COOPEU] BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TRIBES OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO 29 



A comparison with modern Alacalufan shows that the language has 

 not changed to a great extent in these two centuries.* 



B. SOMATOLOGICAL EVIDENCE 



So far as the evidence goes, the same physical type is found over 

 the whole area which we are considering, from Dawson Island and 

 Brecknock' Peninsula to the vicinity of the Gulf of Penas. Various 

 observers have noted some differences in physical appearance, 

 natives of larger stature having been reported by Mr. Bynoe (Fitz- 

 Roy, a, 197) and by Sr. Serrano M. {b, 151) from the West Pata- 

 gonian Channels, and in earlier times by the Loaisa (Oviedo, ii, bk. 20, 

 ch. 10; de Brosses, i, 152) and de Weert (1600 ed., no paging; de 

 Brosses, i, 278; de Renneville, i, 651) expeditions from the Strait. 

 But the osteological evidence does not, so far as it goes, lend any sup- 

 port to these reports (R. Martin, h). Besides, although both Ad- 

 miral Fitz-Roy (a, 142) and Dr. Coppinger (48) noted some physical 

 differences between the Patagonian Channel and the Strait Indians, 

 they nevertheless reported them as closely resembling each other 

 (11. c). And more recently Dr. Skottsberg emphasizes the general 

 resemblance in physical appearance between the Channel natives and 

 the Yahgans, a physical resemblance that was well borne out by his 

 anthropometric data (d, 592; h, 250-25.3). 



C. Cultural Evidence 



General cultural uniformity prevails throughout the whole area in 

 question. The bow and arrow, it is true, is much more commonl}^ 

 used in the Strait than in the Patagonian Channels; but it is not, or 

 has not been since the eighteenth century at least, entirely absent 

 from the latter region, while among the Alacaluf of the Strait it is 

 and has been used only as a secondary weapon, for killing birds and 

 for guanaco hunting. (For details and references, see Subject Bibli- 

 ography.) 



Admiral Fitz-Roy (a, 142) and recently Capt. Whiteside (18) and 

 Dr. Skottsberg (d, 579-580) suggest the plank boat as distinctive of 

 the West Patagonian people, the Alacaluf using, or having formerly 

 used, the bark canoe. But the migration of the plank canoe from Cho- 

 noan and Araucanian territory down into the Strait can be traced 



1 More than a century earlier, in 1580, Sarmiento picked up some natives at or near Tuesday Bay on the 

 north shore of Desolation Island. They gave him the following names, some of them still preserved on our 

 modern maps, of localities along the western and central Strait (Iriarte's ed., 203-210): Tinquichisgua, 

 Capitloilgua, Xaultegua, Caycayxixaisgua, Exeaquil, Pelepelgua, Cayrayxayiisgua, Puchachailgua, 

 Cuaviguilgua, Alguilgua. All of the names but one end in -gua. Could this be the same curious affix (?) 

 which appears in all the words in the Lu and Se lists? Cf. also the Chono local and personal names in B. 

 Gallardo's (Balthasigua, 531-532; Pilgua vecha, 530-531) and Father Garcia's (Feumaterigua, 26; Cama- 

 rigua, the Caucahues' name for Wager Island, 27; Stelquelaguer, 22; Elalexaguer, 25) narratives. There 

 appears to be a somewhat clearer resemblance between the ursah repeated by the natives whom Narbrough 

 met m 1670 at Elizabeth Island at the eastern end of the Strait (65), and the orza repeated by those whom 

 Bulkeley and Cummins met in 1741 at the western end (anon, ed., 98; other 1743 ed., 130). 



