Their method of procuring the oil, is to skim it from the water in which the blubber is boiled, and when cool, put it up into whale bladders for use; and of these I have seen them so large as, when filled, would require no less than five or six men to carry. Several of the chiefs, among whom were Maquina's brothers, who, after the king has caught the first whale, are privileged to take them also, were very desirous, on discovering the superiority of my harpoon, that I should make some for them, but this Maquina would not permit, reserving for himself this improved weapon. He, however, gave me directions to make a number more for himself, which I executed, and also made him several lances, with which he was greatly pleased. * * * * * As these people have some very singular observances preparatory to whaling, an account of them will, I presume, not prove uninteresting, especially as it may serve to give a better idea of their manners. A short time before leaving Tashees, the king makes a point of passing a day alone on the mountain, whither he goes very privately early in the morning, and does not return till late in the evening.[116] This is done, as I afterwards learned, for the purpose of singing and praying to his God for success in whaling the ensuing season. At Cooptee the same ceremony is performed, and at Nootka after the return thither, with still greater solemnity, as for the next two days he appears very thoughtful and gloomy, scarcely speaking to any one, and observes a most rigid fast. On these occasions he has always a broad red fillet made of bark bound around his head, in token of humiliation, with a large branch of green spruce on the top, and his great rattle in his hand. In addition to this, for a week before commencing their whaling, both himself and the crew of his canoe observe a fast, eating but very little, and going into the water several times in the course of each day to bathe, singing and rubbing their bodies, limbs, and faces with shells and bushes, so that on their return I have seen them look as though they had been severely torn with briers. They are likewise obliged to abstain from any commerce with their women for the like period, the latter restriction being considered as indispensable to their success. * * * * *