he custom-house to Port
Townsend,--and that no vessels would go in there. It seemed like leaving
Andromeda on her rock. We are going down to make a farewell visit.

VII.

Port Angeles Village and the Indian Ranch.--A "Ship's
_Klootchman_."--Indian _Muck-a-Muck_.--Disposition of an Old Indian
Woman.--A Windy Trip to Victoria.--The Black
_Tamahnous_.--McDonald's in the Wilderness.--The Wild Cowlitz.--Up
the River during a Flood.--Indian Boatmen.--Birch-Bark and Cedar
Canoes.

EDIZ HOOK, October 21, 1866.

We are making a visit at the end of Ediz Hook. No one lives here now but
the light-keepers. When we feel the need of company, we look across to
the village of Port Angeles and the Indian ranch. It is very striking to
see how much more picturesque one is than the other, in the distance. In
the village, all the trees have been cut down; but the lodges of the
Indians stand in the midst of a maple grove, and in this Indian-summer
weather there is always a lovely haze about it, bright leaves, and blue
beams of mist across the trees. Living so much out of doors as they do,
and in open lodges, their little fires are often seen, giving their
ranch a hospitable look, and making the appearance of the village very
uninviting in comparison.

OCTOBER 26, 1866.

We have had a great storm; and last night, about dark, a white figure of
a woman appeared in the water, rising and falling, outside the breakers.
Some Indians went out in their canoes, and took her in to the shore. One
of them came to tell us about it. A "ship's _klootchman_" (wife or
woman), he said it was, and a "_hyas_ [big] ship" must have gone down.
It was the figure-head of a vessel. The next morning, I saw that the
Indians had set it up on the sand, with great wings--which they made of
broken pieces of spars--at the sides. It was the large, handsome figure
of a woman, twice life-size. They seemed to regard it as a kind of
goddess; and I felt half inclined to, myself, she looked out so serenely
at the water. I sat down by her side, thinking about what had probably
happened, to try to get her calm way of regarding it. A sloop was sent
over from the custom-house, to take it across the bay for
identification; but that proved impracticable. The captain said that he
knew the work,--it was English carving. Soon after, a vessel came in,
having lost her figure-head. The men on board said that a strange ship
ran into her in the ni