May 1827. children — gratitude. 



95 



those of the Fuegians, who, excepting in the fight and chace, 

 do every thing. They paddle the canoes, dive for shells and 

 sea-eggs, build their wigwams, and keep up the fire ; and if 

 they neglect any of these duties, or incur the displeasure of their 

 husbands in any way, they are struck or kicked most severely, 

 Byron, in his narrative of the loss of the Wager, describes the 

 brutal conduct of one of these Indians, who actually killed his 

 child for a most trifling offence. The Patagonians are devot- 

 edly attached to their offspring. In infancy they are carried 

 behind the saddle of the mother, within a sort of cradle, in 

 which they are securely fixed. The cradle is made of wicker- 

 work, about four feet long and one foot wide, roofed over with 

 twigs like the frame of a tilted waggon. The child is swad- 

 dled up in skins, with the fur inwards or outwards according 

 to the weather. At night, or when it rains, the cradle is 

 covered with a skin that effectually keeps out the cold or rain. 

 Seeing one of these cradles near a w^oman, I began to make a 

 sketch of it, upon which the mother called the father, who 

 watched me most attentively, and held the cradle in the posi- 

 tion which I considered most advantageous for my sketch. 

 The completion of the drawing gave them both great pleasure, 

 and during the afternoon the father reminded me repeatedly 

 of having painted his child (" pintado su hijo."") 



One circumstance deserves to be noticed, as a proof of their 

 good feeling towards us. It will be recollected that three 

 Indians, of the party with whom we first communicated, accom- 

 panied us as far as Cape Negro, where they landed. Upon our 

 arrival on this occasion, I was met, on landing, by one of them, 

 who asked for my son, to whom they had taken a great fancy ; 

 upon my saying he was on board, the native presented me with 

 a bunch of nine ostrich feathers, and then gave a similar pre- 

 sent to every one in the boat. He still carried a large quantity 

 under his arm, tied up in bunches, containing nine feathers 

 in each ; and soon afterwards, when a boat from the Beagle 

 landed with Captain Stokes and others, he went to meet them ; 

 but finding strangers, he withdrew without making them any 

 present. 



