42G 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



But all have not even this wretched garment, for near WoUaston Island Mr. 

 Darwin saw a canoe with six Fuegians, one of whom was a woman, naked. It 

 was raining heavily, and the fresh water, together with the spray, trickled down 

 their bodies. In another harbor not far distant, a woman, who was suckling 

 a recently-born child, came one day alongside the vessel, and remained there 

 out of mere curiosity, whilst the sleet fell and thawed on her naked bosom 

 and on the skin of her naked baby ! These poor wretches were stunted in 

 their growth, their faces bedaubed with white paint, their skins filthy, their hair 

 entangled, their voices discordant, and their gestures violent. 



The Fuegians whom Cook met with in Christmas Sound were equally 

 wretched. Their canoes were made of the bark of trees stretched over a frame- 

 work of sticks, and the paddles which served to propel these miserable boats 

 were small, and of an equally miserable workmanship. In each canoe sat from 

 five to eight persons ; but instead of greeting the strangers with the joyful 

 shouts of the South Sea Islanders, they rowed along in perfect silence ; and 

 even when quite close to the vessel, they only uttered from time to time the 

 word " Pescherah !" After repeated invitations some of these savages came 

 on board, but without exhibiting the least sign of astonishment or curiosity. 

 None were above five feet four inches high ; they had large heads, broad 

 faces, with prominent cheek-bones, flat noses, small and lack-lustre eyes ; and 

 their black hair, smeared with fat, hung in matted locks over their shoulders. 

 Instead of a beard, their chin exhibited a few straggling bristles, and their 

 whole appearance afforded a striking picture of abject misery. Their shoul- 

 ders and breast were broad and strongly built, but the extremities of the body 

 so meagre and shrivelled that one could hardly realize the fact that they be- 

 longed to the upper part. The legs were crooked, the knees disproportionate- 

 ly thick. Their sole garment consisted of a small piece of seal-skin, attached to 

 the neck by means of a cord, otherwise they were quite naked ; but even these 

 miserable creatures had made an attempt to decorate their olive-brown skin 

 with some stripes of ochre. The women were as ugly as the men. Their food 

 consisted of raw, half-putrid seal's flesh, which made them smell so horribly, 

 that it was impossible to remain long near them. Their inteUigence was on a 

 par with the filth of their bodies. The most expressive signs vvere here of no 

 avail. Gestures which the most dull-headed native of any South Sea island im- 

 mediately understood, these savages either did not, or would not give them- 

 selves the trouble to comprehend. Of the superiority of the Europeans they 

 appeared to have no idea, never expressing by the slightest sign any astonish- 

 ment at the sight of the ship and the various objects on board. It would how- 

 ever be doing the Fuegians injustice to suppose them all on a level with these 

 wretches. According to Forster, they were most likely outcasts from the 

 neighboring tribes. 



Mr. Darwin, as well as Sir James Ross, describes the Fuegians whom they 

 met with in the Bay of Good Success and on Hermit Island as excellent 

 mimics. "As often as we coughed or yawned," says the former, " or made any 

 odd motion, they immediately imitated us. Some of our party began to squint 

 and look awry, but one of the young Fuegians (whose whole face was painted 



