134 WINTER VOYAGE THROUGH STRAITS OF MAGELLAN 



bay. By 2 o'clock we are nearly up with the second narrows, 

 but now the flood-tide is done, and it would be the merest folly 

 to attempt to force the Narragansett through against the ebb, so 

 we give up all hope of reaching Sandy Point this evening, and 

 steam slowly in for the anchorage under Gregory Summit. 



On the cliff abreast of the ship we observe a native camp and 

 see some animals grazing on the downs. Soon there are other 

 signs of life, and a dozen Indians come sweeping along on horse- 

 back. They are splendidly mounted and seem a fine, athletic 

 race. Now the}^ are on the edge of the bluff' making signals to 

 us, but it is too late to communicate with the shore, and, more- 

 over, the character of " ye native " hereabouts is open to suspi- 

 cion, though to do the Indians simple justice they have been 

 rendered hostile to all white men by two centuries of brutality 

 at the hands of the Spaniards and their descendants. Asa people 

 these Patagonians are less savage and intractable than the Fue- 

 gians or natives of the southern and western shores. There are 

 in truth some very striking differences between these two races, 

 and it may be well to allude to them here. In the first place, 

 the term Patagonian, unless explained, is apt to mislead, for the 

 whole of the continent south of the parallel of 40 degrees is 

 known as Patagonia, and is geographically divided by the moun- 

 tains into Eastern and Western Patagonia, inhabited, as far as 

 we know, by two ver}^ different races, though Dr Darwin in his 

 narrative of the Beagle's voyage in 1831 declares his conviction 

 that they are the same race and that the present difference is 

 caused by environment. This is ]irobable, as food, climate, and 

 environment are doubtless responsible for most racial differences ; 

 but, strictly speaking, the Patagonians are the natives of Eastern 

 Patagonia, for the inhabitants of the islands along the Smyth 

 channel (north of Magellan straits) and Western Patagonia as 

 far as the Gulf of Penas are of the same family as the natives 

 of Tierra del Fuego, and are invariably designated as Fuegians. 

 The Patagonians then inhabit the northern side of the strait east 

 of Cape Froward and the chain of mountains known as the 

 Southern Andes, and are probably of the same fcxmil}^ as the 

 Araucanians, so justly celebrated for their prowess in their en- 

 counters with the steel-clad warriors of Spain in the sixteenth 

 century. Of these Patagonians, one explorer who passed some 

 time with them says : 



"They are very tall, finely formed, and athletic, with jet black eyes, 

 black, coarse hair, thick lips, and a skin of reddish-brown color. They 



