stones and stakes, and some of the younger men and Jemmy's brother were
crying: Matthews met them with presents. Another party showed by signs
that they wished to strip him naked and pluck all the hairs out of his
face and body. I think we arrived just in time to save his life.
Jemmy's relatives had been so vain and foolish, that they had showed to
strangers their plunder, and their manner of obtaining it. It was
quite melancholy leaving the three Fuegians with their savage
countrymen; but it was a great comfort that they had no personal fears.
York, being a powerful resolute man, was pretty sure to get on well,
together with his wife Fuegia. Poor Jemmy looked rather disconsolate,
and would then, I have little doubt, have been glad to have returned
with us. His own brother had stolen many things from him; and as he
remarked, "What fashion call that:" he abused his countrymen, "all bad
men, no sabe (know) nothing" and, though I never heard him swear
before, "damned fools." Our three Fuegians, though they had been only
three years with civilized men, would, I am sure, have been glad to
have retained their new habits; but this was obviously impossible. I
fear it is more than doubtful, whether their visit will have been of
any use to them.
In the evening, with Matthews on board, we made sail back to the ship,
not by the Beagle Channel, but by the southern coast. The boats were
heavily laden and the sea rough, and we had a dangerous passage. By
the evening of the 7th we were on board the Beagle after an absence of
twenty days, during which time we had gone three hundred miles in the
open boats. On the 11th, Captain Fitz Roy paid a visit by himself to
the Fuegians and found them going on well; and that they had lost very
few more things.
On the last day of February in the succeeding year (1834) the Beagle
anchored in a beautiful little cove at the eastern entrance of the
Beagle Channel. Captain Fitz Roy determined on the bold, and as it
proved successful, attempt to beat against the westerly winds by the
same route, which we had followed in the boats to the settlement at
Woollya. We did not see many natives until we were near Ponsonby Sound,
where we were followed by ten or twelve canoes. The natives did not at
all understand the reason of our tacking, and, instead of meeting us at
each tack, vainly strove to follow us in our zigzag course. I was
amused at finding what a difference the circumstance of being quite
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