Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-10-17
TERRA DEL FuEoo.
Conflicting Reports Concerning This Conn
parativeiy Unknown Country.

COnnhcttnE Reports CONCERNING This Com
parativeiy Unknown Country.
The group of islands which form the archi-
pelago OF TERRA del Fuego have an area Of
about $1,000 square miles, nearly the same
size as England and Scotland. Darwin de-
scribes tho country as "a mountainous
land, partly submerged in the sea, so deep
that inlets and bays occupy the place where
the valleys should exist To find an acre
OF level land in any part of the country is
most rare" Don Ramon Lista, however,
who has had greater and'more recent OPP
portunities OF investigation, thinks this de-
scription a mistaken one. As reported in
Chambers Jocrndl, he describes Argentine
TERRA del Fucgo as presenting two aspects.
In the north there are valleys more or less
extensive, covered with splendid groves,
and irrigated by large rivers, some of which
are navigable; this region enjoying an
agreeable temperature, with very little
snow during the winter. South of this he
reports that the appearance Of the country
changes and extended forests appear, where
the grass is not as abundant or the rivers
so large. The face OF the land is in tbs
part something ike Switzerland, with small
lakes, elevated mountains and valuable
timber forests He seems To think the
country capable of great development, for
he adds: ION the plains there will We, be
planted great pastoral industry, while
believe the mountains win be found 10 con-
tain valuable mineral deposits
Travellers reports as TO tie inhabitants Of
TERRA del Fuego have been. conflicting.
Some visitors have reported the natives to
be stalwart. fineloolzing men, and others
have described them as small and abiect be-
ings. Darwin, whose scientific investiga-
tons were confined 10 the south Of the coun-
try, says that zone can hardly believe
them 10 be fellow creatures and inhabitants
Of the same world"
On the other hand, other explorers in the
North and Northwest describe the Fuegians
as powerful men Of large stature and warlike
instincts. THIS apparent discrepancy seems
20 be due 10 the fact that the land is inhab-
tied by two very distinct races OF Indians
Mr. Bridges whose long residence in the
country enables him TO speak with author
iiy on this point, assures US that there are
two separate and distinct tribes dwelling in
TERRA del FuegO. He calls them, as they
call themselves, Onas and Yahgans; the
former living i'm the North and the latter in
the South. The Onas seem to be almost
identical in character, manner and language
with the Tuehclche Indians Of Patagonia.
Like them, they use bows and arrows
IN the chase aud are muscular active and
well formed. Their number is now much
reduced, an epidemic of measles having
been very fatal among them few years
ago, and the whole tribe probably does not
now number more than five hundred per-
sons. They are nomadic and live principally
In portable tents, covered with geanaeo
skins. Mr.. Pepper did not form high
opinion of their intellectual faculties, judg-
ing from the primitive nature of their i'm
plements. He describes their tools as SON
slsting for the most part of pieces Of iron
taken from some vessel sast on shore, and
tied TO pieces Of wood by leather thongs.
They have no canoes and do not fish, though
they pick up on the shore such fish as are
left behind after heavy tides. Their only
water vessels are large shells, but they dis
play some ingenuity in making arrows and
baslxpts