306 PATAGONIA 



in the former region include closely related tribes of Canoe or 

 Channel Indians who live almost entirely in small open boats of 

 native design, constructed Avith considerable skill from large 

 pieces of bark, either from the antarctic deciduous beech (Fagus 

 antarctica) or from the evergreen beech (F. betuloides), sewn to- 

 gether with sinew or flexible whalebone. The latter is thrown 

 up in considerable quantities along the shores of this coast. At 

 present the Indians are usually clothed with bits of cheap calico 

 fashioned into rude garments, that of the women resembling 

 loose skirts suspended from the shoulders and usuall}^ extending 

 somewhat below the knees. While for the most part the men and 

 women are at present clothed with some sort of cloth, usually 

 obtained by barter from the whites, yet examples are not entirely 

 wanting of individuals still clinging, through choice or necessity, 

 to that more primitive state in which a narrow girth about the 

 loins is deemed sufficient, with sometimes the addition of a piece 

 of seal skin held above by a single thong passing around the 

 neck and over the shoulders, and below by another about the 

 body, so that it may be readily shifted to any desired position 

 according to the direction of the wind. These Indians feed al- 

 most exclusively upon shell-fish which they are able to pick up 

 along the shore, while the remains of an occasional seal or sea- 

 otter cast up by the waves, or the same animals taken alive with 

 their spears, serve to vary their diet. Perhaps in no other peo- 

 ple in the world are the actual necessities of life reduced to so 

 few as among the Channel Indians of this region. With no 

 constant habitation, they move about from one sheltered cove 

 to another, so that their occupation of any particular place is 

 entirely dependent upon, first, the abundance of the mollusks 

 upon which they live, and, second (when these are well-nigh ex- 

 hausted), upon the condition of the weather. On a few earthen 

 sods in the bottom of their canoes they keep constantly burning 

 a small fire, which always seems just on the point of going out; 

 and over this they all bend when not engaged in collecting the 

 animals for food, which they usually eat uncooked and without 

 other preliminary preparation. For their shelter on land, not- 

 withstanding the inclement weather that prevails almost continu- 

 ously, they erect exceedingly inefficient and primitive structures 

 consisting of only a few branches of trees, the lower ends of which 

 are stuck in the ground in an almost complete circle, while the 

 upper ends are carelessly thatched together, thus forming a sort 

 of low, conical " wickiup " with an. opening on one side. These, 



