50 RIO TO TERRA DEL FUEGO CHAP, in 



and at which they seemed mightily pleased, so much so that 

 when we embarked again on our boat three of them came 

 with us and went aboard the ship. One seemed to be a 

 priest or conjuror, at least we thought so by the noises he 

 made, possibly exorcising every part of the ship he came 

 into, for when anything new caught his attention, he shouted 

 as loud as he could for some minutes, without directing his 

 speech either to us or to any one of his countrymen. They 

 ate bread and beef which we gave them, though not heartily, 

 but carried the largest part away with them. They would 

 not drink either wine or spirits, but returned the glass, 

 though not before they had put it to their mouths and 

 tasted a drop. We conducted them over the greater part 

 of the ship, and they looked at everything without any 

 remarks of extraordinary admiration, unless the noise which 

 our conjuror did not fail to repeat at every new object he 

 saw might be reckoned as such. 



After having been aboard about two hours, they expressed 

 a desire to go ashore, and a boat was ordered to carry them. 

 I went with them, and landed them among their countrymen, 

 but I cannot say that I observed either the one party curious 

 to ask questions, or the other to relate what they had seen, 

 or what usage they had met with ; so after having stayed 

 ashore about half an hour, I returned to the ship, and the 

 Indians immediately marched off from the shore. 



16th. This morning very early Dr. Solander and I, 

 with our servants and two seamen to assist in carrying 

 baggage, and accompanied by Messrs. Monkhouse and Green, 

 set out from the ship to try to penetrate as far as we could 

 into the country, and, if possible, gain the tops of the hills, 

 which alone were not overgrown with trees. We entered 

 the woods at a small sandy beach a little to the westward of 

 the watering-place, and continued pressing through pathless 

 thickets, always going uphill, until three o'clock, before we 

 gained even a near view of the places we intended to go to. 

 The weather had all this time been vastly fine, much like a 

 sunshiny day in May, so that neither heat nor cold was 

 troublesome to us, nor were there any insects to molest us, 



