Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-02-27
TERRA DEL FuEoo.
Conflicting Reports Concerning This Com
parstively Unknown Country.

Conflicting REPORTS Concerning This Com
parstively Unknown Country.
The group Of islands which form the archi
pelago Of TERRA del Fucgo have an area OF
about 1900 square miles, nearly the same
size as England and Scotland Darwin dc
scrbes the country as "a mountainous
land, partly submerged in the sea, so deep
that inlois 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 op-
portunities Of investigation, thinks this de-
scription q mistaken one. As reported in
Chamber Journal. he describes Argentine
! Terra del Fuego az 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 nayigable; 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 this
part something like Switzerland, with small
lakes, elevated mountains and valuable
timber forests He seems 10 think tho
country capable OF great development, for
he adds: "On the plains there will yet be
planted a great pastoral industry, while I
believe the mountains will be found to con.
tain valuable mineral deposits
Travellers reports as TO the inhabitants of
TERRA del Fuego have been conflicting |
Some visitors have reported the natives 10 |
be stalwart, fne-looking men, and others |
have described them as small and abject be- |
inRs. Darwin, whose scientific inyestiga- 1
confined fn a.. D, q 81
Try, says that 'onc can hardly believe
them 10 be fellow creatures and inhabitants
)f the same worldn
On the other hand, other explorers in the
North and Northwest describe the Fuegians
" powerful men Of large stature and warlke
Instincts. This apparent discrepancy seems
o be due to the fact that the land is iuhab-
ted by two very distinct races OF Indians
dr. BrydRes, whose long residence in the
ountry enables him TO speak with author
~ on this point, assures US that there are
wo separate and distinct tribes dwelling in
Terra del Fuego. He calls them, as they
all themselves, Onas and Yahgans: the
ormer living in the North and the latter in
he South. The Onas seem TO Be almost
IDENTICAL in character manner and language
With the Tuehelche Indians OF Patagonia
ike them, they use bows and arrows
n the chase and are muscular, active and
veil formed. Their number is now much
educed, an epidemic Of measles having
zen very fatal among them few years
20, and the whole tribe probably does not
ow number more than five hundred per-
ons. They are nomadic and live principally
q portable tents, covered with guanacO
kins. Mr. Pepper did not form {. high
pinion OF their intellectual faculties, judg.
from the DrimitIyn af Ia, iy,, |
lements He describes their tools as con
lsting for the most part Of pieces Of iron
AIKEN from some vessel cast on shore, and
led TO pieces Of wood by leather thongs.
hey have no canoes and do not fish, though
hey pick up on the shore such fish as are
1T behind after heavy tides Their only /,
'ater vessels are large shells, but they dis d
lay some ingenuity in making arrows and
askets