A proposal to go to Port Famine negatived--"Holland"--Discovery of
vessels in the straits--Double disappointment--A crisis--Survey of
Patagonia--Scanty vegetation--Animals and birds--Climate--The
people--Their habits and character--Domestic
relations--Weapons--Government--Superstition--Cannibalism--Their
reputation abroad.
Returning to the encampment, it remained to devise some new way of
escape. Some four or five days' ride to the westward would bring us to
Port Famine, on the straits, a penal settlement of Chili, and the only
settlement in the vicinity by which I could hope to reenter the
civilized world. A journey thither was suggested to the Indians, as the
most likely way of turning my captivity to profitable account; but they
refused with a promptness and decisiveness which was rather
unaccountable, till I afterwards learned that they had lately visited
that part of the country on a horse-stealing expedition, in which their
success had been too good to make them desirous of showing their faces
there at present. Money, guns, pistols, cutlasses, brass, beads, and
everything else that could be thought of to tempt their cupidity, were
offered. I was not disposed to be niggard of promises; but in vain. To
Port Famine they were determined _not_ to go; but old Parosilver assured
me, by way of compensation, that he would take me to "Holland," which
was a "much better place." Whereabout on terra firma this South American
Holland was situated,--if, indeed, there was any such place, and the
chief was not indulging in a little extra lying,--was past all
conjecture. I inquired the distance. He could not tell exactly. Was it
inhabited by Americans or English? There were "twenty or thirty white
men there, and plenty of rum and tobacco." They promised to start with
me towards Holland the next day. In what direction? They pointed towards
the Atlantic. Well, I cared little where it was, or who lived there,
provided only they were not Patagonians, and I could once get free of
these rascals. But on the following morning the migration was postponed,
in consequence of unexpected tidings.
One of the tribe, who had been down to the shore, reported that my
vessel had come back. This welcome, though rather improbable
information, started me, with about a dozen of them, on the track of his
story. On gaining a view of the straits, a vessel was plainly in sight,
but it was a strange sail. Yet, if I could succeed in boarding her, my
purposes would be answered. She came into the bight of the bay, and
anchored about fifteen miles below us. I endeavored to make my smutty
companions comprehend that as the tide was then running out they would
not make the shore till it turned, which would not be till night. They
waited till near night, when hunger and thirst wore out their patience,
and they ordered me off with them. Against this untimely mandate I
warmly remonstrated, and after some dispute it was arranged that the
chief should stay with me for the night. The rest returned to their
encampment, and we made a good fire, which was kept up till nearly
morning. Old Parosilver lay down under the lee of a clump of bushes,
while I was busy in active exercise to keep warm, and replenishing the
fire with dry bushes. At dusk I had observed the vessel hoisting sail,
and beating up the bay. On this I began brandishing firebrands to
attract notice, and walked to and fro on the beach for hours. The craft
gradually approached, till her white canvas became distinguishable
through the surrounding gloom. Fresh fuel was heaped on the fire, a
bright blaze ascended; I took my station directly in front of it,
holding out my coat, and frequently turning round, that my form and
features might be more distinctly revealed. And now a thrill of joy
electrified me, as I saw a light set on deck, which appeared to be
stationary. There could be no doubt that the vessel had come to anchor
directly opposite to us. Though hungry and weary with long watching, I
hurried about, and gathered sticks and leaves in abundance to kindle a
still brighter beacon-fire, in whose light and warmth anxiety began to
expand into hope. At dawn of day, as the horizon lighted up, I could
distinguish the vessel lying about a mile off, quiet as a sea-fowl on
the calm surface. Presently there was a movement on deck, the anchor was
hove up, the fore and main sails were hoisted, and the object on which
my hopes and ardent prayers had centred through the cold night receded
from view through the straits, bound, doubtless, for California. I
watched the fast-vanishing sail with tearful eyes; and the old chief,
who had been on the look-out, started for his horse, that had been
hampered and turned out to crop among the scanty vegetation.
Before I had time to recover from the first revulsion of disappointment
and grief, _another_ vessel, a topsail schooner, came in by Point
Dungeness. "Cheer up," I said to myself; "the sun will be shining, the
darkness have given place to the clear day, before this vessel can be up
and opposite to us." Confident of being noticed, I began active
preparations for the approaching visitor. No rod of sufficient length
was to be found; but, after some search, a number of short crooked
sticks were collected. To lash them together, I tore up my drawers,
which I could ill afford, and appropriated my shoe-strings. My flannel
shirt was hoisted as a flag; and having replenished the fire, I paced
the beach with colors flying, but, as the vessel approached, with
increasing faintness of heart; for the wind gradually shifted, so that
she could only take advantage of it by heading towards Terra del Fuego.
At last she came opposite, but so near the further shore that the
chances of success diminished every moment. Dark objects moved on the
deck,--fancy painted them as men;--would they not discover me through
their glasses, and be drawn by my signal of distress? No; onward she
floated away,--the narrows were soon passed, and my vision of
deliverance was dissipated.
With this final death-blow to all present hopes of relief, I turned away
in despair. Exhausted by hunger, cold and fatigue, and worn out by hours
of anxiety, I fell helpless upon the ground, and wept like a child. For
the first time I felt _utterly_ forsaken, and repined at my lot as one
of unmitigated evil. Effort seemed useless; I had neither resolution nor
strength to make further exertion. There was nothing for me but listless
endurance. I even reproached myself that I had not cast myself into the
sea, and staked my life on the chance of swimming to the schooner.
There was no possibility of doing this; but failure would have been
_only_ death, and what was life worth to me here? This tempest of
self-reproach soon spent itself. My temperament is too buoyant to be
long depressed, and calm and stout thoughts took the place of despairing
weakness. It was unmanly, something whispered within me, thus to give
way before difficulties. It would be time enough to do this when all
possible effort had failed. The weak and imbecile might take refuge in
despair, but the strength of youth should serve me better. I called to
mind examples of courage in greater emergencies, when obstacles that
seemed insurmountable had been conquered by fortitude and perseverance.
"Heaven helps those who help themselves." The more I reflected on the
matter, the stronger grew the impulses of faith and courage, by whose
force it seemed possible to win a triumph against the greatest odds.
Before rising from the earth, my resolution was fully taken to throw
discouragement to the winds; by the help of God to meet whatever
impended with the courage of a man; to bear my calamities with patient
endurance; and to give up hope and energy only when nothing was left to
be attempted, or the power to do and suffer was exhausted.
I rose a new man,--my strength invigorated, my soul fortified by a
strong purpose. Though the cold night air had thoroughly chilled my
frame, it now felt a warmth kindled by the fires within, and an
unaccustomed flush suffused my countenance. The resolve fixed in this
memorable crisis of my captivity, though severely tested, was never
wholly overborne. Henceforth, the events and scenes through which I
passed were viewed with a calmness that had been before unattainable,
and which is now scarcely credible, on recollection. So true is it that
our strength is unknown to ourselves till it is thoroughly tested.
The hope of immediate release, however, was at an end; my savage
captors, it seemed, must be looked upon as for an indefinite period my
masters and companions; and I had nothing at present to do but to divert
myself by a study of their manners and habits; to consult my safety by a
close study of their character, and of the ways and means by which so to
adapt my deportment to it as to win their confidence, to disarm
hostility, and to seize opportunities.
* * * * *
Patagonia, as it offered itself to my observation, more than answered
the descriptions of geographers,--bleak, barren, desolate, beyond
description or conception,--only to be appreciated by being seen. Viewed
from the Straits of Magellan, it rises in gentle undulations or
terraces. Far as the eye can reach, in a westerly direction, it assumes
a more broken and hilly appearance, and long ranges of mountains,
extending from north to south, divide the eastern from the western
shore. The soil is of a light, sandy character, and bears nothing worthy
the name of a tree. Low bushes, or underwood, are tolerably abundant,
and in the valleys a coarse, wiry grass grows luxuriantly. Streams of
water are rare. The natives draw their supplies principally from springs
or pools in the valleys, the water of which is generally brackish and
disagreeable.
The variety of animal is nearly as limited as that of vegetable
productions. The guanaco, a quadruped allied to the lama, and with some
resemblance to the camelopard, is found in considerable numbers. It is
larger than the red deer, fleet on the foot, usually found in large
herds, frequenting not only the plains, but found along the course of
the Andes. Its flesh is a principal article of food; its skin is dried
with the hair on, in such a manner that, when wet, it retains its
pliability and softness. This process of preserving skins seems to be
peculiar to the Indian tribes, and is not unlike that by which
buffalo-robes, bear-skins, buckskins, and other articles of luxury, and
even necessity, among us, are prepared by the North American Indians.
Guanaco-skins are cut into pieces of all sizes, and sewed into a
thousand fanciful patterns, every workman originating a style to suit
himself. The hoofs are sometimes turned to account by the natives as
soles for shoes, when they indulge in such a luxury, which is not often.
The enemy of the guanaco is the cougar, or "American lion," smaller than
its African namesake, and more resembling the tiger in his character and
habits, having a smooth, sleek coat, of a brownish yellow
color,--altogether a very beautiful but ferocious creature. His chase is
a favorite, though rare and dangerous, sport of the natives. Patagonia
likewise boasts of the skunk, whose flesh is used for food. There are
also foxes, and innumerable mice. Of birds, the only noticeable
varieties are the condor, in the Andes, and the cassowary, a species of
ostrich, smaller than that of Africa, on the plains; its plumage is not
abundant, generally of a gray or dun color. Its flesh is tender and
sweet, and with the fat much prized by the Indians. Like the African
ostrich, it is exceedingly swift, only to be captured on horseback, and
often fleet enough to outrun the fastest racer.
The climate is severe. The Rio Negro forms the northern boundary, and
nearly the whole country is south of the parallel of 40 degree south
latitude. At the time of my capture, which was in the month of May, the
weather corresponded to that of November in the New England States. Its
chilliness, however, was greatly increased by the bleak winds of that
exposed locality. Along the Straits of Magellan the weather is also
exceedingly changeable. Sudden and severe squalls, often amounting
almost to a hurricane, vex the navigation of the straits, and sweep over
the coast with fearful fury.
The habits of the Patagonians, or at least of the tribe among whom I was
cast, are migratory, wandering over the country in quest of game, or as
their caprice may prompt them. They subsist altogether on the flesh of
animals and birds. The guanaco furnishes most of their food, and all
their clothing. A mantle of skins, sewed with the sinews of the ostrich,
fitting closely about the neck and extending below the knee, is their
only article of dress, except in the coldest weather, when a kind of
shoe, made of the hind hoof and a portion of the skin above it, serves
to protect their inferior extremities.
In person they are large; on first sight, they appear absolutely
gigantic. They are taller than any other race I have seen, though it is
impossible to give any accurate description. The only standard of
measurement I had was my own height, which is about five feet ten
inches. I could stand very easily under the arms of many of them, and
all the men were at least a head taller than myself. Their average
height, I should think, is nearly six and a half feet, and there were
specimens that could have been little less than seven feet high. They
have broad shoulders, full and well-developed chests, frames muscular
and finely proportioned, the whole figure and air making an impression
like that which the first view of the sons of Anak is recorded to have
made on the children of Israel. They exhibit enormous strength, whenever
they are sufficiently aroused to shake off their constitutional laziness
and exert it. They have large heads, high cheek-bones, like the North
American Indians, whom they also resemble in their complexion, though it
is a shade or two darker. Their foreheads are broad, but low, the hair
covering them nearly to the eyes; eyes full, generally black, or of a
dark brown, and brilliant, though expressive of but little intelligence.
Thick, coarse, and stiff hair protects the head, its abundance making
any artificial covering superfluous. It is worn long, generally divided
at the neck, so as to hang in two folds over the shoulders and back, but
is sometimes bound above the temples, by a fillet, over which it flows
in ample luxuriance. Like more civilized people, the Patagonians take
great pride in the proper disposition and effective display of their
hair. Their teeth are really beautiful, sound and white,--about the only
attractive and enviable feature of their persons. Feet and hands are
large, but not disproportionate to their total bulk. They have deep,
heavy voices, and speak in guttural tones,--the worst guttural I ever
heard,--with a muttering, indistinct articulation, much as if their
mouths were filled with hot pudding. Their countenances are generally
stupid, but, on closer inspection, there is a gleam of low cunning that
flashes through this dull mask, and is increasingly discernible on
acquaintance with them; when excited, or engaged in any earnest
business that calls their faculties into full exercise, their features
light up with unexpected intelligence and animation. In fact, as one
becomes familiar with them, he will not fail to detect an habitual
expression of "secretiveness" and duplicity, which he will wonder he did
not observe sooner. They are almost as imitative as monkeys, and are all
great liars; falsehood is universal and inveterate with men, women and
children. The youngest seem to inherit the taint, and vie with the
oldest in displaying it. The detection of a falsehood gives them no
shame or uneasiness. To these traits should be added a thorough-paced
treachery, and, what might seem rather inconsistent with their other
qualities, a large share of vanity, and an immoderate love of praise.
They are excessively filthy in their personal habits. Hydrophobia, so to
speak, is a prevailing distemper; they never wash themselves. Hands and
faces are covered with dirt, so thick, and of such ancient deposit, that
their natural color only appears in spots, laid bare by the mechanical
loosening and displacement of some of the strata, which curiously
variegates the surface. It is hardly necessary to remark that such a
condition of the skin is highly favorable to the increase and
multiplication of "the moving creature that hath life," wherewith their
persons are abundantly peopled.
The women are proportionally smaller than the men, and rather inclined
to embonpoint. The old chief had four wives, though he had probably
never heard of Mahomet or his domestic laws. The rest of the tribe had
only one wife apiece. The women erect the wigwams, provide fuel and
cook,--if the operation should be dignified with that name,--in short,
all the drudgery falls to their lot. They are treated as slaves, but
made, in most respects, as comfortable in their servitude as the
condition of their rude masters will admit. When, however, their lords
are excited by gambling, or enraged for any or no cause, the fury of
passion is visited upon their defenceless heads, which they bear
uncomplainingly, with a meek submissiveness worthy of better treatment.
They are passionately fond of trinkets and clumsy ornaments, such as
bits of brass and copper, beads, and the like, which they wear suspended
from their necks. A few of them had their ears pierced, and wore brass
or copper ear-rings; and many of them decked out their children with
similar rude finery, which is valued more than anything else, except
rum, tobacco and bread. The men paint or bedaub their faces and breasts
with a kind of red earth. Charcoal is also used as a cosmetic. A broad
line of red alternating with a stripe of black, in various fantastic
figures, is a favorite style of decoration. The women make themselves,
if possible, still more hideous, by the application of a pigment made of
clay, blood and grease. Some of them would be very comely, if only
cleanly, and content to leave nature less strenuously adorned.
The people are as deficient in the morals as in the refinements and
courtesies of domestic life; their licentiousness is equal to their
cruelty,--the filth of their persons only too faithfully represents the
degree in which "their mind and conscience is defiled." I saw no person,
of either sex, that appeared to have attained advanced age, though it
was difficult to judge of this. The oldest Indian I remember to have
seen did not seem to be above sixty.
Their only wealth, aside from their huts, consists of horses, the stock
of which is frequently replenished by stealing from the Spanish and
Chilian settlements. These animals are, for the most part, of small size
and inferior quality, half wild, coated with coarse, shaggy hair--lean
and woe-begone enough, just "fit for the crows." A few valuable
specimens of a superior breed are found among them, doubtless "conveyed"
there. The rude saddles in use among them are mostly of Spanish origin,
obtained at the settlements. They consist each of two boards, an inch
thick, six inches wide, and two feet long, rounded at the corners so as
to fit the horse's back, and united by two strips of board passing
across the back-bone, the several pieces lashed together with leather
strings. A piece of guanaco-skin often serves in default of a saddle.
The steed is guided by a single rein, tied round the lower jaw; some of
them sport a bit of iron or wood, secured by a string round the jaw,
attaching the rein to this. Spurs, like the rest of their riding
apparatus, are more efficient than elegant. They are indeed rude and
cruel things,--straight sticks, six inches long, with a long, sharp iron
inserted into the end, secured by a string or strap around the hollow of
the foot, and tied at the top, a second strap nearer the heel, and a
third passing round the heel. They are all agile and excellent horsemen.
For weapons, the chief, and a few of the principal men, had cutlasses or
swords. They had no fire-arms, nor could I learn that they understood
their use; bows and arrows, spears and war-clubs, appeared to be equally
unknown. All the men carried knives; and the _bolas_, a missile weapon
used in the capture of all kinds of game. This consists of two round
stones, or lead balls, if they can be procured weighing each about a
pound, connected by a strap or thong of leather, ten or twelve feet
long. When engaged in the chase, his horse at his highest speed, the
rider holds one ball in his hand, and whirls the other rapidly above his
head; when it has acquired sufficient momentum it is hurled with
unerring aim at the object of pursuit, and either strikes the victim
dead, or coils inextricably about him and roots him to the spot, a
helpless mark for the hunter's knife.
This tribe numbered about one thousand; the chief is the acknowledged
head of the people. Whether his power was hereditary or elective, I
could not learn; but incline to the belief that it was hereditary, as it
appeared to be, in his theory at least, absolute. In all questions of
importance his decision is final; yet his subjects take considerable
liberty with his opinions, sometimes oppose his counsels, and even
question his authority. On the appearance of such democratic symptoms,
he sometimes finds it necessary to assert his sovereignty with spirit,
and brandishes his cutlass smartly before their eyes.
The habits of the people are not only filthy, but indolent to the last
degree; exertion of body or mind is their greatest dread. They never go
on a hunting expedition till there is nothing more to eat, nor even then
till they feel the spur of extreme hunger. It sometimes happens that at
such a crisis a storm comes on, which shuts them in; and it is no
unfrequent occurrence for them, under such circumstances, to pass two or
three days without tasting food. They learn nothing by experience; the
same childish indolence and recklessness, followed by the same painful
consequences, are continually recurring.
Though their great size at first sight was fitted to inspire terror, it
required no very long observation to discover that they were deficient
in natural courage. This, in fact, might be inferred at once, from their
habitual deceit, treachery and artifice, which are the defences of the
weak and timorous, rather than the weapons of strong and daring natures.
They always select the night to inflict injuries; never meet an enemy in
open combat whom they can stab from behind, or despatch in the dark;
and, when obliged to attack by day, always do so in large numbers. This
defect of courage is increased by their superstition; they have great
faith in charms, signs and omens, a weakness which I anticipated might
exert great influence on my destiny in important conjunctures. Could I
by any means so master their secret as to possess myself of its mystic
power, it might prove an effective aid to my plans of self-defence, or
of escape. Should it, on the other hand, be turned by any accidental
causes against me, its impulse might prove irresistible by power or
contrivance. There was no appearance of idolatrous worship among them,
nor could I observe any allusion to a Supreme Being, or to any superior
powers having personal attributes; and, except a single ceremony, of
which more hereafter, the nature of which was and is still inexplicable,
there was nothing that suggested to my mind the idea of religious
worship. Whether they are cannibals or not, has been a matter of some
dispute. So far as I know, they have been, heretofore, only casually
observed on the beach by voyagers, or vaguely reported of by the people
of adjoining countries and neighboring settlements; neither of which is
a sufficiently reliable source of information. My own personal
advantages on this head were greater; but I am obliged, after all, to
leave the question about where I found it, so far as _certain_
conclusions are concerned. Yet some circumstances occurred, or were
related to me, that incline my mind strongly to the belief that such
horrible practices are not unjustly ascribed to them. Of the soundness
of my conclusions those who follow the course of the narrative will have
the opportunity of judging for themselves; if such had been my
persuasion at the beginning, it may be readily imagined what effect this
last hazard would have had upon my feelings, in contemplating the
possibilities of the future. Happily a convenient scepticism on this
point preserved me from this dark apprehension.
I came among these people not, certainly, with the best preparation in
my previous habits and associations to endure either the climate of
the country or the hardships of captivity. I went on shore in my usual
ship's dress; thick frock coat, trousers, and shoes, and glazed cap.
My under-garments were woollen; though an important item, as before
related, was made way with in fruitlessly signalling vessels in the
straits. But to live without any change of dress, to sleep without any
additional covering, protected from the cold ground only by a fragment
of guanaco-hide, and the other discomforts and exposures of life among
savages, made, altogether, a harsh contrast to the comforts of our
good schooner. To these, however, I gradually became inured, till I
was able to meet cold and wet and storm with as stoical indifference
as my dark companions, who had known no other lot from infancy.
Of the character of the natives I had little previous knowledge; and
that little was not adapted to stimulate curiosity, or prompt the least
anxiety for more intimate acquaintance. It was derived mainly from
whalers, in whom it seemed to have produced much the same degree of
contentment,--a feeling that ignorance is bliss. Indeed, the greatest
caution has always been employed by voyagers in regard to landing on
these shores; many experienced seamen cannot be persuaded to land at
all; trade with the natives is always carried on in boats off shore,
frequently with loaded fire-arms constantly levelled, in readiness for
action in case of emergency. But here I was, put forcibly to the study
of their character in the school of dame Experience, and can testify to
the truth of the saying that she charges roundly for tuition. Let the
reader give me credit for the cheapness with which I put him in
possession of what knowledge was purchased at so exorbitant a price.