I cannot imagine a more complete contrast, in every
respect, than between the forests of Valdivia or Chiloe, and the
woods of Australia.
At sunset, a party of a score of the black aborigines passed by,
each carrying, in their accustomed manner, a bundle of spears and
other weapons. By giving a leading young man a shilling, they were
easily detained, and threw their spears for my amusement. They were
all partly clothed, and several could speak a little English: their
countenances were good-humoured and pleasant, and they appeared far
from being such utterly degraded beings as they have usually been
represented. In their own arts they are admirable. A cap being
fixed at thirty yards distance, they transfixed it with a spear,
delivered by the throwing-stick with the rapidity of an arrow from
the bow of a practised archer. In tracking animals or men they show
most wonderful sagacity; and I heard of several of their remarks
which manifested considerable acuteness. They will not, however,
cultivate the ground, or build houses and remain stationary, or
even take the trouble of tending a flock of sheep when given to
them. On the whole they appear to me to stand some few degrees
higher in the scale of civilisation than the Fuegians.
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