MODE OF FISHING. 539 



consequence as the capture of a whale is to our countrymen. 

 On moonlight nights birds are caught when roosting, not only 

 by the men, but by their dogs, which are sent out to seize 

 them while asleep upon the rocks or beach ; and so well are 

 these dogs trained, that they bring all they catch safely to 

 their masters, without making any noise, and then return for 

 another mouthful. Birds are also frequently killed with 

 arrows or by stones slung at them with unerring aim. Eggs 

 are largely sought for by the natives ; indeed I may say that 

 they eat anything and everything that is eatable, without 

 being particular as to its state of freshness, or as to its having 

 been near the fire."* 



According to Byron, the dogs of the Chinos Indians assist 

 in killing fish as well as birds. They are, he says, " cur-like 

 looking animals, but very sagacious, and easily trained to this 



business The net is held by two Indians, who get into 



the water ; then the dogs, taking a large compass, dive after 

 the fish, and drive them into the net ; but it is only in parti- 

 cular places that the fish are taken in this manner." He 

 adds, that the dogs " enjoy it much, and express their eager- 

 ness by barking every time they raise their heads above the 

 water to breathe." -f- 



" In the winter, when the snow lies deep, the Tekeenica 

 people assemble to hunt the guanaco, which then comes down 

 from the high lands to seek for pasture near the sea. The 

 long legs of the animal stick deeply into the snow and soft 

 boggy ground, disabling him from escape, while the Fuegians 

 and their dogs hem him in on every side, and quickly make 

 him their prey At other times of the year they some- 

 times get them by lying in wait, and shooting them with 

 arrows, or by getting into a tree near their track, and spearing 

 them as they pass beneath the branches. An arrow was 



* Fit/roy, 1. c. p. 184. in Kerr's Voyages and Travels, vol. 



t Byron's Loss of the u Wager," xvii. pp. 339, 368, 463. 



