some moss or down, mixed with a whitish earth, which takes fire like
tinder: They then take some dry grass; of which there is every-where
plenty, and, putting the lighted moss into it, wave it to and fro, and
in about a minute it blazes.

When the boat returned she brought three of them on board the ship, but
they seemed to regard nothing with any degree of curiosity, except our
clothes and a looking-glass; the looking-glass afforded them as much
diversion as it had done the Patagonians, and it seemed to surprise them
more: When they first peeped into it they started, back, first looking
at us, and then at each other; they then took another peep, as it were
by stealth, starting back as before; and then eagerly looking behind it:
When by degrees they became familiar with it, they smiled, and seeing
the image smile in return, they were exceedingly delighted, and burst
into fits of the most violent laughter. They left this however, and
every thing else, with perfect indifference, the little they possessed
being to all appearance equal to their desires. They eat whatever was
given them, but would drink nothing but water.

When they left the ship I went on shore with them, and by this time
several of their wives and children were come to the watering-place. I
distributed some trinkets among them, with which they seemed pleased for
a moment, and they gave us same of their arms in return; they gave us
also several pieces of mundic, such as is found in the tin mines of
Cornwall: They made us understand that they found it in the mountains,
where there are probably mines of tin, and perhaps of more valuable
metal. When they left us and embarked in their canoes, they hoisted a
sealskin for a sail, and steered for the southern shore, where we saw
many of their hovels; and we remarked that not one of them looked
behind, either at us or at the ship, so little impression had the
wonders they had seen made upon their minds, and so much did they appear
to be absorbed in the present, without any habitual exercise of their
power to reflect upon the past.

In this station we continued till Tuesday the 3d of February. At about
half an hour past twelve we weighed, and in a sudden squall were taken
a-back, so as that both ships were in the most imminent danger of being
driven ashore on a reef of rocks; the wind however suddenly shifted, and
we happily got off without damage. At five o'clock in the afternoon, the
tide being done, and the wi