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

148 VISIT OF FUEGiANs. June 1828. that, by my orders, was stretched around our property, a re- striction which they did not attempt to evade. At sunset all were told to go away, and they immediately, as well as cheer- fully, complied. The next morning, and indeed throughout the whole day, the neighbourhood of the wigwams exhibited the appearance of a fair. I visited them, and found that they had not only re- paired an old wigwam, but erected another. Both together contained the whole party, consisting of twenty-six individuals, among whom were an old man, and two old women. They had brought over a collection of baskets, bows and arrows, stone heads of knives, &c. to sell to our people, who had always shown eagerness to possess these curiosities. The knife-heads were made generally of pitch-stone ; but the greater number were of broken glass bottles, which thsy had collected when they visited us last year. A few strings of beads purchased all their riches ; after which they sold their dogs, and Mr. Graves procured one of them for a knife and a string of beads. It was a remarkably fine animal, and showed great reluctance to be handled by our people, several of whom were bitten in their attempts to take him to the boat. At night one of the canoes was despatched to collect shell- fish, probably sea-eggs, from the reef of Rocky Bay. The fol- lowing morning all their goods were embarked, and then they paddled their canoes to the beach, near the tents, where some of their men landed. They had nothing to offer in exchange for several things which tempted them, and were beginning to grow troublesome. One of them, the individual who threw a stone at the sergeant, persisting to pass the boundary that was marked upon the ground, which no one of them had before presumed to do, was pushed back by the sentinel ; upon which he ran to his canoe and took out several spears, doubt- less intending to try to force a passage ; but the appearance of two or three muskets brought him to his senses, and the spears were returned to the canoe ; after which he became familiar, and apparently friendly. This affair, however, was soon followed by their departure, which gave me much satis-