4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 6S 



Islanders, the dwarfish WoUaston Islanders, and the warlike, mur- 

 derous Hoste Islanders. The Piirri and Adwipliin were probably two 

 of the smaU local groups or clans who were known by the names of 

 the localities which they frequented (Th, Bridges, h, Oct. 1, 1884, 

 224; also quoted in Hyades, I, 718; cf. also Hyades, j, 149-150), while 

 the considerable differences noted by Prof. Furlong correspond with 

 what the Rev. Mr. Bridges remarked regarding the noticeable indi- 

 vidual and local differences in the Yahgans' physical appearance and 

 culture (Th. Bridges, d, 288-289; h, 206). 



Dr. Hahn {a, 804), Capt. Martial (129, 208), and Dr. Spegazzini 

 (a, 4; cf. also Barclay, a, 63) wrote as if there were two distinct 

 Yahgan dialects, but Dr. Hyades (p, 339) explicitly states that there 

 is only one Yahgan dialect. The Rev. Mr. Bridges, our best authority 

 on the Yahgan language, seemed rather to share the former view; for, 

 though not stating so explicitly, he wrote (b, Sept. 1, 1880, 196) that 

 the inner coast Yahgans, the Wiisinafiala, despised the ocean coast 

 men, the Atisimanala, "because of their strange brogue," etc. Per- 

 haps, too, Dr. Hyades was using the word dialect in a less inclusive 

 sense. 



Lexically the Yahgan language is quite distinct from both the 

 Alacaluf an and the Onan. Some few words of Yahgan show a resem- 

 blance to the Alacalufan, but in the present state of the evidence the 

 resemblance is not sufficient to establish any solid ground for kinship. 

 The same in less measure is true of the Yahgan and Onan tongues. 

 There has been, moreover, a certain amount of borrowing from both 

 the other tongues by the Yahgans (cf., e. g., Th. Bridges, e, 332; 

 Ic, 234). Unfortunately, on the grammatical side sufficient Onan 

 material is not available for comparison with the Yahgan, while of 

 Alacalufan grammar we know not a single rule. 



Somatologically the Yahgans and Alacaluf are very closely related. 

 The Yahgans differ chiefly from the Alacaluf in being slightly 

 shorter in stature and slightly less dolichocephalic, so Dr. Rudolf 

 Martin concluded (6, 159, 210-211). The physical relations of the 

 Yahgans and Alacaluf to the Onas are treated infra (p. 54). 



Cidturally the Yahgans and Alacaluf are almost identical so far as 

 our information goes; but both tribes differ in many points from the 

 Onas. For details, see Subject Bibliography, under Culture. 



Present Condition 



Half a century ago the Yahgans may have numbered 3,000 or more, 

 but by 1884 they had dwindled to about 1,000 (Th. Bridges, h, Oct. 1, 

 1884, 223; (Z, 289), by 1886 to about 400 (Th. Bridges, />, Oct. 1, 1886, 

 217), while according to what seems to be the most exact recent esti- 

 mate, by the retired English missionary, Mr. John Lawrence {S. 

 Amer. miss, mag., 1913, xlvii, 145), there are now fewer than 100 



