May 182T. 



FALKNEll's ACCOUNT. 



87 



of the inhabitants of the countries south of the River Plata, 

 and he describes those who inhabit the borders of the Strait 

 and sea-coast to be, " Yacana-cunnees, which signifies foot- 

 people, for they have no horses in their country ; to the north 

 they border on the Sehuau-cunnees, to the west on the Key- 

 yus, or Key-yuhues, from whom they are divided by a ridge 

 of mountains ; to the east they are bounded by the ocean ; 

 and to the south by the islands of Tierra del Fuego, or the 

 South Sea. These Indians live near the sea on both sides of 

 the Strait, and often make war with one another. They make 

 use of light floats, like those of Childe, in order to pass the 

 Straits, and are sometimes attacked by the Huilliches and other 

 Tehuelhets, who carry them away for slaves, as they have 

 nothing to lose but their liberty and their lives. They subsist 

 chiefly on fish, which they catch either by diving, or striking 

 them with their darts. They are very nimble afoot, and catch 

 guanacoes and ostriches with their bowls. Their stature is 

 much the same as that of the other Tehuelhets, rarely exceed- 

 ing seven feet, and oftentimes not six feet. They are an inno- 

 cent, harmless people." * 



To the north of this race, Falkner describes " the Sehuau- 

 cunnees, the most southern Indians who travel on horseback ; 

 Sehuau signifies in the Tehuel dialect a species of black rab- 

 bit, about the size of a field rat ; and as their country abounds 

 in these animals, their name may be derived from thence : 

 cunnee signifying ' people.' 



With the exception of their mode of killing the guanaco by 

 bowls, or balls, the description of the Key-yus would apply 

 better to the Fuegian Indians; and if so, they have been 

 driven across the Strait, and confined to the Fuegian shores by 

 the Sehuau-cunnees, who must be no other than Maria's tribe. 

 The Key-yus, who are described to inhabit the northern shore 

 of the Strait, between Pecketf s Harbour and Madre de Dios, 

 are probably the tribe found about the south-western islands, 

 and now called Alikhoolip ; whilst the eastern Fuegians, or 

 Yacana-cunnees, who have also been turned off' the conti- 

 * Falkner's Patagonia, pp. 110, 111. 



