Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

140 SOUTHERN ABOEIGINES. State of putridity ; and of other vile habits, may readily be imagined. As a Tekeenica is seldom out of sight of his canoe or a wig- wam, a slight idea of these — his only constructions — should be given with this sketch. The canoe is made of several large pieces of bark, sewed together ; its shape is nearly that which would be taken by the strong bark of the trunk of a tree (twelve to twenty feet in length, and a foot, or two feet, in diameter), separated from the solid wood, in one piece. If this piece of bark were drawn together at the ends, and kept open by sticks in the middle, it would look rather like a Fuegian canoe. A Tekeenica wigwam is of a conical form, made of a number of large poles, or young trees, placed touching one another in a circle, with the small ends meeting. Sometimes, bunches of grass or pieces of bark are thrown upon the side which is exposed to the prevailing winds. No Fuegians, ex- cept the Tekeenica, make their huts in this manner. The country of this people may be briefly described by say- ing that deep but narrow arms of the sea intersect high moun- tainous islands, many of whose summits are covered with snow, while the lee or eastern sides of their steep and rocky shores are more than partially covered with evergreen woods. Between projecting rocky points are sandy or stony beaches, fronting very small spaces of level land, on which the huts of the natives are generally placed. Almost throughout the year, cloudy weather, rain, and much wind prevail ; indeed, really fine days are very rare. Being so near the level of that great climate agent, the ocean, frost and snow are far less frequent than might be expected in a high latitude, among snow-covered mountains, of which the siffht alone inclines one to shiver. The men of the Alikhoohp tribe are the stoutest and har- diest, and the women the least ill-looking of the Fuegians. Though not very dissimilar, they are superior to the Tekeenica but they are inferior to the Yacana, and far below the natives of Patagonia. Their canoes are rather better than those of the Tekeenica, made, however, in the same manner.