Pecherai Fuegians A Steamer in Distress. 123 



the stern end, wore cloaks of deer skin, and were very noisy and 

 talkative, so that we did not encourage them to come on board. 

 The basket, in which they carried their stock of shellfish, was 

 much more elaborately plaited than were those of the " Channel 

 Fucgians." We did not observe any difference in their hunting 

 implements, except that bows and arrows were more abundant 

 with them. 



On the 25th, a large iron steamship, the Maranhense, came in 

 from the westward and anchored near us. It appeared that about 

 six months previously she had come out from Antwerp, bringing 

 a cargo of arms for the Chilian Government, and that she was 

 now homeward bound, carrying a general cargo. As she was 

 coming down the Messier Channel, she had touched the ground 

 in the English Narrows, and been so much injured in the bows 

 that her collision compartment was full of water. Captain 

 Leadbetter came on board to solicit the services of our diver, 

 which were of course granted ; and on an examination being 

 made, it was found that there was a hole in her bows big enough 

 for a man to crawl through. For several days subsequently 

 ineffectual attempts were made to stop it up, and on the 3Oth of 

 January both vessels moved up to Sandy Point. Here we met 

 a German man-of-war, the Frcia, whose crew rendered further 

 assistance to the disabled vessel, but all in vain. At length, our 

 diver was sent down to make a complete examination of her 

 bottom, and he came up with the unpleasant news that there 

 was another great hole in her bottom, 7^ feet in length, under 

 the after-hold, that the iron skin and part of the keel had been 

 torn away, and that the cement alone, with which her bottom was 

 lined, prevented the water from coming in. In view now of the 

 possibility of the cement suddenly giving way, and the vessel 

 sinking, steam was got up, the anchor was raised, and she was 

 moved into shallower water further inshore, so that in the event 

 of her sinking, the hull might not be entirely submerged. The 

 master of the Maranhcnse now decided on sending to Monte 



