De;cï/e7m4b- er.
-of which, to our fhame be it fpoken, we do not always mate
the heft ufes. !
Thefe wretched natives of a rnoft dreary -country, fed on
pieces of feal’s-fiefh, which being very putrid, were become
highly offenfive. They relifhed the fat oily parr, which
we would reject at all times, and offered fome of it to our
failors. It fhould feem that they .prefer this vile blubber
by inftinff, as all nations in high latitudes are-fond of it,
and are faid, in fome meafure to feafon their bodies againft
the cold by this diet. The natural confequence-of it was
an infupportable rank flench, which exhaled from their
whole body, and which their fiefh, their drelies, arms, ornaments,
and utenfils feemed to have thoroughly imbibed.
This odour was fo completely naufeous, that we could not
continue long in their company, and with our eyes Uvut,
could fmell them at a confiderable diftance. It almoft fur-
paffes belief, but is neverthelefs an undeniable -faff, that
our boldeft and rougheft failors were fo totally -overcome
by this horrid exhalation, that they did not offer to contraff
any intimate acquaintance with the women. Our people
offered them fait provifions, and rotten bifeuit, but they fet
no manner of value on this food, and could hardly be pervaded
tp'tafte of it. Did their inftinff perhaps teach them
that it yvas iflore unwholefome than their own rotten feal’s-
flefti ?— We did not bbferve any kind of fubordination
among thefe people, whofe mode of life approaches.nearer
to
to that of brutes, than that of any other nation. It is indeed DEc”m;e.-
very probable, that they are the miferable out-cafls of fome
neighbouring tribe, which enjoys a more comfortable life ;
and that being reduced to live in this dreary inhofpitable
part of Tierra del Fuego, they have gradually loft every idea,
but thofe which their moft urgent wants give rife to. They
ramble perhaps in queft of food, from one inlet or bay
into another, as we have reafon to fuppofe this found communicates
with others, and take up their winter refidenee
in the leaft uncomfortable fpot of this horrid country. I
am indeed of opinion that the rigour of the winter, is not
proportionate to the cold during fummer, particularly as
the thermometrical obfervations made in the Falkland Iflands,
(fee vol. I. p. 499.) which are not far from Tierra del
Fuego, and nearly in the fame latitude, ftrongly confirm
this fuppofition. .But allowing the winters to be as mild
as poffible, ftill however they muft prove dreadfully diftrefl-
ing to thefe poor deftitute wretches, who have not fagacity
enough to guard againft them. We are told by the Dutch
navigators, efpecially admiral Jacques 1’Her mite, who conducted
the Naffau fleet into the South Sea in 1624, that
the natives on the fouthern extremity of Tierra del Fuego
are cannibals, and kill each other in order to regale them-
felves *. If there be any likelihood that want of food has
* See Recueil des Voyages qui ont fervi à l’Etabliflement de la Compagnie
des Indes Orientales. Amfterd. -1705, vol. IV. p. 702.
V ol. i . ever