The houses, as I have observed, are above twenty in number, built nearly in a line. These are of different sizes, according to the rank or quality of the Tyee, or chief, who lives in them, each having one, of which he is considered as the lord. They vary not much in width, being usually from thirty-six to forty feet wide, but are of very different lengths, that of the king, which is much the longest, being about one hundred and fifty feet, while the smallest, which contain only two families, do not exceed forty feet in length; the house of the king is also distinguished from the others by being higher.
Their method of building is as follows: they erect in the ground two very large posts, at such a distance apart as is intended for the length of the house. On these, which are of equal height, and hollowed out at the upper end, they lay a large spar for the ridge-pole of the building, or, if the length of the house requires it, two or more, supporting their ends by similar upright posts; these spars are sometimes of an almost incredible size, having myself measured one in Maquina's house, which I found to be one hundred feet long and eight feet four inches in circumference. At equal distances from these two posts, two others are placed on each side, to form the width of the building; these are rather shorter than the first, and on them are laid in like manner spars, but of a smaller size, having the upper part hewed flat, with a narrow ridge on the outer side to support the ends of the planks.
The roof is formed of pine planks with a broad feather edge, so as to lap well over each other, which are laid lengthwise from the ridge-pole in the centre, to the beams at the sides, after which the top is covered with planks of eight feet broad, which form a kind of coving projecting so far over the ends of the planks that form the roof, as completely to exclude the rain. On these they lay large stones to prevent their being displaced by the wind. The ends of the planks are not secured to the beams on which they are laid by any fastening, so that in a high storm I have often known all the men obliged to turn out and go upon the roof to prevent them from being blown off, carrying large stones and pieces of rock with them to secure the boards, always stripping themselves naked on these occasions, whatever may be the severity of the weather, to prevent their garments from being wet and muddied, as these storms are almost always accompanied with heavy rains. The sides of their houses are much more open and exposed to the weather; this proceeds from their not being so easily made close as the roof, being built with planks of about ten feet long and four or five wide, which they place between stancheons or small posts of the height of the roof; of these there are four to each range of boards, two at each end, and so near each other as to leave space enough for admitting a plank. The planks or boards which they make use of for building their houses, and for other uses, they procure of different lengths as occasion requires, by splitting them out with hard wooden wedges from pine logs, and afterwards dubbing them down with their chisels, with much patience, to the thickness wanted, rendering them quite smooth.
There is but one entrance; this is placed usually at the end, though sometimes in the middle, as was that of Maquina's. Through the middle of the building, from one end to the other, runs a passage of about eight or nine feet broad, on each side of which the several families that occupy it live, each having its particular fireplace, but without any kind of wall or separation to mark their respective limits; the chief having his apartment at the upper end, and the next in rank opposite on the other side. They have no other floor than the ground; the fireplace or hearth consists of a number of stones loosely put together, but they are wholly without a chimney, nor is there any opening left in the roof, but whenever a fire is made, the plank immediately over it is thrust aside, by means of a pole, to give vent to the smoke.
The height of the houses in general, from the ground to the centre of the roof, does not exceed ten feet, that of Maquina's was not far from fourteen; the spar forming the ridge-pole of the latter was painted in red and black circles alternately, by way of ornament, and the large posts that supported it had their tops curiously wrought or carved, so as to represent human heads of a monstrous size, which were painted in their manner. These were not, however, considered as objects of adoration, but merely as ornaments.[66]
The furniture of these people is very simple, and consists only of boxes, in which they put their clothes, furs, and such things as they hold most valuable; tubs for keeping their provisions of spawn and blubber in; trays from which they eat; baskets for their dried fish and other purposes, and bags made of bark matting, of which they also make their beds, spreading a piece of it upon the ground when they lie down, and using no other bed covering than their garments. The boxes are of pine, with a top that shuts over, and instead of nails or pegs, are fastened with flexible twigs; they are extremely smooth and high polished, and sometimes ornamented with rows of very small white shells. The tubs are of a square form, secured in the like manner, and of various sizes, some being extremely large, having seen them that were six feet long by four broad and five deep. The trays are hollowed out with their chisels from a solid block of wood, and the baskets and mats are made from the bark of trees.
From bark they likewise make the cloth for their garments, in the following manner:—A quantity of this bark is taken and put into fresh water, where it is kept for a fortnight, to give it time to completely soften; it is then taken out and beaten upon a plank, with an instrument made of bone, or some very hard wood, having grooves or hollows on one side of it, care being taken to keep the mass constantly moistened with water, in order to separate, with more ease, the hard and woody from the soft and fibrous parts, which, when completed, they parcel out into skeins, like thread. These they lay in the air to bleach, and afterwards dye them black or red, as suits their fancies, their natural colour being a pale yellow. In order to form the cloth, the women, by whom the whole of this process is performed, take a certain number of these skeins and twist them together, by rolling them with their hands upon their knees into hard rolls, which are afterwards connected by means of a strong thread, made for the purpose.
Their dress usually consists of but a single garment, which is a loose cloak or mantle (called kutsack) in one piece, reaching nearly to the feet. This is tied loosely over the right or left shoulder, so as to leave the arms at full liberty.