64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHISTOLOGY [bull. 63 



wc may hope for a grammatical outline from him. Further studies, 

 too, among the Alacaluf by the Salesians may throw more light on 

 this tribe's social, moral, and religious culture. 



Our chief hope for definite information on the perhaps extinct 

 Chonos would seem to lie in the recovery of Fathers Ferrufhio's and 

 Estevan's manuscripts. Then, too, it is quite possible that some de- 

 scendants of the Lincoman family seen by Capt. E. Simpson in the 

 Guaitecas Islands 40 years ago may still be living there or elsewhere. 

 Finally, linguistic investigation among the modem Gulf of Peiias 

 natives may clear up Chonoan linguistic relations; some descendants 

 of the true Chonos might be there, for even as late as the second half 

 of the eighteenth century Chonos were encountered in the Guaianecos 

 Islands in fairly good numbers by Father Garcia. 



At any rate the Gulf of Penas region and the channels to the south 

 of it are the territory most in need of investigation — investigation, as 

 Dr. Skottsberg suggests, extending over at least a year. 



Tlu'ee oth,er desiderata call for special mention : (1 ) Tliere is needed 

 a thorough comparative study of Araucanian and Yahgan grammar. 

 The raw material is easily accessible. Dr. Darapsky made a begin- 

 ning in this hne, but the clues he discovered should be followed up 

 and either confirmed or proven valueless. (2) More exhaustive 

 studies of the kinship and marriage relations, of the mythology and 

 religion of aU the Fuegian peoples are needed. Except to some ex- 

 tent in Ona mythology and folklore very little has been accomplished 

 in these difficult fields of research. The considerable mass of de- 

 tached data on Fuegian rehgious and quasi-religious culture suggests 

 strongly that we have by no means gotten to the bottom of Fuegian 

 religion. Perhaps, too, a better knowledge of the initiation rites may 

 throw a greater light on this obscure subject than we now have. 

 (3) Excavations among the abundant kitchen middens from Eliz- 

 abeth Island and the Straits of Lemaire to the Chonos Archipelago 

 would undoubtedly give us a clearer vision of the past of the Fuegian 

 and Chonoan peoples. Apart from the investigations in this field 

 by Drs. Lovisato and Coppinger and by Prof. Furlong almost noth- 

 ing has been done. A kindred line of research would be the investi- 

 gation and excavation of caves and grottos, which are or were used 

 by the Alacaluf and Chonos as burial places. 



