TERRA DEL FUEGO. 



123 



flannel, torn into stripes, pleases them more than in the piece ; they 

 wound it around their heads, as a kind of turban, and it was amusing 

 to see their satisfaction at this small acquisition. 



The children were quite small, and nestled in the bottom of the 

 canoe on some dry grass. The woman and eldest boy paddled the 

 canoe, the man being employed to bail out the water and attend to the 

 fire, which is always carried in the bottom of the canoe, on a few 

 stones and ashes, which the water surrounds. 



Their canoes are constructed of bark, are very frail, and sewed with 

 shreds of whalebone, sealskin, and twigs. They are sharp at both 

 ends, and are kept in shape as well as strengthened by a number of 

 stretchers lashed to the gunwale. 



These Indians seldom venture outside the kelp, by the aid of which 

 they pull themselves along ; and their paddles are so small as to be of 

 little use in propelling their canoes, unless it is calm. Some of the 

 officers thought they recognised a party on the Hermit Islands that had 

 been on board ship at Orange Harbour. If this was the case, they 

 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, 



