THE LAND OF THE FIRE
“Tierra del Fuego,” meaning the land of the fire, exclaimed the followers
of Magellan, as they saw the wreaths of smoke ascending through the
frosty air. It was merely the signal fires of the Indians dwelling on one
of the islands of that remote southern archipelago, when they beheld the
strange white-winged vessels of Magellan sailing through the Straits,
since named after him. The name has clung to the group of islands during
the succeeding centuries, although thousands of white people have since
placed foot on them and the name is known to be a misnomer, for no
volcanic fires exist there.
Beginning in Alaska, a chain of gigantic granite vertebrae extends clear
to Cape Horn. It clings close to the Pacific coast throughout the entire
distance, and ends in grandeur near the Antarctic Circle. Some say that
the lower end of this backbone of the American continents was shattered
by a convulsion, in which mighty masses of rock were thrown off into the
ocean, thus forming the numberless islands which lie at the southern
extremity of South America. The better theory, however, is that they were
formed by the submerging of the lower end of the Andes Mountains. When
the land sank the stormy water beat through the valleys and chiselled the
shores into incongruous shapes and labyrinths.
Between the islands and the mainland are the Straits of Magellan. Some
of the finest scenery in the world is found in this intricate waterway,
especially in what is known as Smyth’s Channel, which separates Southern
Chile from the group of islands. Smyth’s Channel is very narrow, so that
most vessels take the broader Straits. The depth has never been fathomed.
There is a grandeur in the serrated peaks, and cliffs, snowy crests,
cascades and the glaciers under a brilliant sun and deep blue sky that is
simply overwhelming. Numerous mountain peaks reveal themselves, of which
Mt. Sarmiento is the noblest, and lifts its snowy head to a height of
over seven thousand feet. Its beauty is enhanced by numerous blue-tinted
glaciers, which descend to the waters of the sea like a multitude
of frozen Niagaras. Floating glaciers are common in the Straits, and
vessels, unequipped with ice-making machinery, often tie up to one while
the crew chop enough ice to fill the refrigerators.
Few places on the earth’s surface within easy reach can compare with
the Straits of Magellan. This channel has become the great trade route
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Few boats, except sailing
vessels, now take the longer route around Cape Horn, because of the
storms that lash the Antarctic seas into fury. For several hundred miles
the Straits furnish a succession of beautiful scenes; green shores
alternating with the eternal glaciers of the mountain peaks, blue waters
contrasting with the shimmering crystal of the floating icebergs. These
masses of ice are as imperishable as the glaciers of Greenland, and they
add a feature to the scenery that is not to be found elsewhere within
the ordinary course of steamers. It is a region of marvellous sunsets as
well as rugged scenery, when the weather is clear, but mist, snow or rain
often dim the view.
[Illustration: IN THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN.]
The eastern entrance to the Straits lies between Cape Virgenes, on
the mainland, and Cape Espiritu, on the island, a distance of about
fourteen miles. For some distance the channel is wide, with the mainland
gently undulating and covered with grass. Then come the first narrows,
and afterwards the second narrows. These narrows are about two miles
in width, and there is generally a strong current through them. In the
spring the tides are thrown up to a height of fifty feet, and this is
the reason sailing vessels prefer the open waters around Cape Horn, even
though the seas are more tempestuous. When nearing Punta Arenas the
mountains become higher, and at times the way seems blocked by them.
Stunted bush and underbrush appear. After leaving Punta Arenas the shores
grow bolder and more picturesque. The snow-covered mountains and glaciers
resemble the Alaska coast or that of Northern Norway. The islands are as
numerous as in the St. Lawrence or Georgian Bay.
Nodales Peak and Mt. Victoria lift their hoary heads on the mainland,
while Mt. Buckland and Mt. Sarmiento rise to a still greater height on
the islands. The latter beautiful and majestic peak is the noblest of
them all. Its snowy head rises to a height of seven thousand three
hundred feet, with a broad base and two distinct peaks. It is generally
more or less hidden by vapour. The three Evangelistas keep their lonely
vigil where straits and ocean join on the north. Cape Pillar, the
western end of the Straits, is two hundred and forty-five miles from
Cape Virgenes, but the steamer route is almost half as long again. Old
voyagers were wont to take eighty days in this passage when the weather
was a little unfavourable. The western end is the stormiest, and the
pilot books give it a very bad reputation. South of them the Antarctic
seas are seldom free from the storm king. The weather is nearly always
bad, and oftentimes worse. In one recent year it is said that eighty-two
sailing vessels and thirty-nine steamers were lost—a fearful toll claimed
by old Neptune.
Fernando de Magelhaens, although of Portuguese birth, had entered the
Spanish service. In charge of a fleet of five small ships, the largest
of only one hundred and thirty tons, boarded and manned by a crew of
sixty-two men, he sailed from Seville on the 10th of August, 1519.
The voyage was an arduous one, and was beset not only with terrific
storms at sea but mutinies among the sailors that were scarcely less
terrifying. Only two of his vessels remained faithful, but he conquered
the mutiny with the loss of only one vessel. On the 21st of October,
1520, he entered the eastern entrance of the channel, and it was a month
later, after almost unheard-of difficulties, that he emerged into the
broad Pacific. Of the subsequent expeditions that attempted this route
the experiences were most unfortunate. In nearly every instance almost
one out of every three vessels was wrecked, some in one channel and some
in another, for there is a perfect labyrinth of channels around and
between the many islands. Some of the names indicate the experiences or
impressions of these early navigators. Fatal Bay, Port Famine, Famine
Reach, Escape Beach, Last Wreck Point, Dislocation Harbour, Thieves
Island, Useless Bay, Fury Islands, Breakneck Peninsula, Desolation
Harbour, Preservation Cove, and last, Hope Inlet, are a few of the names
that may be located on the map. In 1578, Sir Francis Drake, an English
explorer as well as freebooter, by accident found the route by the way
of Cape Horn. This great discovery stimulated navigation around South
America, for the Spaniards guarded the Straits route to the best of
their ability. The Spaniards described Drake as “a man of low condition,
but a skilful seaman and a valiant pirate.”
The Fuegian Archipelago covers a goodly territory. The islands contain
as much land as Nebraska, and are several hundred miles long from east
to west. A perfect labyrinth of tortuous, wind-swept waterways separate
the hundreds of islands which form this group. They are not all a
desolate mass of ice and snow, however, but contain plains which are
covered with succulent grasses, and slopes which are thickly wooded.
The Chilean portion of these islands, and the mainland along the coast
beyond the fiftieth parallel of latitude, is included in the territory of
Magellanes, the largest territorial division in the republic. The largest
island, called Tierra del Fuego, land of the fire, is half as large as
Illinois. It is divided longitudinally between Chile and Argentina, by
far the largest portion belonging to the former nation, and the best part
of it too.
Thirty years ago this entire island was roamed and hunted over by the
aborigines. The fact that the northern part consisted of open country,
with few ranges of hills, caused the white man to look upon it with
envious eyes, as it promised good pasturage for sheep. Then began a
warfare against the Indians which almost resulted in their extermination.
Thousands of sheep now quietly graze in the rich valleys and on the
verdant plains, and thrive very well indeed. Very little of the land
is cultivated, although probably susceptible of cultivation, but the
marketing of the products would be a difficult feature at the present
time, and the season is short. Its latitude is about that of Southern
Greenland, but the climate is probably milder, and its longitude is
approximately that of Eastern Massachusetts. In the summer the grass is
green, but in the winter the chilly winds change it to a rich brown. The
ground rats are a terrible nuisance to the farmer, as they burrow in the
fields so much that they destroy half the usefulness of a good meadow.
The mountain slopes are covered with a thick growth of trees, ferns and
mosses up to a height of a thousand feet or more, due to the great amount
of rainfall, but above that distance the growth is very stunted. It seems
strange to see green trees and green grasses amid snows and glaciers, but
such is the contrast offered by this “land of the fire.” The trees are
mostly evergreen, not very high, but very close together. A deep bed of
moss, into which a man may sink knee-deep, generally surrounds them, and
large ferns with leaves a yard long grow in places otherwise bare. Even
bright flowers make the sombre landscape seem almost gay when the sun
shines on a summer day.
Desolation Island, on the Chilean side, is a bleak and barren island well
indicated by its name, while other names are Clarence, St. Inas, and
Navarin. There are many others, from islands twenty miles in length to
some so small that a good baseball pitcher could toss a stone clear over
them. Cape Horn is a monster rock which thrusts its jagged outline into
the Antarctic seas. It is a couple of hundred miles south of the Straits
of Magellan, and more than a thousand miles nearer the undiscovered
South Pole than the Cape of Good Hope. It is surrounded by waters that
are tossed by terrific storms which mariners fear. The hulks of wrecked
vessels can be seen on every hand as reminders of the terrible tribute
which has been here levied. Glaciers are always in sight, and masses of
ice hundreds of feet high are frequently seen, seeming to threaten the
venturesome mariner for invading those beautiful waters.
[Illustration: A WRECK ON THE COAST OF CHILE.]
A number of years ago a steamer was wrecked on these shores, but the
crew managed to save sufficient provisions to sustain all those rescued
for some time. While sinking shallow wells they discovered a strata of
black sand that sparkled with particles of gold. Their reports led to
great excitement over the discovery of gold on Tierra del Fuego. Although
adventurers had sailed through the Straits for centuries, looking for
the wealth that they might obtain either honestly or dishonestly, yet
the gold deposits remained undiscovered until 1867. Their covetous eyes
had gazed upon the gold-bearing shores, and they had even filled their
water-casks in the gold-bearing rivulets without seeing the wealth. In
the few years following a number of Argentine explorers visited that
region, and found the source of some of the gold. The gold was almost
exclusively found in free particles in a layer of black sand, which was
found under the surface sand. As soon as the report of their find reached
the settlements, a number of expeditions were fitted out and sent to
that region. The best payings were found right on the beach, which was
washed by the waves of the sea at a high tide and during storms. It was
also found that the tides brought in fresh gold-bearing sands from the
seas. The miners used to sit down and smoke their pipes until the storms
passed, and then dig up the black sand with the gold in it after the surf
had gone down.
It all seemed to be pockets, so that where the gold would be found in
considerable quantities for a while, it would soon become so scarce that
mining it under the crude conditions prevailing became unprofitable. The
prospectors sailed in and out of the stormy and dangerous bays, and many
of them lost their lives. The hidden reefs and whirling tornadoes form
combinations that made navigation in the small catboats that were used
extremely perilous. Many, who were wrecked, were obliged to live upon
whatever wild food they could find for weeks, and others were killed
by the hostile Indians. The original stories said that nuggets as big
as kernels of corn were plentiful, but they were not true to fact. No
gold quartz veins were ever discovered, but in all the finds it was
simply particles mixed up with the black sand. Gold mining to-day is not
prosecuted in that region as much as it was a couple of decades ago,
although some gold is washed each year. If the whole story was known, it
would probably be found that there were more skeletons of dead miners
left on those inhospitable shores than records of wealth acquired in
Tierra del Fuego. Most of those who did find wealth got no farther than
Punta Arenas with it, for that city was to that region what San Francisco
was in the early days of California, and mining prospectors are the same
the world over.
The first attempt to establish a settlement on the Straits of Magellan
was in the latter part of the sixteenth century. Pedro Sarmiento de
Gamboa was placed in command of this expedition. His instructions were
as follows: “For the honour and glory of God and of the Virgin Mary,
His Mother and Our Lady, whom you, Captain Pedro Sarmiento, are to take
for Advocate and Patron of the ships and crews under your orders for
this discovery and enterprise in the Straits of Magellan.” After several
narrow escapes from shipwreck the expedition landed, and established a
settlement not far from the present city of Punta Arenas. From the very
first misfortune seemed to follow the colonists, and the Indians soon
became hostile. At the end of the second winter the three hundred or
more colonists had dwindled to eighteen, who were finally rescued. They
had been obliged to live on berries, shell-fish, oysters, and such other
ocean life that they were able to catch. The Indians had driven the
guanaco and other wild game into the interior where the colonists could
not reach them.
[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF PUNTA ARENAS.]
The continent of South America extends much farther south than Africa.
The southernmost point is Cape Frowards, which is a dark mass of rock
five hundred feet high joined by a low neck of land to snow-clad
mountains. At almost the southernmost point of the mainland lies the
little city of Punta Arenas (Sandy Point). It is situated on the Straits
of Magellan, which is sheltered from the worst storms by the many
islands that lie between it and the Antarctic seas. Punta Arenas is the
southernmost city in the world, eight hundred miles farther south than
Cape Town. There is plenty of building space left in this city still,
but a few years ago, when the boom was on, the people had visions of a
southern Chicago. Fabulous prices were asked for building lots, and real
estate agents were almost as plentiful as the Indians. That time has
passed, and the town has dwindled in population. Its latitude is about
that of Labrador, but it is much more equable than that country and the
weather is not so severe as many imagine. It is so named because built
on a sandy beach that runs out into the Straits. It is now a city of
twelve thousand people, and they seem to be contented. It is a very mixed
population. You can hear Spanish, English, German, Italian, Russian and
even the Chinese mingled with the guttural tongues of the Indians. The
Scotch are probably the most thrifty of the inhabitants, and many of them
have lived there two or three generations.
There are many rough characters in Punta Arenas, some even who have
drifted from the mining camps of our western states. It is said to be
bad policy to ask a man where he came from, or what his name was before
his arrival, as it might be an embarrassing subject. The loafing places
are the bars, where many brawls occur during the long winters. There are
probably as many saloons to the number of inhabitants as in any other
place on the globe, for nearly every other door seems to bear such a
sign. Much gambling is also done at these and in the clubs. There are
clubs, where the well-to-do gather and have their games just as they do
the world over. The principal club is the Cuerpo de Bomberos, which means
the Society of Firemen, and was organized as a volunteer fire department.
Most of the buildings are cheap one-story affairs, frequently being built
of the corrugated iron so common in this land. Punta Arenas is a free
port, and this fact has aided in its prosperity. All the vessels passing
through the Straits call there for supplies and coal, and this business,
together with the trade in whaling products, wool and furs, furnish
the inhabitants with employment. It is one of the great wool-exporting
ports of the world, having shipped more than sixteen million pounds of
that commodity in a single season, and four hundred thousand pelts. The
trade in furs is very large. One of the prettiest things sold here is an
ostrich robe made of the breasts of the young birds.
[Illustration: PORT FAMINE, IN THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN.]
Punta Arenas is the business centre of the region extending from Port
Desire, on the Patagonian coast to Cape Horn, and from the Falkland
Islands on the east to the westernmost limits of Chile. The little
settlement that originally was established there was called La Colonia
de Magellanes. On the 21st of April, 1843, Chile first planted her
tri-coloured banner at a place near here, which was called Port Famine,
because of the disastrous end of the Sarmiento settlement, which had been
located there a couple of centuries previously.
Chile had a double purpose in establishing this post. One was its desire
to hold the territory as a national possession, and the other was to
establish a penal colony which would be so far away from the capital that
the prisoners, even if they escaped, could not return. Several hundred
prisoners were generally confined there, who were kept in subjection
by a small company of soldiers. On two occasions the convicts rebelled
and took possession of this settlement. On one of these the governor
and many of the guards were killed and the mutineers boarded a ship
that chanced to be in the harbour, but they were overtaken by a Chilean
man-of-war and overcome. The men were hung, and it is said that a man
was seen hanging from every yard-arm of the war-ship. After the first
revolt a new settlement was established on the present site of Punta
Arenas, which was given the old name. The tongue of sand there, however,
the English-speaking people called Sandy Point, and thereafter the name
Punta Arenas, which means the same in Spanish, was given it; at least it
is entirely known by that name now.
In 1877 the last revolt occurred, when the convicts revenged the
cruelties to which they had been subjected upon the commander of the
garrison and many of the soldiers. When a man-of-war appeared they fled
into the interior, where most of them died from starvation and hardships.
The establishment of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company was the cause
of the abandonment of this place as a penal colony. It proved to be a
convenient stopping place for the steamers to take on coal and supplies,
and this gave it a new life. Later came the discovery of gold, which
brought many to the settlement. Still later a Scotchman brought some
sheep from the Falkland Islands, and found that the region around Punta
Arenas and on the island opposite was well adapted for sheep raising.
Others took advantage of this experience, until the neighbourhood around
became noted for its sheep culture. Some day, if a freezing establishment
should be established here, Punta Arenas will become a still more
important place, and it is undoubtedly only a question of time until
such will be done. The town itself makes a poor foreground for the
magnificent setting of nature. It is laid out on the usual checkerboard
plan, with several streets running from the shores back up the hills.
It has a plaza and the streets are unpaved. The beach is sandy and the
streets are either filled with loose sand or mud.
Across the Straits the green hills of Tierra del Fuego may be seen
rising, and over to the south the snow-capped peaks of Mt. Sarmiento and
its neighbours appear above the horizon. To the west are mountains which
are ever green and rise boldly up to the western edge, while to the north
the hills are generally bare. At one time it was thought that coal had
been discovered and the mine was opened up; some track was built and an
old locomotive brought down. It proved, however, to be only lignite, and
so the mine has been practically abandoned.
A considerable trade has been developed in Indian curios and goods.
The Indians from the pampas and islands come here to sell their furs,
feathers, bows, hides, etc. Passengers passing through the Straits on the
various steamers usually lay in a supply of these goods, some of which
are genuine and others are prepared especially for such passengers. One
wonders at the number of palms and plants which are seen in this town
so far beyond all other settlements, for even wild flowers of certain
kinds seem to grow in great profusion, while ferns and lichens everywhere
delight the eye.
South of Punta Arenas there is only one settlement of any importance, and
that is Ushuaia. This town is situated on the Argentine side of Tierra
del Fuego, and, small as it is, it is the capital of that territory. It
stands nearer to the South Pole than any other civilized village in the
world. The barriers created by nature are almost insurmountable. To the
south is the unknown Antarctic, to the north the impassable barrier of
snow-clad peaks, and in all other directions are the fathomless channels
separating it from the other islands. Established first as a mission
settlement, its site was selected as the capital of the territory. The
Argentine flag was first unfolded over the first building erected for
the use of officials in 1884. Shortly after that work upon prisons was
begun, and it became a still more important settlement. Here, in this
isolated quarter of the globe, guarded by a few score of armed men, are
confined several hundred men, many of whom are the very dregs of humanity
sent from Buenos Aires. These unfortunates work on the roads, dress stone
for new and stronger walls, or make the garments worn by themselves and
their fellow prisoners. Few attempt to escape and fewer still succeed,
for the loneliness and desolation alone would keep a prisoner where human
companionship may be found.
Small and unimportant as this town is to-day, and wretched as it would
seem to many people, yet it has a full complement of officials with their
secretaries and servants. There is a complete list of judicial officers
and police officials, even though the police have no patrol to beat and
the court has no docket. About the only part of the official equipment
that has any work to do is the culinary department, for it takes a great
deal of cooking and preparation to provide food for every one there.
Out of a population of several hundred to-day, made up principally of
prisoners and officials, there are only a very few plain common citizens
who dwell there.
Most of the buildings in Ushuaia are frame structures, which have been
erected near the bay that bears the same name as the town. It is situated
on Beagle Channel. The houses consist of plain unpainted wooden walls,
with a roof of corrugated iron. The governor’s palace itself is not much
better than the other buildings. A few of the buildings have little green
patches, enclosed with picket fences, in which they are able to grow a
few vegetables. For a location so far south the climate is not so bad as
one would expect, as the snowfall is not as great as in the same latitude
in northern regions. In the winter time the nights are very long and
the days short. The mountains just at the back of the town cut off the
sunlight when the sun is low, so that the town only receives about four
hours of daylight. It is certainly a cheerless sort of existence that the
people lead in this southern capital. There are still one or two missions
that are conducted by English missionaries on this coastland, but they
have had very little influence upon the natives. One of the missions
consists of quite a large ranch, where the minister in charge of the
mission lives and employs the natives to do his work.
For several hundred miles north of Punta Arenas lies the formerly
unknown land of Patagonia—the land of the Pata-goas, the “big feet,” as
they were named by Magellan. One can see in that city almost any day
descendants of that race in the Tehuelche tribe of Indians who come
there to sell their furs and skins. Out upon the broad pampas away from
the town, the traveller will occasionally stumble upon the _toldos_
(huts) of the Tehuelches. These are simply made huts of the skins of
the guanaco sewn loosely together at the edges, and supported squarely
upon awkward-looking props, or posts, forked at the top to admit the
ridge-poles. The skins are fastened to the earth by wooden pegs. The
Tehuelches are the native Indians of Patagonia—the so-called giants—and
are well built specimens of manhood. These Indians live almost as
their ancestors did hundreds of years ago. They are still nomads, and
exist entirely by the chase. They do not cultivate anything whatever,
but sometimes own a few cattle. In general they still dress in skins,
although some of them have purchased store clothes at the settlements. As
a rule they are mild mannered, when sober, and do not deserve the name of
being bloodthirsty savages. Their numbers have greatly decreased, since
the first discovery of Patagonia, through dissipation and disease, and
some have estimated that the total number yet remaining will not exceed a
few hundred.
Only a few years ago the geographers labelled Patagonia “no man’s land.”
To-day millions of sheep graze over its fertile plains. It is as large as
several of our western states. It is a land of big distances and enormous
holdings. In the pasture section it is often a ride of three or four
days from one ranch to another. Most of these ranches are near the coast
or along the few rivers. As one travels into the interior a white face
becomes more and more rare; empty leagues surround you on every hand.
One accustomed to cities only would find it very lonely indeed on these
plains. One seems to stand alone with only the wind, the mirages and the
limitless distances, and the blue sky above for a canopy. The last land
to have been the habitation of the greater beasts of preceding ages,
according to geologists, Patagonia is one of the last to receive its
proper share of the human population.
There are three races of Indians who inhabit these Fuegian islands,
the Yahgans, Alacaloofs and the Onas, all of whom are very low in
intelligence. They are commonly known under the general characterization
of the Firelanders. None of them are as far advanced as the Esquimaux,
who build warm igloos for their habitation. Even though the climate is
very cold the greater part of the year these aborigines formerly wore
very little clothing, but greased their bodies with fish oil that keeps
out the cold. In recent years, however, they have begun to wear warmer
garments, when such can be obtained. The Yahgans are very treacherous,
and many murders have been traced to them. They will mingle very little
with white people, but always hold themselves aloof. Their houses are of
the most primitive character, and are frequently little more than a rude
construction of thatch on a skeleton of sticks stuck in the ground.
These Yahgans live almost entirely on sea food. They divide their time
between these rude huts and canoes, or dugouts made from the trunks of
trees, in which they paddle through the tortuous channels from one island
to another. Should a storm overtake the boat and it becomes necessary to
lighten it, the men show their instinct for self-preservation by throwing
the women and children overboard. They are not particular about food,
as to whether it is very fresh or not. There is frequently a dearth of
food, and then it is that they are driven to eat the flesh of a stranded
whale or of an animal found dead. Ground rats and the fishy-flavoured
penguin are included on their regular bill-of-fare. Their camping-places
can generally be located by the mounds of shells that accumulate. They
are as near to primitive savages as it would be possible to find on the
Americas. As usual among savage tribes, the women do the most of the
work, and assist in the hunting and fishing as well as prepare the meat
after it has once been caught. The Yahgans are short and muscular and
below medium height. Their lower limbs seem rather stunted, but above
the waist they are heavily built. Marriage is a matter of purchase and
sale, and wives are sometimes exchanged. The marriage ceremony consists
in painting the girl in a peculiar way, and then the husband takes her to
his hut or that of his parents.
The Alacaloofs, or Alakalufs, occupy the western islands and are similar
in their habits to the Yahgans. Their canoes are made of strips of bark
or planks fastened together with vines and caulked with moss. Their huts
look like New England haycocks made of boughs and covered with skins or
bark strips. They frequently row out to meet passing steamers and beg for
food. They are not an attractive people. In colour they strongly resemble
the North American red men, but they are not much over five feet in
height. The only domesticated animal owned by them is the dog. With this
tribe, as well as the Yahgans, everything is held in common and it is no
crime to take of your neighbour’s fuel or food.
The Onas are a hunting tribe and they are larger than either of the
other tribes. They occupy the prairie lands and open bush of Tierra del
Fuego. The men are active and athletic, and they are especially skilful
in stalking the guanaco of that island. They are expert in the use of
the rude bows and arrows which they make for themselves. The bows are
fashioned out of a native wood cut with shell knives, and the arrows
are made out of reeds armed with a flint or glass point. Horse meat is
a great delicacy with them. The struggle for existence has made these
people inexpressive in features and stoical in actions. A good fortune or
an ill fortune is met in much the same way. Their homes are generally
saucer-shaped hollows that have been scraped out, over which poles and
brush are piled and guanaco skins are used as doors. All the family lie
down together, and the dogs are included for warmth. They are nomads and
wander from one place to another in search of food. Fire is made with
bits of iron ore or flints and dry fungus. Some of this tribe are now
employed as servants by the white people, but most of them prefer the
wild life in the open.
With all the hardships that seem to fall to the lot of these Indians who
live so far to the south, they seem to be fairly happy and are contented
with their surroundings. This is truly fortunate. People who live in the
temperate zones are inclined to think that they are the only truly happy
ones. By travel one’s view is broadened, and at last he realizes the
truth expressed by Oliver Goldsmith in the following lines:—
“If countries we compare,
And estimate the blessings which they share,
Though patriots flatter, still shall wisdom find
An equal portion dealt to all mankind.
The shuddering tenant of the frigid zone
Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own;
Extols the treasures of the stormy seas,
And his long nights of revelry and ease;
The naked negro, panting at the Line,
Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine,
Basks in the glare, or strives the tepid wave.
And thanks his gods for all the good they gave.”