There is a dual first person, we (thou and I), but there is no incorporated pronoun for the third person in either number, so that the third person singular is the simplest form of the verb. Verbs have an indicative, imperative, and infinitive, and two tenses, an indefinite and a future. A few examples will suffice: Kashka, he binds; yakashka, thou bindest; wakashka, I bind; zinkashka, we two bind; kashkapi, they bind; yakashkapi, ye bind; unkashkapi, we bind. In other cases the pronouns are introduced, as manon, he steals; mayanon, thou stealest. There are some irregular forms, as hiyu, he comes; hidu, thou comest; hibu, I come. The pronoun object enters into the verb: kashka, he binds him, her, it; nicashka, he binds thee; makashka, he binds me. Case is shown by position, possession by the possessive at the end: wichash-tayatapi tipi tawa, chief house his, i. e., the chief's house. The plural is formed by adding pi to nouns and verbs. There is a grammar and dictionary of the Dakota by the Rev. S. It, Rigg (Washington, 1852), and an Iowa grammar by Irvin and Hamilton (1848). - Adjoining this family were the Pawnees, em-bracing the Pawnees, Rickarees, Huecos. and Wichitas, roving bands long known, but as to whoso language our knowledge is confined to vocabularies. - Next to the Athabascan family on the Pacific coast are the Kitu-nahas or Flatbows, and the large family of the Selish, embracing the Shushwaps or Atnahs, Flatheads, Skitsuish or Coeurs d'Alene, Pisk-wans, Clallam, Lummi, Simiamu, Songhus. and some other tribes.

Their language has been made known by the Grammatica Lingua Selicae, a Selish or Flathead grammar, by Men-garini (New York, 1861). The Selish lacks b, d, f, r, and v; g is guttural like the Spanish j; ck is very hard; it has a peculiar b, pronounced with the tongue at the palate. Nouns have no cases, but form plurals by doubling the roots, as skoi, mother, skoikoi, mothers, and in several other modes. It has absolute pronouns and copulative pronouns, the latter used in connection with verbs. The verb to be exists and enters into the conjugation of indeterminate verbs. The determinate active verb is thus conjugated: Ies kolm, I do (something definite); as kalm, thou dost; es kol m., he does; kaes kolm, we do; es kol rap, you do; es koohn, they do. Perfect: kol n, I did; kol ntgu, thou didst. The relative forms vary thus: ku ies asgam, I see thee; ko as asgam, thou seest me; ies asgam, I see him; ko es azgams, he sees me. - The Sahaptin family, bounded on the north by the Selish, comprise the Sahaptin or Nez Perces and the Wallawallas, running east to the Rocky mountains and south to the Shosho-nees. The Wallawallas comprise several tribes, the Yakamas, Palus, Klikatats, and Tairtla. The study of their language is aided by Pando-sy's "Grammar and Dictionary of the Yakama Language " (New York, 1802). The language is remarkable for the multiplicity of its pronouns, and for a twofold conjugation of its verbs, one with the tense form unchanged for the persons preceded by the pronoun, the other with the tense form modified by a pronominal suffix, except in the third person, where it is affixed. - Below them are the Wailatpu family, comprising the Cayuse and Molele. Beyond this family were the once numerous Chinook family, embracing a number of tribes from the mouth of the Columbia to the Grand Dalles. They have disappeared with fearful rapidity, and the fullest vocabulary is that by George Gibbs (New York, 1863). Below and above these on the coast were scattered tribes and families, whose relation to others will never perhaps be now known from the utter want of material of an extended character. - The Shoshonees, another important family, comprise the East and West Shoshonees, on the head waters of the Missouri and Columbia; the Bannacks, on Snake river; the Comanches. from the head waters of the Brazos to those of the Arkansas and Missouri; the Yutes and Pa Utes, in Utah territory; the Kioways, in Texas; and several tribes in California, the Kizh of San Gabriel, the Netela of San Juan Capistrano, the Kechi of San Luis Rev, the Cahuillos, and perhaps the Moquis. The other California tribes belonged to several distinct families.

Arroyo's grammar and vocabulary of the Mutsun (New York, 1861-'2) affords material for studying that language, spoken at San Juan Bautista, Monterey county, at La Soledad on Salinas river, and by the Rumsens or Achastlians at San Carlos. A vocabulary with some grammatical notes on the language spoken at the mission of San Antonio shows the absence of pronouns in the third person and great simplicity of forms. The languages of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico form a class by themselves. - South of the Algonquins were the family of the Oataw-bas and Waccoa in the Carolinas; and the very extensive family of the Cherokees, embracing the Ottare and Ayrate. Their language, which has analogies with the Iroquois dialects, is remarkable as the only one in which the natives have adopted an alphabet. It was invented by Sequoyah or George Guess, a half-breed, in 1826. His scheme consists of 85 characters, including six vowels, a, e, i, o, u, and the French nasal un; and nine simple and three combined initial consonants, g, A, l, m, n, kv, s, d, dl, ts, w, y, to which the vowels are attached. The sounds k and g, t and d occur almost promiscuously, and dl or tl are sometimes written kl.

As in most languages, there are two forms of ice, viz., the prefix in for I and thou, and ast for I and he; as inaluniha, I and thou bind it; asta-luniha, I and he bind it. Plurality is denoted by the prefix t or te, as tetsigaicati, I see things. Continuative action is indicated by the suffixes sa and i, as tsikeyusa, I love him unceasingly. The perfect tense is of two sorts, one used when the narrator was present at the action, the other when he was absent; thus: uhlun, he killed him (in my presence), and uhlei (in my absence). The transitions of the verb are either, 1, as animate, or 2, as inanimate; thus: 1, galuniha, I bind it (an animal or tree); haluniha, second person; kahluniha, third person; dual: inaluniha, I and thou bind it; astaluniha, I and he bind it; istaluniha, ye two bind it; plural, italuniha, we bind it; 2, galunihawi, I bind habitually, or am in the habit of binding, etc. Objects are frequently expressed merely by changes of the verb, as hutuwo, I am washing myself; kuulestula, I am washing my head; tsestula, I am washing another person's head, etc, through 13 different forms. All words of relations between parts of speech are postpositions.