182 INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES. 



The singular manner these men had also of 

 holding the face turned upwards, in order to escape 

 the plague of flies, fully confirmed the truth of old 

 Dampier's account of the manners of these people 

 when he first discovered this part of the world. 

 The eldest was the spokesman, or rather the signs- 

 man of the party, and this is always the custom, so 

 far as we have had an opportunity of judging. The 

 word they make use of in bowing (which they did 

 quite in an Eastern style), appeared to be irru irru : 

 their breasts were scarred with deep horizontal cuts, 

 such as we had previously noticed on the natives in 

 Roebuck Bay. I was so much struck with the resem- 

 blance between these people and the natives of Tierra 

 del Fuego, that I have been tempted to believe 

 that the stream of population flowed thitherward 

 from the continent of America. 



I ought to mention that when Captain Wickham 

 and myself left the ship, in the hope of inducing the 

 natives to return with us, ^liago, hearing of the 

 expected visit, immediately went below, and dressed 

 himself to the best possible advantage. No sooner 

 did the boat come alongside, than he appeared at 

 the gangway, inquiring with the utmost possible 

 dignity, ** where black fellas ?" and was evidently 

 and deeply mortified that he had no opportunity of 

 *' astonishing the natives." 



There has been a marked change in the weather, 

 since the sun crossed the equator : we have had no 

 repetitions of the easterly squalls, before so prevalent, 



