Their colour was that
of mahogany or rusty iron; their dresses, skins loosely wrapped round
them and very scanty. One fellow was seated on the side of a canoe with
a couple of dogs near him; while a woman, perhaps his wife, sat at a
little distance, crouching on the ground, covered by her skin robe. As
soon as they discovered us, instead of approaching as the Patagonians
had done, they sat stupidly gazing at us, lost apparently in
astonishment. They did not, however, exhibit any sign of alarm as we
walked up to them. At length they got up, shouting out some words and
patting their breasts, which we concluded was a sign of friendship.
Their dogs snarled at True and he barked in return, and I had to hold
him tight to prevent his flying at them. Perhaps they understood each
other better than we did the ill-favoured curs' masters or their masters
did us. Still the greeting did not sound amicable. The natives were
small, thin, and dirty in the extreme. Their weapons were bows and
arrows. The only habitations we could see were wretched lean-tos, just
capable of sheltering them from the wind. Having an old clasp-knife in
my pocket, I presented it to the chief, who received it with evident
signs of satisfaction. As there was no inducement to hold further
intercourse with him, we returned by the way we had come, without having
seen a single bird near enough to shoot.

"Yet, Harry, those people have souls, destined to live for ever," said
Arthur, in answer to a remark I made that they were little better than
brutes. "Don't you think if the gospel were taken to them it would have
its never-failing effect? I will speak to Captain Byles on the subject
when we get on board."

He did so. Long since then several noble Christian missionaries visited
that benighted region. Some perished, but others are still labouring to
make known the glad tidings of salvation to the rude inhabitants of
Patagonia and Terra del Fuego.

Finding it impossible to pass through the Straits, we had to go round
Cape Horn. A couple of weeks, however, elapsed before we were clear
into the Pacific. After this we had a quick run, and once more the
lofty summits of the Cordilleras greeted our eyes. Though I was but a
young child when I had last seen them, so deep was the impression they
had made on me that I recognised them at once.

CHAPTER THREE.

A JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

At length the _Inca_ was at anchor off the city of Gua