40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 63 



year before the expedition a party of mission Caucahues sent out on a 

 reconnaissance by Father Garcia had actually brought back with 

 them to the CaiHn Mission some of the Calens of Messier Channel (3). 

 All this would suggest tribal or hnguistic unity, although it is of 

 course possible that the southern Gulf of Penas region was the meet- 

 ing ground of quasi-friendly bihngual tribes, as are or were (of., e. g., 

 Th. Bridges, Ic, 234) the boundary zones between the three Fuegian 

 tribes. 



Father Garcia's testimony, therefore, while in the main favoring a 

 hnguistic dividing Hne at the Guaianecos Islands and the head of 

 Messier Channel, falls considerably short of being conclusive. 



Finally, we may examine Admiral Fitz-Roy's evidence. His 

 "Chono" vocabulary has been discussed above. His expedition saw 

 no non-Araucanian natives between Taitao Peninsula and Chiloe, 

 so he was not in a position to make comparisons at fu"st hand, 

 and in fact he speaks quite guardedly of the smrnised identity of 

 the West Patagonian Channel Indians with the Chonos proper {a, 

 142; cf. also 379-380). He is, however, more positive in stating 

 that the same tribe inhabits all the channels from the Strait to Cape 

 Tres Montes (a, 132, 189). He bases this assertion chiefly on infor- 

 mation given him by Capt. Low, who had had much experience in 

 this region (a, 188, 129, 182). According to Capt. Low the natives 

 from the Strait to Cape Tres Montes all "seemed to be of one tribe, 

 and upon friendly terms with one another." Niqueaccas, a native 

 taken aboard Capt. Low's ship the Adeona as pilot near Cape Victory, 

 was perfectly familiar with tlie harbors and channels, was acquainted 

 \vith all the natives, was always glad to see them, and was always weU 

 received by them, as far north as 47°, the latitude of Cape Tres 

 Montes (a, 189-190). Capt. Low did not speak the native language (s), 

 but the account he gives seems to make for the tribal and linguistic 

 unity of all the natives south of the Taitao Peninsula. 



One more point may bo mentioned. Our extant authorities do not 

 to the present writer's knowledge describe the language of the Guai- 

 tecas Islanders as guttural. The language of the natives farther 

 south is, however, described as such by Father Garcia (6, in Hervas, 

 h, vol. I, 125), and that of the Coucous by Alex. Campbell (62, 74; 

 Prevost, XV, 388) as "coming gutterally from the throat" (cf. also 

 Del Techo, 160, ''stlopos pro vocibus edunt"). 



The recently published data showing that at the present time the 

 Alacaluf extend wcU up the West Patagonian channels as far as Port 

 Grappler and probably as far as the Gulf of Peiias have aheady been 

 given. 



The foregoing is all the evidence that the present writer has been 

 able to glean from the available sources on the question of the lin- 

 guistic relations of the Alacaluf and now perhaps extinct Chonos. 



