130 



SOUTHERN ABORIGINES. 



east people; and those on the other side were known by the 

 term ' Molu-che,' which signifies war people, or warriors : and 

 these terms are still in habitual use. 



Numerous subdivisions have perplexed all whose attention 

 has been attracted to the aboriginal population of Southern 

 America. Falkner''s account is the least confused, in every- 

 way the most probable, and agrees the best with what is now 

 found to be the condition of that portion of uncivilized man. 

 For our present purpose, I believe, it will be sufficient to 

 remark, that the Puel-che and Molu-che called the tribes 

 who lived towards the south, ^ Tehuel-het'* and ' Huilli-che,"' 

 both of which terms signify people of the south. The Huilli- 

 che were again divided into Pichi Huilli-che and Vuta Huilli- 

 che ; ' pichi,' meaning little ; and ' vuta,' great. Both the 

 Tehuel-het and the Vuta Huilli-che lived to the southward of 

 forty degrees of latitude. A branch or tribe of the Tehuel-het 

 who lived farthest towards the south, on the eastern side, 

 had no horses, and that tribe was called ' Yacana-kunny,'*!- (foot 

 people). Westward of those people, separated from them by a 

 ridge of mountains, was a tribe called Key-uhue, Key-yus, or 

 Key-es ; and northward, the Sehuau-kunny;}:. 



Falkner, in his account, rather confuses the habits of the 

 Yacana-kunny with those of the Key-uhue, which is not to 

 be wondered at, as he described those tribes solely from the 

 accounts of others. The Key-uhue have neither 'bowls,' or 

 balls (bolas), nor 'ostriches,' (see Falkner, p. Ill), in their 

 rugged tempestuous islands : neither do the Yacana-kunny 

 ' live chiefly on fish.' The former live on fish, while the 

 latter kill guanacoes, birds, and seals. 



Between the Key-uhue and the Chonos tribe were the Poy- 

 yus, or Pey-es, living on the sea-coast. The Chonos inhabited 

 the Archipelago so called, and part of Chiloe. 



These three last-mentioned tribes — Key-uhue, Poy-yus, and 

 Chonos — were called ' Vuta Huilli-che.' 



* Called by themselves ' Tehuel-kunny.' 



t ' Che,' ' het,' and ' kunny,* signify people, in different dialects. 

 I The Sehuau-kunny are a part of the Tehuel-het. 



