On the 14th, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, I ascended the river Nesqually, and on the 24th, arrived at the Fort of Lake Stuart.[282] I spent eleven days in giving instructions to the Indians, and had the happiness of abolishing the custom of burning the dead, and that of inflicting torments upon the bodies of the surviving wives or husbands. They solemnly renounced all their juggling and idolatries. {226} Their great medicine-hall, where they used to practise their superstitious rites, was changed into a church. It was blessed and dedicated to God under the patronage of St. Francis Xavier.[283] The planting of the Cross was solemnly performed with all the ceremonies proper to such occasions. Sixteen children and five old men received baptism.
The 24th Oct., I visited the village of the Chilcotins.[284] This mission lasted twelve days, during which time I baptized eighteen children and twenty-four adults, and performed eight marriages. I blessed here the first cemetery, and buried, with all the ceremonies of the ritual, an Indian woman, the first converted to Christianity. I next visited two other villages of the same tribe—in the first I baptized twenty persons, of whom three were adults. In the second, two chiefs with thirty of their nation received baptism, and two were united in matrimony. Polygamy prevailed everywhere, and everywhere I succeeded in abolishing it. In a neighboring tribe I baptized fifty-seven persons, of whom thirty-one were adults. I also celebrated nine marriages.
After my return to the Sioushwaps, I baptized forty-one persons, of whom eleven were adults. I visited five more villages among the {227} neighboring tribes, amongst whom I baptized about two hundred persons. I performed the ceremony of the planting of the Cross, in eight different places, and founded four frame churches which were constructed by the savages.
On an average, each village or tribe consists of about two hundred souls.
| In the neighborhood of Fort Alexandria the number of souls amounts to | 1255 |
| About Fort George, | 343 |
| In the neighborhood of Frazer’s Lake, | 258 |
| ” ” Stuart’s Lake, | 211 |
| ” ” McLeod’s Lake, | 80 |
| ” ” Fort Babine, | 1190 |
| ” ” Bear Lake,[285] | 801 |
| Total number of souls, | 4138 |
Population on Thompson’s river, or on the land of the Sioushwaps or Atnass.[286]
| The number of Sioushwaps, so called, is | 583 |
| ” of Okinaganes, | 685 |
| Population on the North Branch, | 525 |
| ” on Lake Superior, | 322 |
| ” at the Fountain of Frazer Lake, | 1127 |
| Number of Knife Indians, | 1530 |
| Total number of souls, | 4772 |
I remain, reverend Father, yours, &c.,
J. Nobili, S. J.