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

124 APPENDIX. No. 14. Extract from Byron's Narrative of the Loss of the "Wager. " These people* were of a small stature, very swarthy, having long, black, coarse hair, hanging over their faces. It was evident, from their great surprise, and every part of their behaviour, as well as their not having one thing in their possession which could be derived from white people, that they had never seen such. Their clothing was nothing but a bit of some beast's skin about their waists, and some- thing woven from feathers over the shoulders ; and as they uttered no word of any language we had ever heard, nor had any method of making themselves understood, we presimied they could have had no intercourse vdth Europeans. These savages, who, upon their de- parture, left us a few muscles, returned in two days, and surprised us by bringing three sheep." . . . . "At this interview we bartered with them for a dog or two, which we roasted and eat." " In one of my walks, seeing a very large bird of prey upon an eminence, I endeavoured to come upon it unperceived with my gun, by means of the woods which lay at the back of that eminence ; but, when I had proceeded so far in the wood as to think I was in a line with it, I heard a growUng close by me, which made me think it advisable to retire as soon as possible : the woods were so gloomy I could see nothing ; but, as I retired, this noise followed me close till I had got out of them. Some of our men did assure me, that they had seen a very large beast in the woods ; but their description of it was too imperfect to be rehed upon."t " The first night we put into a good harbour, a few leagues to the southward of Wager Island ; where, finding a large bitch big with puppies, we regaled upon them. In this expedition we had our usual bad weather and breaking seas, which were grown to such a height the third day, that we were obUged, through distress, to push in at the first inlet we saw at hand. This we had no sooner entered than we were presented with a view of a fine bay, in which, having secured the barge, we went ashore, but the weather being very rainy, and finding nothing to subsist upon, we pitched a bell tent, which we had brought with us, in the wood opposite to where the barge lay. As this tent was not large enough to contain us aJl, I proposed • Natives of the Guaianeco Islands. t Showing; that the puma crosses arms of the sea R. F,