Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.1): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

April 18S8. fcegian canoes. \qj mother, apparently about sixteen years of age, was always occvi- pied in the laborious employment of paddling the canoes. The child was secured in the mother's lap, with its head on her bo- som, by a mantle, which was drawn tightly round both mother and child. Tlieir canoes were similar to those of the eastern parts of the Strait, about ten feet long, holding four or five grown persons and two or three children, besides their dogs, imple- ments, and weapons : they are formed of bark, and kept in shape by wooden cross supports secured to the gunwale, which is lined by a long, slender pole. They are divided into three compartments, the foremost occupying about one-third of the length, contains the spears, placed ready for immediate use ; in the second are the grown persons, with the fire-place between them, the men sitting between the fire-place and the spears, to be ready to use them upon the approach of seals or por- poises; on the opposite side of the fire-place are seated the women who paddle the canoe, in which the men sometimes as- sist, when great expedition is necessary. Behind the women, in the third division, are the elder children and the dogs, the younger children being generally stowed away in the women's laps, for the sake of mutual warmth. The fire is made upon a layer of clay, several inches thick, at the bottom of the canoe ; and above the fire, across the gunwales, are laid several pieces of half-burnt wood, for fuel. During our conmiunications with these visitors they con- ducted themselves peaceably, and made no attempt to pilfer, although there was some Uttle roguery displayed by them in barter. One of the men having parted with all his disposable property, tendered one of his daughters, a fine girl of fourteen or fifteen years of age, for some mere trifle, and, being refused, became very pressing and importunate to close the bargain for the price that was jestingly offered ; nor was it without diffi- culty that he was convinced we were not in earnest. They were as poor as the rest of their countrymen, very badly clothed, and possessing few skins to barter. Two of them exchanged their otter skin mantles for cotton shirts, which they continued to wear without complaining of cold.