Tierra del Fuego, first arrival--Good Success Bay--Interview
with savages--Scenery of the forests--Sir J. Banks’s hill--Cape
Horn--Wigwam Cove--Miserable condition of savages--Beagle
channel--Fuegians--Ponsonby Sound--Equality of condition among
natives--Bifurcation of Beagle channel--Glaciers--Return to ship.
TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
DECEMBER 17TH, 1832.--Having now finished with Patagonia, I will
describe our first arrival in Tierra del Fuego. A little after noon
we doubled Cape St. Diego, and entered the famous strait of Le
Maire. We kept close to the Fuegian shore, but the outline of the
rugged, inhospitable Staten land was visible amidst the clouds. In
the afternoon we anchored in the bay of Good Success. While entering
we were saluted in a manner becoming the inhabitants of this savage
land. A group of Fuegians partly concealed by the entangled forest,
were perched on a wild point overhanging the sea; and as we passed
by, they sprang up, and waving their tattered cloaks sent forth a
loud and sonorous shout. The savages followed the ship, and just
before dark we saw their fire, and again heard their wild cry. The
harbour consists of a fine piece of water half surrounded by low
rounded mountains of clay-slate, which are covered to the water’s
edge by one dense gloomy forest. A single glance at the landscape was
sufficient to show me, how widely different it was from any thing I
had ever beheld. At night it blew a gale of wind, and heavy squalls
from the mountains swept past us. It would have been a bad time out
at sea, and we, as well as others, may call this Good Success Bay.
In the morning, the Captain sent a party to communicate with the
Fuegians. When we came within hail, one of the four natives who were
present advanced to receive us, and began to shout most vehemently,
wishing to direct us where to land. When we were on shore the party
looked rather alarmed, but continued talking and making gestures
with great rapidity. It was without exception the most curious and
interesting spectacle I had ever beheld. I could not have believed
how wide was the difference, between savage and civilized man. It is
greater than between a wild and domesticated animal, in as much as
in man there is a greater power of improvement. The chief spokesman
was old, and appeared to be the head of the family; the three others
were powerful young men, about six feet high. The women and children
had been sent away. These Fuegians are a very different race from the
stunted miserable wretches further to the westward. They are much
superior in person, and seem closely allied to the famous Patagonians
of the Strait of Magellan. Their only garment consists of a mantle
made of guanaco skin, with the wool outside; this they wear just
thrown over their shoulders, as often leaving their persons exposed
as covered. Their skin is of a dirty coppery red colour.
The old man had a fillet of white feathers tied round his head, which
partly confined his black, coarse, and entangled hair. His face was
crossed by two broad transverse bars; one painted bright red reached
from ear to ear, and included the upper lip; the other, white like
chalk, extended parallel and above the first, so that even his
eyelids were thus coloured. Some of the other men were ornamented
by streaks of black powder, made of charcoal. The party altogether
closely resembled the devils which come on the stage in such plays as
Der Freischutz.
Their very attitudes were abject, and the expression of their
countenances distrustful, surprised, and startled. After we had
presented them with some scarlet cloth, which they immediately tied
round their necks, they became good friends. This was shown by the
old man patting our breasts, and making a chuckling kind of noise,
as people do when feeding chickens. I walked with the old man, and
this demonstration of friendship was repeated several times; it was
concluded by three hard slaps, which were given me on the breast and
back at the same time. He then bared his bosom for me to return the
compliment, which being done, he seemed highly pleased. The language
of these people, according to our notions, scarcely deserves to be
called articulate. Captain Cook has compared it to a man clearing his
throat, but certainly no European ever cleared his throat with so
many hoarse, guttural, and clicking sounds.
They are excellent mimics: as often as we coughed or yawned, or made
any odd motion, they immediately imitated us. Some of our party began
to squint and look awry; but one of the young Fuegians (whose whole
face was painted black, excepting a white band across his eyes)
succeeded in making far more hideous grimaces. They could repeat with
perfect correctness, each word in any sentence we addressed them,
and they remembered such words for some time. Yet we Europeans all
know how difficult it is to distinguish apart the sounds in a foreign
language. Which of us, for instance, could follow an American Indian
through a sentence of more than three words? All savages appear to
possess, to an uncommon degree, this power of mimicry. I was told
almost in the same words, of the same ludicrous habits among the
Caffres: the Australians, likewise, have long been notorious for
being able to imitate and describe the gait of any man, so that
he may be recognised. How can this faculty be explained? is it a
consequence of the more practised habits of perception and keener
senses, common to all men in a savage state, as compared to those
long civilized?
When a song was struck up by our party, I thought the Fuegians would
have fallen down with astonishment. With equal surprise they viewed
our dancing; but one of the young men, when asked, had no objection
to a little waltzing. Little accustomed to Europeans as they appeared
to be, yet they knew, and dreaded our fire-arms; nothing would tempt
them to take a gun in their hands. They begged for knives, calling
them by the Spanish word “cuchilla.” They explained also what they
wanted, by acting as if they had a piece of blubber in their mouth,
and then pretending to cut instead of tear it.
It was interesting to watch the conduct of these people towards
Jemmy Button (one of the Fuegians[1] who had been taken, during the
former voyage, to England): they immediately perceived the difference
between him and the rest, and held much conversation between
themselves on the subject. The old man addressed a long harangue
to Jemmy, which it seems was to invite him to stay with them. But
Jemmy understood very little of their language, and was, moreover,
thoroughly ashamed of his countrymen. When York Minster (another
of these men) came on shore, they noticed him in the same way, and
told him he ought to shave; yet he had not twenty dwarf hairs on
his face, whilst we all wore our untrimmed beards. They examined
the colour of his skin, and compared it with ours. One of our arms
being bared, they expressed the liveliest surprise and admiration
at its whiteness. We thought that they mistook two or three of the
officers, who were rather shorter and fairer (though adorned with
large beards), for the ladies of our party. The tallest amongst the
Fuegians was evidently much pleased at his height being noticed. When
placed back to back with the tallest of the boat’s crew, he tried
his best to edge on higher ground, and to stand on tiptoe. He opened
his mouth to show his teeth, and turned his face for a side view;
and all this was done with such alacrity, that I dare say he thought
himself the handsomest man in Tierra del Fuego. After the first
feeling on our part of grave astonishment was over, nothing could be
more ludicrous or interesting than the odd mixture of surprise and
imitation which these savages every moment exhibited.
The next day I attempted to penetrate some way into the country.
Tierra del Fuego may be described as a mountainous country, partly
submerged in the sea, so that deep islets and bays occupy the place
where valleys should exist. The mountain sides (except on the exposed
western coast) are covered from the waters edge upwards by one
great forest. The trees reach to an elevation of between 1000 and
1500 feet; and are succeeded by a band of peat, with minute alpine
plants; and this again is succeeded by the line of perpetual snow,
which, according to Captain King, in the Strait of Magellan descends
to between 3000 and 4000 feet. To find an acre of level land in any
part of the country is most rare. I recollect only one little flat
near Port Famine, and another of rather larger extent near Goeree
Road. In both these cases, and in all others, the surface was covered
by a thick bed of swampy peat. Even within the forest the ground is
concealed by a mass of slowly putrefying vegetable matter, which,
from being soaked with water, yields to the foot.
Finding it nearly hopeless to push my way through the wood, I
followed the course of a mountain torrent. At first, from the
waterfalls and number of dead trees, I could hardly crawl along;
but the bed of the stream soon became a little more open, from the
floods having swept the sides. I continued slowly to advance for an
hour along the broken and rocky banks; and was amply repaid by the
grandeur of the scene. The gloomy depth of the ravine well accorded
with the universal signs of violence. On every side were lying
irregular masses of rock and up-torn trees; other trees, though still
erect, were decayed to the heart and ready to fall. The entangled
mass of the thriving and the fallen reminded me of the forests
within the tropics;--yet there was a difference; for in these still
solitudes, Death, instead of Life, seemed the predominant spirit. I
followed the watercourse till I came to a spot where a great slip
had cleared a straight space down the mountain side. By this road I
ascended to a considerable elevation, and obtained a good view of
the surrounding woods. The trees all belong to one kind, the _Fagus
betuloides_, for the number of the other species of beech, and of the
Winter’s bark, is quite inconsiderable. This tree keeps its leaves
throughout the year; but its foliage is of a peculiar brownish-green
colour, with a tinge of yellow. As the whole landscape is thus
coloured, it has a sombre, dull appearance; nor is it often enlivened
by the rays of the sun.
DECEMBER 20TH.--One side of the harbour is formed by a hill about
1500 feet high, which Captain FitzRoy has called after Sir J. Banks,
in commemoration of his disastrous excursion, which proved fatal to
two of his party, and nearly so to Dr. Solander. The snow-storm,
which was the cause of their misfortune, happened in the middle of
January, corresponding to our July, and in the latitude of Durham! I
was anxious to reach the summit of this mountain to collect alpine
plants; for flowers of any kind, in the lower part, were few in
number. We followed the same watercourse as on the previous day, till
it dwindled away, and then were compelled to crawl blindly among
the trees. These, from the effects of the elevation, and of the
impetuous winds, were low, thick, and crooked. At length we reached
that which from a distance appeared like a carpet of fine green
turf, but which, to our vexation, turned out to be a compact mass of
little beech-trees about four or five feet high. These were as thick
together as box in the border of a flower-garden, and we were obliged
to struggle over the flat but treacherous surface. After a little
more trouble we gained the peat, and then the bare slate rock.
A ridge connected this hill with another, distant some miles, and
more lofty, so that patches of snow were lying on it. As the day
was not far advanced, I determined to walk there and collect along
the road. It would have been very hard work, had it not been for
a well-beaten and straight path made by the guanacoes; for these
animals, like sheep, always follow the same line. When we reached
the hill we found it the highest in the immediate neighbourhood, and
the waters flowed to the sea in opposite directions. We obtained a
wide view over the surrounding country: to the northward a swampy
moorland extended, but to the southward we had a scene of savage
magnificence, well becoming Tierra del Fuego. There was a degree
of mysterious grandeur in mountain behind mountain, with the deep
intervening valleys, all covered by one thick, dusky mass of forest.
The atmosphere, likewise, in this climate (where gale succeeds gale,
with rain, hail, and sleet), seems blacker than anywhere else. In the
Strait of Magellan looking due south from Port Famine, the distant
channels between the mountains appear from their gloominess to lead
beyond the confines of this world.
DECEMBER 21ST.--The Beagle got under way: and on the succeeding
day, favoured to an uncommon degree by a fine easterly breeze, we
closed in with the Barnevelts, and, running past Cape Deceit with
its stony peaks, about three o’clock doubled the weather-beaten Cape
Horn. The evening was calm and bright, and we enjoyed a fine view
of the surrounding isles. Cape Horn, however, demanded his tribute,
and before night sent us a gale of wind directly in our teeth. We
stood out to sea, and on the second day again made the land, when
we saw on our weather-bow this notorious promontory in its proper
form--veiled in a mist, and its dim outline surrounded by a storm of
wind and water. Great black clouds were rolling across the heavens,
and squalls of rain, with hail, swept by us with extreme violence; so
that the captain determined to run into Wigwam Cove. This is a snug
little harbour, not far from Cape Horn; and here, at Christmas-eve,
we anchored in smooth water. The only thing which reminded us of the
gale outside, was every now and then a puff from the mountains, which
seemed to wish to blow us out of the water.
DECEMBER 25TH.--Close by the cove, a pointed hill, called Kater’s
Peak, rises to the height of 1700 feet. The surrounding islands all
consist of conical masses of greenstone, associated sometimes with
less regular hills of baked and altered clay-slate. This part of
Tierra del Fuego may be considered as the extremity of the submerged
chain of mountains already alluded to. The cove takes its name of
“Wigwam” from some of the Fuegian habitations; but every bay in
the neighbourhood might be so called with equal propriety. The
inhabitants living chiefly upon shell-fish, are obliged constantly
to change their place of residence; but they return at intervals to
the same spots, as is evident from the pile of old shells, which must
often amount to some tons in weight. These heaps can be distinguished
at a long distance by the bright green colour of certain plants,
which invariably grow on them. Among these may be enumerated the wild
celery and scurvy grass, two very serviceable plants, the use of
which has not been discovered by the natives.
The Fuegian wigwam resembles, in size and dimensions, a haycock. It
merely consists of a few broken branches stuck in the ground, and
very imperfectly thatched on one side with a few tufts of grass and
rushes. The whole cannot be so much as the work of an hour, and it
is only used for a few days. At Goeree Roads I saw a place where one
of these naked men had slept, which absolutely offered no more cover
than the form of a hare. The man was evidently living by himself, and
York Minster said he was “very bad man,” and that probably he had
stolen something. On the west coast, however, the wigwams are rather
better, for they are covered with seal-skins. We were detained here
several days by the bad weather. The climate is certainly wretched;
the summer solstice was now passed, yet every day snow fell on the
hills, and in the valleys there was rain, accompanied by sleet. The
thermometer generally stood about 45°, but in the night fell to 38°
or 40°. From the damp and boisterous state of the atmosphere, not
cheered by a gleam of sunshine, one fancied the climate even worse
than it really was.
At a subsequent period the Beagle anchored for a couple of days under
Wollaston Island, which is a short way to the northward. While going
on shore we pulled alongside a canoe with six Fuegians. These were
the most abject and miserable creatures I any where beheld.[2] On the
east coast the natives, as we have seen, have guanaco cloaks, and on
the west, they possess seal-skins. Amongst these central tribes the
men generally possess an otter-skin, or some small scrap about as
large as a pocket-handkerchief, which is barely sufficient to cover
their backs as low down as their loins. It is laced across the breast
by strings, and according as the wind blows, it is shifted from side
to side. But these Fuegians in the canoe were quite naked, and even
one full-grown woman was absolutely so. It was raining heavily, and
the fresh water, together with the spray, trickled down her body.
In another harbour not far distant, a woman, who was suckling a
recently-born child, came one day alongside the vessel, and remained
there whilst the sleet fell and thawed on her naked bosom, and on the
skin of her naked child. These poor wretches were stunted in their
growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with white paint, their skins
filthy and greasy, their hair entangled, their voices discordant,
their gestures violent and without dignity. Viewing such men, one
can hardly make oneself believe they are fellow-creatures, and
inhabitants of the same world. It is a common subject of conjecture
what pleasure in life some of the less gifted animals can enjoy: how
much more reasonably the same question may be asked with respect
to these barbarians. At night, five or six human beings, naked
and scarcely protected from the wind and rain of this tempestuous
climate, sleep on the wet ground coiled up like animals. Whenever it
is low water, they must rise to pick shell-fish from the rocks; and
the women, winter and summer, either dive to collect sea-eggs, or sit
patiently in their canoes, and, with a baited hair-line, jerk out
small fish. If a seal is killed, or the floating carcass of a putrid
whale discovered, it is a feast: such miserable food is assisted by
a few tasteless berries and fungi. Nor are they exempt from famine,
and, as a consequence, cannibalism accompanied by parricide.
The tribes have no government or head, yet each is surrounded by
other hostile ones, speaking different dialects; and the cause of
their warfare would appear to be the means of subsistence. Their
country is a broken mass of wild rock, lofty hills, and useless
forests: and these are viewed through mists and endless storms. The
habitable land is reduced to the stones which form the beach; in
search of food they are compelled to wander from spot to spot, and so
steep is the coast, that they can only move about in their wretched
canoes. They cannot know the feeling of having a home, and still
less that of domestic affection; unless indeed the treatment of a
master to a laborious slave can be considered as such. How little can
the higher powers of the mind be brought into play! What is there
for imagination to picture, for reason to compare, for judgment to
decide upon? to knock a limpet from the rock does not even require
cunning, that lowest power of the mind. Their skill in some respects
may be compared to the instinct of animals; for it is not improved by
experience: the canoe, their most ingenious work, poor as it is, has
remained the same, for the last two hundred and fifty years.
Whilst beholding these savages, one asks, whence have they come?
What could have tempted, or what change compelled a tribe of men to
leave the fine regions of the north, to travel down the Cordillera
or backbone of America, to invent and build canoes, and then to enter
on one of the most inhospitable countries within the limits of the
globe? Although such reflections must at first occupy one’s mind,
yet we may feel sure that many of them are quite erroneous. There is
no reason to believe that the Fuegians decrease in number; therefore
we must suppose that they enjoy a sufficient share of happiness (of
whatever kind it may be) to render life worth having. Nature by
making habit omnipotent, and its effects hereditary, has fitted the
Fuegian to the climate and the productions of his country.
JANUARY 15TH, 1833.--The Beagle anchored in Goeree Roads. Captain
FitzRoy having determined to settle the Fuegians, according to their
wishes, in Ponsonby Sound, four boats were equipped to carry them
there through the Beagle channel. This channel which was discovered
by Captain FitzRoy during the last voyage, is a most remarkable
feature in the geography of this, or indeed of any other country.
Its length is about 120 miles with an average breadth, not subject
to any very great variations, of about two miles. It is throughout
the greater part so extremely straight, that the view, bounded on
each side by a line of mountains, gradually becomes indistinct in the
perspective. This arm of the sea may be compared to the valley of
Lochness in Scotland, with its chain of lakes and entering friths.
At some future epoch the resemblance perhaps will become complete.
Already in one part we have proofs of a rising of the land in a line
of cliff, or terrace, composed of coarse sandstone, mud, and shingle,
which forms both shores. The Beagle channel crosses the southern part
of Tierra del Fuego in an east and west line; in its middle, it is
joined on the south side by an irregular channel at right angles to
it, which has been called Ponsonby Sound. This is the residence of
Jemmy Button’s tribe and family.
JANUARY 19TH.--Three whale-boats and the yawl, with a party of
twenty-eight, started under the command of Captain FitzRoy. In the
afternoon we entered the eastern mouth of the channel, and shortly
afterwards found a snug little cove, concealed by some surrounding
islets. Here we pitched our tents, and lighted our fires. Nothing
could look more comfortable than this scene. The glassy water of the
little harbour, with the trees sending their branches over the rocky
beach, the boats at anchor, the tents supported by the crossed oars,
and the smoke curling up the wooded valley, formed a picture of quiet
retirement. The next day (20th) we smoothly glided onwards in our
little fleet, and came to a more inhabited district. Few if any of
these natives could ever have seen a white man; certainly nothing
could exceed their astonishment at the apparition of the four boats.
Fires were lighted on every point (hence the name of the land), both
to attract our attention, and to spread far and wide the news. Some
of the men ran for miles along the shore. As we passed under one
cliff, four or five men suddenly appeared above us, forming the most
wild and savage group that can be imagined. They were absolutely
naked, with long streaming hair, and with rugged staffs in their
hands: springing from the ground they waved their arms around their
heads, and sent forth the most hideous yells.
At dinner-time we landed among a party of Fuegians. At first they
were not inclined to be friendly; for until the captain pulled in
ahead of the other boats, they kept their slings in their hands. We
soon, however, delighted them by trifling presents, such as tying red
tape round their heads. It was as easy to please, as it was difficult
to satisfy these savages. Young and old, men and children, never
ceased repeating the word “yammerschooner,” which means “give me.”
After pointing to almost every object, one after the other, even to
the buttons on our coats, and saying their favourite word in as many
intonations as possible, they would then use it in a neuter sense,
and vacantly repeat “yammerschooner.” After yammerschoonering for any
article very eagerly, they would by a simple artifice point to their
young women or little children, as much as to say, “If you will not
give it me, surely you will to such as these?”
At night we endeavoured in vain to find an uninhabited cove; and
at last were obliged to bivouac not far from a party of natives.
They were very inoffensive as long as they were few in numbers, but
in the morning (21st) being joined by others they showed symptoms
of hostility. An European labours under great disadvantages, when
treating with savages like these, who have not the least idea of
the power of fire-arms. In the very act of levelling his musket, he
appears to the savage far inferior to a man armed with a bow and
arrow, a spear, or even a sling. Nor is it easy to teach them our
superiority except by striking a fatal blow. Like wild beasts they
do not appear in all cases to compare numbers; for each individual
if attacked, instead of retiring, will endeavour to dash your brains
out with a stone, as certainly as a tiger under similar circumstances
would tear you. Captain FitzRoy on one occasion, being very anxious
from good reasons to frighten away a small party, twice fired his
pistol close by the side of a native. The man both times looked
astounded, and carefully but quickly rubbed his head; he then stared
awhile, and gabbled to his companions; but he never seemed to think
of running away. We can hardly put ourselves in the position of these
savages, to understand their actions. In the case of the Fuegian,
the possibility of such a sound as the report of a gun close to his
ear, could never have entered his mind. He perhaps literally did not
for a second know whether it was a sound or a blow, and therefore
very naturally rubbed his head. In a similar manner, when a savage
sees a mark struck by a bullet, it may be some time before he is
able at all to understand how it is effected; for the fact of a body
being invisible from its velocity, would perhaps be to him an idea
totally inconceivable. Moreover, the extreme force of a bullet, that
penetrates a hard substance without tearing it, may convince the
savage that it has no force at all. Certainly I believe that many
savages of the lowest grade, such as these of Tierra del Fuego, have
seen objects struck, and even small animals killed by the musket,
without being in the least aware how deadly an instrument it was.
22D.--After having passed an unmolested night, in what would appear
to be neutral territory, between Jemmy’s tribe and the people we
saw yesterday, we sailed pleasantly along. The scenery in this part
had a peculiar and very magnificent character; although the effect
was lessened from the lowness of the point of view in a boat, and
from looking down the valley and hence losing all the beauty of a
succession of ridges. The mountains attained an elevation of about
3000 feet, and were terminated by sharp and jagged points. They rose
in one unbroken sweep from the water’s edge, and were covered to the
height of fourteen or fifteen hundred feet by the dusky-coloured
forest. It was most curious to observe, how level and truly
horizontal the line on the mountain side was, as far as the eye could
range, at which trees ceased to grow. It precisely resembled the
high-water mark of drift weed on a sea-beach.
At night we slept close to the junction of Ponsonby Sound with the
Beagle channel. A small family of Fuegians, who were living in the
cove, were very quiet and inoffensive, and soon joined our party
round the blazing fire. We were well clothed, and though sitting
close to the fire, were far from too warm; yet these naked savages,
though further off, were observed to our great surprise, to be
streaming with perspiration at undergoing such a roasting. They
seemed, however, very well pleased, and all joined in the chorus of
the seamen’s songs: but the manner in which they were invariably a
little behindhand was quite ludicrous.
During the night the news had spread, and early in the morning (23d)
a fresh party arrived. Several of them had run so fast that their
noses were bleeding, and their mouths frothed from the rapidity with
which they talked, and with their naked bodies all bedaubed with
black, white, and red, they looked like so many demoniacs who had
been fighting. We then proceeded down Ponsonby Sound to the spot
where poor Jemmy expected to find his mother and relations. We staid
there five days. Captain FitzRoy has given an account of all the
interesting events which there happened.
During the succeeding year we paid another visit to the Fuegians,
and the Beagle herself followed the same course which I have just
described as having been taken in the boats. I was amused by finding
what a difference the circumstance of being quite superior in force
made, in the interest of beholding these savages. While in the boats
I got to hate the very sound of their voices, so much trouble did
they give us. The first and last word was “yammerschooner.” When,
entering some quiet little cove, we have looked round and thought
to pass a quiet night, the odious word “yammerschooner” has shrilly
sounded from some gloomy nook, and then the little signal smoke
has curled upwards to spread the news. On leaving some place we
have said to each other, “Thank Heaven, we have at last fairly left
these wretches!” when one more faint halloo from an all-powerful
voice, heard at a prodigious distance, would reach our ears, and
clearly could we distinguish--“yammerschooner.” But on the latter
occasion, the more Fuegians the merrier; and very merry work it was.
Both parties laughing, wondering, gaping at each other; we pitying
them, for giving us good fish and crabs for rags, &c.; they grasping
at the chance of finding people so foolish as to exchange such
splendid ornaments for a good supper. It was most amusing to see the
undisguised smile of satisfaction with which one young woman, with
her face painted black, tied with rushes several bits of scarlet
cloth round her head. Her husband, who enjoyed the very universal
privilege in this country of possessing two wives, evidently became
jealous of all the attention paid to his young wife; and, after a
consultation with his naked beauties, was paddled away by them.
Some of the Fuegians plainly showed that they had a fair idea of
barter. I gave one man a large nail (a most valuable present)
without making any signs for a return; but he immediately picked
out two fish, and handed them up on the point of his spear. If any
present was designed for one canoe, and it fell near another, it was
invariably given to the right owner. We were always much surprised
at the little notice, or rather none whatever, which was evinced
respecting many things, even such as boats, the use of which must
have been evident. Simple circumstances,--such as the whiteness of
our skins, the beauty of scarlet cloth or blue beads, the absence
of women, our care in washing ourselves,--excited their admiration
far more than any grand or complicated object, such as the ship.
Bougainville has remarked concerning these very people that they
treat the “chef d’œuvres de l’industrie humaine, comme ils traitent
les loix de la nature et ses phénomènes.”
The perfect equality among the individuals composing these tribes,
must for a long time retard their civilization. As we see those
animals, whose instinct compels them to live in society and obey a
chief, are most capable of improvement, so is it with the races of
mankind. Whether we look at it as a cause or a consequence, the more
civilized always have the most artificial governments. For instance,
the inhabitants of Otaheite, who, when first discovered, were
governed by hereditary kings, had arrived at a far higher grade than
another branch of the same people, the New Zealanders,--who although
benefited by being compelled to turn their attention to agriculture,
were republicans in the most absolute sense. In Tierra del Fuego,
until some chief shall arise with power sufficient to secure any
acquired advantages, such as the domesticated animals or other
valuable presents, it seems scarcely possible that the political
state of the country can be improved. At present, even a piece of
cloth is torn into shreds and distributed; and no one individual
becomes richer than another. On the other hand, it is difficult to
understand how a chief can arise till there is property of some sort
by which he might manifest and still increase his authority.
JANUARY 28TH.--In the evening, Captain FitzRoy sent two boats back
to the ship from Ponsonby Sound, and with the two others proceeded
to survey the western end of the Beagle channel. The view in this
central part was very remarkable. Looking towards either hand, no
object intercepted the vanishing points of this long canal of the
mountains. The circumstance of its being an arm of the sea was
rendered very evident by several huge whales spouting in different
directions. On one occasion I saw two of these monsters, probably
male and female, slowly swimming one after the other, within less
than a stone’s throw of the shore, over which the beech extended its
branches.
We sailed on till it was dark, and then pitched our tents in a quiet
creek. The greatest luxury here is to find a beach of pebbles, for
they are both dry and yield to the body. The peaty soil is damp; rock
is uneven and hard; sand gets into one’s meat, when cooked and eaten
boat-fashion; but when lying in our blanket bags, on a good bed of
smooth pebbles, we passed most comfortable nights.
It was my watch till one o’clock. There is something very solemn in
these scenes. At no time does the consciousness in what a remote
corner of the world you are then buried, come so strongly before your
mind. Every thing tends to this effect; the stillness of the night
is interrupted only by the heavy breathing of the seamen beneath
the tents, and sometimes by the cry of a night bird. The occasional
barking also of a dog, heard in the distance, reminds one that it is
the land of the savage.
29TH.--Early in the morning we arrived at the point where the Beagle
channel divides itself into two arms; and we entered the northern
one. The scenery here becomes even grander than before. The lofty
mountains on the north side compose the granitic axis, or backbone of
the whole country. They were covered by a wide mantle of perpetual
snow, and numerous cascades poured their waters, through the woods,
into the narrow channel below. In many parts magnificent glaciers
extended from the mountain side to the water’s edge. It is scarcely
possible to imagine any thing more beautiful than the beryl-like
blue of the glacier, and especially when contrasted with the dead
white of an expanse of snow. As fragments fell from the glacier into
the water, they floated away, and the channel with its icebergs
represented in miniature the polar sea. When we reached the western
mouth of this branch of the channel, we sailed amongst many unknown
islands, and then proceeded by the outer coast to the entrance of the
other arm. Thence we returned to Ponsonby Sound, saw the Fuegians,
and arrived at the ship after our twenty-days’ excursion.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Captain FitzRoy has given a history of these people. Four were
taken to England; one died there, and the three others (two men and
one woman) were now brought back and settled in their own country.
[2] I believe, in this extreme part of South America, man exists in
a lower state of improvement than in any other part of the world.
The South Sea islander of either race is comparatively civilized.
The Esquimaux, in his subterranean hut, enjoys some of the comforts
of life, and in his canoe, when fully equipped, manifests much
skill. Some of the tribes of Southern Africa, prowling about in
search of roots, and living concealed on the wild and arid plains,
are sufficiently wretched. But the Australian, in the simplicity
of the arts of life, comes nearest the Fuegian. He can, however,
boast of his boomerang, his spear and throwing-stick, his method of
climbing trees, tracking animals, and scheme of hunting. Although
thus superior in acquirements, it by no means follows that he should
likewise be so in capabilities. Indeed, from what we saw of the
Fuegians, who were taken to England, I should think the case was the
reverse.