272 HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



of the north and south sides of the Strait. From the Patagonians they are 

 separated partly by the ocean, in part by the mountain chain on the isthmus 

 connecting the peninsula of Brunswick with the mainland. Their mode 

 of life and the glaciers of their mountain country constrain them to remain 

 upon the coasts exclusively. 



They are called Pesherays, and are described as being cold, poor, and 

 wretched, like the nature of this region. Forster relates of them : " All 

 other nations of the South Sea usually met us with a loud huzza or joyful 

 exclamation, but the inhabitants of Terra del Fuego kept up a profound 

 silence, even when close to the ship, where we expected at least an address ; 

 they uttered no other sound than ' pesheray.' When, after many signs, 

 some of them were brought on board the vessel, they showed not the slight- 

 est indications of pleasure, and appeared also to be entirely without curiosity. 

 They were short of stature, none over five feet six inches in height ; had 

 thick, large heads, broad faces, very flat noses, and the cheek bones under 

 the eyes were very prominent. The eyes themselves were of a brown 

 color, but small and dull ; the hair black, entirely straight, anointed with 

 train oil, and hanging wild and shaggy around the head. Instead of a 

 beard, a few isolated bristles stood upon the chin. Their mouth was ugly 

 and always open ; shoulders and chest broad and strong ; the lower part of 

 the body, however, so meagre and shrivelled up, that one could scarcely 

 imagine it belonged to the upper portion. The legs were thin and crooked, 

 and the knees much too large. Their single miserable article of clothing 

 consisted of an old sealskin, which was fastened around the neck by means 

 of a cord. For the rest, they went entirely naked. Their complexion is 

 olive brown with a copper colored tinge, and by many the hue is heightened 

 by means of stripes of red and white ochre. The women were formed 

 almost like the men, but were somewhat smaller and less ugly. Besides 

 the word pesheray, at one time uttered in a complaining, at another in 

 a caressing tone, some of them spoke a few other words." So far Forster's 

 account. Later travellers have witnessed a rather greater display of inte- 

 rest in European ships, wares, and the like ; they have also seen the Pesherays 

 dance and heard them sing, and found them somewhat more conversible. 

 Their food consisted of seals' flesh, frequently already spoiled, and greasy 

 and disgusting blubber was their most esteemed article of diet. Their 

 weapons, which consisted of bow, arrows, and a lance, gave the only 

 proof of any reflection and of some industry. The Pesharays appear to 

 pass in their canoes or rafts from one island to another, but nevertheless 

 have their fixed places of abode. Their villages consist of a few huts of 

 the rudest construction. A pair of poles being set upright, are bent towards 

 each other somewhat in the form of a beehive, and covered on the weather 

 side with grass, boughs, seal and other skins ; the other side having an 

 opening of about the eighth part of the circle as a door. Here also is the 

 place for the fire, around which the family, in midsummer, sit trembling 

 with the cold. 



The Pampans are the inhabitants of the great plains or pampas. Their 

 places of residence commence at the Strait of Magellan, in 53° south 

 444 



