arely resist the temptation of stealing
them.

These savages are not addicted to intemperance, unlike, in that respect
the other American Indians, if we must not also except the Patagonians,
who, like the Flatheads, regard intoxicating drinks as poisons, and
drunkenness as disgraceful. I will relate a fact in point: one of the
sons of the chief Comcomly being at the establishment one day, some of
the gentlemen amused themselves with making him drink wine, and he was
very soon drunk. He was sick in consequence, and remained in a state of
stupor for two days. The old chief came to reproach us, saying that we
had degraded his son by exposing him to the ridicule of the slaves, and
besought us not to induce him to take strong liquors in future.

The men go entirely naked, not concealing any part of their bodies. Only
in winter they throw over the shoulders a panther's skin, or else a
sort of mantle made of the skins of wood-rats sewed together. In rainy
weather I have seen them wear a mantle of rush mats, like a Roman toga,
or the vestment which a priest wears in celebrating mass; thus equipped,
and furnished with a conical hat made from fibrous roots and
impermeable, they may call themselves rain-proof. The women, in addition
to the mantle of skins, wear a petticoat made of the cedar bark, which
they attach round the girdle, and which reaches to the middle of the
thigh. It is a little longer behind than before, and is fabricated in
the following manner: They strip off the fine bark of the cedar, soak it
as one soaks hemp, and when it is drawn out into fibres, work it into a
fringe; then with a strong cord they bind the fringes together. With so
poor a vestment they contrive to satisfy the requirements of modesty;
when they stand it drapes them fairly enough; and when they squat down
in their manner, it falls between their legs, leaving nothing exposed
but the bare knees and thighs. Some of the younger women twist the
fibres of bark into small cords, knotted at the ends, and so form the
petticoat, disposed in a fringe, like the first, but more easily kept
clean and of better appearance.

Cleanliness is not a virtue among these females, who, in that respect,
resemble the other Indian women of the continent. They anoint the body
and dress the hair with fish oil, which does not diffuse an agreeable
perfume. Their hair (which both sexes wear long) is jet black; it is
badly combed, but parted in the middle, as is the custom of