Byron's Narrative of the Loss of the Wager

As we were wholly unacquainted with these methods of providing food for ourselves, and were without arms and ammunition, we were driven to the utmost straits; and found ourselves rather in worse condition than we had been at any time before. For the Indians having now nothing to fear from us, we found we had nothing to expect from them upon any other motive. Accordingly, if ever they did relieve us, it was through caprice; for at most times they would shew themselves unconcerned at our greatest distresses. But the good Indian women, whose friendship I had experienced before, continued, from time to time, their good offices to me. Though I was not suffered to enter their wigwams, they would find opportunities of throwing in my way such scraps as they could secrete from their husbands. The obligation I was under to them on this account was great, as the hazard they ran in conferring these favours was little less than death. The men, unrestrained by any laws or ties of conscience, in the management of their own families, exercise a most despotic authority over their wives, whom they consider in the same view as any other part of their property, and dispose of them accordingly: even their common treatment of them is cruel; for though the toil and hazard of procuring food lies entirely upon the women, yet they are not suffered to touch any part of it till the husband is satisfied; and then he assigns them their portion, which is generally very scanty, and such as he has not a stomach for himself. This arbitrary proceeding, with respect to their own families, is not peculiar to this people only. I have had occasion to observe it in more instances than this I have mentioned, among many other nations of savages I have since seen.

These Indians are of a middling stature, well set, and very active; and make their way among the rocks with an amazing agility. Their feet, by this kind of exercise, contract a callosity which renders the use of shoes quite unnecessary to them. But before I conclude the few observations I have to make on a people so confined in all their notions and habits, it may be expected I should say something of their religion; but as their gross ignorance is in nothing more conspicuous, and as we found it advisable to keep out of their way when the fits of devotion came upon them, which is rather frantic than religious, the reader can expect very little satisfaction on this head. Accident has sometimes made me unavoidably a spectator of scenes I should have chosen to have withdrawn myself from; and so far I am instructed. As there are no fixed seasons for their religious exercises, the younger people wait till the elders find themselves devoutly disposed; who begin the ceremony by several deep and dismal groans, which rise gradually to a hideous kind of singing, from which they proceed to enthusiasm, and work themselves into a disposition that borders on madness; for suddenly jumping up, they snatch firebrands from the fire, put them in their mouths, and run about burning every body they come near: at other times, it is a custom with them to wound one another with sharp muscle-shells till they are besmeared with blood. These orgies continue till those who preside in them foam at the mouth, grow faint, are exhausted with fatigue, and dissolve in a profusion of sweat. When the men drop their part in this frenzy, the women take it up, acting over again much the same kind of wild scene, except that they rather outdo the men in shrieks and noise. Our cacique, who had been reclaimed from these abominations by the Spaniards, and just knew the exterior form of crossing himself, pretended to be much offended at these profane ceremonies, and that he would have died sooner than have partaken of them. Among other expressions of disapprobation, he declared that whilst the savages solemnized these horrid rites, he never failed to hear strange and uncommon noises in the woods, and to see frightful visions; and assured us, that the devil was the chief actor among them upon these occasions.

It might be about the middle of March, that we embarked with these Indians. They separated our little company entirely, not putting any two of us together in the same canoe. The oar was my lot, as usual, as also Mr. Campbell's; Mr. Hamilton could not row, and Captain Cheap was out of the question; our surgeon was more dead than alive at the time, and lay at the bottom of the canoe he was in. The weather coming on too bad for their canoes to keep the sea, we landed again, without making great progress that day. Here Mr. Elliot, our surgeon, died. At our first setting out, he promised the fairest for holding out, being a very strong, active young man: he had gone through an infinite deal of fatigue, as Mr. Hamilton and he were the best shots amongst us, and whilst our ammunition lasted never spared themselves, and in a great measure provided for the rest; but he died the death many others had done before him, being quite starved. We scraped a hole for him in the sand, and buried him in the best manner we could. Here I must relate a little anecdote of our Christian cacique. He and his wife had gone off, at some distance from the shore, in their canoe, when she dived for sea-eggs; but not meeting with great success, they returned a good deal out of humour. A little boy of theirs, about three years old, whom they appeared to be dotingly fond of, watching for his father and mother's return, ran into the surf to meet them: the father handed a basket of sea-eggs to the child, which being too heavy for him to carry, he let it fall; upon which the father jumped out of the canoe, and catching the boy up in his arms, dashed him with the utmost violence against the stones. The poor little creature lay motionless and bleeding, and in that condition was taken up by the mother; but died soon after. She appeared inconsolable for some time; but the brute his father shewed little concern about it. A day or two after we put to sea again, and crossed the great bay I mentioned we had been to the bottom of, when we first hauled away to the westward. The land here was very low and sandy, with something like the mouth of a river which discharged itself into the sea; and which had been taken no notice of by us before, as it was so shallow that the Indians were obliged to take every thing out of their canoes, and carry it over the neck of land, and then haul the boats over into a river, which at this part of it was very broad, more resembling a lake than a river. We rowed up it for four or five leagues, and then took into a branch of it, that ran first to the eastward, and then to the northward: here it became much narrower, and the stream excessively rapid, so that we made but little way, though we worked very hard. At night we landed upon its banks, and had a most uncomfortable lodging, it being a perfect swamp; and we had nothing to cover us, though it rained very hard. The Indians were little better off than we, as there was no wood here to make their wigwams; so that all they could do was to prop up the bark they carry in the bottom of their canoes with their oars, and shelter themselves as well as they could to leeward of it. They, knowing the difficulties that were to be encountered here, had provided themselves with some seal; but we had not the least morsel to eat, after the heavy fatigues of the day, excepting a sort of root we saw some of the Indians make use of, which was very disagreeable to the taste. We laboured all the next day against the stream, and fared as we had done the day before. The next day brought us to the carrying-place. Here was plenty of wood; but nothing to be got for sustenance. The first thing the Indians did was to take every thing out of their canoes; and after hauling them ashore, they made their wigwams. We passed this night, as generally we had done, under a tree; but what we suffered at this time is not easily to be expressed. I had been three days at the oar without any kind of nourishment, but the wretched root I mentioned before. I had no shirt, as mine was rotted off by bits, and we were devoured by vermin. All my clothes consisted of an old short grieko, which is something like a bearskin, with a piece of a waistcoat under it, which once had been of red cloth, both which I had on when I was cast away; I had a ragged pair of trowsers, without either shoe or stocking. The first thing the Indians did in the morning was to take their canoes to pieces: and here, for the information of the reader, it will be necessary to describe the structure of these boats, which are extremely well calculated for the use of these Indians, as they are frequently obliged to carry them over land a long way together, through thick woods, to avoid doubling capes and headlands in seas where no open boat could live. They generally consist of five pieces, or planks; one for the bottom, and two for each side; and as these people have no iron tools, the labour must be great in hacking a single plank out of a large tree with shells and flints, though with the help of fire. Along the edges of the plank they make small holes, at about an inch from one to the other, and sew them together with the supple-jack, or woodbine; but as these holes are not filled up by the substance of the woodbine, their boats would be immediately full of water if they had not a method of preventing it. They do this very effectually by the bark of a tree, which they first steep in water for some time, and then beat it between two stones till it answers the use of oakum, and then chinse each hole so well, that they do not admit of the least water coming through, and are easily taken asunder and put together again. When they have occasion to go over land, as at this time, each man or woman carries a plank; whereas it would be impossible for them to drag a heavy boat entire. Every body had something to carry except Captain Cheap; and he was obliged to be assisted, or never would have got over this march; for a worse than this, I believe, never was made. He, with the others, set out some time before me. I waited for two Indians, who belonged to the canoe I came in; and who remained to carry over the last of the things from the side we were on. I had a piece of wet heavy canvas, which belonged to Captain Cheap, with a bit of stinking seal wrapped in it (which had been given him that morning by some of the Indians) to carry upon my head, which was a sufficient weight for a strong man in health, through such roads, and a grievous burthen to one in my condition. Our way was through a thick wood, the bottom of which was a mere quagmire, most part of it up to our knees, and often to our middle; and every now and then we had a large tree to get over, for they often lay directly in our road. Besides this, we were continually treading upon the stumps of trees, which were not to be avoided, as they were covered with water; and having neither shoe nor stocking, my feet and legs were frequently torn and wounded. Before I had got half a mile, the two Indians had left me; and making the best of my way, lest they should be all gone before I got to the other side, I fell off a tree that crossed the road, into a very deep swamp, where I very narrowly escaped drowning, by the weight of the burthen I had on my head. It was a long while before I could extricate myself from this difficulty; and when I did my strength was quite exhausted. I sat down under a tree, and there gave way to melancholy reflections. However, as I was sensible these reflections would answer no end, they did not last long. I got up, and marking a great tree, I there deposited my load, not being able to carry it any farther, and set out to join my company. It was some hours before I reached my companions. I found them sitting under a tree, and sat myself down by them without speaking a word; nor did they speak to me, as I remember, for some time; when Captain Cheap, breaking silence, began to ask after the seal and piece of canvas. I told him the disaster I had met with, which he might have easily guessed by the condition the rags I had on were in, as well as having my feet and ancles cut to pieces: but instead of compassion for my sufferings, I heard nothing but grumbling from every one, for the irreparable loss they had sustained by me. I made no answer; but after resting myself a little, I got up and struck into the wood, and walked back at least five miles to the tree I had marked, and returned just time enough to deliver it before my companions embarked, with the Indians, upon a great lake, the opposite part of which seemed to wash the foot of the Cordilleras. I wanted to embark with them; but was given to understand I was to wait for some other Indians that were to follow them. I knew not where these Indians were to come from: I was left alone upon the beach, and night was at hand. They left me not even a morsel of the stinking seal that I had suffered so much about. I kept my eyes upon the boats as long as I could distinguish them; and then returned into the wood, and sat myself down upon the root of a tree, having eat nothing the whole day but the stem of a plant which resembles that of an artichoke, which is of a juicy consistence, and acid taste. Quite worn out with fatigue, I soon fell asleep; and awaking before day, I thought I heard some voices at no great distance from me. As the day appeared, looking further into the wood, I perceived a wigwam, and immediately made towards it; but the reception I met with was not at all agreeable; for stooping to get into it, I presently received two or three kicks in my face, and at the same time heard the sound of voices seemingly in anger; which made me retire, and wait at the foot of a tree, where I remained till an old woman peeped out, and made signs to me to draw near. I obeyed very readily, and went into the wigwam: in it were three men and two women; one young man seemed to have great respect shewn to him by the rest, though he was the most miserable object I ever saw. He was a perfect skeleton, and covered with sores from head to foot. I was happy to sit a moment by their fire, as I was quite benumbed with cold. The old woman took out a piece of seal, holding one part of it between her feet, and the other end in her teeth, and then cut off some thin slices with a sharp shell, and distributed them about to the other Indians. She then put a bit on the fire, taking a piece of fat in her mouth, which she kept chewing, every now and then spirting some of it on the piece that was warming upon the fire; for they never do more with it than warm it through. When it was ready, she gave me a little bit, which I swallowed whole, being almost starved. As these Indians were all strangers to me, I did not know which way they were going; and indeed it was now become quite indifferent to me which way I went, whether to the northward or southward, so that they would but take me with them, and give me something to eat. However, to make them comprehend me, I pointed first to the southward, and after to the lake, and I soon understood they were going to the northward. They all went out together, excepting the sick Indian, and took up the plank of the canoe, which lay near the wigwam, and carried it to the beach, and presently put it together; and getting every thing into it, they put me to the oar. We rowed across the lake to the mouth of a very rapid river, where we put ashore for that night, not daring to get any way down in the dark; as it required the greatest skill, even in the day, to avoid running foul of the stumps and roots of trees, of which this river was full. I passed a melancholy night, as they would not suffer me to come near the wigwam they had made; nor did they give me the least bit of any one thing to eat since we embarked. In the morning we set off again. The weather proved extremely bad the whole day. We went down the river at an amazing rate; and just before night they put ashore upon a stony beach. They hauled the canoe up, and all disappeared in a moment, and I was left quite alone: it rained violently, and was very dark. I thought it was as well to lay down upon the beach, half side in water, as to get into a swamp under a dropping tree. In this dismal situation I fell asleep, and awaked three or four hours after in such agonies with the cramp, that I thought I must die upon the spot. I attempted several times to raise myself upon my legs, but could not. At last I made shift to get upon my knees, and looking towards the wood I saw a great fire at some distance from me. I was a long time crawling to it; and when I reached it, I threw myself almost into it, in hopes of finding some relief from the pain I suffered. This intrusion gave great offence to the Indians, who immediately got up, kicking and beating me till they drove me some distance from it; however I contrived a little after to place myself so as to receive some warmth from it, by which I got rid of the cramp. In the morning we left this place, and were soon after out of the river. Being now at sea again, the Indians intended putting ashore at the first convenient place, to look for shell-fish, their stock of provisions having been quite exhausted for some time. At low water we landed upon a spot that seemed to promise well; and here we found plenty of limpets. Though at this time starving, I did not attempt to eat one, lest I should lose a moment in gathering them; not knowing how soon the Indians might be going again. I had almost filled my hat when I saw them returning to the canoe. I made what haste I could to her; for I believe they would have made no conscience of leaving me behind. I sat down to my oar again, placing my hat close to me, every now and then eating a limpet. The Indians were employed the same way, when one of them, seeing me throw the shells overboard, spoke to the rest in a violent passion; and getting up, fell upon me, and seizing me by an old ragged handkerchief I had about my neck, almost throttled me; whilst another took me by the legs, and was going to throw me overboard, if the old woman had not prevented them. I was all this time entirely ignorant by what means I had given offence, till I observed that the Indians, after eating the limpets, carefully put the shells in a heap at the bottom of the canoe. I then concluded there was some superstition about throwing these shells into the sea, my ignorance of which had very nearly cost me my life. I was resolved to eat no more limpets till we landed, which we did some time after upon an island. I then took notice that the Indians brought all their shells ashore, and laid them above high water mark. Here, as I was going to eat a large bunch of berries I had gathered from a tree, for they looked very tempting, one of the Indians snatched them out of my hand and threw them away, making me to understand that they were poisonous. Thus, in all probability, did these people now save my life, who, a few hours before, were going to take it from me for throwing away a shell.

In two days after, I joined my companions again; but do not remember that there was the least joy shewn on either side at meeting. At this place was a very large canoe belonging to our guide, which would have required at least six men to the oar to have made any kind of expedition: instead of that, there was only Campbell and myself, besides the Indian, his companion, or servant, to row, the cacique himself never touching an oar, but sitting with his wife all the time much at his ease. Mr. Hamilton continued in the same canoe he had been in all along, and which still was to keep us company some way further, though many of the others had left us. This was dreadful hard work to such poor starved wretches as we were, to be slaving at the oar all day long in such a heavy boat; and this inhuman fellow would never give us a scrap to eat, excepting when he took so much seal that he could not contrive to carry it all away with him, which happened very seldom. After working like galley-slaves all day, towards night, when we landed, instead of taking any rest, Mr. Campbell and I were sometimes obliged to go miles along shore to get a few shell-fish; and just as we had made a little fire in order to dress them, he has commanded us into the boat again, and kept us rowing the whole night without ever landing. It is impossible for me to describe the miserable state we were reduced to: our bodies were so emaciated, that we hardly appeared the figures of men. It has often happened to me in the coldest night, both in hail and snow, where we had nothing but an open beach to lie down upon, in order to procure a little rest, that I have been obliged to pull off the few rags I had on, as it was impossible to get a moment's sleep with them on for the vermin that swarmed about them; though I used, as often as I had time, to take my clothes off, and putting them upon a large stone, beat them with another, in hopes of killing hundreds at once; for it was endless work to pick them off. What we suffered from this, was ten times worse even than hunger. But we were clean in comparison to Captain Cheap; for I could compare his body to nothing but an ant-hill, with thousands of those insects crawling over it; for he was now past attempting to rid himself in the least from this torment, as he had quite lost himself, not recollecting our names that were about him, or even his own. His beard was as long as a hermit's: that and his face being covered with train-oil and dirt, from having long accustomed himself to sleep upon a bag, by the way of a pillow, in which he kept the pieces of stinking seal. This prudent method he took to prevent our getting at it whilst he slept. His legs were as big as mill-posts, though his body appeared nothing but skin and bone.

One day we fell in with about forty Indians, who came down to the beach we landed on, curiously painted. Our cacique seemed to understand but little of their language, and it sounded to us very different from what we had heard before. However, they made us comprehend that a ship had been upon the coast not far from where we then were, and that she had a red flag: this we understood some time after to have been the Anne pink, whose adventures are particularly related in Lord Anson's voyage; and we passed through the very harbour she had lain in.

As there was but one small canoe that intended to accompany us any longer, and that in which Mr. Hamilton had been to this time, intended to proceed no farther to the northward, our cacique proposed to him to come into our canoe, which he refused, as the insolence of this fellow was to him insupportable; he therefore rather chose to remain where he was, till chance should throw in his way some other means of getting forward: so here we left him; and it was some months before we saw him again.

We now got on, by very slow degrees, to the northward; and as the difficulties and hardships we daily went through would only be a repetition of those already mentioned, I shall say no more, but that at last we reached an island, about thirty leagues to the southward of Chiloe. Here we remained two days for a favourable opportunity to cross the bay, the very thoughts of which seemed to frighten our cacique out of his senses; and, indeed, there was great reason for his apprehensions; for there ran a most dreadful hollow sea, dangerous, indeed, for any open boat whatever, but a thousand times more for such a crazy vessel as we were in. He at length mustered up resolution enough to attempt it, first having crossed himself for an hour together, and made a kind of lug-sail out of the bits of blankets they wore about them, sewed together with split supple jacks. We then put off, and a terrible passage we had. The bottom plank of the canoe was split, which opened upon every sea; and the water continually rushing over the gunnel, I may say that we were in a manner full the whole way over, though all hands were employed in baling without ceasing a moment. As we drew near the shore, the cacique was eager to land, having been terrified to that degree with this run, that if it had not been for us, every soul must have perished; for he had very near got in amongst the breakers, where the sea drove with such violence upon the rocks, that not even an Indian could have escaped, especially as it was in the night. We kept off till we got into smooth water, and landed upon the island of Chiloe; though in a part of it that was not inhabited. Here we staid all the next day, in a very heavy snow, to recover ourselves a little after our fatigue; but the cold was so excessive, having neither shoe nor stocking, we thought we should have lost our feet; and Captain Cheap was so ill, that if he had had but a few leagues further to have gone without relief, he could not have held out. It pleased God now that our sufferings, in a great measure, were drawing to an end.