HOSTAGE — SCENE NOISE. 



207 



come impeded by the number of canoes which I knew would 

 soon throng around us. Although now among natives who 

 seemed to be friendly, and to whom Jemmy and York con- 

 trived to explain the motives of our visit, it was still highly 

 necessary to be on our guard. Of those men and boys who ran 

 over the hills to us, all were of Jemmy's tribe excepting one 

 man, whom he called an Oens-man ; but it was evident, from 

 his own description, that the man belonged to the Yapoo, or 

 eastern Tekeenica tribe, and was living in safety among his 

 usual enemies, as a hostage for the security of a man belonging 

 to Jemmy's tribe who was staying among the eastern people. 



As we steered out of the cove in which our boats had been 

 sheltered, a striking scene opened : beyond a lake-like expanse 

 of deep blue water, mountains rose abruptly to a great height, 

 and on their icy summits the sun's early rays glittered as if 

 on a mirror. Immediately round us were mountainous emi- 

 nences, and dark cliffy precipices which cast a very deep 

 shadow over the still water beneath them. In the distant 

 west, an opening appeared where no land could be seen ; and 

 to the south was a cheerful sunny woodland, sloping gradually 

 down to the Murray Narrow, at that moment almost undis- 

 tinguishable. As our boats became visible to the natives, who 

 were eagerly paddling towards the cove from every direction, 

 hoarse shouts arose, and, echoed about by the cliffs, seemed 

 to be a continual cheer. In a very short time there were 

 thirty or forty canoes in our train, each full of natives, each 

 with a column of blue smoke rising from the fire amidships, 

 and almost all the men in them shouting at the full power of 

 their deep sonorous voices. As we pursued a winding course 

 around the bases of high rocks or between islets covered with 

 wood, continual additions were made to our attendants ; and 

 the day being very fine, without a breeze to ruffle the water, 

 it was a scene which carried one's thoughts to the South Sea 

 Islands, but in Tierra del Fuego almost appeared like a dream. 

 After a few hours (pulling hard to keep a-head of our train) 

 we reached WooUya, and selected a clear space favourably 

 situated for our encampment, landed, marked a boundary -line, 



