Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1856-12-26

/ SOAoASsAA6 Va q S0otohtAB hSLu
with the hair outwards and tied around
their person by means of sinews, is of the
very scantiest description; their food is
revolving. They live chiefly upon mus.
cles and limpets, and, whenever they can
procure them, eagerly deyour seals, sea
offers, porpoises and whales flesh, pre-.
pairing none by FIRE, but eating as they get
it from the prey. In their yoracity they
bear greater resemblance to some, wild
animals than to human beings. Their
arms seem to consist solely Of bows and
arrows and spears, pointed sometimes
with glass and sometimes with bone Of
these they willingly dispose in exchange
for their favorite weed. The most no.
ticeable things about them are their bas.
kets and their canoes, both of which man
ifest some labor and ingenuity in construc-
ton. The former are formed of bark or
plated grass the latter are of bark, and
put together without particle of metal
The sides and bottoms are sewed together
by means of sinews; small bars of wood
are placed athwartships to preserve the
shape, and the seams are caulked with
some gummy preparation. They are
small and light, SO as to be easily padded
| about by two women. But their skill in
making canoes may be compared to the
instinct of animals, for it is not improved
by experience. We know from Drake
that this, their most ingenious work, has
remained the same for the last two hun
dred and fifty years.
The faces of the men seem generally
to be devoid of any intellectual ex~
preston, and. as they belong to the " nil
adneirari" school, they expressed aston>
ishment at nothing. The women are
better looking, and did not hesitate to ex-
hibit their surprise or amusement. l shall
never forget the wonder Of one of them at
first seeing looking-glass. She first
looked at herself, then laughed and sought
behind for the reflection (; then looked
again. aud laying it down on the deck,
endeavored to seize the image. The hair
of both sexes is worn long, and is almost
as course as the name of horse the
men have no boards. Captain Cook has
compared their language to the sound
made by man clearing his throat; but.
says Mr.. Darwin, "certainly no European
ever cleared his throat with so many
hoarse, gutteral, and clicking sounds"
| Ono word is made to assume great ma
ny signitioations the same one, for in
stance, meaning the Deity, me sun. a
ship, child, dog, and an amulet, or
charm, generally consisting of bit Of
glass suspended from the neck. Not
withstanding this singular paucity Of
sounds in their language, they very rea.
dily catch the pronunciation of words,
and repeat with perfect correctness any
sentence uttered in their hearing, al>
though they cannot attach any meaning
to the words.
| OF their domestic arrangements We could
learn but very little. Previously we had
found along the shores their wigwams.
or rather harbors, consisting of broken
branches of trees stuck in the ground and
covered with leaves and grass. In these
miserable huts, around small FIRE built
in the middle. they sleep, coiled upon the
j wet ground like animals. All their pro-
perty they seem to carry about with them
in their canoes. Every man has at least
t,Uo wives, some Of them more probably
each as many as he requires to take care
of him, to paddle his canoe and collect
his food, for the whole labor deVolves up
on the female portion Of the community.
We were informed that these savages are
never cannibals unless when driven to Il
by absolute starvation, and then they only
eat their old soon1en. Upon having been
asked on one occasion why they did not
kill and eat their dogs, Of which animals
they have great numbers. in preference
to their own people, one of them is said
to have giYeu the answer that dogs were
aseful in catching seals, but that old wo-
men were good for nothing.
Our visitors remained with US for a long
time. begging for everything they saw
The sailors around them. with Jack s
usual liberality, gave them tobacco and old
Lelothes. Of the fortner they are extrays-
gantly fond. Indeed, in their anxiety to
make the most of the fragrant weed, they
do not emit the smoke at all. retaining it
inFheir mouths and endeavoring to swal-
low. tho whole, so as apparently to reduce
themselves to the very verge ofsufocation
When presented with the clothes neither
men nor women hesitated long TO divest
themselves entirely of their already scan
" covering to assume the dress given
them. They were elatcd with any acqui-
sition of the kind. and no dandy, howev>
er faultlessly arrayed, ever seemed more
perfectly satisfied with his appearance
than did these women when dressed up
in cast off flannel coats and trousers
The next day they would reappear in
their seal>skins, and their new habila-
ments vanished we never knew whittier.
Among our servants we're several mu-
latto boys who seemed to attract more OF
the attention of the Terra del Fuegans
than anything else. Apparently they
could nopunderstand why their hair should
curl SO til Chilly while their own was long
and straig gbt. They laughed heartily at