Washington telegraph., 1855-05-23
ni.covery of New People on the Western
Continent

,:.-,ve-v which even in this age of almost
Il -.ve.stions OF antiquities and wonders OF
.,-s &C., times and people, must strike the world
.'-itb wonder has Just been made by the onicers
rrtba sIOou-oi-war Decatur. 1t will be recoiec-
.aJ that the Decatur sailed from Rio IN company
,ritb the Massachusetts, tpropelerJ tnat 'hey
.s-tsf company and that for some weeks 'he
rs of the Decatur was looked upon as cert tdiii'
She was afterwards discovered by hei eoi'>oi :.
,,rt way through the Straits OF NegeiIa", anu
u. towed into the Pacific by the massachusetts,
W. Vs,v Orleans Picsvune cf the lst inst, pub
- letter. received firm o. H. Green. dated
- boz-j the Decatur. -otf the Straits OF Magellan.
~ IJu and which contains some statements SO
-.,rtgirs that we make the following extracts
E-or, he snnaIeDt respectability OF the source,
,ra see no reason tor doubling the narrative, re-
-narkable as il is The writer says:
There being no appearance oil Grange OF
,ro,tber. obtained leave OF absence for lew
5avs and accompanied by my classmate and
80, n Ba,ubridse. Assistant Surgeon, was
80 ~, the Terra del Fuego. With great labor
- J7fir,lty we scrambled up the mountain sides,
- line the whole southeast shore OF these
S,-,;ts and after ascending $500 feet, we came
mon a Main OF surprising richness and beauty
SIr,iIe feIds-the greatest variety of iruit trees
in full bearing, and signs OF civiiization anu re-
fnep1ent meeting Us on every SIDE we had new
or read any account of these people and thinking
tbi< island was wholly deserted, except by few
miserable caErIbals and wiiu oeas'S. we hdu
r,r,e well aymec and you can Judge of our sur
nri,e The inhabitants were utterly astonished
Z. ,rrr 7rueaTance but exhibited signs oil lear,
~ anv UniTieudiless. Our dress amused them.
and being the first white men ever seen by them,
.bsv in7asiue,i we had come from their God, the
sun OF some peculiar eTrand of good They are
the uobIest race ever saw. the men all ranging
from feet 10 g, well pToPOrtIoned, very athletic
and straight as an arrow The women were
among the most perfect mHcels OF beauty ever
f,-rned- averaging feet high. very plump. with
small ieet and hands, and with Jet black eye
which takes YOU by storm We surrendered at
discretion. and remained two weeks with this
strange people
The teachers nf religion speak the Latin Ian
guase and have traditions from successive priests.
through halt hundred centuries
They tell MS that this island was once attached
70 the main land; that about 1900 years ago. by
their records theIr country was VISITED by vio-
lent earthquake which OccasIored the rent now
known as the Straits of Magellan: that on the top
ofthe mountain which lifted its head to the sun,
whose base rested where the waters now flow.
stood their great temple-w hich, according TO
their description, compared TO the ore now ex-
isting we saw must have been 1890 feet square
and over HOO feet high. built of the purest PAN
tile marble
The ship is in sight that will carry this TO you
and must TOW close only saving that the official
rerort of Dr. Bainbridge 10 the Department will
be filed with the most Interesting ard valuable
matter and astonIsh the American people The
vessel proves 10 be the clipper ship Crecper from
the Chinchi Islands. with .uano- for vour port
and viii avail myself of this opportunity 10 send
vou specimen OF painting on porcelain said TO he
over 5000 years old; and an image made OF gold
and Iron- taken in one OF their wars many years
before the Straits OF Magellan existed
They numbered abou. three thousand men, wo-
u7e7 and children and was assured the popula-
ton has not varied TWO hundred as they proved
ty their traditions Tor immemorial ages As the
aged grov feeble they are lett TO die. and II the
children multiply too rapidly they sacrificed
bv the priest THIS order comprises about one
tenta OF the population and what the ancient
Greeks called -Gvmnophsts" They are all OF
ore peculiar rare. neither will they admit stran-
ger IN .heir order They live. for the most part.
near tae beautiful stream CALLED Tanuced. which
takes ITS rise in the mountains passes through the
magnificent valley Of Leuvu. and empties into the
Atlantic al the extreme southwestern point on
the Island
This residence Is chosen for the sake of their
frequent publications Their diet consists of milk,
curdIed with sour herbs They eat apples. rice.
and all fruits and vegetables esteerning 1t the
hersht Of Implety 10 taste anything that has life
They live IN little butts OF cottages each one by
himself avoiding company discourse. employ
ias all their time iii contemplation and their re-
IsIous duties They esteem this lite but neces-
sarE GIsFensation OF Nature, which they volunta-
rIly unieTgo as penaHce- evidently thirsting after
the dissolution OF their bodies and firmly beiev-
lLg that the soul at death is released from prison
and launches forth into perfect liberty and happi-
ness therefore they are always cheeriuliy dis
posed to die Oewai!Ing those that are alive Ind
celebrating the funerals Of the dead with joyful
so.emai,ies and triumph.