The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-16 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Wanderings of an Artist among the Indians of
North America. By Paul Kane. Longman.
. The North American Indians have so often figured
in the pages of poetry and fiction, there is so much
of the romantic mingled with the history of the
Stalwart warriors slowly passing away-from their
hunting grounds,' and decreasing year by year
beneath the inevitable supremacy of the white
intruders, that a volume recording the travels and
adventures of a stranger among their tribes pos-
sesses considerable interest. The object of Mr.
Paul Kane in his wanderings was to sketch some • •
of the Indians, and this he has done very success-
fully, as the numerous curious and striking figures
scattered through his volume prove. His route
was through the Hudson's Bay Company's territory
to Vancouver's Island and Oregon, and back again
to Canada, from whence he started. The attention
recently excited by the formation of a new British
colony in this very locality adds to the interest of
the volume, as we may safely suppose that gold-
diggers and storekeepers, and all the wild adjuncts
of a party of gold discoverers have invaded those
desolate regions where the author visited his red
friends. His descriptions of !the scenery, and
the incidental anecdotes which he introduces, are •
full of animation and variety. He found some
difficulty in making his sketches, owing to the
strong prejudice entertained by the Indians against
having their portraits taken. In many instances
he was unable to overcome this aversion.
"I visited the lodges of the Eus-a-nich Indians, who
were on a visit. The chief was very rich, and had eight
wives with him. I made him understand, by showing
him some sketches, that I wished to take his likeness. This
was, however, opposed so violently by his ladies, that I
was glad to escape out of reach of their tongues, as they
were all chattering together, while ho sat like a Grand
Turk, evidently flattered by the interest they showed for
his welfare. A few days afterwards I met the chief some
distance from his camp, and alone, when he willingly conl.
sented to let me take his likeness upon my giying him a
piece of tobacco.
" In one of my daily excursions, I was particularly struck
by the ugliness of an Indian whom I met. Upon inquiry,
I found he was Shawstun, the head chief of the Sinshomas. He inquired very earnestly if my sketching him
would not involve the risk of his dying ; and after I had
finished' the sketch, and given him a piece of tobacco, he
held it up for some moments, and said it was a small re-
compense for risking his life. He followed me afterwards
for two or three days, begging of me to destroy the picture ;
and at last, to get rid of him, I made a rough copy of it,
which I tore up in his presence, pretending that it was
the original."
Regarding one of the most curious portraits in the
volume—that of a fiat-headed woman and child—
the author tells the following anecdote. He had
some trouble in persuading her to sit, but at last
succeeded, and some time after, in travelling, re-
turned to the same spot :
"We arrived at Nasqually, where I procured horses to
take me to the Cowlitz River. I again crossed Prairie de
Bute and Mud Mountain, and arrived at my old friend
Kiscox's lodge on the evening of the third day; but, to my
astonishment, I found him and his family unusually distant
in their manners, and the children even running away from
me and hiding. At last he asked if I had not taken the
likeness of a woman when last among them. I said that
I had, and mentioned her name, Caw wacham, alluding to
the portrait of a woman and child, No. 10, page 205 ; a
dead silence ensued, nor could I get the slightiest answer:to
my inquiries. Upon leaving the lodge I met a half-bred,
who told me that Caw wacham was dead, and that I was
supposed to be the cause of her death. The silence was
occasioned by my having mentioned a dead person's name,
which is considered disrespectful to the deceased, and un-
lucky.
" I immediately procured a canoe, and started for Fort
Vancouver, down the river, paddling all night, well know-
ing the danger that would result from my meeting with any
of her relations, and arrived safely at Fort Vancouver on the
20th June, with my budget of news from the civilised world.
Here I had to remain until the Ist of July, waiting for the
boats, which were daily arriving from New Caledonia and
the Upper Columbia with furs, and reloading again with
their winter outfits for their posts in the interior. During
this time I amused myself m hunting and sketching. I
took a sketch of a Chinook boy with a singular head-dress
of beads ; the design seemed to be entirely original with
him, as I had never before met with any resembling it."
Respecting the ceremony of compressing the head
the author gives some curious particulars
:
The Chinooks and Cowlitz Indians carry the custom of
flattening the head to a greater extent than any other of the
Flathead tribes. The process is as follows :—The Indian
mothers all carry their infants strapped to a piece of board
covered with moss or loose fibres of cedar bark, and in order
to flatten the head they place a pad on the infant's forehead,
on the top of which is laid a piece of smooth bark, bound
on .by a leathern band passing through holes in the board
on 'either side, and kept tightly pressed across the front of
the head—a sort of pillow of grass or cedar fibres being
placed.undei the back of the neck to support it. This pro-
cess commences with the birth of the infant, and is conti-
nued for a period of from eight to twelve months, by which
time the head has lost its natural shape, and acquired that
of a wedge : the front of the head flat and higher at the
crown, giving it a most unnatural appearance.
"It might be supposed, from the extentto which this is
carried, that the operation would be attended with great
suffering to the infant, but I have never heard the infants
crying or moaning, although I have seen the eyes seem-
ingly starting out of the sockets from the great pressure.
But on the contrary, when the lashings were removed, I
have noticed them cry until they were replaced. From the
apparent dulness of the children whilst under the pressure,
I should imagine that a state of torpor or insensibility is
induced, and that the return to consciousness occasioned by
its removal must be naturally followed by the sense a
pain
"This unnatural operation, however, does not seem to
injure the health, the mortality among the Flathead chil-
dren not being perceptibly greater than amongst other
Indian tribes ; nor does it seem to injure their intellect. On
the contrary, the Flatheads are generally considered fully
as intelligent as the surrounding tribes, who allow their
heads to preserve their natural shape, and it is from among
the round heads that the Flatheads take" their slaves, look-
ing with contempt even upon the whites for having round
heads, the. flat head being considered as the distinguishing
mark of freedom.
The following passage describes the author's intro-
duction to a wealthy Indian chief :
" A couple of days after my arrival at the fort, I was ew
gaged in taking the likeness of an Indian. The door of nil
room was suddenly thrown open, and an Indian entered of
a very plain and unprepossessing appearance. As I was
unwilling to be disturbed, I rather unceremoniously dis-
missed the intruder, and closed the door on him, supposing
him to be some common Indian ; for were I to admit au
corners, I should have been annoyed from morning till
night. About half-an-hour afterwards, Mr. Finlaysoll
came in, and told me that the great Yellow-cum, the head
chief of the Macaws at Cape Flattery, had arrived at the
fort. I had heard 84 much of this chief, both from hi 9
enemies, the Clallums at I-eh-nus, and the Indians at Fort
Vancouver, that I had determined to go to Cape Flattery?!
distance of 60 miles, to see him. I was therefore very glaa
of his coming, as it would save me the journey; and I im-
mediately went out in search of him, and was not a little
astonished and vexed to find in him the visitor I had se
rudely sent out of my room. I of course apologised, by
stating my ignorance of who he was, and told him holt
anxious I had been to see him, and of my intention of going
to Cape Flattery for that purpose. He said that he wil-
lingly acquitted me of anyintentional insult ; buthe had felt
extremely mortified at being treated so before so maul
Indians.
" He accompanied me to my room, where I made a sketch
of him, and had from him a recital of much of his private
history. Yellow-cum's father was the pilot of the unfor-
tunate Tonquin, the vessel sent out by John Jacob Astor
to trade with the Indians north of Vancouver's Island,
mentioned in Washington Irving's ' Astoria.' He was
the only survior who escaped from the vessel previous to her
being blown up, the rest of the unfortunate crew having
been butchered on board, or blown up with the ship. It wag
impossible to obtain a clear narrative of this melancholy
event, as no white man lived to tell the tale.
The volume is full of amusing anecdotes and enter-
taining descriptions and the large coloured plates
and numerous small engravings scattered through
it greatly enhance its attractions. At the conch/.
sion of his preface the author-leads us to anticipate
further results of his travels, and that he will agars
employ his pen and pencil in illustrating the lives
and the customs of the Red Men of the West.

AXIOMS FOR NERVOUS DEBILITY

PATIENTS.

1. Don't apply to the " Secret Cure" quacks.
2. Don't sign papers or books acknowledging
the causes and nature of your diseases, real or irna"
3. Don't add to such acknowledgments ,under-
takings to pay exorbitant sums for promised
" Secret. Cures.
4. Don't give promissory notes or accept bills If
exchange in return for such promises.
And lastly. If you have been entrapped to d°
any or all of these things, don't pay, but apply to
Mr. Bowen May, or any other respectable solicitor.
—Medical Circular, March 16, 1859.