The gooseberries, wortleberries, and raspberries which Mackenzie ate at this hospitable village were the finest he ever saw or tasted of their respective kinds.  They were generally eaten together with the dry roes of salmon.  Salmon was the staple food of the country, and very abundant in the river which Mackenzie was following down to the Pacific shore.  The fish were usually caught in weirs, and also by dipping nets.  The natives were so superstitious about the salmon, that they believed they would give offence to the spirits if they ate any other animal food, especially meat.  They would scarcely allow Mackenzie to carry venison in his canoe, in case the salmon should smell it and abandon the river.

After this welcome rest they embarked in two canoes on the stream which Mackenzie calls the Salmon River.  The stream was rapid, and they proceeded at a great rate, stopping every now and then to get out and walk round salmon weirs.  Nevertheless, although other Indians ran before them announcing their approach towards a village, the noise of which was apparent in the distance, they were received at this place in a very hostile way, the men rapidly arming themselves with bows and arrows, spears, and axes.  But Mackenzie walked on alone to greet them, and shook hands with the nearest man.  Thereupon an elderly man broke from the crowd and took Mackenzie in his arms.  Another then came and paid him the same compliment.  One man to whom he presented his hand broke the string of a handsome robe of sea-otter skin and threw it over Mackenzie.

The chief made signs to the white men to follow him to his house, which Mackenzie found to be of larger dimensions and better materials than any he had yet seen.  “Very clean mats” were spread in this house for the chief, his counsellors, and the two white men.  A small roasted salmon was then placed before each person.

“When we had satisfied ourselves with the fish, one of the people who came with us from the last village approached, with a kind of ladle in one hand, containing oil, and in the other something that resembled the inner rind of the cocoanut, but of a lighter colour.  This he dipped in the oil, and, having eaten it, indicated by his gestures how palatable he thought it.  He then presented me with a small piece of it, which I chose to taste in its dry state, though the oil was free from any unpleasant smell.  A square cake of this was next produced, when a man took it to the water near the house, and having thoroughly soaked it, he returned, and, after he had pulled it to pieces like oakum, put it into a well-made trough, about three feet long, nine inches wide, and five deep.  He then plentifully sprinkled it with salmon oil, and manifested by his own example that we were to eat of it.  I just tasted it, and found the oil perfectly sweet, without which the other ingredient would have been very insipid.  The chief partook of it with great avidity after it had received an additional quantity