Features--Form--Paint--Disposition--Food--Doctor--Religious ideas
--Superstitions--Marriage--Death--Burial--Cannibalism--Weapons
--Women’s occupation--Training--Obtaining food--Fire--Language
--Sagacity and local knowledge--Battles--Ceremony--Natives in
Trinidad Gulf--Obstruction Sound--Potatoes--Dogs.
The most remarkable traits in the countenance of a Fuegian are
his extremely small, low forehead; his prominent brow; small eyes
(suffering from smoke); wide cheek-bones; wide and open nostrils;
large mouth, and thick lips. Their eyes are small, sunken, black, and
as restless as those of savages in general. Their eyelids are made
red and watery by the wood smoke in their wigwams. The chin varies
much; that of a Tekeenica is smaller and less prominent than that of
an Alikhoolip, in whom it is large and rather projecting, but there
is much variety. The nose is always narrow between the eyes, and,
except in a few curious instances, is hollow, in profile outline, or
almost flat. The mouth is coarsely formed (I speak of them in their
savage state, and not of those who were in England, whose features
were much improved by altered habits, and by education); their teeth
are very peculiar: no canine, or eye-teeth, project beyond the
rest, or appear more pointed than those; the front teeth are solid,
and often flat-topped like those of a horse eight years old, and
enamelled only at the sides: the interior substance of each tooth
is then seen as plainly, in proportion to its size, as in that of
a horse. Their hair is black, coarse, and lank, excepting the few
instances mentioned in the next page. It grows by single hairs, not
by piles, or by little bunches like very small camel-hair pencils.
It does not fall off, nor does it turn gray until they are very
old. Little, if any, hair is seen on the eyebrow. They would have a
straggling beard, but scrupulously pull out every hair with tweezers
made of muscle-shells.
As exceptions to the general appearance of these people, it ought to
be said that, among the Fuegians, I have seen several individuals,
both men and women, with curly or frizzled hair (like that of some of
the Polynesians or Malays), with rather high foreheads, straight or
aquiline noses; and in other features allied to the natives of New
Zealand rather than to their countrymen of Tierra del Fuego. I was
much struck by those exceptions, and, at the time, conjectured that
they might be descendants of the Spanish colonists at Port Famine:
but since then, having seen the Polynesians, I have been led to think
otherwise; as will be mentioned in a future page relating to New
Zealand.
Phrenological remarks on the forms of their heads are added in the
Appendix: some were made on the spot by Mr. Wilson, the former
surgeon of the Beagle, and others by a person in London. Mr. Wilson’s
paper also contains anatomical remarks and measurements. In this
place it will be sufficient to remark that their heads are remarkably
low, but wide; and full from the ears backward. The neck of a Fuegian
is short and strong. His shoulders are square, but high; his chest
and body are very large. The trunk is long, compared to the limbs and
head. His arms and legs are rounder, and less sinewy, than those of
Europeans; his joints are smaller, and his extremities are likewise
comparatively less. The hands are shaped like those of Europeans,
but the feet, from always going bare-footed, are square at the toes,
and would, by some persons, be considered of the Papua form. Most of
them are rather bow-legged, and they turn their feet a little inwards
in walking. The knee is strained by the custom of sitting so long on
their heels, so that, when straightened, there are considerable folds
or wrinkles of loose skin above and below the joint. The muscles of
their thighs are large, but those of the legs, small. Little children
are nearly of the same hue as their parents’ skin is when cleaned;
but infants are, for a few days, rather lighter coloured.
As I have already said, a small fillet is all that is worn around the
head. Usually this is a mere string, made of the sinews of birds or
animals; but, to make a show, they sometimes stick feathers, bits
of cloth, or any trash given to them, into these head-bands. White
feathers, or white down, on the fillet, is a sign of hostility, or of
being prepared for war. Red is the favourite colour, denoting peace,
or friendly intentions, and much admired as ornamental. Red paint,
made with ochre, is profusely used. Their white[1] paint is added to
the red when preparing for war; but the marks made are mere daubs,
of the rudest, if of any design. Black is the mourning colour. After
the death of a friend, or near relation, they blacken themselves with
charcoal, and oil or grease. Any sort of clay is used, if their paint
is scarce, to preserve warmth rather than as an improvement to their
appearance.
When discovered by strangers, the instant impulse of a Fuegian family
is to run off into the wood with their children, and such things as
they can carry with them. After a short time, if nothing hostile
is attempted by the intruders, and if they are not too numerous,
the men return cautiously, making friendly signs, waving pieces of
skins, rubbing and patting their bellies, and shouting. If all goes
on quietly, the women frequently return, bringing with them the
children; but they always leave the most valuable skins hidden in the
bushes. This hasty concealment of seal or otter skins is the result
of visits from sealers, who frequently robbed Fuegian families of
every skin in their possession, before the natives understood the
motives of their expeditions in boats into the interior waters of
Tierra del Fuego. Sometimes nothing will induce a single individual
of the family to appear; men, women, and children hide in the thick
woods, where it would be almost impossible to find them, and do not
show themselves again until the strangers are gone: but during the
whole time of their concealment a watchful look-out is kept by them
upon the motions of their unwelcome visitors.
Scarcity of food, and the facility with which they move from one
place to another in their canoes, are, no doubt, the reasons why the
Fuegians are always so dispersed among the islands in small family
parties, why they never remain long in one place, and why a large
number are not seen many days in society. They never attempt to make
use of the soil by any kind of culture; seals, birds, fish, and
particularly shell-fish, being their principal subsistence; any one
place, therefore, soon ceases to supply the wants of even one family;
hence they are always migratory.
In a few places, where the meeting of tides causes a constant supply
of fish, especially porpoises, and where the land is broken into
multitudes of irregular islets and rocks, whose shores afford an
almost inexhaustible quantity of shell-fish, a few families may be
found at one time, numbering altogether among them from twenty to
forty souls; but even those approaches towards association are rare,
and those very families are so migratory by nature, that they do not
remain many months in such a spot, however productive it may be, but
go wandering away among the numerous secluded inlets or sounds of
their country, or repair to the outer sea-coast in search of seals, a
dead whale, or fragments of some wrecked ship. During the summer they
prefer the coast, as they then obtain a great quantity of eggs and
young birds, besides seal, which come ashore to breed at that season;
and in the winter they retire more into the interior waters in search
of shell-fish, and the small but numerous and excellent fish which
they catch among the sea-weed (kelp).
The substitutes for clothing, the arms, canoes, and dwellings of
the Fuegians have been so often described already, that I will not
tire the reader by a repetition. Some of their customs, hitherto not
related, may be more interesting.
There is no superiority of one over another, among the Fuegians,
except that acquired gradually by age, sagacity, and daring conduct;
but the ‘doctor-wizard’ of each party has much influence over his
companions. Being one of the most cunning, as well as the most
deceitful of his tribe, it was not surprising that we should always
have found the ‘doctor’ concerned in all mischief and every trouble
arising out of our intercourse with these natives. It became a
saying among us, that such a person was as troublesome as a Fuegian
doctor.
In each family the word of an old man is accepted as law by the young
people; they never dispute his authority. Warfare, though nearly
continual, is so desultory, and on so small a scale among them, that
the restraint and direction of their elders, advised as they are by
the doctors, is sufficient.
Ideas of a spiritual existence--of beneficent and evil powers--they
certainly have; but I never witnessed or heard of any act of a
decidedly religious nature, neither could I satisfy myself of their
having any idea of the immortality of the soul. The fact of their
believing that the evil spirit torments them in this world, if they
do wrong, by storms, hail, snow, &c., is one reason why I am inclined
to think that they have no thought of a future retribution. The
only act I have heard of which could be supposed devotional, is the
following. When Matthews was left alone with them for several days,
he sometimes heard a great howling, or lamentation, about sunrise
in the morning; and upon asking Jemmy Button what occasioned this
outcry, he could obtain no satisfactory answer; the boy only saying,
“people very sad, cry very much.” Upon one occasion, when some canoes
were alongside the Beagle, at a subsequent visit to the Beagle
Channel (in 1834), a sudden howl from one of the Fuegians aroused
several others who were near, and at the opposite side of the vessel,
when a general howl of lamentation took place, which was ended by a
low growling noise. By this, as well as by pulling their hair, and
beating their breasts, while tears streamed down their faces, they
evinced their sorrow for the fate of some friends who had perished,
some days before the Beagle’s arrival, by the upsetting of a loaded
canoe.[2] There was no regular weeping, nor any thing at all like the
downright cry of a civilized being; it was a noise which seemed to
be peculiar to a savage. This howling was mostly among the men, only
one young woman was similarly affected. Now whether the noises heard
by Matthews were occasioned by similar feelings, or by those of a
devotional nature, I cannot pretend to say.
The natives whom I carried to England often amused us by their
superstitious ideas, which showed, nevertheless, that their ideas
were not limited by the visible world. If any thing was said or
done that was wrong, in their opinion it was certain to cause bad
weather. Even shooting young birds, before they were able to fly,
was thought a heinous offence. I remember York Minster saying one
day to Mr. Bynoe, when he had shot some young ducks with the old
bird--“Oh, Mr. Bynoe, very bad to shoot little duck--come wind--come
rain--blow--very much blow.”
A great black man is supposed to be always wandering about the woods
and mountains, who is certain of knowing every word and every action;
who cannot be escaped, and who influences the weather according to
men’s conduct. York related a curious story of his own brother, who
had committed a murder. “In woods of my country,” said he, “some men
go about alone; very wild men--have no belly (meaning probably that
they were very thin), live by stealing from other men.” He then went
on to say, that his brother had been getting birds out of a cliff,
and, on coming down, hid them among some long rushes, and went away.
Soon afterwards he returned, and, seeing feathers blown away by the
wind from the spot, suspected what was going on; so taking a large
stone in his hand, he crept stealthily towards the place, and there
saw one of these wild men plucking a bird which he had got out of
the cliff. Without saying a word, he dashed the stone at the wild
man’s head, and killed him on the spot. Afterwards York’s brother was
very sorry for what he had done, particularly when it began to blow
very hard. York said, in telling the story, “rain come down--snow
come down--hail come down--wind blow--blow--very much blow. Very bad
to kill man. Big man in woods no like it, he very angry.” At the
word ‘blow,’ York imitated the sound of a strong wind; and he told
the whole story in a very low tone of voice, and with a mysterious
manner; considering it an extremely serious affair.
Jemmy Button was also very superstitious, and a great believer in
omens and dreams. He would not talk of a dead person, saying, with
a grave shake of the head, “no good, no good talk; my country never
talk of dead man.” While at sea, on board the Beagle, about the
middle of the year 1832, he said one morning to Mr. Bynoe, that in
the night some man came to the side of his hammock, and whispered
in his ear that his father was dead. Mr. Bynoe tried to laugh him
out of the idea, but ineffectually. He fully believed that such was
the case, and maintained his opinion up to the time of finding his
relations in the Beagle Channel, when, I regret to say, he found
that his father had died some months previously. He did not forget
to remind Mr. Bynoe (his most confidential friend) of their former
conversation, and, with a significant shake of the head said, it
was “bad--very bad.” Yet those simple words, as Mr. Bynoe remarked,
seemed to express the extent of his sorrow, for after that time he
said no more about his father. This subsequent silence, however,
might have been caused by the habit already noticed, of never
mentioning the dead.
When a person dies, his family wrap the body in skins, and carry it
a long way into the woods; there they place it upon broken boughs,
or pieces of solid wood, and then pile a great quantity of branches
over the corpse. This is the case among the Tekeenica and Alikhoolip
tribes, as well as the Pecheray; but how the others dispose of their
dead, I know not, excepting that, on the west coast, some large caves
have been found, in which were many human bodies in a dried state.
One of these caves is mentioned in Byron’s narrative of the wreck
of the Wager: and another was seen by Mr. Low, which will be spoken
of in describing the natives of the western coast of Patagonia (the
Chonos Indians), who from their intercourse with the Spaniards may
be supposed to have acquired ideas somewhat more enlarged than those
of the southernmost regions--the Alikhoolip and Tekeenica. I prefer
relating all that I know of these tribes, in consequence of the
intercourse carried on with them by the Beagle’s officers and myself,
and the visit of York, Jemmy, and Fuegia to England, before any of
Mr. Low’s account is given; because, as his intercourse was chiefly
with the Chonos tribe, and was quite unconnected with the Beagle’s
visit, it will be more satisfactory to the reader to be enabled to
compare accounts from different sources, which in some points are so
strikingly similar, that their agreement gives great weight to the
whole.
The Fuegians marry young. As soon as a youth is able to maintain
a wife, by his exertions in fishing or bird-catching, he obtains
the consent of her relations, and does some piece of work, such
as helping to make a canoe, or prepare seal-skins, &c. for her
parents. Having built or stolen a canoe for himself, he watches for
an opportunity, and carries off his bride. If she is unwilling, she
hides herself in the woods until her admirer is heartily tired of
looking for her, and gives up the pursuit; but this seldom happens.
Although this is undoubtedly the custom among many of them, we had
some reason to think there were parties who lived in a promiscuous
manner--a few women being with many men. It is, however, hardly fair
to judge from what we saw during our short visit, when the ordinary
habits of their life were certainly much altered. We observed, while
at Woollya, a disproportionately small number of females; but it
ought to be remembered, that the people whom we then saw came to look
at us from a distance, and that the greater part of their women and
children were probably left in security at various places, as were
the women and children of those who stole our boat in the former
voyage (vol. i. p. 394) whom we found in a retired nook, far out of
ordinary observation.
Jemmy Button often talked of his father, mother, brothers, and
sisters, also of uncles[3] and aunts, after he knew enough of our
language to understand distinctly the relationship. Now this could
not have been the case had not his father and mother lived together
permanently as man and wife, according to the clear account which he
himself always gave of their custom in this respect.
From the concurring testimony of the three Fuegians above-mentioned,
obtained from them at various times and by many different persons,
it is proved that they eat human flesh upon particular occasions,
namely, when excited by revenge or extremely pressed by hunger.
Almost always at war with adjoining tribes, they seldom meet but a
hostile encounter is the result; and then those who are vanquished
and taken, if not already dead, are killed and eaten by the
conquerors. The arms and breast are eaten by the women; the men eat
the legs; and the trunk is thrown into the sea. During a severe
winter, when hard frost and deep snow prevent their obtaining food as
usual, and famine is staring them in the face, extreme hunger impels
them to lay violent hands on the oldest woman of their party, hold
her head over a thick smoke, made by burning green wood, and pinching
her throat, choke her. They then devour every particle of the flesh,
not excepting the trunk, as in the former case. Jemmy Button, in
telling this horrible story as a great secret, seemed to be much
ashamed of his countrymen, and said, he never would do so--he would
rather eat his own hands. When asked why the dogs were not eaten, he
said “Dog catch iappo” (iappo means otter). York told me that they
always eat enemies whom they killed in battle; and I have no doubt
that he told me the truth.
When the Dutch fleet were in Nassau Bay (1624), a boat’s crew were
attacked by the natives, murdered and partly eaten. But previous to
this (in 1599), Oliver Van Noort had attacked some Fuegians in a cave
near a cape, then called Nassau, where he killed several men, and
took four boys and two girls prisoners.
Jemmy Button told me that there are two tribes of Tekeenica,
differing only in situation, who go to war sometimes with one
another, though usually at peace; they live east and west,
respectively, of some islets in the Beagle Channel, a short distance
north-eastward of Woollya. With these two tribes or subdivisions of
the Tekeenica there is constant war made by the Yacana, called by
Jemmy ‘Oens-men;’ but they (the Tekeenica) are sometimes at peace
with the Alikhoolip.
The food of the Fuegians has been mentioned so often in the preceding
pages of this or the former volume, that I will only add here a few
remarks which have not hitherto been made. When there is time, the
natives roast their shell-fish, and half-roast any other food that
is of a solid nature; but when in haste, they eat fish, as well as
meat, in a raw state. A seal is considered to be a grand prize; for,
besides the flesh, they feast on the oil; and a porpoise is much
valued, for a similar reason. Seal are often killed on the rocks, by
striking them on the nose with a club, or large stick: and rather
than let a seal go, which has been intercepted by getting between it
and the water, they will risk having a severe bite by attacking it
with a stone in hand. Both seal and porpoises are speared by them
from their canoes. When struck, the fish usually run into the kelp,
with the spear floating on the water, being attached by a short
line to a moveable barb: and there the men follow with their canoe,
seize the spear, and tow by it till the fish is dead. To them, the
taking of a seal or porpoise is a matter of as much consequence as
the capture of a whale is to our countrymen. On moonlight nights,
birds are caught when roosting, not only by the men but by their
dogs, which are sent out to seize them while asleep upon the rocks or
beach; and so well are these dogs trained, that they bring all they
catch safely to their masters, without making any noise, and then
return for another mouthful. Birds are also frequently killed with
arrows,[4] or by stones slung at them with unerring aim. Eggs are
eagerly sought for by the natives; indeed, I may say that they eat
any thing and every thing that is eatable, without being particular
as to its state of freshness, or as to its having been near the fire.
Penguins are much prized; the otter is also valued, excepting the
body part, which they seldom eat unless hard pressed by hunger.
Sometimes they spear fine fish, like cod-fish--fifteen or twenty
pounds in weight. Small fish are caught in abundance by the method
formerly described,[5] and they are the staple article of food among
the Tekeenica. The fins of a dead whale are esteemed; but if other
food is to be had, they do not eat the blubber.
In the Tekeenica country, near the Beagle Channel, there are many
small animals, about the size of a cat, which they sometimes take and
eat. These, I think, are nutria; for, on one occasion, a fresh nutria
skin was obtained from them, the only sign I ever found of a small
animal in that neighbourhood.
Of vegetable food they have very little: a few berries, cranberries,
and those which grow on the arbutus, and a kind of fungus, which is
found on the birch-tree, being the only sorts used. This fungus is
very plentiful in some places: it grows upon the birch-tree much as
the oak-apple upon an oak-tree. Mr. Darwin describes it fully in his
journal (vol. iii). There is also another much larger kind of fungus,
which is sometimes eaten. On what tree it grows, I know not, but it
was mentioned to me as being about two feet in circumference. The
Fuegians drink only pure water, but often, and in large quantities.
The women or children fetch it in small buckets, made of birch-bark;
and two or three times in the course of a night they wake to eat and
drink. In the day-time also they eat and drink very frequently.
The men procure food of the larger kind, such as seal, otter,
porpoises, &c.; they break or cut wood and bark for fuel, as well
as for building the wigwams and canoes. They go out at night to get
birds; they train the dogs, and of course undertake all hunting or
warlike excursions.
The women nurse their children, attend the fire (feeding it with dead
wood, rather than green, on account of the smoke), make baskets and
water-buckets, fishing-lines and necklaces,[6] go out to catch small
fish in their canoes, gather shell-fish, dive for sea-eggs, take care
of the canoes, upon ordinary occasions paddle their masters about
while they sit idle;--and do any other drudgery.
Swimming is a favourite amusement of the Fuegians during summer;
but the unfortunate women are obliged to go out into rather deep
water, and dive for sea-eggs in the depth of winter as often as in
summer. Men, women, and children are excellent swimmers; but they all
swim like dogs. Directly they come out of the water they run to the
fire, and rub their bodies all over with oil or grease and ochreous
earth, to keep out the cold. Swinging between branches of trees, as
our children do, is also a favourite pastime, the ropes being made
of strips of seal-skin. Frequently the men are lowered down by such
ropes over the faces of high cliffs in search of eggs and young
birds, or to attack the seal which herd in caves washed by the surf,
and inaccessible to man from seaward.
When ill, however seriously, they know of no remedies but rubbing the
body with oil, drinking cold water, and causing perspiration by lying
near the fire, wrapped up in skins.
Both men and women are remarkably fond of the little children, and
were always much pleased at any notice taken of them by our parties,
when they felt sufficient confidence in us to bring the children
forward. Much respect is said to be paid to age; yet we never saw
either man or woman who appeared to be very old--certainly no one was
decrepit.
It is rather curious that usually each of these natives is trained
to a particular pursuit: thus, one becomes an adept with the spear;
another with the sling; another with a bow and arrows; but this
excellence in one line does not hinder their attaining a considerable
proficiency in all the others.[7]
Hostilities are usually carried on with slings and stones rather than
by close encounters; yet occasional surprises happen, especially
when the Oens-men make an attack, and then there is savage work with
clubs, stones in the hand, and spears.
In the winter, when snow lies deep on the ground, the Tekeenica
people assemble to hunt the guanaco, which then comes down from the
high lands to seek for pasture near the sea. The long legs of the
animal stick deeply into the snow and soft boggy ground, disabling
him from escape, while the Fuegians and their dogs hem him in on
every side, and quickly make him their prey.
Jemmy Button’s division of the Tekeenica, living westward of Murray
Narrow, never obtain guanacoes; but the other division, who live
eastward of that small passage, often kill them in winter; and at
other times of the year they sometimes get them by lying in wait,
and shooting them with arrows, or by getting into a tree near their
track, and spearing them as they pass beneath the branches. An arrow
was shewn to Low, which was marked with blood two-thirds of its
length in wounding a guanaco, afterwards caught by dogs. Low held out
his jacket, making signs that the arrow would not penetrate it: upon
which the native pointed to his eye.
Some of the families of this eastern division of the Tekeenica
have no canoes, living entirely at a distance from the shore, and
subsisting upon berries, birch-fungus, guanacoes, and birds. The bows
and arrows of those men are longer and better, and they have some
very fine dogs, which are trained to search for and bring home food.
These dogs often surprise the larger birds, while feeding on the
ground, as well as when they are at roost, so quietly do they steal
upon their prey. Byron mentions that the Chonos Indians send their
dogs away to fish, and that they assist their owners in fishing, by
swimming about, and driving the fish into a corner. This I have not
witnessed or heard of among the Fuegians; but their dogs assist in a
similar manner when in pursuit of an otter, by swimming and diving
after it with the utmost eagerness.
Fire, that essential necessary to man in every state and every
climate, is always kept alive by these savages wherever they go,
either in their canoes, in their wigwams, or even in their hand, by
a piece of burning wood; but they are at no loss to rekindle it,
should any accident happen. With two stones (usually iron pyrites)
they procure a spark, which received among tinder, and then whisked
round in the air, soon kindles into a flame. The tinder used is
the inner down of birds, well dried; very fine dry moss; or a dry
kind of fungus found on the under side of half-rotten trees. Where
the pyrites is usually obtained, I do not know; but it cannot be
plentiful in the Tekeenica country, since every woman keeps small
pieces by her, in the basket which holds their paint and ornaments,
and will not easily be prevailed upon to part with them. Some of the
sealers have fancied these pieces of pyrites were silver or gold
ore, and have eagerly sought for the mines whence they came. One
person finding a large quantity in a rock somewhere near the Gulf of
Trinidad, employed his crew and himself for many days in loading his
ship with it, being quite sure it was gold.
Of the Fuegian language we know but little, although three of the
natives were so many months with us. I found great difficulty in
obtaining words, excepting names for things which could be shown to
them, and which they had in their own country; however, the few which
I have collected are given in the Appendix to this volume, and I can
assure the reader that the utmost pains were taken to spell each word
so as to ensure having the correct sound when pronounced by other
persons; and to place the marks of accent, as well as quantity, with
precision. All the Fuegian sounds are imitable by using our letters,
excepting one, a curious sort of ‘cluck,’ meaning ‘no.’ Many of their
words are exceedingly guttural in their pronunciation, yet I have
twice heard their women sing, and not disagreeably. Weddell, in his
narrative (p. 173), gives some Fuegian words, and endeavours to trace
a similarity to the Hebrew language. Molina also, in his vocabulary
of the Araucanian language, which appears to be related to the
Fuegian, traces some singular correspondences.
Mr. Low, who has had more intercourse with the Fuegians than perhaps
any other individual, gave me much information about them. He says
that, generally speaking, they appear to be friendly when meeting
strangers, but that their subsequent conduct depends entirely upon
their relative numbers. They ought never to be trusted, however, as
they have hasty tempers, and are extremely revengeful. They show
much hardiness and daring, being always ready to defend their own
property, or resent any ill treatment; and they are enterprising
thieves. When the intentions of the natives are hostile, the women
and children are kept out of the way; the men are quite naked, their
bodies painted more than usual, and the leader of the party has a
band of white feathers around his head.
Mr. Low had a Fuegian boy on board the Adeona, who learned to speak
English very tolerably, during eighteen months that he staid on
board as a pilot and interpreter. This boy, whose name, among the
sealers, was Bob, was one of the Chonos tribe, and had never been
south of Magalhaens Strait before he embarked with Mr. Low. He said,
that in cases of extreme distress, caused by hunger, human flesh
was eaten, and that when they had recourse to such food, the oldest
women invariably suffered. The poor creatures escaped to the woods,
if possible, at such a time, but were soon found and brought back
by force. They were killed by suffocation, their heads being held
over the thick smoke of a fire made of green wood, and their throats
squeezed by the merciless hands of their own relations. This boy
imitated the piercing cries of the miserable victims whom he had
seen sacrificed. He also mentioned that the breasts, belly, hands,
and feet, were most liked. When first questioned on this subject, he
showed no reluctance in answering any questions about it; but after a
time, perceiving how much shocked his English companions were at the
story, and how much disgust it excited among the crew of the vessel,
he refused to talk of it again.
The different tribes of canoe Indians are generally upon hostile
terms with each other, as well as with the horse Indians. This may be
more particularly noticed about the western entrance of Magalhaens
Strait, where the tribes which inhabit opposite sides[8] are
particularly inveterate in their hostility.
On the west coast of Patagonia, from the Strait of Magalhaens to
Cape Tres Montes, Mr. Low found that the natives seemed to be of one
tribe, and upon friendly terms with one another. A man, whose native
name was Niqueaccas, was taken on board Mr. Low’s vessel, near Cape
Victory, as a pilot, and he afterwards proved to be acquainted with
all the natives met with along the coast as far north as the parallel
of 47°. He was always glad to see the various parties of Indians
whom they met, and was invariably well received by them. Perfectly
acquainted with every part of the coast, he was able to point out
excellent harbours, as well as the best seal ‘rookeries.’ Niqueaccas
and the boy Bob were of the same tribe; but whenever he was spoken
to about eating people, he became sullen, and not a word could be
obtained from him. He spoke English very fairly before leaving the
vessel in his own country, after being with Mr. Low fourteen months.
The people of this tribe[9] are by no means without ideas of a
superior Being. They have great faith in a good spirit, whom they
call Yerri Yuppon, and consider to be the author of all good: him
they invoke in time of distress or danger. They also believe in an
evil spirit, called Yaccy-ma, who they think is able to do all kinds
of mischief, cause bad weather, famine, illness, &c.: he is supposed
to be like an immense black man. After being hard pressed for
food, and then obtaining a good quantity, much form is observed in
distributing the first supplies. Mr. Low witnessed a ceremony of this
kind, during which the greatest order prevailed. The whole tribe was
seated round a fire, and the oldest man gave each individual a share,
repeatedly muttering a short prayer, and looking upwards. Not one of
the party, although nearly starved, attempted to touch the food, a
large seal, until this ceremony was ended: one share was offered to
Mr. Low. At another time, on Madre de Dios Island, after having been
detained in port upwards of three months, owing to very bad weather,
during which time the natives were almost famished, being unable to
reach the outer rocks in quest of food, Mr. Low went with his boats
and procured a few seals, taking an Indian in each boat. At his
return the carcasses of the seals were sent ashore, but not one of
the natives, ravenous as they were, attempted to touch a morsel until
all was landed, till the ceremony above-mentioned had been duly
performed, and till the natives who had been in the boats had chosen
what they pleased for their share.
This tribe appears to have regular places for depositing their dead;
as on a small outlying island, a little southward of Madre de Dios,
Mr. Low found a cave which had been used for such a purpose: it was
strewed with human bones, and the body of a native child was found
in a state of putrefaction. The bodies seemed to have been placed in
shallow graves, about a foot deep, which had been dug along the sides
of the cave, and covered with twigs and leaves. Slips of a peculiar
plant, resembling box, had been carefully planted along the outer
sides of each grave, and those near the mouth of the cave had taken
root and were growing, but all those in the interior had decayed.
One evening, while at sea, Mr. Low called the boy to him, and said,
“Bob, look at the sun; it is going to be drowned.” The boy shook his
head, saying, “No, no drown; to-morrow morning get up again. Sun go
round earth; come again to-morrow.”
The natives of this tribe[10] suppose that all white people
originally came from the moon; they call them “cubba;” and often
make use of an expression with reference to them which means “White
men of the Moon.” These Indians, in common with those of the other
southern tribes, are exceedingly superstitious, implicitly believing
omens, signs, and dreams, as well as the ‘wise men’ among them, who
are thought infallible as prophets, doctors, and magicians. Once,
when Mr. Low was detained about three weeks by contrary winds and
bad weather, his crew became discontented, and attributed their
ill-luck to a native who was detained on board against his will. To
pacify those who were, in this instance, every bit as superstitious
as the aborigines themselves, a fire was made on shore, to invite the
Indians to approach; and when they came he delivered their countryman
to them, explaining at the same time that he would depart as soon
as the wind became fair. An old Indian, then, in a very ceremonious
and mysterious manner, gave Low what he understood to be a charm,
with strict injunctions not to look at it until next morning; when,
at sunrise, there would be a fair wind, and the vessel might sail.
Notwithstanding the old man’s orders, he was no sooner out of sight
than Low opened the mysterious packet, which appeared to contain
human hair, mixed with the scrapings of the shaft of an arrow.
Next morning, however, at sunrise, a fair (easterly) wind sprung up,
and the vessel sailed. How the old man foreknew the change--whether
he judged by the sky, the tides, or other indications, did not
transpire; but this was by no means a singular instance of
extraordinary accuracy shown by the natives in foretelling changes of
weather.
The sagacity and extensive local knowledge of these people is very
surprising; Niqueaccas was so well acquainted with all the coast
between 47° and the Strait of Magalhaens, that, upon being taken to a
high hill, immediately after landing from a cruise, in which they had
been far out of sight of land, he pointed out the best harbours and
places for seal then visible; and in one direction, a long way off
(pointing towards Eyre Sound, then far out of sight), he said there
were great numbers of fur seals. The boy Bob also described that same
place, when he was with Mr. Low at the Galapagos Islands. On a calm
day, while there was nothing going on, he made a chart with chalk
upon the vessel’s deck, reaching from the windlass to the taff-rail,
and Mr. Low has since felt quite certain that the boy meant Eyre
Sound, though at that time these interior waters on the west coast of
Patagonia had not been explored by any white man.
Niqueaccas was always anxious and timid about taking the Adeona
through a passage where he knew danger existed, and proportionably
pleased when the dangers were safely passed, and the vessel anchored
in a safe position.
The boy Bob, when only ten years old, was on board the Adeona at
sea. As the vessel approached land, Low asked him where a harbour
could be found? As soon as he understood what was meant, which was
an affair of some difficulty, for he then could speak but very
little English, he got up on the vessel’s bulwark, and looked
anxiously around. After some hesitation, he pointed to a place where
the ship might go, and then went to the lead-line, and made signs
to Mr. Low that he must sound as he approached the land. The cove
was found to have a shoal and narrow entrance, but was safe and
sufficiently spacious within. Such knowledge at so early an age is
an extraordinary proof of the degree in which the perceptive and
retentive faculties are enjoyed by these savages. Whenever the advice
of Niqueaccas or any of his tribe was rejected, much sullenness and
displeasure were shown. Upon one occasion his services were refused,
and a harbour tried against his advice, which proved to be a bad one;
it was left to seek for that which he had previously recommended, and
his sullenness suddenly changed into delight; but when his harbour
was pronounced excellent, and he was duly praised, his joy knew no
bounds.
Generally speaking, both Niqueaccas and the boy Bob were well-behaved
and good-tempered; but the boy was sometimes inclined to be
mischievous, and would hide the people’s clothes, or put salt into
their mouths while asleep. When much annoyed, he would use both teeth
and nails, and attack any one, however superior to himself in size
and strength.
Battles between parties of the same tribe seem to occur occasionally,
as this boy showed Mr. Low two spots where quarrels had been decided.
Both were open spaces, clear of trees, and near them were the remains
of wigwams. One of those battles occurred in consequence of one party
wishing to take some seal-skins away from the other; but it did not
distinctly appear from the boy’s account whether these encounters
were between parties of his tribe, or whether an encroachment upon
their territory, with a view to plunder, had been made by some other
tribe. That parties occasionally cross overland from Skyring Water
to Obstruction Sound is evident from Mr. Bynoe’s account (page 198),
and that people of the tribe to which Niqueaccas belonged either
make excursions themselves southward of the Strait of Magalhaens, or
that the Alikhoolip invade their territory and take away canoes, is
evident from the fact of plank canoes[11] having been seen in and
about the Barbara Channel. The arms used are similar to those of the
Alikhoolip already described.
A method of declaring war, ascertained by the following circumstance,
is rather curious. The boy Bob had been taken on board the Adeona, in
consequence of some dispute with the natives, who had stolen things
from the vessel. Mr. Low intended to keep him as a hostage until the
missing property should be restored; but the tribe decamped, and as
Low was obliged to sail, he carried the boy away with him. At the
return of the vessel, about eight months afterwards, the boy saw
something on shore, at the entrance of the harbour, which he looked
at for some time very earnestly, and then gave Mr. Low to understand
that the natives had declared war against him and his ship, and
intended to attack her at her return. No natives being visible, Low
went ashore with the boy, to see what it was that had attracted his
attention, and found a number of spears, arrows, and clubs, roughly
cut out of wood, painted red, and stuck into the ground, across a
point of the island, and having in the middle a large block of wood,
roughly carved into a strange figure (said by the boy to be that
of their evil spirit) curiously painted, with long red teeth, and
having a short halter of hide (seal-skin) round the part intended to
represent a neck. Notwithstanding this outward demonstration of anger
and intent to revenge, not a native was seen in the neighbourhood
during the many months which Low passed there, and in consequence
he had no opportunity of restoring the boy to his own tribe; but he
was afterwards kindly received, and treated as Low’s son, among the
Patagonians of Gregory Bay.
The natives of Niqueaccas’ tribe (Chonos) are less dishonest and
deceitful than those of the southernmost islands. Mr. Low has
sometimes left his vessel, while he was away sealing, with only two
men on board; and although in one instance, at Madre de Dios, there
were about a hundred and fifty natives assembled, no hostile or
predatory attempt whatever was made by them in his absence: indeed
so careful were they to prevent any cause for misunderstanding, that
in no instance did more than two of their party go on board the
vessel during the absence of the boats; though, after their return
with Low, they went to her as usual in great numbers. This tribe was
in extreme distress for want of food; the whole party looked thin
and miserable. Continual gales had prevented the rocks from being
uncovered at low water, and no canoe could be launched on account of
the surf, therefore they could get neither shell-fish nor seal. A
small party were observed going away, as if on an excursion, and the
others who remained explained to Low, by signs, that in four sleeps
they would return with food. On the fifth day they were met by Low,
returning, but almost dead with fatigue, each man having two or three
great pieces of whale-blubber, shaped like a poncho with a hole in
the middle, on his shoulders. The blubber was half putrid, and looked
as if it had been buried under ground. When they entered the largest
wigwam, an old man cut very thin slices off one piece, broiled each
successively, and distributed to the party in rotation; but before
doing so, he muttered a few words over each piece in a mysterious
manner, while strict silence was kept by the by-standers. One slice
was offered to Low. The boy Bob once noticed marks where a whale had
been cast ashore; taking a sharp stick, he probed the sand in several
places, and found many large pieces of blubber, which were taken on
board and boiled down for oil. One of the men of this tribe, seeing
two long powder-horns on board the Adeona, placed them to his head
and made a noise like the bellowing of cattle; but he and his tribe
were much frightened by sheep and pigs. They would not land on a
small island where some pigs were turned loose, and when talking of
them, made signs that they had very big noses which alarmed them.
When a pig was killed by the crew and part of it cooked, the natives
refused even to taste the meat. One day several of these people had
gone on board the Adeona with some old axes and pieces of iron,
which they wished to have ground at her grindstone (a favour which
had often been granted); but in consequence of something having
gone wrong in the vessel, which had ruffled Low’s temper, he rather
roughly refused to let them stay on board. They went away quietly,
but left their axes, &c. behind; and while returning were met by the
mate of the vessel, who asked if they had ground them; they replied
negatively, and gave the mate to understand that the captain’s face
was too long, but that they would come again when it was shorter.
This occurred before either Niqueaccas or the boy had been taken on
board the Adeona.
Mr. Low remarked to me that the conduct of these Indians on this
occasion of his harshly refusing to comply with a slight request,
was quite different from that which the Fuegians would have shown
under similar circumstances: they would have been angry, and in all
probability have returned his ill-temper with a display of their own,
evinced by a shower of stones. Once, when Low was in the Magdalen
Channel, he desired some Fuegians who were on board to leave the
vessel while his men were below at dinner. They refused to comply,
and offered resistance; but being obliged to go, went in their canoes
to a short distance a-head, and there remained slinging large stones
on board, which broke several windows. To drive them away muskets
were used, though without injuring any of their party. Next day the
hardy fellows came alongside again, as unconcernedly as ever.
When the Fuegians are inclined to attack an enemy with stones, they
generally try to raise a breastwork of boughs or logs; but no such
preparation was ever noticed among the natives of the western coast
of Patagonia.
While the Adelaide tender was examining the inner passages and sounds
of the western shores of Patagonia, under Lieutenant Skyring, some
interesting remarks were made by Mr. Bynoe, which do not appear in
the narrative of that cruise given in the preceding volume. I shall
here insert them in his own words:--
“We entered the Gulf of Trinidad, and while surveying thereabouts met
two large canoes, which were thought to be whale-boats when first
seen at a distance; but as we concluded that some sealing vessel was
in the neighbourhood, and that these were her boats, little notice
was taken of them until they had approached very near, when, to our
astonishment they proved to be large plank canoes, pulled with oars,
and full of fine stout Indians. Just within hail they stopped, lay on
their oars, halloed to us most vociferously, and waved skins above
their heads. One man was very conspicuous, having on his head a tall
leathern cap, tapering to a point, which was ornamented with feathers
of various gaudy colours; and around the brim of this high conical
hat there was also a fringe of feathers. This singular character was
painted black all over from head to foot, except a circle of white
round each eye, and a few white dots upon his cheeks. By signs we
succeeded in tempting them to come alongside the schooner, and were
then still more struck by their appearance: they were far superior
to any Fuegians I had seen, being a taller race, more upright, and
better proportioned; their limbs were better formed, more muscular,
rounder, and fuller than those of any canoe Indians of the Strait
of Magalhaens or Barbara Channel; and their skins were cleaner as
well as clearer, which was probably the reason why we thought them
lighter coloured than the others whom we had seen. The length of
back, so remarkable in a Fuegian, was not very discernible in these
people, neither were they by any means so ugly as the former; indeed
a rather pleasing smile was sometimes noticed on the younger faces.
None among them were much smoke-dried, nor did their eyes look red
and watery. There did not appear to be one of the party above a
middle age, and most of them were young. Three of the men had lost
each an upper incisor tooth, and one had a long though not deep scar
upon the breast. We all pronounced these people to belong to a finer
race than we had seen on the water, and the size of their canoes
was quite beyond anything hitherto noticed: they were near thirty
feet in length and seven feet broad, with proportionate depth, being
made of planks sewn together with strips of twisted bark and rushes:
the bow and stern were flat, and nearly upright. Six round pieces of
wood formed the thwarts, which were fastened to the gunwale by ropes
of twisted rushes; and there were six short oars on each side. These
oars were about seven feet long, the blade being a flat piece of wood
about sixteen inches in length, fastened to the handle by rush rope
passed through two holes in the blade. Of such burthen were these
boats (rather than canoes), that two men standing on one gunwale did
not bring it down to the water. Each was steered by an old woman,
who sat silently abaft with a paddle. All the party were quite naked
excepting the old women.
“From one of the old women a small bag was obtained, in exchange for
a shirt and some woollen stuff, which proved to contain white dust,
feathers, parrots’ heads, hawks’ feet, white earth, and red ochre.
One of the men had an old hatchet, and made signs that he wanted to
sharpen it at our grindstone: of course we complied with his request,
and allowed a man and a young lad to come on board for that purpose.
The lad turned the stone, while the man held the axe; and extremely
well it was sharpened. The spears and slings were similar to those
seen in other places.
“Although these natives seemed to be remarkably well disposed, it was
not quite pleasant to see thirty of them looking over the schooner’s
bulwark, while our boats were away and only five or six men left on
board: however, they made no attempt to do any thing improper, and
before sunset left us peaceably, striking up a song as they paddled
away.”
Mr. Bynoe remarked, that in the neighbourhood of Easter Bay
(Obstruction Sound), the country had much the appearance of English
park scenery; large clumps of trees growing straight and tall, with
intervening spaces of clear ground covered with long grass. In this
place he found great numbers of wigwams and deserted canoes. Some
of the former were of large dimensions, and various shapes: two
were like inverted whale-boats, each of which might hold forty or
fifty people; and in the long ones (six feet high), Mr. Bynoe could
walk upright. All of them were built of slight materials, such as
branches of trees covered with long grass. Five or six large wigwams
stood together in each place; and near them canoes had evidently
been built, for many trees had been felled and barked close by. The
traces of fire were visible, which had been trained around the roots
of the trees; and many large pieces of bark were lying about, partly
sewed together. Four good canoes were found in one place, one of
the four being quite new: and there were many old or broken ones.
They also saw on nearly every sandy point a neatly-constructed small
wigwam, about two feet high, at the entrance of which was a platted
rush noose, intended as a snare to catch swans probably, which were
numerous about the adjoining grounds, and generally roost on those
sandy points. Many deer, like a kind of roebuck, were seen by Mr.
Bynoe, but he did not succeed in shooting one. Horse tracks were seen
near the upper part of Obstruction Sound; showing that the eastern
Patagonians occasionally visit this part of the western coast. Mr.
Bynoe suggested the possibility of the natives of Skyring Water
travelling overland, building canoes, and then going northward along
the west coast; but I do not myself think it so likely as that the
Chonos Indians should select such a spot, abounding in food, to pass
their winter in, or to stay at for a considerable time while building
canoes. Probably, when Mr. Bynoe was there (being summer-time) the
tribe, whose winter quarters it had been, were dispersed along the
sea-coast in search of seal, eggs, and young birds. In support of
his idea Mr. Bynoe says, “I only met one canoe, and that of the bark
kind, in the Mesier Channel: whence could that one have come? None of
the bark canoes have been seen by us on the west coast, excepting in
that instance, and in Obstruction Sound. The distance from Skyring
Water to the head of Obstruction Sound is small, though sufficiently
difficult to traverse to prevent transporting canoes, because of
low prickly brushwood. How can we account for the numerous canoes
stranded in Obstruction Sound, excepting by a supposition that the
natives, after using them in a north-westerly excursion, left them
behind at their return, as they may have left others on the shores
of Skyring Water? These canoes were all of bark, and rather smaller
than those usually made by the southern Fuegians.” Should this be
the case, there can no longer be any doubt of the non-existence of a
direct passage between Skyring Water and the Smyth Channel (leading
northwards from Magalhaens Strait). Perhaps the horse Indians
sometimes stay in the neighbourhood of Obstruction Sound, and oblige
their slaves (zapallos) to build canoes and swan-traps, to fish for
them, and even make excursions for seal.
Mr. Bynoe saw many nutria among the islands of Western Patagonia, and
a great number of otters. Brant-geese, swans, ducks, and rock-geese
were also plentiful in particular places, but not generally. Besides
the wild potato, found on the Guaianaco islands (mentioned in the
first volume), Mr. Bynoe noticed, in the Gulf of Peñas, an abundance
of the plant called ‘pangue,’ which grows also in Chilóe, and is so
much liked by the Chilotes.
Mr. Low said that natives whom he met in the Gulf of Trinidad
relished potatoes which he gave them, and asked for more. They
pointed towards the north and used the word ‘aquinas,’ which he
recognized as being the term used for potatoes by the aborigines at
the south of Chilóe.
A native who was on board the Adeona in one of her excursions among
the western islands of Patagonia induced Low to take long walks in
search of potatoes, which never were found; and afterwards, in the
Mesier Channel, he persuaded him to go about in quest of seals, until
an opportunity offered for escaping to a small party of his own tribe
whom he met there. When taxed by the crew with deceiving Mr. Low
about the potatoes, he fell into (or affected) a violent passion, and
sprung at the nearest man, grappling him in a most determined and
malicious manner.
Having now mentioned all that I know respecting the Canoe Indians
(excepting some facts related by Capt. King in vol. i.), I will add a
few words about their constant and faithful companion, the dog: and
then continue the narrative.
The dog of a Fuegian or Chonos Indian is small, active, and wiry,
like a terrier with a cross of fox. His hair is usually rough, and
dusky, or dark-coloured; but there are many dogs among the Fuegians
almost white, or prettily spotted, some of which have fine smooth
hair. All that were examined had the roof of their mouth black,
the ears erect, large, and pointed; the nose sharp, like that of a
fox; the tail drooping, and rather inclined to be bushy. They are
exceedingly vigilant and faithful. Their sagacity is shown in many
ways, some of which I have already noticed; and not least, in their
providing for themselves, each low-water, by cunningly detaching
limpets from the rocks, or by breaking muscle and other shells, and
then eating the fish.
These dogs bark at strangers with much fury: and they give tongue
eagerly when hunting the otter.[12]
* * * * *
NOTE to page 185.--The Fuegian necklaces show some ingenuity in
those who make them, being composed of small shells, perforated
very neatly, and fastened together on strings of sinews or gut,
so finely divided and platted, that one is, at first, inclined to
doubt their being the manufacture of such uncouth savages.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Aluminous earth, indurated pipe clay, or decomposed feldspar.
[2] The bottom of a Fuegian canoe is full of mud, or clay, for the
fire-place.
[3] It was an uncle who gave him to me for some buttons.
[4] These arrows are of hard wood, well polished, and quite straight.
They are about two feet in length, and in a notch at the point have
a sharp triangular piece of agate, obsidian, or broken glass; which
is not permanently fixed, and therefore remains in a wound, though
the shaft may be drawn out. The bow is from three to four feet long,
quite plain, with a string made of twisted sinews.
[5] See vol. i. p. 428.
[6] See note at end of chapter.
[7] Mr. Low has seen Fuegians with balls (bolas) in the northern part
of their country.
[8] Chonos and Alikhoolip.
[9] Chonos. See page 194.
[10] Chonos.
[11] Plank canoes are used on the west coast. See page 142.
[12] Byron says they do so likewise when driving fish into corners.