with fires, their food is eaten raw; and a fish taken from the water
will be swallowed upon the instant,—almost before the life is gone out
of it. Seal and penguin flesh are devoured in the same manner; and the
blubber of the whale is also a raw repast. When one of these is found
dead upon the beach,—for they have neither the skill nor courage to
capture the whale,—the lucky accident brings a season of rejoicing A
fleet of canoes—if it is to be reached only by water—at once paddle
towards the place; or, if it be an overland journey, the whole
community—man, woman, and child—start forth on foot. In an hour or two
they may be seen returning to their hut-village, each with a large
“flitch” of blubber flapping over the shoulders, and the head just
appearing above, through a hole cut in the centre of the piece,—just as
a Mexican ranchero wears his “serape,” or a denizen of the Pampas his
woollen “poncho.” A feast follows this singular procession.
Like the Esquimaux of the north, the Fuegian is very skilful in
capturing the seal. His mode of capturing this creature, however, is
very different from that employed by the “sealer” of the Arctic Seas;
and consists simply in stealing as near as possible in his canoe, when
he sees the animal asleep upon the surface, and striking it with a
javelin,—which he throws with an unerring aim.
We have already observed that the principal subsistence of the Fuegian
is supplied by the sea; and shell-fish forms the most important item of
his food. These are muscles, limpets, oysters, and other kinds of
shell-fish, and so many are annually consumed by a single family, that
an immense heap of the shells may be seen not only in front of every
hut, but all along the coast of the islands, above high-water
mark,—wherever a tribe has made its temporary sojourn.
There is a singular fact connected with these conglomerations of shells,
which appears to have escaped the observations of the Magellanic
voyagers. It is not by mere accident they are thus collected in piles.
There is a certain amount of superstition in the matter. The Fuegian
believes that, were the shells scattered negligently about, ill-luck
would follow; and, above all, if the emptied ones were thrown back into
the sea: since this would be a warning of destruction that would
frighten the living bivalves in their “beds,” and drive them away from
the coast! Hence it is that the shell-heaps are so carefully kept
together.
In collecting these shell-fish, the women are the chief laborers. They
do not always gather them from the rocks, after the tide has gone out;
though that is the usual time. But there are some species not found in
shallow water, and therefore only to be obtained by diving to the bottom
after them. Of this kind is a species of _echinus_, or “sea-urchin,” of
the shape of an orange, and about twice the bulk of one,—the whole
outside surface being thickly set with spines, or protuberances. These
curious shell-fish are called “sea-eggs” by the sailor navigators; and
constitute an important article of the food of the Fuegian. It is often
necessary to dive for them to a great depth; and this is done by the
Fuegian women, who are as expert in plunging as the pearl-divers of
California or the Indian seas.
Fish is another article of Fuegian diet; and many kinds are captured
upon their coasts, some of excellent quality. They sometimes obtain the
fish by shooting them with their arrows, or striking them with a dart;
but they have a mode of catching the finny creatures, which is
altogether peculiar: that is to say, _hunting them with dogs_! The
Fuegians possess a breed of small fox-like dogs, mean, wretched looking
curs, usually on the very verge of starvation,—since their owners take
not the slightest care of them, and hardly ever trouble themselves about
feeding them. Notwithstanding this neglect, the Fuegian dogs are not
without certain good qualities; and become important auxiliaries to the
Fuegian fisherman. They are trained to pursue the fish through the
water, and drive them into a net, or some enclosed creek or inlet,
shallow enough for them to be shot with the arrow. In doing this the
dogs dive to the bottom; and follow the fish to and fro, as if they were
amphibious carnivora, like the seals and otters. For this useful service
the poor brutes receive a very inadequate reward,—getting only the bones
as their portion. They would undoubtedly starve, were it not that, being
left to shift for themselves, they have learnt how to procure their own
food; and understand how to catch a fish now and then _on their own
account_. Their principal food, however, consists in shell-fish, which
they find along the shores, with polypi, and such other animal
substances as the sea leaves uncovered upon the beach after the tide has
retired. A certain kind of sea-weed also furnishes them with an
occasional meal, as it does their masters,—often as hungry and starving
as themselves.
In his personal habits no human being is more filthy than the Fuegian.
He never uses water for washing purposes; nor cleans the dirt from his
skin in any way. He has no more idea of putting water to such use, than
he has of drowning himself in it; and in respect to cleanliness, he is
not only below most other savages, but below the brutes themselves:
since even these are taught cleanliness by instinct. But no such
instinct exists in the mind of the Fuegian; and he lives in the midst of
filth. The smell of his body can be perceived at a considerable
distance; and Hotspur’s fop might have had reasonable grounds of
complaint, had it been a Fuegian who came between the “wind and his
nobility.” To use the pithy language of one of the old navigators, “The
Fuegian stinks like a fox.”
Fairly examined, then, in all his bearings,—fairly judged by his habits
and actions,—the Fuegian may claim the credit of being the most wretched
of our race.
THE END.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ The original printed book was rife with words missing letters,
missing punctuation, incorrect spelling and incorrect botanical
names. It was not always possible to discern the correct letter or
word. If a spelling was consistently different from modern
spelling, it was left as is.
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that:
was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);
was in bold by is enclosed by “equal” signs (=bold=).