CANNIBALISM. ABSENCE OF RELIGION. 541 



they can obtain no other food, they take " the oldest woman 

 of their party, hold her head over a thick smoke, made by 

 burning green wood, and, pinching her throat, choke her. They 

 then devour every particle of the flesh, not excepting the trunk, 

 as in the former case." When asked why they did not rather 

 kill their dogs, they said, "Dog catch iappo," i.e. otters. 



Like Decker, Admiral Fitzroy "never witnessed or heard 

 of any act of a decidedly religious nature."* Still, some of 

 the natives suppose that there is a powerful and mysterious 

 being who resides in the woods. When a person dies, they 

 carry the body far into the woods,-)- " place it upon some 

 broken boughs, or pieces of solid wood, and then pile a great 

 quantity of branches over the corpse." 



Their canoes are large pieces of bark sewn together. In 

 the bottom they make a fireplace of clay, for they always 

 keep fires alight, though with the help of iron pyrites they 

 soon obtain sparks if any accident happens. The Chonos 

 Indians, who in most respects resemble the Fuegians, have 

 much better canoes. These are formed of planks, which are 

 generally five in number, two on each side and one at the 

 bottom. Along the edges of each are small holes about an 

 inch apart. The planks are sewn together with woodbine, 

 the holes being filled with a kind of bark beaten up until it 

 resembles oakum. Byron truly observes that in the absence 

 of metal, " the labour must be great of hacking a single plank 

 out of a large tree with shells and flints, even though with the 

 help of fire." 



The Fuegians have no pottery, but, like the North American 

 Indians, use vessels made of birch, or rather of beech-bark. 

 On the east coast many of the natives possess guanaco-skins, 

 and on the west some of them wear seal-skins. "Amongst 



* See also Weddell, Voyage to South Pole, p. 179 ; The Voice of Pity, 

 vol. vi. p. 92, &c. 



t I.e. p. 181. 



