58 THE NATIVES. 



composed of wood, and which of calcareous matter."* 

 We were much struck during our stay by the contrast 

 between the natives here, and those we had seen 

 on the Beagle's former voyage at King George's 

 Sound. The comparison was wholly in favour of those 

 livingf within the influence of their civilized fellow- 

 men : a fact which may surprise some of my readers, 

 but for which, notwithstanding, I am quite pre- 

 pared to vouch. A better quality, and more certain 

 supply of food, are the causes to which this supe- 

 riority ought to be attributed : they are indeed 

 exceedingly fond of wheaten bread, and work hard 

 for the settlers, in cutting wood and carrying water, 

 in order to obtain it. Individually they appear 

 peaceable, inoffensive, and well-disposed, and, under 

 proper management, make very good servants ; but 

 when they congregate together for any length of 

 time, they are too apt to relapse into the vices of 

 savage life. Among the many useful hints, for 

 which we were indebted to Mr. Roe, was that of 

 taking a native with us to the northward ; and, 

 accordingly, after some trouble, we shipped an 

 intelligent young man, named Miago ; he proved, 

 in some respects, exceedingly useful, and made an 

 excellent gun-room waiter. We noticed that, like 

 most of the natives, he was deeply scarred, and I 

 learned from him that this is done to recommend 



* For more exact details the reader should consult INIr. Dar- 

 win's volume on " Volcanic Islands." 



