ABSTRACT
The Fuegians are a different race from the stunted, miserable wretches farther westward; and they seem allied to the famous Patagonians of the Strait of Magellan. All savages appear to possess, to an uncommon degree, power of mimicry. The Australians, have been notorious for being able to imitate and describe the gait of any man, so that he may be recognized. It is a consequence of the more practised habits of perception and keener senses, common to all men in a savage state, as compared with long civilized. During the former voyage of the Adventure and Beagle in 1826 to 1830, Captain Fitz Roy seized on a party of natives, as hostages for the loss of a boat, which had been stolen, to the great jeopardy of a party employed on the survey. After the first feeling of grave astonishment was over, nothing could be ludicrous than the odd mixture of surprise and imitation which the savages every moment exhibited.
