Fuegian Snuff-takers.
An old man sat down on a stone and sang to us a low, sweet recitation, or chant, in wild key, or mode, ending on a rising melody with each stanza.
They followed us to the ship, and we gave them some calico and beads, and tobacco, and also bought bows and arrows, and a sea-urchin, paying them in tobacco. They clung to the ship as we got under way, men and women, crying, 'Tobacco!' and frantic to catch any fragment of the precious weed thrown to them. But at length they let go, and we left the bay with the cry of tobacco ringing in our ears."
Having spoken of most of the modes of using snuff in both the Old and New World, we come now to a description of using snuff at the South, known as "dipping," and by some as "rubbing," both terms used to denote the same manner of use. The description of it as given by A. L. Adams is as follows:—
"In the South, and more especially in Virginia, where tobacco has been cultivated for more than two hundred and fifty years, and where a few pounds of it was the legitimate price for a wife, it is not surprising that it should be more highly prized and come into more general use than in any other section of our country. On the banks of the James River it was first successfully cultivated by the English colony, and this simple fact alone must forever throw a charm around it, which will foster the pride of the Virginian who has any respect for his ancestry, and hold him under sacred obligations to use, cherish, and defend the plant and its use—all of which he regards as no less a pleasure than a duty. Here too its many virtues were first discovered, and its soothing effects first felt and appreciated.
"To the old Virginian it is indeed a cherished weed, charming all manner of diseases, comforting in sorrow, soothing the ills of life, and preserving to a good old age and in a happy frame of mind all who use it. He believes in its superior virtues, and ascribes to it more good qualities than to any other known plant. He always carries it about with him, and if perchance he gets out he is truly miserable. He not only loves but worships it as a cure all. His wife and daughters know its virtues full well, and use it with equal grace and relish, believing it gives a lustre to the eye and a freshness to the cheek rarely surpassed. Among the variety of ways in which it is used none attracted my attention so much as the novel manner of snuff-taking in various parts of Virginia, West Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia.
"In some localities the practice is unknown, while in many others it is very common. I first discovered young ladies putting snuff into their mouths as if eating it, when my curiosity was excited to an alarming extent, but on being invited to 'dip' with them I soon learned that they were not eating, but 'rubbing and chewing' it, as they called it, and in such a lively manner as to soon convince me that they appreciated it. I found the habit to be quite common even among the young of both sexes—all indulging in it as if it afforded real satisfaction to the appetite for tobacco in some form.
"The young ladies however seemed the more attached to the 'rubbing process,' as it has been appropriately styled, and defended it with equal logic and grace whenever it was assailed. The young gentlemen when in the society of the young ladies generally join them in this unique use of snuff, as they are always sure to be invited and urged if they decline, and to merit their favor of course they must appear social. I believe, in credit to their taste, however, that they really prefer a good cigar, and think it more in keeping with their ideas of manhood and neatness. I have seen young girls of ten 'rubbing and chewing,' as if they appreciated it as much as mother Eve did the apple in the garden of paradise.