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

286 piragua's sail — plough. 1829- the course and all their movements, pi-ovides two ponchos, all which are sewn together to form their sail, which is hoisted by ' lazos,' or thongs of bullock's hide. These sails are generally in a wretched state, the name San- tisima is applied to them all by the crews, with the hope of securing tlie protection of their patron saint. The anchor is of wood, formed of four crooked pieces, in the shape of a grapnel with four flukes, at the bottom, or crown of which a large stone is fastened, to increase its weight. The crews are exceedingly timid, and instead of making exertions to extricate their vessel fi'om any impending danger, they throw themselves on their knees, beating their breasts and calling loudly upon their saint, for ' misericordia.' I was given to understand that very few of them can swim> which seems extraordinary, since they are born and bred in the immediate vicinity of the sea, and depend chiefly upon its productions for subsistence. The fact speaks strongly for the indolence of their character, even although the rigour of the climate forms a bar to bathing as a mere amusement. Several piraguas were lost while we were at Childe, and, as may be inferred, their crews were all drowned. With regard to the cultivation of land, they are very far behind, and, comparing the present state with the description of Byron (1740), and of Agueros (1791), very little improve- ment seems to have been made. The ground is prepared by make-shift ploughs, of a very rude construction. Two poles of hard wood (luma), about three yards long and proportion ably large, trimmed to a sharp point at one end and rounded at the other, are held by the middle, one in each hand, and pointed very obliquely into the ground ; in this direction they are forced forward, by pressing against the blunt end with the abdomen, which is defended by a sheepskin, suspended in the form of an apron. After these have penetrated twelve or four- teen inches into the soil, a second person, generally a woman or a boy, places a stovit stick under the poles, or ' lumas,' as they are called, close to the earth, to form a solid support for them.