o potter about the town, finding,
however, very little to amuse us. There were some new-laid ostrich
eggs to be bought, and some queer-looking worked Patagonian
saddle-bags.

I fear we shall not see any of the Patagonians themselves, for they
come to the colony only three or four times a year, to purchase
supplies, and to sell skins and ostrich eggs. They are a mounted tribe
of Indians, living on the northern plains, and are now on their way
down here, to pay one of their periodical visits; but, being
encumbered with their families, they move very slowly, and are not
expected to arrive for another ten days. They will no doubt bring a
splendid supply of skins, just too late for us, which is rather
disappointing, particularly as we are not likely to have another
opportunity of meeting with them at any of the places we touch at.
They live so far in the interior of the country that they very seldom
visit the coast.

We went to see three Fuegian females, who are living in a house
belonging to the medical officer of the colony. They were picked up a
short time since by a passing steamer from a canoe, in which they had
evidently sought refuge from some kind of cruelty or oppression. The
biggest of them, a stout fine-looking woman, had a terrible gash in
her leg, quite recently inflicted, and the youngest was not more than
eight years old. They appeared cheerful and happy, but we were told
that they are not likely to live long. After the free life and the
exposure to which they have been accustomed, civilisation--in the
shape of clothing and hot houses--almost always kills them. Their
lungs become diseased, and they die miserably. Their skin is slightly
copper-coloured, their complexions high-coloured, their hair thick and
black; and, though certainly not handsome, they are by no means so
repulsive as I had expected from the descriptions of Cook, Dampier,
Darwin, and other more recent travellers.

[Illustration: Fuegian Weapons.]

_Saturday, October 7th_.--My birthday. Tom gave me a beautiful
guanaco-skin robe, and the children presented me with two ostrich
rugs. The guanaco is a kind of large deer, and it is said that the
robes made from its skin are the warmest in the world. People here
assure me that, with the hair turned inside, these robes have afforded
them sufficient protection to enable them to sleep in comfort in the
open air, exposed to snow, frost, and rain. They are made from the
skin of the young fawns, kille