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

FOOD — DRINK — WOMEN. 185 eat unless hard pressed by hunger. Sometimes they spear fine fish, like cod-fish — fifteen or twenty pounds in weight. Small fish are caught in abundance by the method formerly de- scribed,* and they are the staple article of food among the Tekeenica. The fins of a dead whale are esteemed ; but if other food is to be had, they do not eat the blubber. In the Tekeenica country, near theBeagleChannel, there are many small animals, about the size of a cat, which they some- times take and eat. These, I think, are nutria ; for, on one occasion, a fresh nutria skin was obtained from them, the only sign I ever found of a small animal in that neighbourhood. Of vegetable food they have very little : a few berries, cran- berries, and those which grow on the arbutus, and a kind of fungus, which is found on the birch-tree, being the only sorts used. This fungus is very plentiful in some places : it grows upon the birch-tree much as the oak-apple upon an oak-tree. Mr. Darwin describes it fully in his journal (vol. iii). There is also another much larger kind of fungus, which is sometimes eaten. On what tree it grows, I know not, but it was mentioned to me as being about two feet in circumference. The Fuegians drink only pure water, but often, and in large quantities. The women or children fetch it in small buckets, made of birch- bark ; and two or three times in the course of a night they wake to eat and drink. In the day-time also they eat and drink very frequently. The men procure food of the larger kind, such as seal, otter, porpoises, &c. ; they break or cut wood and bark for fuel, as well as for building the wigwams and canoes. They go out at night to get birds; they train the dogs, and of course under- take all hunting or warlike excursions. The women nurse their children, attend the fire (feeding it with dead wood, rather than green, on account of the smoke), make baskets and water-buckets, fishing-lines and necklaces,-|- go out to catch small fish in their canoes, gather shell-fisli, dive for sea-eggs, take care of the canoes, upon ordinary occa- sions paddle their masters about while they sit idle ; — and do any other drudgery. * See vol. i. p. 428. t !See note at end of chapter.