SAVAGE LIFE

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 7 August 1926, Page 11

SAVAGE LIFE

T the end of tlie straits of Le Maire, between Tierra del Fuego and ,Staten Land toff South. America), lies Hermit Island,' a desolate pile, of rocks swept })y fierce winds mid stormy seas (states the Hew hoik Times and Magazine). A ship bound from New York to the Golden Gate by the longer route ran in behind the island during a southerly gale in search of a safe harbour in which to ride out the blow, which threatened to become a hurricane. Spying a log dug-out drawn u p on the shore, the captain next morning sent a boat to find out what kind of people inhabited so inhospitable a place. A rude path led over the rocks, to a cave in the side of a hill. Several people sitting around a tire on a tint rock ran into the cave and hid as the sailors approached. The remains of fish, cooked heads and all, showed that the cave people had been at breakfast when disturbed. After being assured by friendly signs that their visitors intended them no harm, the strange family was finally induced to come out. It consisted of a man, a woman, and two boys, eight and ten years old. The jinan and boys wore no.clothing, but the woman had on a short skirt of skins, which hung to her knees. The man was almost covered with liair, and had a long grizzled beard reaching below his waist. The two boys were deformed, and unable to stand upright. The man spoke in a guttural tongue which resembled Portuguese.

The mouth of the cave, which was low-roofed, but wide and deep, was protected from, wind and weather by a rough wall of branches closely set in the earth. Dry leaves served for bedding and scashelis for dishes. The feathers and bones of seabirds were scattered about the floor of the cave, and. a stone and a sling of skins lying in one corner indicated how they were caught.