I also obtained by barter two very dirty bits of iron pyrites which they used for igniting the tinder, and on striking them together they certainly emitted showers of sparks. The box also contained glass arrow-heads, glass spear-heads, bone harpoon-heads, a noose made of a strip of baleen and apparently intended for trapping otters, and a very strong net made out of seal-hide, which the old man gave us to understand was used for catching seals. The net was nearly square, measuring about six feet both ways, and the meshes were about eight inches across. This last was evidently considered a great work of art, for as the old man displayed it his eyes glittered with pride, and he assumed an air of importance, as if to imply—"See that and die!"
Subsequently two more canoes turned up, bringing a large party of natives, and as I was curious to ascertain the method by which they fashioned their glass implements, I visited the encampment one day, bringing with me an empty pickle bottle, and intimated by signs that I wished to have it broken up and to see a spear-head or arrow-head made. They understood readily enough what was required, and one of the men, coming forward, took hold of the bottle, smashed it against the stones, and selecting a suitable fragment, set to work at it. He held the piece of glass firmly in his left hand, protecting the fingers with a bit of cloth, while, with his right, he grasped a chipping tool, which consisted of a large blunt-pointed iron nail fixed in a stout wooden handle, serving the double purpose of a chipping tool and a means of caulking the seams of the canoe. Holding it with the iron point directed towards his waist, he made steady pressure against the fractured edge of the glass, so as to make small chips flake off from the edge towards the smooth side surface. In effecting this he was able to use great force, because, while the left hand, which held the glass, was supported rigidly against his chest, the manner in which he held the fashioning tool enabled him to bring the whole strength of his wrist to bear upon the edge of the glass. After having bevelled off one side of the edge, he turned the glass round and bevelled the other side in a similar manner. Having once imparted a double bevel to the edge, he was easily able, by operating on each side alternately, to reduce the substance of the margin in any one place until the glass had assumed the outline required. Proceeding in this way, the formation of the barbs and the recessing of the base for the ligature which would secure it to the shaft, were effected to all appearance with the greatest facility. The most difficult part of the business was now the formation of the fine point, as the chipping and flaking had to be conducted with the greatest nicety. However, after half-an-hour's steady work, he triumphantly produced a spear-head two and a half inches long, and of the form shown in the annexed sketch. The arrow-heads are made in the same way, and are about one inch in length.
We had the chipping operation repeated on many subsequent occasions, and by various individuals, and found that all adopted the same method; the essential feature of which was that the fashioning of the glass was effected entirely by pressure, and that no striking implement was used. I induced one of the men to try an old flat file, instead of his own chipping instrument, but he soon discarded it; however he found a blunt-edged ship's knife very convenient for giving the finishing touches to the point of the spear-head. With the experience gained from the Fuegians, I soon learnt to turn out very fair imitations of their work; and after practising on various kinds of glass, I found that the easiest to work with was black bottle-glass, and the most difficult plate-glass. Green pickle bottle-glass is about a mean between the two, and as it is tolerably thick the natives prefer it for their spear-heads; but for the arrow-heads they use the black glass. Crown-glass was easy to work, but flaked off in rather short pieces. I also experimented with some black flint, which happened to be on board, and found it could be worked in precisely the same way as the glass, but was certainly more difficult to fashion into shape. Then I tried different kinds of working tools, and soon found, to my surprise, that hard steel was the worst of all, for it scratched and slipped off the edge of the glass without chipping it at all; whereas soft iron, which was much preferable, could be manipulated so that it would bite only the extreme edge of the glass, and by this means very thin and broad flakes could be detached. Even an old bone harpoon-head answered very well indeed, but of course was worn away more rapidly than the soft iron.
FUEGIAN HUT AT TILLY BAY.
One day, when the old man of the first canoe party was on board, and in an amiable mood, I succeeded in getting some Fuegian words from him, a matter often previously attempted in vain. As a rule, they merely repeat—and that most accurately—the gestures or ejaculations which one makes in drawing their attention to any particular object. I brought this old fellow into my workshop, and pointed out to him several objects which I had collected in the straits, and which were sure to be familiar to him. After some time he got fairly hold of the idea, and then became very communicative, eventually giving me the names for all the familiar objects which I could at the time command. I subsequently checked the vocabulary thus obtained, by reversing the process and repeating the words to him, and making him indicate their meaning, and in this way I made certain that my list, small though it was, had at all events the merit of being accurate. In fact, I tested some of the words afterwards on another party of natives, whom we met at Port Gallant, and found that they went off all right.
VOCABULARY OF FUEGIAN WORDS.
Obtained from natives at Tilly Bay, Straits of Magellan.
| Basket (netted) | = | cheebass. | Mussel | = | chaloux. |
| "(plaited) | " | dawyer. | Necklace | " | heskouna. |
| Beard | " | port. | Nose | " | los. |
| Bottle | " | kushki. | Nutria-skull | " | theerkusthads. |
| Breast | " | poan. | Otter-skin | " | lalthers. |
| Calf | " | kutchoice. | Paddle | " | chetarias. |
| Canoe | " | ayoux. | Paroquet | " | parabas. |
| Crab | " | karabous-kalpers. | Sea-egg | " | kawotchi. |
| Deer | " | halchun. | Seal-skull | " | arougsis. |
| Dog | " | sharkiss. | Ship's boat | " | sherroux. |
| Ear | " | hawish. | Skin of seal | " | harkusis-hushkei. |
| Eye | " | sthole. | Spear (for fish) | " | kip-thatharsh. |
| Eyebrow | " | theseoux. | Spear (for seals) | " | uäakutsh. |
| Eyelash | " | thesseriss. | Starfish | " | hiapparoux. |
| Fingers | " | sthœn. | Steamer-duck | " | karawus-poug. |
| Finger-nails | " | tharsh. | Stomach | " | kutshiss. |
| Fish | " | areous-areersh. | Stone axe | " | kesaoux. |
| Flint | " | kosil. | Teeth | " | pathers. |
| Foot | " | kadthakous. | Thigh | " | athursh. |
| Hair | " | therkous. | Tongue | " | lekiss. |
| Hand | " | therrawaus. | Tooth (of seal) | " | sheriquish. |
| Head | " | iakalus. | Trumpet-shell | " | tharagskar. |
| Ironstone | " | iuksthaads. | Upland Goose | " | harrawaloux. |
| Limpet | " | ithashaquash. | Volute-shell | " | tharaquakorass. |
| Mouse | " | akraceps. | Water | " | nupp. |