128 
TERRA DEL FUEGO. 
must have ventured across the Bay of Nassau, a distance of some ten 
or twelve miles. This, if correct, would go to prove that there is 
more intercourse among them than their frail barks would lead one 
to expect. 
Their huts are generally found built close to the shore, at the 
head of some small bay, in a secluded spot, and sheltered from the 
prevailing winds. They are built of boughs or small trees, stuck 
in the earth, and brought together at the top, where they are 
firmly bound by bark, sedge, and twigs. Smaller branches are then 
interlaced, forming a tolerably compact wicker-work, and on this 
grass, turf, and bark are laid, making the hut quite warm, and im- 
pervious to the wind and snow, though not quite so to the rain. 
The usual dimensions of these huts are seven or eight feet in 
diameter, and about four or five feet in height. They have an oval 
hole to creep in at. The fire is built in a small excavation in the 
middle of the hut. The floor is of clay, which has the appearance of 
FUEGIAXS AND HUT. 
having been well kneaded. The usual accompaniment of a hut is a 
conical pile of shells opposite the door, nearly as large as the hut 
itself. 
Their occupancy of a hut seems to be limited to the supply of 
shell-fish, consisting of mussels and limpets, in the neighbourhood. 
These natives are never seen but in their huts or canoes. The 
impediments to their communication by land are great, growing out 
of the mountainous and rocky character of the country, intersected 
with inlets deep and impassable, and in most places bounded by 
abrupt precipices, together with a soil which may be termed a 
quagmire, on which it is difficult to walk. This prevails on the 
hills as well as in the plains and valleys. The impenetrable nature 
of the forest, with the dense undergrowth of thorny bushes, renders 
