30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY rBnix. r.s 



century by con tiuy since 1557-58 (cf. for <letails and references, Sub- 

 ject Bibliography) and has apj)arently taken place independently of 

 tribal lines. Moreover, La Guilbaudiere's natives, who spoke the 

 same language as Dr. Skottsberg's West Patagonians, had bark 

 canoes, not plank boats (La Guilbaudiere, 4-5; cf. also Marcel, a, 491, 

 and c, 108). Dr. Coppinger, too, found the bark canoe in use among 

 the Port Gallant natives, who spoke the same language as his Tilly 

 Bay informant (121-122). Finally, the bark canoe has been re- 

 ported occasionally from various localities well within the West 

 Patagonian Channel area and once at least even from true Chonoan 

 territory north of Taitao Peninsula (cf. for details. Subject Bibli- 

 ography). 



To sum up: The whole region from Brecknock Peninsula and 

 Dawson Island to Port Grappler is, and as far as our evidence goes 

 has long been, occupied by canoe-using Indians of uniform language, 

 somatology, and culture, who call themselves Alacaluf or Alukulup. 



From Port Grappler to Chilo6 is another area formerly inhabited, 

 and even to-day partially inhabited, by canoe Indians very similar to 

 the Alacaluf physically and culturally. The fact that a new dialect 

 of Alacalufan began at Port Gallant would suggest ])erhaps that Ala- 

 calufan is spoken as far north as the Gulf of Penas. In this connec- 

 tion Capt. Pacheco (a, 53-54) is authority for the interesting state- 

 ment that "individuos a quienes se ha visto en el puerto Gallant, se 

 les encuentra en seguida en la l)ahia Fortuna o en el canal Messier"; 

 these natives, j^resumably Alacaluf, are said to pass from tlu; Strait 

 to the channels by inland watt^rways and portages via Jerome Chan- 

 nel, Xaultegua Gulf, Condor Chamiel, Perez de Arce Inlet, Gajardo 

 Channel, and the west end of Skyring Watei'. 



In view of these recent developments it becomes necessary to 

 reopen and rediscuss an old and puzzling problem: What is the 

 relation of the Alacaluf to the now perhaps extmct Chonos or 

 natives who formerly occuj)ied the archipelagos from the Guaitecas 

 Islands to Taitao Peninsula or the Gulf of Penas 1 This question we 

 shall take up in detail in the following section. 



CHONOS * 



Names and Tkiikitory 



The canoe-using Indians of the Chilean Channels from the Guaite- 

 cas Islands to the Gulf of Penas and beyond have been divided and 

 denominated in a most bewildering fashion by various writers. Tot 

 sententiae, quot homines, is almost literally true in this case. 



Goicueta in 1557-58 (518) called the canoe Indians from Corcovado 

 Gulf to Cape Tres Montes, lluihis, a people distinct linguistically from 

 those south of Cai)o Tj'cs Montes (519). Fathers W'negas and Este- 



