HOSTILE TUIBE;^. 283 



this Fuegian, the possibility of such a sound as the 

 report of a gun close to his ear could never have 

 entered his mind. He perhaps, literally, did not for 

 a second know whether it was a sound or a blow, 

 and therefore very naturally rubbed his head. In a 

 similar manner, when a savage sees a mark struck 

 by a bullet, it may be some time before he is able at 

 all to understand how it is effected ; for the fact of 

 a body being invisible from its velocity would, per- 

 haps, be to him an idea totally inconceivable. More- 

 over, the extreme force of a bullet, that penetrates 

 a hard substance without tearing it, may convince 

 the savage that it has no force at all. Certainly I 

 believe that many savages of the lowest grade, such 

 as these of Tierra del Fuego, have seen objects 

 struck, and even small animals killed by the mus- 

 ket, without being in the least aware how deadly 

 an instrument it is. 



22d. — After having passed an unmolested night, 

 in what would appear to be neutral territory be- 

 tween Jemmy's tribe and the people whom we saw 

 yesterday, we sailed pleasantly along. I do not 

 know anything which shows more clearly the hos- 

 tile state of the different tribes than these wide 

 border or neutral tracts. Although Jemmy Button 

 well knew the force of our party, he was at first un- 

 willing to land amidst the hostile tribe nearest to his 

 own. He often told us how the savage Oens men, 

 " when the leaf red," crossed the mountains from 

 the eastern coast of Tierra del Fuego, and made in- 

 roads on the natives of this part of tlie country. It 

 was most curious to watch him when thus talking, 

 and see his eyes gleaming and his whole face as- 

 sume a new and wild expression. As we proceed- 

 ed along the Beagle Channel, the scenery assumed 

 a peculiar and very magnificent character ; but the 

 effect was much lessened from the lowness of the 



