I have never seen their appliances for striking a light, but I have no doubt they use iron pyrites, with dried moss or down for tinder, as do the southern Fuegians, from whom I have obtained these appliances. These materials for obtaining fire are very judiciously guarded, and are the only articles among the properties of a canoe which are not submitted for barter. The "Pecheray" Fuegians keep their stock of tinder in water-tight pouches, made of the dried intestine of the seal.(?)
Neither stone slings, bows and arrows, nor bolas, are used by the Channel Fuegians, so that altogether, with respect to hunting appliances, they are in a more primitive state than any of the southern tribes.
The remains of the deceased, so far as we have known, are deposited in caves in out-of-the-way localities. During the voyage of Sarmiento, towards the latter end of the 16th century, a cave containing human remains was found in a small island called the "Roca Partida," or cleft rock; and subsequently, when the shipwrecked crew of the Wager, one of Commodore Anson's ships, were wandering about the Gulf of Peñas, Mr. Wilson, the surgeon, discovered near the seashore a large cave which contained the skeletons of several human beings (vide Byron's narrative of the loss of the Wager; Burney's Voyages). During the surveying cruise of H.M.S. Nassau, in 1866-9, a diligent search was made for such burial places, but without success; but, on the other hand, no signs were observed of any other method of disposing of the dead, either by fire, as in the case of some of the southern tribes, or by covering the bodies with branches of trees, as described by Fitzroy. However, during our late survey of the Trinidad Channel, we found a small cave containing portions of two skeletons in a limestone islet, near Port Rosario, on the north side of Madre de Dios Island; and this would seem to have been used as a burial-place, at some very remote period. The remains have been deposited in the British Museum.
It has been stated by the late Admiral Fitzroy, on the authority of Mr. Low, a sealing captain, that during times of great scarcity of food, these savages do not scruple to resort to cannibalism, and that for this purpose they select as victims the old women of the party, killing them by squeezing their throats, while holding their heads over the smoke of a green wood fire. Mr. Low's evidence on this point is so circumstantial, being derived from a native interpreter who served on board his ship for fourteen months, that it can hardly be doubted. On this subject I can only add that we noticed a singularly small proportion of old people, whether male or female, among the parties of natives with whom we met. This circumstance may support Mr. Low's opinion, or it may be the natural consequence of the short span of life which is allotted to these wretched people.
Regarding the treachery of these savages, there can be no doubt. Their faces alone indicate it, but unfortunately further evidence is not wanting. We recently met with a small sealing schooner, the Annita, of Sandy Point, the master of which—a Frenchman, named Lamire—gave us a detailed account of an attack made upon his vessel about two years ago, when he was "sealing" at the north end of Picton Channel. He lay at anchor one night in fancied security, when he was surprised by a large party of natives who came alongside in seven canoes. A dreadful struggle ensued, in which his crew defended themselves with their guns against the axes, spears, sticks, and stones, of their savage assailants. The natives were eventually driven off, but not before five of the sealers had lost their lives. The sealers are now well aware of the anxiety of the natives to gain possession of their vessels, and consequently put no trust in their overtures of friendship. A white man is feared only so long as his party is known to be the strongest.
Fitzroy has described six tribes of Fuegians who speak different dialects, and also differ somewhat in their habits. These are (1) the Yacanas, or inhabitants of the north portion of King Charles's South Land; (2) the Tekeenicas, who live in south-eastern Fuegia; (3) the Alikhoolips, who inhabit the South-Western Islands; (4) the Pecherays, a small tribe of savages who hover about the middle and western part of the Straits of Magellan; (5) the Huemuls, so called from the Chilian name of a deer which has been found about Skyring Water and Obstruction Sound, the head-quarters of this tribe; and (6) the Fuegians who inhabit the shores and islands of western Patagonia, between the parallels of 47° and 52°, and whom Fitzroy denominates the Chonos or Channel Fuegians. In Fitzroy's account of the Fuegians, he naturally selected as his type the people with whom he was best acquainted, viz., the Tekeenicas, who inhabit the shores of the Beagle Channel. These people build conical wigwams, which are made of large poles leaning to from a circular base, with their upper ends meeting in a point. Their canoes are built of bark, and are small and skiff-shaped. They also use bows and arrows, and stone slings, and in this respect are considerably in advance of the Channel Fuegians.
In their methods of disposing of the dead, the Fuegian tribes differ somewhat strangely. Fitzroy tells us that among the Tekeenicas, Alikhoolips, and Pecherays, the bodies of the dead are carried a long way into the interior of the forest, where they are placed upon broken timber, and then covered up with branches. On this subject some information has recently been obtained from the missionaries, who have now for some years maintained a settlement at a place called Ushuwia, in the Beagle Channel. We heard, on the authority of these gentlemen, that a form of cremation is now commonly practised among the Tekeenicas, and that charred human bones may often be found among the embers of the funeral pyre. The Fuegians of the Western Channels, as I have mentioned already, deposit their dead in caves.
To continue with Tom Bay. The month of January is here the breeding season with most of the water birds. About the middle of the month the steamer-ducks (Tachyeres cinereus) and the kelp geese (Bernicla antarctica) were paddling about with their young ones; and the oyster-catchers (Hæmatopus leucopus, and ater), with their young broods, occupied the small low rocky islets, where they made themselves conspicuous by their shrill piping cry. We remarked that the kelp geese, which, as a rule, never wet their feet, except with the damp seaweed of the foreshore, take to the water as soon as the young are hatched, being probably induced to do so in order the better to protect their goslings from the hawks and rats. The male and female adult birds differ remarkably in plumage; that of the female being almost black, with a few white dots and dashes, whereas the feathers of the male are perfectly white. The sombre colour of the female is probably intended as a protection during the hatching time, when she remains almost continuously on the eggs, while the gander does sentry in some conspicuous position adjacent. Whenever at this time of the year a solitary gander is seen standing on a projecting point or headland, it may safely be inferred that his faithful consort is on her nest somewhere within sixty yards. Even under these circumstances it is by no means an easy matter to find the nest; for the black plumage of the female assimilates with the dark wind-blown seaweed and rank grass in which her nest is made, and she lies so close that she will not stir until almost walked on. While the birds are immature (i.e., less than one year old) the sexes are scarcely distinguishable, the plumage of both male and female being an almost equal mixture of white and black colours.
The ashy-headed Brent goose (Chloephaga poliocephala), remarkable for the splendid chestnut colour of its breast, is the only other goose met with in these western channels. The common Magellan and Falkland Islands goose (C. magellanica) does not, as a rule, extend its range to the damp western regions.