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

842 CURIOL'S NOTICES OF THE NATIVES. Maixll 1830. ojiening, between Cape San Mateo and San Vincent, it turns suddenly to the south and S.b.E., continues in that direction for nearly thirty miles, washing the base of the Cordillera which rises from it precipitously, and is closed by a low isthmus, two miles across, dividing this inlet from Stewart Bay, and over which Mr. Kirke passed to take the bearings of several points that he recognised in Collinewood Strait. " In the prosecution of the survey northward of our anchor- age, those passages were discovered which separate so much of the east coast of Sarmiento Channel from the main land ; and the islands thus made known I named after Commodore Sir Edward Owen,* the channel of separation being called Blanche Passage. "One of the boats met with a canoe containing eight Indians; this was only the second that had yet been seen during our cruise. " An interview, which two of the schooner's men had with these people, is so characteristic of the habits of the natives who wander in canoes, that I add the account, as given by one of those men ; ' lA^hen we arrived at the wigwam, there were two women and five children inside, and a dozen dogs near it. At our entrance, the children crept close to one side of the wig- wam, behind their mothers, who made signs for us to sit down on the opposite side, which we did. The women, seeing diat we were wet, and meant to do them no harm, sent the two eldest children out to gather sticks, and made up a large fire so we cut some pieces of bread from a loaf which we had, and distributed them. They all appeared to like the bread, particularly the youngest, which was sucking at the breast for it eat its own slice, besides one we gave its mother. After we had been there about half an hour, and had given them some beads and buttons, a man came in from behind the wig- wam, where he had concealed himself when we entered, and sat down beside us. By signs, he asked where our boat was, and how many men there were with us. We told him the men and boat were a little way off, and made signs that we wanted to * At the request of Lieutenant iMitcIiell, of the Adventure.