BEHAVIOUR OI' THE FUECIANS. 281 



picture of quiet retirement. The next day (20th) 

 we smoothly glided onwards in our little fleet, and 

 came to a more inhabited distiict. Few, if any of 

 these natives, could ever have seen a white man ; 

 certainly nothing could exceed their astonishment 

 at the apparition of the four boats. Fires were 

 lighted on every point (hence the name of Tien-a 

 del Fuego, or the land of Are), both to attract our 

 attention, and to spread far and wide the news. 

 Some of the men ran for miles along the shore. I 

 shall never forget how wild and savage one group 

 appeared : suddenly four or five men came to the 

 edge of an overhanging cliff; they were absolutely 

 naked, and their long hair streamed about their 

 faces ; they held rugged staffs in their hands, and, 

 springing from the ground, they waved their anns 

 round their heads, and sent forth the most hideous 

 yells. 



At dinner-time we landed among a party of Fu- 

 egians. At first they were not inclined to be friend- 

 ly ; for, until the Captain pulled in ahead of the 

 other boats, they kept their slings in their hands. 

 We soon, however, delighted them by trifling pres- 

 ents, such as tying red tape round their heads. 

 They liked our biscuit : but one of the savages 

 touched with his finger some of the meat preserved 

 in tin cases which I was eating, and feeling it soft 

 and cold, showed as much disgust at it as I should 

 have done at putrid blubber. Jemmy was thor- 

 oughly ashamed of his countrymen, and declared 

 his own tribe were quite different, in which he was 

 wofully mistakeii. It was as easy to please as it 

 was difficult to satisfy these savages. Young and 

 old, men and children, never ceased repeating the 

 word " yammerschooner," which means "give me." 

 After pointing to almost every object, one after the 

 other, even to the buttons on our coats, and saying 

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