m barbarism.
At one place, a hunter from the interior was barter ing furs for hiagua shells to a native of the sea- coast. At another, a brave skilled in wood-work had his stock of bows and arrows spread out before him, and an ad miring crowd were standing around looking on. But the taciturn brave sat coolly polishing and staining his arrows as if he were totally unconscious of spectators, until the magical word " buy " was mentioned, when he at once awoke to life and drove a bargain in bow and quiver versus dried berries and "ickters" that would have done credit to a Yankee.
At one place sat an old warrior from the upper Columbia, making arrow-heads, chipping off the little scales of flint with infinite patience, literally wearing the stone into the requisite shape. Beside him lay a small pack of flints brought from beyond the moun tains, for such stone was rarely found along the lower Columbia. Squaws sat in front of their wigwams sew ing mats, carefully sorting the rushes, putting big ends with little ends, piercing each with a bodkin, and sewing them all together with a long bone needle threaded with buckskin or sinew. Others were weav ing that water-tight wickerwork which was, perhaps, the highest art to which the Oregon Indians ever attained. Here a band of Indians were cooking, feasting, laughing, shouting around a huge sturgeon captured the night before. There a circle of gamblers were playing "hand," passing a small stick secretly from hand to hand and guessing whose hand contained it, singing as they played that monotonous " ho-ha, ho-ha, ho-ha," which was the inseparable accompani ment of dancing, gambling, and horseback riding.
Among them all Cecil moved with the calm dignity
