Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-12-07

The wild scenery is something wonderful,
and when the sun shines on the snow-covered
mountains II is indeed a pretty sight. In
some of the ravines you see large drifts Of
snow that have been carried there by the wind.
and into which 1 should imagine il would not
be at all pleasant to fall. The air here, of
course, is very cold, but it is a dry healthy
breeze and very bracing. At one O'Clock,
midday, we reached our anchoring place for
the night, as we could not make the next har-
Dor by daylight and in the darkness it would
be impossible to enter. About two o'clock we
received visit from some of the Patagoniau
Indians. They came of from the shore in
queer-looking canoes made out of three pieces
Of board-one at the bottom and one on each
side. These we're sewn together with fbres,
and admitted considerable water. With the
exception Of some skins they had tied loosely
around their bodies they were devoid of cloth
ing and before they had been alongside many
minutes they had not even the skins to cover
themselves with, having sold them all for bis
cults, tobacco and boxes of matches. After
remaining on board about an hour, they re-
turned to the shore, all but one being entirely
naked. The one who did not return to the
shore in a nude state owed it to the fact that
the second steward had found on board en- old
bottle green dress that had been left by some
female passenger on the way out from Europe.
In this the Indian was duly attired, it being
tied around him by the sailors with settings.
Later on we had visit from some more of
them, this time accompanied by a female.
The skins brought of were those of the otter.
One Indian had over his shoulder what had at
one time been valuable sealskin, but then
too old and dirty for use.
1t is strange how these creatures manage to
exist in this severely inclement climate, where
it freezes nearly all the year round. They use
no more clothing than that afforded them by
nature, and their huts are nothing but a few
sticks tied together, with a few skins and
some leaves thrown over the top of them, and
their canoes are always half full of water.
The weapons used are bows arrows and spears
They eat the flesh Of the animals they kill in
the chase, and sometimes catch fish, but their
principal article Of food is mussels, of which
there are millions about there. They have
nothing in the shape OF corn, wheat, or ce-
reals of any kind, as none grow nearer than
1900 miles away. The climate is too cold for
any but hardy shrubs. They will not touch
liquor of any kind. They are in appearance
something like the Indians one meets in the
altos in Guatemala, but are a smaller and
shorter race and very much more degenerated.
should imagine them TO be the very lowest
specimen of humanity existing, and only one
link short in the chain connecting them with
the monkey tribe. One of them, apparently
better humored fellow than his mpanions,
sat upon the rail and sang song. They sit,
or rather squat, as a monkey does, and this
fellow at short intervals would yell out, "Ams,
anna, anna, crying out quickly and much at-
| ter the monkey style. As night drew on they
all returned to the shore, and we saw them no
more.-C0r San Francisco Chronicle.