“Doings of ye Trincomalee”, and an early item in the “Columbian Line”
Naika wawa masi kopa…
(I thank Pir Lio), who brought a previously under-the-radar historical document to my attention:
Image credit: National Museum of the Royal Navy
This is the 1852-1854 journal of William Dawson, a Royal Navy officer.
The Chinook Jargon vocabulary in it (see the next image) comes, as we can tell from its spellings and its vintage, from the 1853 Columbian newspaper of Washington Territory — and ultimately, I have hypothesized, from James G. Swan.
Weʹve seen this word list many times in many reproductions, but I would sure be interested in reading this entire journal for any documentation of Jargon use around Victoria and coastal BC!
