842 CURIOUS NOTICES OF THE NATIVES. March 1830. 
opening, between Cape San Mateo and San Vincent, it turns 
suddenly to the south and S.b.E., continues in that direction 
for nearly thirty miles, washing the base of the Cordillera which 
rises from it precipitously, and is closed by a low isthmus, two 
miles across, dividing this inlet from Stewart Bay, and over 
which Mr. Kirke passed to take the bearings of several points 
that he recognised in Collingwood Strait. 
‘In the prosecution of the survey northward of our anchor- 
age, those passages were discovered which separate so much 
of the east coast of Sarmiento Channel from the main land ; 
and the islands thus made known I named after Commodore 
Sir Edward Owen,* the channel of separation being called 
Blanche Passage. 
‘One of the boats met with a canoe containing eight Indians; 
this was only the second that had yet been seen during our 
cruise. 
“¢ An interview, which two of the schooner’s men had with 
these people, is so characteristic of the habits of the natives 
who wander in canoes, that I add the account, as given by one 
of those men: * When we arrived at the wigwam, there were 
two women and five children inside, and a dozen dogs near it. 
At our entrance, the children crept close to one side of the wig- 
wam, behind their mothers, who made signs for us to sit down 
on the opposite side, which we did. The women, seeing that 
we were wet, and meant to do them no harm, sent the two 
eldest children out to gather sticks, and made up a large fire ; 
so we cut some pieces of bread from a loaf which we had, 
and distributed them. 'They all appeared to like the bread, 
particularly the youngest, which was sucking at the breast ; 
for it eat its own slice, besides one we gave its mother. After 
we had been there about half an hour, and had given them 
some beads and buttons, a man came in from behind the wig- 
wam, where he had concealed himself when we entered, and sat 
down beside us. By signs, he asked where our boat was, and 
how many men there were with us. We told him the men and 
boat were a little way off, and made signs that we wanted to 
* At the request of Lieutenant Mitchell, of the Adventures 
