Chapter I: Preface

Book-making is so much of a trade, that it may be thought quite unnecessary to be at the trouble to assign reasons for embarking in it; but, as it is not my own vocation, it will be allowed me to say, that the deep interest which many, not only of my personal friends, but others whom I never saw, have taken in my fortunes, and the desires expressed, both verbally and by letter, to know more of my adventures than was communicated through the newspapers, overcame the reluctance I felt to undertake such a task. The interest of personal adventure, however, great as it might be in immediate view of the events while they were fresh, would not alone have been presumed upon as a sufficient attraction for this volume. But the strangeness of the country observed, and the deficiency of exact information concerning its people, it was thought, would make welcome any contribution, however slight, to the knowledge of this section of our world and race. After the contradictory statements of voyagers as to the "giants" of South America, there may be some curiosity to hear the testimony of one who has "seen the elephant" under circumstances that enabled him to measure its proboscis.

My story is a plain one,--a simple record of facts, but not, I would hope, tedious. It offers no feats of literary agility for the critic's inspection, but a recital of human experiences and observations, sufficiently aside from the beaten track of life to have attracted a degree of attention which flatters me with the belief that they will repay a nearer and more minute survey.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

For California--Pernambuco--Straits of Magellan--Trading with
Patagonians--Their treachery--Four men made prisoners by
them--Three escape; the author detained, with promises of release
on paying ransom--Indian village--The chief and his
household--Eating, sleeping, and adventure in a Patagonian
wigwam--Find myself booked for an indefinite residence in
Patagonia, and some natural reflections thereupon 25

CHAPTER II.

A proposal to go to Port Famine negatived--"Holland"--Discovery of
vessels in the straits--Double disappointment--A crisis--Survey of
Patagonia--Scanty vegetation--Animals and birds--Climate--The
people--Their habits and character--Domestic
relations--Weapons--Government--Superstition--Cannibalism--Their
reputation abroad 47

CHAPTER III.

Hard journey--Encampment--Division of the tribe--My new
guardian--Story of the capture of a British
vessel--Reunion--Gambling--Culinary arts--Hunting--Symptoms of
danger--Mutual deceptions--Tough yarns--The fatal ring--An
effective oration--Indecision of the Indians 63

CHAPTER IV.

Corey Inlet--Another disappointment--A hunting frolic with an
unpleasant termination--Moving of the camp--Aimless
wanderings--Alarm--A marriage treaty and an unsuccessful
suitor--Laws of marriage--Qualifications of a husband--Feminine
quarrels--A marriage in high life--Dressing
meat--Profaneness--Absence of religious ideas--Mysterious
ceremony--Reasons for abstaining from religious instruction--The
metals--State of the arts in Patagonia--Tailoring Fashion 78

CHAPTER V.

Inclement weather--State of my wardrobe--Attempts to deprive me of
my clothes--Powwow and horse-killing--Hair-combing
extraordinary--Remedy for rheumatism--Sickness--Turn barber--A cold
bath--Fasting--Discovery of my watch, and its effect--I am made
showman--Lion-hunt--Successful chase 100

CHAPTER VI.

The chief's oratory--A case of sickness novelly treated--The
captive commissioned as physician to the chief--Dr. Bourne's first
and last patient--Murder--Cannibalism--Another assassination,
showing the perils of medical practice among savages--Sports of the
children--Patagonian farriery--Slender success in the chase--A
second struggle for life 114

CHAPTER VII.

A new torture--Bloody gossip--An explosion nearly fatal--Plea of
insanity--Reconciliation--River Santa Cruz--Naval
architecture--Original mode of ferrying--Accident--Ominous
demonstrations thereupon--Perilous superstition--Plans of
escape--The chief fighting his battles over again--Prospects
brighten--A blind hint to naturalists 128

CHAPTER VIII.

Retrograde march--A look-out ahead--New specimens of birds
observed--To the right again--Large inducements to visit
Holland--Apparent effect--Council--Other tribes of Indians--Story
of a battle--Capture of wild horses--A royal speech worth
hearing--Deputation to Holland--A start and a sudden halt--Journey
commenced in earnest--Order of arrangements--First view of
Holland--A weary day and night--A boat--A short parley--Swimming
for life and liberty--A rescue--Farewell to Patagonia 144

CHAPTER IX.

A civilized meal--A happy evening--A survey of the
island--Preparation of guano--Preparations against invasion by the
giants--A proposal to attack them--Loyalty and revenge--Killing
time--Trouble in the settlement--A disagreeable situation--Arrival
of vessels--Countrymen--A welcome by new friends 166

CHAPTER X.

A Christian ship-master--Cruise for whales, and for a
California-bound vessel--An outlandish craft--An American
vessel--Passage secured for California--Tempestuous passage through
the Straits of Magellan--Warlike demonstrations, with an inglorious
issue--Chilian penal settlement--Pleasing reception--Extensive
coal-mine--Sea-lions--Mutiny of the convicts, and awful fate of the
governor and chaplain 189

CHAPTER XI.

Port Famine--St. Nicholas' Bay, and its inscriptions--Politeness of
the Indians declined--Difficulty of navigating the straits--A
post-bag in a bottle--An English steamer, and its humane
errand--Exertions of the British government to rescue prisoners in
Patagonia--American schooner--Celebration of our safe passage
through the straits--Juan Fernandez--News from home--A chapter of
accidents--A trip to Lima--Almost an adventure--Arrival at San
Francisco--Journey to the mines--A happy meeting 204

CHAPTER XII.

A gigantic speculation, with a dwarfish result--Perils of
waters--Sickness and bereavement--Growth of Sacramento and San
Francisco--Voyage homeward--Imposition on
shipboard--Panama--Havana--Home--Concluding
observations--Practicability of Christian missions in Patagonia
considered 223

THE CAPTIVE IN PATAGONIA.