2o8 A FUEGIAN FAMILY. [chap. x. 



looked rather alarmed, but continued talking and making 

 gestures with great rapidity. It was without exception the 

 most curious and interesting spectacle I ever beheld : I 

 could not have believed how wide was the difference between 

 savage and civilized man ; it is greater than between a wild 

 and domesticated animal, inasmuch as in man there is a 

 greater power of improvement. The chief spokesman was 

 old, and appeared to be the head of the family ; the three 

 others were powerful young men, about six feet high. The 

 women and children had been sent away. These Fuegians 

 are a very different race from the stunted, miserable wretches 

 farther westward ; and they seem closely allied to the famous 

 Patagonians of the Strait of Magellan. Their only garment 

 consists of a mantle made of guanaco skin, with the wool 

 outside; this they wear just thrown over their shoulders, 

 leaving their persons as often exposed as covered. Their 

 skin is of a dirty coppery-red colour. 



The old man had a fillet of white feathers tied round his 

 head, which partly confined his black, coarse, and entangled 

 hair. His face was crossed by two broad transverse bars ; 

 one, painted bright red, reached from ear to ear and included 

 the upper lip ; the other, white like chalk, extended above 

 and parallel to the first, so that even his eyelids were thus 

 coloured. The other two men were ornamented by streaks 

 of black powder, made of charcoal. The party altogether 

 closely resembled the devils which come on the stage in 

 plays like Der Freischutz. 



Their very attitudes were abject, and the expression of 

 their countenances distrustful, surprised, and startled. After 

 we had presented them with some scarlet cloth, which they 

 immediately tied round their necks, they became good 

 friends. This was shown by the old man patting our 

 breasts, and making a chuckling kind of noise, as people 

 do when feeding chickens. I walked with the old man, 

 and this demonstration of friendship was repeated several 

 times ; it was concluded by three hard slaps, which were 

 given me on the breast and back at the same time. He 

 then bared his bosom for me to return the compliment.. 

 which being done, he seemed highly pleased. The language 

 of these people, according to our notions, scarcely deserves 

 to be called articulate. Captain Cook has compared it to 

 a man clearing his throat, but certainly no European ever 

 cleared his throat with so many hoarse, guttural, and 

 clicking sounds. 



