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

MEKT NATIVES — VOLCANO. 203 uniform width (overlooking minute details) for one hundred and twenty miles. 20th. We passed the clay cliffs, spoken of in the former volume, first visited by Mr. Murray. They narrow the channel to less than a mile, but, being low, were beneath the horizon of our eye at Cutfinger Cove : — westward of them the chan- nel widens again to its usual breadth of two miles. Several natives were seen in this day's pull ; but as Jemmy told us they were not his friends, and often made war upon his people, we held very little intercourse with them. York laughed heartily at the first we saw, calling them large monkeys ; and Jemmy assured us they were not at all like his people, who were very good and very clean. Fuegia was shocked and ashamed ; she hid herself, and would not look at them a second time. It was interesting to observe the change which three years only had made in their ideas, and to notice how completely they had forgotten the appearance and habits of their former associates for it turned out that Jemmy's own tribe was as inferior in every way as the worst of those whom he and York called " monkeys — dirty — fools — not men." We gave these ' Yapoos,' as York called them, some pre- sents, and crossed over to the north side of the channel to be free from their importunities; but they followed us speedily, and obliged us to go on further westward than was at all agreeable, considering the labour required to make way against a breeze and a tide of a mile an hour. When we at last landed to pass the night, we found that the forests on the sides of the mountains had been burned for many leagues ; and as we were not far from the place where a volcano was supposed to exist, in consequence of flames having been seen by a ship passing Cape Horn, it occurred to me that some conflagration, like that of which we found the signs, might have caused appear- ances resembling the eruption of a distant volcano : and I have since been confirmed in this idea, from having witnessed a volcano in eruption ; and, not long afterwards, a conflagration, devouring many miles of mountain forest ; both of which, at a distance, shewed lines of fire, fitful flashes, and sudden gleams.