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1769. fpread a covering of the fame kind over them to a conJanuary.fiderable height.

Tuesday 17.

Having now been expofed to the cold and the fnow near an hour and a half, fome of the reft began to lofe their fenfibility; and one Brifcoe, another of Mr. Banks's fervants, was fo ill, that it was thought he muft die before he could be got to the fire.

At the fire, however, at length they arrived; and paffed the night in a fituation, which, however dreadful in itfelf, was rendered more afflicting by the remembrance of what was paft, and the uncertainty of what was to come. Of twelve, the number that fet out together in health and fpirits, two were fuppofed to be already dead; a third was fo ill, that it was very doubtful whether he would be able to go forward in the morning; and a fourth, Mr. Buchan, was in danger of a return of his fits, by a fresh fatigue after fo uncomfortable a night: they were diftant from the fhip a long day's journey, through pathlefs woods, in which it was too probable they might be bewildered till they were overtaken by the next night; and not having prepared for a journey of more than eight or ten hours, they were wholly deftitute of provifions, except a vulture which they happened to fhoot while they were out, and which if equally divided, would not afford each of them half a meal; and they knew not how much more they might fuffer from the cold, as the fnow ftill continued to fall. A dreadful teftimony of the feverity of the climate, as it was now the midst of fummer in this part of the world, the twenty-first of Delongeft

cember being here the day; and every thing

might juftly be dreaded from a phænomenon which, in the correfponding feafon, is unknown even in Norway and Lapland.

When the morning dawned, they faw nothing round them as far as the eye could reach, but fnow, which feemed to lie as thick upon the trees as upon the ground; and the blafts returned fo frequently, and with fuch violence, that they found it impoffible for them to fet out how long this might laft they knew not, and they had but too much reason to apprehend that it would confine them in that defolate foreft till they perished with hunger and cold.

After

After having fuffered the mifery and terror of this 1769. fituation till fix o'clock in the morning, they conceived January. fome hopes of deliverance by difcovering the face of the fun through the clouds, which were become thinner, and began to break away. Their first care was to see whether the poor wretches whom they had been obliged to leave among the bushes were yet alive; three of the company were difpatched for that purpofe, and very foon afterwards returned with the melancholy news, that they were dead.

Notwithstanding the flattering appearance of the fky, the fnow continued to fall fo thick that they could not venture out upon their journey to the ship; but about 8 o'clock a small regular breeze fprung up, which, with the prevailing influence of the fun, at length cleared the air; and they foon after, with great joy, faw the fnow fall in large flakes from the trees, a certain fign of an approaching thaw: they now examined more critically the ftate of their invalids; Briscoe was ftill very ill, but faid, that he thought himself able to walk; and Mr. Buchan was much better than either he or his friends had any reason to expect. They were now, however, preffed by the calls of hunger, to which, after long fafting, every confideration of future good or evil immediately gives way. Before they fet forward, therefore, it was unanimously agreed, that they should eat their vulture; the bird was accordingly skinned, and, it being thought beft to divide it before it was fit to be eaten, it was cut into ten portions, and every man cooked his own as he thought fit. After this repaft, which furnished each of them with about three mouthfuls, they prepared to fet out; but it was ten o'clock before the fnow was fufficiently gone off to render a march practicable. After a walk of about three hours, they were very agreeably furprized to find themfelves upon the beach, and much nearer to the fhip than they had any reafon to expect. Upon reviewing their track from the veffel, they perceived, that, instead of afcending the hill in a line, fo as to penetrate into the country, they had made almost a circle round it. When they came on board, they congratulated each other upon their fafety, with a joy that no man can feel who has not been expofed to

equal

1769. equal danger; and as I had suffered great anxiety at January their not returning in the evening of the day on which they fet out, I was not wholly without my fhare.

Wednef. 18.
Thurf. 19.

CHA P. V.

The Paffage through the Streight of Le Maire, and a further Defcription of the Inhabitants of Terra del Fuego, and its Productions.

ON

N the 18th and 19th we were delayed in getting on board our wood and water by a swell: but on Friday 20. the 20th, the weather being more moderate, we again fent the boat on fhore, and Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went in it. They landed in the bottom of the bay, and while my people were employed in cutting brooms, they pursued their great object, the improvement of natural knowlege, with fuccefs, collecting many fhells and plants which hitherto have been altogether unknown: they came on board to dinner, and afterwards went again on shore to vifit an Indian town, which fome of the people had reported to lie about two miles up the country. They found the distance not more than by the account, and they approached it by what appeared to be the common road, yet they were above an hour in getting thither, for they were frequently up to their knees in mud; when they got within a small diftance, two of the people came out to meet them, with fuch ftate as they could affume; when they joined them, they began to hollow as they had done on board the fhip, without addreffing themfelves either to the ftrangers or their companions; and having continued this ftrange vociferation fome time, they conducted them to the town. It was fituated on a dry knoll, or small hill, covered with wood, none of which feemed to have been cleared away, and confifted of about twelve or fourteen hovels, of the most rude and inartificial structure that can be imagined. They were nothing more than a few poles fet up, fo as to incline towards each other, and meet at the top, forming a kind of a cone, like fome of our bee-hives: on the weather fide they were covered with a few boughs, and a little grafs; and on the lee fide about one eighth of the circle

was

was left open, both for a door and a fire place; and of this kind were the huts that had been feen in St. Vincent's bay, in one of which the embers of a fire were still remaining. Furniture they had none; a little grafs, which lay round the infide of the hovel, ferved both for chairs and beds; and of all the utensils which neceffity and ingenuity have concurred to produce among other favage nations, they faw only a basket to carry in the hand, a fatchel to hang at the back, and the bladder of fome beaft to hold water, which the natives drink through a hole that is made near the top for that purpose.

The inhabitants of this town were a fmall tribe, not more than fifty in number, of both fexes and of every age. Their colour resembles that of the ruft of iron mixed with oil, and they have long black hair: the men are large, but clumsily built; their ftature is from five feet eight to five feet ten; the women are much lefs, few of them being more than five feet high. Their whole apparel confifts of the fkin of a guanicoe, or feal, which is thrown over their fhoulders, exactly in the state in which it came from the animal's back; a piece of the fame fkin, which is drawn over their feet, and gathered about the ankles like a purfe, and a small flap, which is worn by the women as a fuccedaneum for a fig-leaf. The men wear their cloak open, the women tie it about their waist with a thong. But although they are content to be naked, they are very ambitious to be fine. Their faces were painted in various forms the region of the eye was in general white, and the rest of the face adorned with horizontal streaks of red and black; yet fcarcely any two were exactly alike. This decoration feems to be more prefuse and elaborate upon particular occafions; for the two Gentlemen who introduced Mr. Banks and the Doctor into the town, were almost covered with streaks of black in all directions, fo as to make a very ftriking appearance. Both men and women wore bracelets of fuch beads as they could make themselves of small fhells or bones; the women both upon their wrists and ancles, the men upon their wrifts only; but to compenfate for the want of bracelets on their legs, they wore a kind of fillet of brown worsted round

1769. January.

1769

January.

their heads. They feemed to fet a particular value upon any thing that was red, and preferred beads even to a knife or a hatchet.

Their language in general is guttural, and they exprefs fome of their words by a found exactly like that which we make to clear the throat when any thing happens to obftru&t it; yet they have words which would be deemed foft in the better languages of Europe. Mr. Banks learnt what he supposes to be their names for beads and water. When they wanted beads, inftead of ribbons or other trifles, they faid halleca ; and when they were taken on shore from the ship, and by figns afked where water might be found, they made the fign of drinking, and pointing as well to the casks as the watering-place, cried oadâ.

We faw no appearance of their having any food but shell-fish; for though feals were frequently feen near the fhore, they feemed to have no implements for taking them. The thell-fish is collected by the women, whofe business it feems to be to attend at low water, with a basket in one hand, a stick, pointed and barbed, in the other, and a fatchel at their backs: they loofen the limpets and other fish that adhere to the rocks, with the flick, and put them into the basket ; which, when full, they empty into the satchel.

The only things that we found among them in which there was the leaft appearance of neatnefs or ingenuity were their weapons, which confifted of a bow and arrows, The bow was not inelegantly made, and the arrows were the neatest that we had ever feen: they were of wood, polished to the highest degree; and the point, which was of glafs or flint, and barbed, was formed and fitted with wonderful dexterity. We faw alfo fome pieces of glafs and flint among them unwrought, befides rings, buttons, cloth, and canvass,with other European commodities; they must therefore fometimes travel to the northward, for it is many years fince any fhip has been fo far fouth as this part of Terra del Fuego. We obferved alfo, that they fhewed no furprise at our fire-arms, with the ufe of which they appeared to be well acquainted; for they made signs to Mr. Banks to fhoot a feal which followed the boat as they were going on fhore from the ship.

M. de

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