Byron's Narrative of the Loss of the Wager: With an account of the great distresses suffered by himself and his companions on the coast of Patagonia from the year 1740 till their arrival in England 1746Byron, John
History
Byron's Narrative of the Loss of the Wager: With an account of the great distresses suffered by himself and his companions on the coast of Patagonia from the year 1740 till their arrival in England 1746
Byron, John
Chiloé (Chile); Patagonia (Argentina and Chile); Wager (Ship)
These good-natured compassionate creatures seemed to vie with each
other who should take the most care of us. They made a bed of
sheepskins close to the fire, for Captain Cheap, and laid him upon
it; and indeed, had it not been for the kind assistance he now met
with, he could not have survived three days longer. Though it was now
about midnight, they went out and killed a sheep, of which they made
broth, and baked a large cake of barley-meal. Any body may imagine what
a treat this was to wretches who had not tasted a bit of bread, or
any wholesome diet, for such a length of time. After we could eat no
longer, we went to sleep about the fire, which the Indians took good
care to keep up. In the morning, the women came from far and near, each
bringing with her something. Almost every one had a pipkin in her hand,
containing either fowls or mutton made into broth, potatoes, eggs, or
other eatables. We fell to work as if we had eat nothing in the night,
and employed ourselves so for the best part of the day. In the evening,
the men filled our house, bringing with them some jars of a liquor they
called chicha, made of barley-meal, and not very unlike our oat-ale
in taste, which will intoxicate those who drink a sufficient quantity
of it; for a little has no effect. As soon as the drink was out, a
fresh supply of victuals was brought in; and in this manner we passed
the whole time we remained with these hospitable Indians. They are a
strong well-made people, extremely well featured, both men and women,
and vastly neat in their persons. The men's dress is called by them
a puncho, which is a square piece of cloth, generally in stripes of
different colours, with a slit in the middle of it wide enough to let
their heads through, so that it hangs on their shoulders, half of it
falling before, and the other behind them: under this they wear a short
kind of flannel shirt without sleeves or neck. They have wide-knee'd
breeches, something like the Dutch seamen, and on their legs a sort
of knit buskins without any feet to them; but never any shoes. Their
hair is always combed very smooth, and tied very tight up in a great
bunch close to the neck: some wear a very neat hat of their own making,
and others go without. The women wear a shift like the men's shirts,
without sleeves; and over it a square piece of cloth, which they fasten
before with a large silver pin, and a petticoat of different stripes:
they take as much care of their hair as the men; and both have always
a kind of fillet bound very tight about the forehead, and made fast
behind: in short, these people are as cleanly as the several savage
nations we had met with before were beastly. Upon our first coming
here, they had dispatched a messenger to the Spanish corregidore at
Castro, a town a considerable distance from hence, to inform him of
our arrival. At the end of three days, this man returned with an order
to the chief caciques of these Indians we were amongst, to carry us
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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