anoe--no good" of his rivals.

The canoes were like those to be seen all along the coast, that is to
say they had been hollowed from cottonwood or pine trees and
afterward steamed and spread by means of hot water to meet the
maker's idea of the proper line of grace and speed. They were really
beautiful and sat the water almost as gracefully as the birch-bark
canoe of the Chippewas. At each end they rose into a sort of neck,
which terminated often in a head carved to resemble a deer or some
fabled animal. Some of them had white bands encircling the throat of
this figurehead. Their paddles were short and broad, but light and
strong.

These canoes are very seaworthy. As they were driven across the swift
waters, they danced on the waves like leaves, and the boatmen bent to
their oars with almost desperate energy and with most excited outcry.

Therein is expressed a mighty difference between the Siwash and the
plains Indian. The Cheyenne, the Sioux, conceal effort, or fear, or
enthusiasm. These little people chattered and whooped at each other
like monkeys. Upon hearing them for the first time I imagined they
were losing control of the boat. Judging from their accent they were
shrieking phrases like these:--

"Quick, quick! Dig in deep, Joe. Scratch now, we're going
down--whoop! Hay, now! All together--swing her, dog-gone ye--SWING
HER! Now straight--keep her straight! Can't ye see that eddy? Whoop,
whoop! Let out a link or two, you spindle-armed child. Now _quick_ or
we're lost!"

While the other men seemed to reply in kind: "Oh, rats, we're a
makin' it. Head her toward that bush. Don't get scared--trust
me--I'll sling her ashore!"

A plains Indian, under similar circumstances, would have strained
every muscle till his bones cracked, before permitting himself to
show effort or excitement.

With all their confusion and chatter these little people were always
masters of the situation. They came out right, no matter how savage
the river, and the Bulkley at this point was savage. Every drop of
water was in motion. It had no eddies, no slack water. Its momentum
was terrific. In crossing, the boatmen were obliged to pole their
canoes far up beyond the point at which they meant to land; then, at
the word, they swung into the rushing current and pulled like fiends
for the opposite shore. Their broad paddles dipped so rapidly they
resembled paddle-wheels. They kept the craft head-on to the current,
and did not attempt to c