This was their usual mode of traffic, but whenever they wished to purchase any particular object, as, for instance, a certain slave, or some other thing of which they were very desirous, the canoe that came for this purpose would lie off a little distance from the shore, and a kind of ambassador or representative of the king or chief by whom it was sent, dressed in their best manner, and with his head covered with the white down, would rise, and, after making known the object of his mission in a pompous speech, hold up specimens of such articles as he was instructed to offer in payment, mentioning the number or quantity of each, when, if the bargain was concluded, the exchange was immediately made. On their visits of friendship or traffic, the chiefs alone used to sleep on shore; this was generally at the house of the king or the head chief, the others passing the night on board of their canoes, which was done not only for the preservation of their property, but because they were not permitted to remain on shore, lest they might excite some disturbance or commit depredations. All these people generally go armed, the common class wearing only a dagger suspended from their neck behind, with a string of metamelth, and sometimes thrust in their girdles. The chiefs, in addition to the dagger, carry the cheetolth, or war-club, suspended in the same manner beneath their mantles; this, in the hands of a strong man, is a powerful weapon, in the management of which some of the older chiefs are very dexterous. It is made from the bone of a whale, and is very heavy. The blade is about eighteen inches long and three broad, till it approaches near the point, where it expands to the breadth of four inches. In the middle, from whence it slopes off gradually to an edge on each side, it is from one to two inches in thickness. This blade is usually covered with figures of the sun and moon, a man's head, etc.; and the hilt, which is made to represent the head of a man or some animal, is curiously set with small white shells, and has a band of metamelth fastened to it, in order to sling it over the shoulder. Some of the tribes have also a kind of spear headed with copper or the bone of the sting ray, which is a dangerous weapon; this is, however, not usual, and only carried by the chiefs. The bow and arrow are still used by a few, but since the introduction of firearms among them, this weapon has been mostly laid aside. FOOTNOTES: [87] A specimen of one of their war-songs will be found at the end of this work. [88] This was not the case. Any free-born native, provided he had the means, could own a slave. [89] This is largely a tale of the past. [90] It is questionable if there are now as many people in the whole tribe. Cook estimated the population of Friendly Cove at two thousand. [91] This is wrong. The Kla-iz-zarts (Klahosahts) live _north_ of Nootka Sound.