r the segment (frustum) of a cone, of which the smaller end is
the bottom of the basket; and being made of all sizes, from that of the
smallest cup to the capacity of five or six gallons, they answer the
double purpose of a covering for the head or to contain water. Some
of them are highly ornamented with strands of bear-grass, woven into
figures of various colors, which require great labor; yet they are made
very expeditiously and sold for a trifle. It is for the construction
of these baskets that the bear-grass forms an article of considerable
traffic. It grows only near the snowy region of the high mountains; the
blade, which is two feet long and about three-eighths of an inch wide,
is smooth, strong, and pliant; the young blades particularly, from
their not being exposed to the sun and air, have an appearance of great
neatness, and are generally preferred. Other bags and baskets, not
waterproof, are made of cedar-bark, silk-grass, rushes, flags, and
common coarse sedge, for the use of families. In these manufactures,
as in the ordinary work of the house, the instrument most in use is a
knife, or rather a dagger. The handle of it is small, and has a strong
loop of twine for the thumb, to prevent its being wrested from the band.
On each side is a blade, double-edged and pointed; the longer from nine
to ten inches, the shorter from four to five. This knife is carried
habitually in the hand, sometimes exposed, but mostly, when in company
with strangers, is put under the robe."

Naturally, all of the Columbia River Indians were found to be expert
in the building and handling of canoes. Here their greatest skill was
employed. And, it may be added, the Indians of the North Pacific coast
to-day are equally adept and skilful. The canoes of the present race of
red men do not essentially differ from those of the tribes described by
Lewis and Clark, and who are now extinct. The Indians then living above
tide-water built canoes of smaller size than those employed by the
nations farther down the river. The canoes of the Tillamooks and other
tribes living on the seacoast were upwards of fifty feet long, and would
carry eight or ten thousand pounds' weight, or twenty-five or thirty
persons. These were constructed from the trunk of a single tree, usually
white cedar. The bow and stern rose much higher than the gunwale, and
were adorned by grotesque figures excellently well carved and fitted
to pedestals cut in the solid wood of the c