The polar and tropical worlds : a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe . n to squintand look awry, but one of the young Fuegians (wdiose whole face was painted THE FUEGIANS. 427 black, excepting a white band across his eyes) succeeded in making far morehideous grimaces. They could Iepeat with perfect correctness each word inany sentence we addressed them, and they remembered such words for sometime. Yet we all know how ditHcult it is to distinguish apart the sounds in aforeign language. Close to the junction of Ponsonby Sound with the Beagle Channel, A
The polar and tropical worlds : a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe . n to squintand look awry, but one of the young Fuegians (wdiose whole face was painted THE FUEGIANS. 427 black, excepting a white band across his eyes) succeeded in making far morehideous grimaces. They could Iepeat with perfect correctness each word inany sentence we addressed them, and they remembered such words for sometime. Yet we all know how ditHcult it is to distinguish apart the sounds in aforeign language. Close to the junction of Ponsonby Sound with the Beagle Channel, AvhereMr. Darwin and his party spent the night, a small family of Fuegians soonjoined the strangers round a blazing fire. They seemed well pleased, and alljoined in the chorus of the seamens songs. During the night the news hadspread, and early in the morning other Fuegians arrived. Several of these hadrun so fast that their noses were bleeding, and their mouths frothed from therapidity with which they talked ; and with their naked bodies all bedaubed withblack, white, and red, they looked like so many rUEGIAN TRADERS. These people plainly showed that they had a fair notion of barter. Mr. Dar-win gave one man a large nail (a most valuable present) without making anysigns for a return ; but he immediately picked out two fish, and handed themup on the point of his spear. Here at least we see signs of a mental activityfavorably contrasting with the stolid indifference of the Fuegians seen by For-ster at Christmas Harbor; and Mr. Darwin is even of opinion that in generalthese people rise above the Australians in mental power, although their actualacquirements may be less. The reason why the Fuegians are so little advanced in the arts of life, 428 THE POLAR WORLD. are partly to bo sought for in tlic nature of the land, and partly in their politicalstate. The perfect ccpiality among the individuals in each tribe must retardtheir civilization ; and until some chief shall arise
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