that course was de-
cided upon. Public opinion alone selected the leader, usually
a man who had given a number of potlatches, especially one
whose position had been made stronger by previous validation

2It is said that such stockades surrounded other villages, but definite infor-
mation on this point was unavailable.