Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/61

 in the year 1519. It was at this spot that the celebrated circumnavigators, Captains Cook, King, Fitzroy, Laplace, d’Urville, and others used to make their  rendezvous and lay in a supply of wood and water. The harbor is land-locked, and is the safest on the coast. It has many small bays, the best of which is Dingy Cove. Here boats may enter to obtain wood, and from its banks game and fish may be taken in great abundance. Everything about has a bleak and wintry appearance and is in keeping with the climate, yet the scenery is pleasing to the eye.

The 22d of February was duly observed by the hoisting of flags and "splicing the mainbrace." We had not time to make a holiday of it. While here we saw many of the native Fuegians. They are not more than five feet high, and are of a light copper-color, but their original hue is almost obscured by smut and dirt. Their faces are short, with narrow foreheads and high cheekbones, eyes small and black, noses broad and flat, with  wide-spread nostrils, and mouths extremely large. As one old sailor said: "They could not open them any  wider, unless the Almighty set their ears back." Their hair is long and black, hanging straight over the face, and is covered with ashes. The whole face is compressed. Their bodies are remarkable for the great development of the chest. Their arms are long and slim; but their lower limbs are small and ill-shaped. There is, in fact, no difference between the size of the ankle and leg. This want of development is owing to their constant sitting posture, both in their huts and canoes. It is impossible to imagine anything in human shape more filthy.