The Republican journal., 1904-05-05

the children, the tribes of King Charles
South Land, if not the whole archipela-
60. may be Christianized in time. This
main island is inhabited chiefly by the
Onas, who are not canoe Indians and
who. though by no means timid in the
ordinary sense of the word, are very
shy of showing themselves to strangers
who land in their domain, unless for
mischievous purposes. Those outside
the Mission still live in a barborous
condition, having no chiefs nor other
form of government, and are always
actively hostile to the neighboring
tribes, no two of which speak the same
dialect. The most warlike and danger
Gus Indians are those of the extreme
southern island, known as Yaghans;
while from Cape Forward northward,
and up all the western channels to the
Gulf of Fenas, the natives appear to be
of the same family on both sides of the
Straits of Magellan, or at least to
maintain friendly relations with one
another. These last mentioned are the
celebrated "Canoe Indians '-about the
lowest type of savages on the face of
the earth, lower even than the dirt-eat-
ing "Diggers'' of the California penin-
sula. Though there are thousands of
them, and they spend all their hours of
daylight on the water-each rude canoe
containing whole family, one or
two men with their mother and several
wives and as many children as can be
only when darkness falls, where they
build fire upon the rock and cuddle
around it to keep from freezing, it is
surprising how few of them are ever
seen by the numerous vessels that pass
through the Straits. Still more aston
ishing it is to note how rapidly they
will collect from all quarters-perhaps
a hundred or more boatloads of them in
a few minutes time all ready for rob-
berry or murder whenever a strange
vessel comes along, particularly if it be
a small Que, or in any way disabled.
How the rendezvous becomes known to
so many Indians at once, when not
wretched canoe is in sight, remains a
mystery; but many ship-wrecked mari
ners have reported the same thing
that signal fires suddenly blaze up all
along the coasts for miles, and from be-
hind every sheltering rock and out of
every tiny creek canoes come shooting
swiftly toward the rallying point
Though the Fuegoan is essentially
waterman, his canoe is the rudest
affair that can be made to float. In
stead of being followed out in good
shape from the trunk of tree, or made
of bark like those of other Indians,
these are rough planks, obtained
Heaven knows how, tied together with
fiber thongs, without the slightest re
gard for form, a long end sticking up
in front like an exaggerated prov. In
their motion there is none of the grace
full gliding of the North American or
New Zealand canoes for instead of
being propelled by paddles, these miser-
able craft are rowed with oars made by
tying a piece of thick bark to the end
of pole. On the bottom of each boat,
near the middle, some dirt is piled,
and on it a small fire of sticks is kept
burning, for the partial comfort of the
native occupants. On all sides of this
fire they huddle-Six, eight, or more in
one boat, always laughing, chattering,
and apparently in the best of spirits, in
spite of the weather and the constant
necessity of taking turns in bailing out
the water that flows in between the i'm
perfectly joined planks. Uglier-look-
ing mortals never breathed. They are
the color of rusty iron, with fiat noses,
high cheek-bones, enormous chins aud
jaws, crocodile mouths filled with long,
yellow teeth, low foreheads, extremely
wide, fiat faces, over which coarse hair
falls in matted Jumps; in figure squatty
and round shouldered, having the pc
culiarly bloated, pot-bellied appearance
of charity orphans who have been
''raised" on cabbage soup. Though big
headed and round bodied, their legs are
abnormally short, slender and crooked
"a physical deformity probably due to
spending most of their lives squatting
in canoes. The women are more repul-
sive, if possible, than the men, and
seem to care even less about covering
their dirty bodies with any sort of raj
ment, and their uncommonly numerous
spawn look like young balloons, only
the latter are infinitely handsomer.
Their intelligence seems to be confined
to a knowledge of boating and fishing,
in both of which they are very skillful.
Their fishing lines are made of grass,
their hooks of fish bones, their fishing
spears have forked end made from
the bone of a sea-lion; and the women's
implement is long bone, notched saw
tooth fashion, on one edge, for knock
ing limpets off the rocks. Their wea-
pons are bows and lances, the former
having strings made from the entrails
of animals, and arrows tipped with