And now let us pass to the other extremity of the great continent of America--to Cape Horn, and to the island off it, which projects its desolate rocks into one of the most inhospitable climates in the world. The inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego are perhaps the most degraded among the races of mankind. How could they be otherwise? “Their country,” says Mr. Darwin, “is a broken mass of wild rocks, lofty hills, and useless forests; and these are viewed through mists and endless storms. The habitable land is reduced to the stones of the beach. In search of food they are compelled to wander unceasingly from spot to spot, and so steep is the coast that they can only move about in their wretched canoes.” They are habitual cannibals, killing and eating their old women before they kill their dogs, for the sufficient reason, as explained by themselves--“Doggies catch otters, old women no.” Well might Darwin add, “While beholding these savages one asks, Whence have they come? What could have tempted, or what change compelled, a tribe of men to leave the fine regions of the north, to travel down the Cordillera, or backbone of America, to invent and build canoes which are not used by the tribes of Chili, Peru, and Brazil, and then to enter on one of the most inhospitable countries within the limits of the globe?” There can be but one explanation. Quarrels and wars between tribe and tribe, induced by the mere increase of numbers and the consequent pressure on the means of subsistence, have been always, ever since man existed, driving the weaker races further and further from the older settlements of mankind. And when the ultimate points of the habitable world are reached, the conditions of existence cause and necessitate a savage and degraded life. Darwin gives the true explanation of their condition when he says, “How little can the higher powers of the mind be brought into play! What is there for imagination to picture, for reason to compare, for judgment to decide upon?” The case of the Fuegians is a case in which there can be no doubt whatever of the causes of their degraded condition. On every side of them, and in proportion as we recede from their wretched country, the surrounding tribes are less wretched and better acquainted with the simpler arts. And it is remarkable that in the case of this people we have proof of another point of great interest and importance, viz., this--that even the most degraded savages have all the perfect attributes of humanity, which can be and are developed the moment they are placed under favorable conditions. Captain Fitzroy had in 1830 carried off some of these people to England, where they were taught the habits and the arts of civilized life. Of one of these, who was taken back to his own country in the _Beagle_, Mr. Darwin tells us that his “intellect was good,” and of another that he had a “nice disposition.” We see, therefore, that every fact and circumstance