The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-11-13

or South American ostrich, and from oii0
skins of these and other animals they
make clothes and coverings for 1helr
tents. They make beautiful 'capos, OF
NANTES, of fur and feathers, which are
highly priced by Europeans, and ma i"
ready market, most of the proceeds being
spent for bad whiskey, which is brougnU
into the country in quantities by traders
Before saying anything more about TINS
race of "giants," it may be as VOL u
refer to some other tribes about Cape
Horn which attracted the attention Oh
Prof. Hatcher. For example may 10
mentioned the Yahgans, who live nearer
to the south pole than any other Kno" L
| people. They occupy certain small is-
lands lying south of Terra del fuego'
and are found also on the south beach Oh
! tnat great island itself. The territory
| they occupy is maze of mountain peaks
and the conditions under which they
exist are almost beyond realization py
any civilized person. Darwin, the natur-
allst, wrote of them: ''These were the
most abJect and miserable creatures
| eN-J "i'S1O pOAOlO. 4u0 lQ6n GOhOAts>eJ
have an otter-skin or some small scrap,
about as large as q pocket handkerchief
which is barely sufficient to cover their
backs. 1t is laced across the breast by
strings,2 and, according as the wind
blows, it is shifted from side to side. In
another harbor not far distant, woman
who was sucking a recently born child
| came one day alongside the vessel and
remained there out of mere curiosity,
while the sleet fell and thawed on her
naked bosom and on the skin Of her
naked baby
The Yahgans build huts of poles, with
a thatch of brush and grass, about the
shape and size of haycock Just inside
the door fire is made. and the family
squats upon the grass and moss that
cover the earth floor. To some extent
and by no means altogether to their adj
vantage-the ways of these people have
been modified by missionary and white
influences, but some of their primitive
| implements exotic the admiration of eau
| casian observers. Their aboriginal axes,
with clam shells for blades, used to serve
for telling trees, for fashioning harpoons
| and paddles for stripping blubber from
stranded whales, and even for trimming
their own hair. Hardly less remarkable
were the wooden Oh isels, with which the
squaws stripped limpets from the rocks
six feet under water. For gathering shell
fish the squaws employed baskets OF
II, 1;a11
shape as the earthen cooking Jars found
in the old ruins and cave dwellings OF
New Mexico and Arizona.
The typical weapon Of the Yahgans is
the rawhide sling, with which they are
able to kill waterfowl afloat at 200 yards.
To hit any bird at that distance would be
called right good shooting. They can
knock down and stun guanaco with o
heavy round pebble up to 100 yards. The
reason for the sling as q tool of destruc-
tion is found in the fact that the Yahgans
live on the beaches. where plenty OF
round pebbles are always at hand. These
islanders try out oil from whale ,blubbeI
and store it for future use in the bladder
like leaves of kind of seaweed found
every where in that region.
Quite distinct and peculiar is the Ona
tribe, which inhabits the prairie region
of Terra del Fuego. This great island
has the shape of a triangle, and is almost
as large as the State of New York. Once
upon time it must have had a tropical
climate, inasmuch as the bones of mon.
keys and parrots .are found fossil there
| in great numbers. There is much excel
lent grazing land, and sheep-raising is g
growing industry, the Onas being killed
| off as fast as possible incidentally to the
process of fencing the land Their child
rem and women are captured. when posi-
BILE, and practically enslaved, being en-
ployed as servants at the stations main
tanned by the Argentine Government OF
the island, or else carried to Bueno'
Ayres. The Onas inhabit the part o.
Terra del Fuego which Magellan frs
saw, and their habit of signaling to one
another by means of fires caused the fam
GUS navigator to call the country Lane
of ire"
| The Onas have Fno horses. They cal
those they capture from the sheep men
considering horse meat the greatest O.
delicaoies They depend tor food chiefly
upon the guanaco, which abounds II
Terra del Fuego, and a kind Of prairie
squirrel. In the chase they rely mainly
upon bows and arrows and the bolas
The latter consisting of two or three stone
balls on the ends of hide thongs. Or
being thrown, the balls diverge in obedi
ence to centrifugal force and fly round
and round in the air, until the object. IL
struck, when the thongs wind themselves
about it. These savages can throw thu
bolas SO dexterously as to fasten man tt
his horse. The Onas, however, often xii
the guanaco by surrounding bunch ant
running them down-so wonderfully flee
of foot are they.
When Magellan made his winter quar-
tiers at San Julian, in 1920, on his voyag
around the world, he observed in tn
neighborhood many human footprints o
4 astonishing size. Hence he called tn
country Patagonia, from ''patagon"-'