they could find; and himself, with four others, remained with the doctor and Richmond, whom, partly by persuasion and entreaty, and partly by force, they brought on; but when they had got through the greatest part of the birch and swamp, they both declared they could go no farther. Mr. Banks had recourse again to entreaty and expostulation, but they produced no effect: when Richmond was told, that if he did not go on he would in a short time be frozen to death, he answered, that he desired nothing but to lie down and die: the doctor did not so explicitly renounce his life; he said he was willing to go on, but that he must first take some sleep, though he had before told the company that to sleep was to perish. Mr. Banks and the rest found it impossible to carry them, and there being no remedy, they were both suffered to sit down, being partly supported by the bushes, and in a few minutes they fell into a profound sleep: soon after, some of the people who had been sent forward, returned, with the welcome news that a fire was kindled about a quarter of a mile farther on the way. Mr. Banks then endeavoured to wake Dr. Solander, and happily succeeded: but, though he had not slept five minutes, he had almost lost the use of his limbs, and the muscles were so shrunk that his shoes fell from his feet. He consented to go forward with such assistance as could be given him, but no attempts to relieve poor Richmond were successful. It being found impossible to make him stir, after some time had been lost in the attempt, Mr. Banks left his other black servant and a seaman, who seemed to have suffered least from the cold, to look after him; promising, that as soon as two others should be sufficiently warmed, they should be relieved. Mr. Banks, with much difficulty, at length got the doctor to the fire; and soon after sent two of the people who had been refreshed, in hopes that, with the assistance of those who had been left behind, they would be able to bring Richmond, even though it should still be found impossible to wake him. In about half an hour, however, they had the mortification to see these two men return alone: they said, that they had been all round the place to which they had been directed, but could neither find Richmond nor those who had been left with him; and that though they had shouted many times, no voice had replied. This was matter of equal surprise and concern, particularly to Mr. Banks, who, while he was wondering how it could happen, missed a bottle of rum, the company's whole stock, which they now concluded to be in the knapsack of one of the absentees. It was conjectured, that with this Richmond had been roused by the two persons who had been left with him, and that, having perhaps drank too freely of it themselves, they had all rambled from the place where they had been left, in search of the fire, instead of waiting for those who should have been their assistants and guides. Another fall of snow now came on, and continued incessantly for two hours, so that all hope of seeing them again, at least alive, were given up; but about twelve o'clock, to the great joy of those at the fire, a shouting was heard at some distance. Mr. Banks, with four more, immediately went out, and found the seaman with just strength enough left to stagger along, and call out for assistance: Mr. Banks sent him immediately to the fire, and, by his direction, proceeded in search of the other two, whom he soon after found. Richmond was upon his legs, but not able to put one before the other: his companion was lying upon the ground, as insensible as a stone. All hands were now called from the fire, and an attempt was made to carry them to it; but this, notwithstanding the united efforts of the whole company, was found to be impossible. The night was extremely dark, the snow was now very deep, and, under these additional disadvantages, they found it very difficult to make way through the bushes and the bog for themselves, all of them getting many falls in the attempt. The only alternative was to make a fire upon the spot; but the snow which had fallen, and was still falling, besides what was every moment shaken in flakes from the trees, rendered it equally impracticable to kindle one there and to bring any part of that which had been kindled in the wood thither: they were, therefore, reduced to the sad necessity of leaving the unhappy wretches to their fate; having first made them a bed of boughs from the trees, and spread a covering of the same kind over them, to a considerable height. Having now been exposed to the cold and the snow near an hour and a half, some of the rest began to lose their sensibility; and one, Briscoe, another of Mr. Banks's servants, was so ill, that it was thought he must die before he could be got to the fire.

At the fire, however, at length they arrived; and passed the night in a situation, which, however dreadful in itself, was rendered more afflicting by the remembrance of what was past, and the uncertainty of what was to come. Of twelve, the number that set out together in health and spirits, two were supposed to be already dead; a third was so 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 fresh fatigue, after so uncomfortable a night they were distant from the ship a long day's journey, through pathless 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 destitute of provisions, except a vulture, which they happened to shoot 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 suffer from the cold, as the snow still continued to fall. A dreadful testimony of the severity of the climate, as it was now the midst of summer in this part of the world, the twenty-first of December being here the longest day; and everything might justly be dreaded from a phenomenon which, in the corresponding season, is unknown even in Norway and Lapland.

When the morning dawned, they saw nothing round them, as far as the eye could reach, but snow, which seemed to lie as thick upon the trees as upon the ground; and the blasts returned so frequently, and with such violence, that they found it impossible for them to set out how long this might last they knew not, and they had but too much reason to apprehend that it would confine them in that desolate forest till they perished with hunger and cold. After having suffered the misery and terror of this situation till six o'clock in the morning, they conceived some hope of deliverance by discovering the place of the sun 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 despatched for that purpose, and very soon afterwards returned with the melancholy news that they were dead.

:

Notwithstanding the flattering appearance of the sky, the snow still continued to fall so thick that they could not venture out on their journey to the ship; but about eight o'clock a small regular breeze sprung up, which, with the prevailing influence of the sun, at length cleared the air; and they soon after, with great joy, saw the snow fall in large flakes from the trees, a certain sign of an approaching thaw. They now examined more critically the state of their invalids: Briscoe was still very ill, but said 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, pressed by the calls of hunger, to which, after long fasting, every consideration of future good or evil immediately gives way. Before they set forward, therefore, it was unanimously agreed that they should eat their vulture: the bird was accordingly skinned, and it being thought best 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 repast, which furnished each of them with about three mouthfuls, they prepared to set out; but it was ten o'clock before the snow was sufficiently gone off to render a march practicable. After a walk of about three hours, they were very agreeably surprised to find themselves upon the beach, and much nearer to the ship than they had any reason to expect. Upon reviewing their track from the vessel, they perceived that, instead of ascending the hill in a line, so 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 safety with a joy that no man can feel who has not been exposed to equal danger; and as I had suffered great anxiety at their not returning in the evening of the day on which they set out, I was not wholly without my share.

CHAPTER V. THE PASSAGE THROUGH THE STRAIT OF LE MAIRE, AND A FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE INHABITANTS OF TERRA DEL FUEGO AND ITS PRODUCTIONS.

On the 18th and 19th, we were delayed in getting on board our wood and water by a swell; but on the 20th, the weather being more moderate, we again sent the boat on shore, 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 knowledge, with success, collecting many shells and plants which hitherto have been altogether unknown. They came on board to dinner, and afterwards went again on shore to visit an Indian town, which some 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 distance, two of the people came out to meet them, with such state as they could assume. When they joined them, they began to halloo as they had done on board the ship, without addressing themselves either to the strangers or their companions;

and having continued this strange vociferation for some time, they conducted them to the town. It was situated on a dry knoll, or small hill, covered with wood, none of which seemed to have been cleared away, and consisted 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 set up so as to incline towards each other, and meet at the top, forming a kind of a cone, like some of our bee-hives: on the weather-side they were covered with a few boughs and a little grass, and on the lee-side about onc-eighth of the circle was left open, both for a door

and a fire-place; and of this kind were the huts that had been seen in St. Vincent's bay, in one of which the embers of a fire were still remaining. Furniture they had none; a little grass, which lay round the inside of the hovel, served both for chairs and beds; and of all the utensils which necessity and ingenuity have concurred to produce among other savage nations, they saw only a basket to carry in the hand, a satchel to hang at the back, and the bladder of some beast 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 small tribe, not more than fifty in number, of both sexes and of every age. Their colour resembles that of the rust of iron mixed with oil, and they have long black hair: the men are large, but clumsily built; their stature is from five feet eight to five feet ten: the women are much less, few of them being more than five feet high. Their whole apparel consists of the skin of a guanoco *, or seal, which is thrown over their shoulders, exactly in the state in which it came from the animal's back; a piece of the same skin, which is drawn over their feet, and gathered about the ancles like a purse, and a small flap, which is worn by the women as a succedaneum 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 scarcely any two were exactly alike. This decoration seems to be more profuse and elaborate upon particular occasions; for the two gentlemen who introduced Mr. Banks and the doctor into the town, were almost covered with streaks of black in all directions, so as to make a very striking appearance. Both men and women wore bracelets of such beads as they could make themselves of small shells or bones; the women both upon their wrists and ancles, the men upon their wrists only; but to compensate for the want of bracelets on their legs, they wore a kind of fillet of brown worsted round their heads. They seemed to set a particular value upon anything that was red, and preferred beads even to a knife or a hatchet.

Their language in general is guttural, and they express some of their words by a sound exactly like that which we make to clear the throat when anything happens to obstruct it; yet they have words that would be deemed soft in the better languages of Europe. Mr. Banks learnt what he supposes to be their name for beads and water. When they wanted beads, instead of ribbons or other trifles, they said hallěcă; and when they were taken on shore from the ship, and by signs asked where water might be found, they made the sign of drinking, and pointing as well to the casks as the watering-place, cried Oodâ.

The

We saw no appearance of their having any food but shell-fish; for though seals were frequently seen near the shore, they seemed to have no implements for taking them. shell-fish is collected by the women, whose business it seems to be to attend at low water, with a basket in one hand, and a stick, pointed and barbed, in the other, and a satchel at their backs. They loosen the limpets and other fish that adhere to the rocks with the stick, 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 least appearance of neatness or ingenuity, were their weapons, which consisted of a bow and arrows. The bow was not inelegantly made, and the arrows were the neatest that we had ever seen they were of wood, polished to the highest degree; and the point, which was of glass or flint, and barbed, was formed and fitted with wonderful dexterity. We saw also some pieces of glass and flint among them unwrought, besides rings, buttons, cloth, and canvass, with other European commodities; they must, therefore, sometimes travel to the northward, for it is

*

"The guanoco, by some naturalists, is considered as the same animal with the llama, but in its wild state, is the South American representative of the camel of the East. In size it may be compared to an ass, mounted on taller legs, and with a very long neck. The guanoco abounds over the whole of the temperate parts of South America, from the wooded islands of Terra del Fuego, through Patagonia, the hilly parts of La Plata, Chili, even to the Cordillera of Peru. Although prefer

ring an elevated site, it yields in this respect to its near relative the vicuna. On the plains of southern Patagonia we saw them in greater numbers than in any other part. Generally they go in small herds, from half-a-dozen to thirty together; but on the banks of the St. Cruz we saw one herd which must have contained at least five hundred. On the northern shores of the Strait of Magellan they are also very numerous."-Darwin, in Surveying Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle.

many years since any ship has been so far south as this part of Terra del Fuego. We observed, also, that they showed no surprise at our fire-arms, with the use of which they appeared to be well acquainted; for they made signs to Mr. Banks to shoot a seal which followed the boat, as they were going on shore from the ship.

M. de Bougainville, who, in January, 1768, just one year before us, had been on shore upon this coast in latitude 53° 40′ 41′′, had, among other things, given glass to the people whom he found here; for he says, that a boy about twelve years old took it into his head to eat some of it. By this unhappy accident he died in great misery; but the endeavours of the good father, the French aumonier, were more successful than those of the surgeon; for though the surgeon could not save his life, the charitable priest found means to steal a Christian baptism upon him so secretly, that none of his pagan relations knew anything of the matter. These people might probably have some of the very glass which Bougainville left behind him, either from other natives, or perhaps from himself; for they appeared rather to be a travelling horde than to have any fixed habitation. Their houses are built to stand but for a short time. They have no utensil or furniture but the basket and satchel, which have been mentioned before, and which have handles adapted to the carrying them about, in the hand and upon the back. The only clothing they had here was scarcely sufficient to prevent their perishing with cold in the summer of this country, much less in the extreme severity of winter. The shell-fish, which seems to be their only food, must soon be exhausted at any one place; and we had seen houses upon what appeared to be a deserted station in St. Vincent's Bay. It is also probable that the place where we found them was only a temporary residence, from their having here nothing like a boat or canoe, of which it can scarcely be supposed that they were wholly destitute, especially as they were not seasick, or particularly affected, either in our boat or on board the ship. We conjectured that there might be a strait or inlet, running from the sea through great part of this island, from the Strait of Magellan, whence these people might come, leaving their canoes where such inlet terminated.

They did not appear to have among them any government or subordination: none was more respected than another; yet they seemed to live together in the utmost harmony and good fellowship. Neither did we discover any appearance of religion among them, except the noises which have been mentioned, and which we supposed to be a superstitious ceremony, merely because we could refer them to nothing else: they were used only by one of those who came on board the ship, and the two who conducted Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander to the town, whom we therefore conjectured to be priests. Upon the whole, these people appear to be the most destitute and forlorn, as well as the most stupid, of all human beings; the outcasts of nature, who spent their lives in wandering about the dreary wastes, where two of our people perished with cold in the midst of summer; with no dwelling but a wretched hovel of sticks and grass, which would not only admit the wind, but the snow and the rain ; almost naked ; and destitute of every convenience that is furnished by the rudest art, having no implement even to dress their food: yet they were content. They seemed to have no wish for anything more than they possessed, nor did anything that we offered them appear acceptable but beads, as an ornamental superfluity of life. What bodily pain they might suffer from the severities of their winter we could not know; but it is certain that they suffered nothing from the want of the innumerable articles which we consider not as the luxuries and conveniencies only but the necessaries of life as their desires are few, they probably enjoy them all; and how much they may be gainers by an exemption from the care, labour, and solicitude, which arise from a perpetual and unsuccessful effort to gratify that infinite variety of desires which the refinements of artificial life have produced among us, is not very easy to determine: possibly this may counterbalance all the real disadvantages of their situation in comparison with ours, and make the scales by which good and evil are distributed to man hang even between us.

In this place we saw no quadruped except seals, sea-lions, and dogs of the dogs it is remarkable that they bark, which those that are originally bred in America do not. And this is a further proof, that the people we saw here had, either immediately or remotely, communicated with the inhabitants of Europe. There are, however, other quadrupeds in