a snug little cove concealed by some surrounding islets. Here we
pitched our tents and lighted our fires. Nothing could look more
comfortable than this scene. The glassy water of the little harbour,
with the branches of the trees hanging over the rocky beach, the boats
at anchor, the tents supported by the crossed oars, and the smoke
curling up the wooded valley, formed a picture of quiet retirement. The
next day (20th) we smoothly glided onwards in our little fleet, and
came to a more inhabited district. Few if any of these natives could
ever have seen a white man; certainly nothing could exceed their
astonishment at the apparition of the four boats. Fires were lighted
on every point (hence the name of Tierra del Fuego, or the land of
fire), both to attract our attention and to spread far and wide the
news. Some of the men ran for miles along the shore. I shall never
forget how wild and savage one group appeared: suddenly four or five
men came to the edge of an overhanging cliff; they were absolutely
naked, and their long hair streamed about their faces; they held rugged
staffs in their hands, and, springing from the ground, they waved their
arms round their heads, and sent forth the most hideous yells.
At dinner-time we landed among a party of Fuegians. At first they were
not inclined to be friendly; for until the Captain pulled in ahead of
the other boats, they kept their slings in their hands. We soon,
however, delighted them by trifling presents, such as tying red tape
round their heads. They liked our biscuit: but one of the savages
touched with his finger some of the meat preserved in tin cases which I
was eating, and feeling it soft and cold, showed as much disgust at it,
as I should have done at putrid blubber. Jemmy was thoroughly ashamed
of his countrymen, and declared his own tribe were quite different, in
which he was wofully mistaken. It was as easy to please as it was
difficult to satisfy these savages. Young and old, men and children,
never ceased repeating the word "yammerschooner," which means "give
me." After pointing to almost every object, one after the other, even
to the buttons on our coats, and saying their favourite word in as many
intonations as possible, they would then use it in a neuter sense, and
vacantly repeat "yammerschooner." After yammerschoonering for any
article very eagerly, they would by a simple artifice point to their
young women or little children, as much as to say, "If you will not
give it me, surely you will to such as these."
At night we endeavoured in vain to find an uninhabited cove; and at
206