The Savannah morning news., 1904-06-25

between the Magellan straits and the
Horn, it's entrance blocked at either
hand by dangerous reefs and racing
tide rips. These tribesmen are true
canoe dwellers, since they must search
forever the shores of otherwise barren
islands for food. in the shape of mus
sells, fish, sea fowl, or, perhaps, by
great good chance, a stranded seal
or whale Till the South American
mission established itself among them
they braved the rigorS of the climate
naked, save for a small. fiat otter skin
slung from. the neck to the side where
the wind happened to blow. The wom-
en-, usually two, padded the canoe
from the stern. The man crouched in
the bow. alert, harpoon in hand. In
the center of the canoe were piled
slab of shingled turf, on which
smoldered the firebrands carried to
each fresh hating place. For in the
Land of the Horn fire rs a first neces-
sity of human life, and from hundreds
of tiny smoke drifts which lined the
channels in the days when first Ma
gellan and Drake passed on their way
TERRA del Fuego. or Land of
Fire.
A People with no God.
In their unceasing struggle with the
elements for bare existence the Yag-
hans have been forced to abandon all
but the slightest mental equipment
They have evolved no faith, no god;
they have no head man to organize
them into common defense or attack.
They are still stationary at that mi
crocosm of great empires-the family
They are chat terbox tribe, and their
language is a very complex one, with
a regular grammar and upward or
10000 classified words. To each tiny
bay each unnoticed headland, they
give a full descriptive name, which are
the surnarnes of persons born in such
ports. Shortly after birth the child is
Dipped in the icy sea to render 1t
more hardy Their dead are buried
without ceremony under rocks or in
great hidden heaps of musse1 shells
which Accumulate by an oft-frequented
camp. Their name for death. signlnes
simply "gone away" yet they have the
instructive dread of the wild animal
for all dead things, and when one
member of the family dies all those
who, having been born in the same
spot, bear the same name, change IL
for some other. The departed are there
after never mentioned. save in some
roundabout fashion, for the Yaghans
are apt at nicknames. This tribe mas
been decirninated by white mems dis
eases, which are fostereS by their pas
sion for liuuor--a weakness taken full
advantage of by INSCRIPTIONS traders.
or the quality of drink supplied 1t is
sufficient to say that it can be bought
for about sixpence quart Dottle at
Ushuaia, the present seat of Argen-
tine government In the Beagle CHAM
mel.
onas n Better Race.
The second tribe. the Onas. are foot
Indians, living in the mountainous IN
terror of the great island OF wnicn the
beagle channel marks the southern
boundary. Although they are thus in
a sense islanders they have no canoes,
and cannot even swim, being depend
ent on the guanaco which frequent
the upper pastures, for food and gem
eral equipment, from their rawhlde
water bags to the strung sinews eof
their bows An all-enveloDing fur
robe is their only covering, and this,
when there is need for freer move
ment. the braves at once discard,
standing clothed. like our own ances-
tors. in the primal simplicity of bow
and arrows and paint They use such |
pigments to aid their stalking, SCI
ence in which they are past masters.
To hunt the guanaco they first color
themselves according to the ground
over WHICH IHeS liluob So
white when on snowfields, yellow
among dry panpa grass, slate color
with red spots when among lichen-
covered rocks. Their amusement con-
sists in wrestling and in long races,
perhaps TO hilltop ten miles distant.
This last is a severe test of endur-
ance. for In the valleys the Fuegan
forest is carpeted with rotten tree
trunks and spongy moss, while. as the
wood approaches the snow line it is
dwarfed and twisted into the intricacy
of a box hedge. and farther progress
is only possible by scrambling over the
tops OF the trees. The men also prac-
tice with the bow. at times acting
themselves as moving targets for each |
other The general physique OF the |
Onas, and especially their keenness OF |
sight and hearing. are developed 20 an |
extraordinary degree; for 70 the ona |
his body is religion. and any bodily |
defect = disgrace. Their system OF |
courmhip is Spartan. The man hands |
his chosen bride his hunting bow. Its |
return by her own hand signifies ac- |
ceptance without more to-do. and the |
girl s used 20 accept promptly, other !
wise she may receive in her calf or