74 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. G3 



Bridges, Thomas — Continued 



(p) A few notes on the structure of 

 Yahgan. (In Jour. Anthr. inst., Lon- 

 don, Aug., 1893, XXIII, 5a-80.) 



I'nder this modest title the Rev. Mr. Bridges 

 gives a comprehensive outline of Yahgan gram- 

 mar, probably the most important extant treatise 

 on the subject. The paper includes passim a 

 great number of Yahgan words. 



(7) [Ten letters giving a short ac- 

 count of Yahgan grammar.] MSS. 



These letters v.ere utilized by Dr. Garbe and 

 are ])erhaps the manuscript notes of which Dr. 

 Ellis speaks and which he used. 



(/•) Letter to Gen. Mitre, dated April 

 28, 1898. (Quoted in extenso in Mitre, 

 vol. I, pp. 161-162.) 



Contains Mr. Bridges' last written remarks on 

 the Fuegian languages in general and on Yahgan 

 grammar in particular. 



(s) Vocabulary of the Ona language. 

 MS. (Reference from S. Amer. miss. 

 mag., Oct. 1, 1884, p. 223; of. also 

 Hyades, I p. 717; Th. Bridges, j, 

 p. 316.) 



At that time it contained about 1,200 words. 

 It has been superseded by and perhaps incor- 

 porated in Mr. Lucas Bridges' vocabularies 

 (q. v.). 



(t) Vocabulary of the Alaculoof lan- 

 guage. MS. (Reference from S. Amer. 

 miss, mag., Oct. 1, 1884, p. 223; cf. also 

 Th. Bridges, e, p. 331.) 



A vocabulary of about the same length as the 

 preceding. It was compiled in collaboration with 

 Mr. Bridges' son Dcspard. The Rev. Mr. 

 Bridges had begun researches in Alacalufan as 

 early as 1874 (6, Feb. 2, 1S74, p. 27), but nine 

 years later had not progressed far (Hyades, g, 

 p. 13). I can fmd no further trace of this very 

 important manuscript. 



The Rev. Thomas Bridges was easily the most 

 important first-hand authority on the Yahgans' 

 language and culture, especially their social, 

 moral, and religious culture. His contributions 

 to our knowledge of the Alacaluf and Onas are of 

 considerably less importance. He was, however^ 

 the first to make clear the tribal relationships in 

 the Fuegian archipelago. 



Mr. Bridges first came into contact with the 

 Yahgans in 1858 at the Keppel Island Mission in 

 the Falkland Islands, whither he had come in 

 1856 as the adopted son of the Rev. Mr. Despard. 

 On the latter' s departure for England in 1862, 

 Mr. Bridges was left in charge of the mission 

 Yahgans, of whose language he then began, or 

 perhaps had already begun, a thorough study. 

 After occasional visits to F"uegia from 1863 on, 

 he took up permanent residence at Ushuaia in 

 the heart of the Yahgan territory and at a time 



Bridges, Thomas — Continued 



when the natives were comparatively un- 

 touched by the white man's culture. He re- 

 mained continuously at Tshuaia from the time 

 of his arrival there late in 1869 or early in 1870 

 until 1SS6, when he resigned from the South 

 American Missionary Society and removed to 

 Harberton[Downeast) about 30-35 miles east of 

 1 'shuaia on Beagle Channel. He lived here until 

 his death in 1898. During these forty years he 

 was in almost daily contact with the Yahgans, 

 whose friendship, respect, and confidence he 

 retained throughout and over whom he exercised 

 a considerable authority. 



He had very much less contact with the Onas, 

 and still less with the Alacaluf. Some few of 

 the latter were usually to be found living among 

 the Yahgans, and from time to time some of them 

 vi.sited Ushuaia. He also made a short trip into 

 their territory in 1886. He met the Onas for tl;e 

 first time in 1875 at Good Success Bay. In the 

 eighties he came into closer touch with them, 

 probably both Shllk'nam and M4nekenkn, 

 especially after his removal to Harbcrton. 



He spoke the Yahgan tongue fluently, but did 

 not acquire a speaking knowledge of either Ona 

 or Alacaluf. He had had professional training 

 neither in philology nor cultural anthropology,— 

 perhaps not a disadvantage imder the circum- 

 stances, for he approached his subject with an 

 open mind that was at the same time interested, 

 alert, and cautious, as well as keen and exact. 



The fund of information stored up by him and 

 by his confreres was largely drawn upon by Bovc, 

 Lovisato, Spegazzini, Martial, Hyades, and other 

 later writers on Fuegian anthropology. 



Brine, Lindesay 



Travels amongst American Indians, 

 their ancient earthworks and temples, 

 London, 1894. 



Contains (p. 148) meager notes on some Ala- 

 caluf met casually La Jan., 1877, at Churruca Bay 

 in the western Strait. Measurements of men: 

 Stature, average tmder 5 ft., minimum 4 ft. 9 in., 

 maximum 5 ft. 2 in.; chest, 34 to 35 in. 



Brinton, Daniel Garrison 



(d) Races and jjooplcs, New York, 

 1890. 



Contains an unimportant descriptive para- 

 graph on the Fuegians (p. 271). 



(6) Essays of an Americanist, Phila- 

 delphia, 1890. 



Contains (pp. 39-40) a short note from Darwin 

 on physical resemblance of Fuegians to Botocu- 

 dos, and (p. 338) a refutation of Prof. Max Miil- 

 ler's assertion that the Yahgans' 30,000-word 

 vocabulary betokens a former higher culture. 



(c) The American race. New York, 

 1891. 



The sections dealing with the Chonos (pp. 

 325-327), based largely on Del Teeho, and with 

 the other Fuegians (pp. 329-332) need con.sider- 

 able revision in the light of more recent studies— 



