The English residents here invariably call it Fireland--a
name I had never heard before, and which rather puzzled me at first.
Whenever it is observed that a ship is in distress, or that
shipwrecked mariners have been cast ashore, the signal-fires appear as
if by magic, and the natives flock together like vultures round a
carcase. On the other hand, if all goes well, vessels often pass
through the Straits without seeing a single human being, the savages
and their canoes lying concealed beneath the overhanging branches of
trees on the shore. They are cannibals, and are placed by Darwin in
the lowest scale of humanity. An old author describes them as 'magpies
in chatter, baboons in countenance, and imps in treachery.' Those
frequenting the eastern end of the Straits wear--if they wear anything
at all--a deerskin mantle, descending to the waist: those at the
western end wear cloaks made from the skin of the sea-otter. But most
of them are quite naked. Their food is of the most meagre description,
and consists mainly of shell-fish, sea-eggs, for which the women dive
with much dexterity, and fish, which they train their dogs to assist
them in catching. These dogs are sent into the water at the entrance
to a narrow creek or small bay, and they then bark and flounder about
and drive the fish before them into shallow water, where they are
caught.
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