FUEGIANS CAFABLE OF IMPROVEMENT. 171 



habitable world are reached, the conditions 

 of existence cause and necessitate a savage 

 and degraded life. Darwin gives the true 

 explanation of their condition when he says, 

 " How little can the higher powers of the 

 mind be brought into play ! What is there 

 for imagination to picture, for reason to com- 

 pare, for judgment to decide upon ? " The 

 case of the Fuegians is a case in which there 

 can be no doubt whatever of the causes of 

 their degraded condition. On every side 



of them, and in proportion as we recede 

 from their wretched country, the surrounding 

 tribes are less wretched and better acquainted 

 with the simpler arts. And it is remarkable 

 that in the case of this people we have proof 

 of another point of great interest and impor- 



