420 THREE CENTURIES' PERSPECTIVESmind of one of these beings resemble that of an educated man. What a scale
of improvement is comprehended between the faculties of a Fuegian savage
and a Sir Isaac Newton!
Darwin's final line on the Fuegians (in the Voyage of the Beagle)
uses an interesting and revealing phrase in summary: "I believe, in
this extreme part of South America, man exists in a lower state of
improvement than in any other part of the world." You may cringe
at the paternalism, but "lower state of improvement" does at least
stake a claim for potential brotherhood. And Darwin did recognize
the beam in his own shipmates' eyes in writing of their comparable
irrationalisms:Each [Fuegian] family or tribe has a wizard or conjuring doctor.... [Yet] I
do not think that our Fuegians were much more superstitious than some of
the sailors; for an old quartermaster firmly believed that the successive
heavy gales, which we encountered off Cape Horn, were caused by our
having the Fuegians on board.I must note a precious irony and summarize (all too briefly) a
bizarre and wonderful story. Were it not for paternalism, the Beagle
might never have sailed, and Darwin would probably have lost his
date with history. Regret paternalism, laugh at it, cringe mightily—
but grant this most salutary, if indirect, benefit for Darwin. Captain
FitzRoy had made a previous voyage to Tierra del Fuego. There he
"acquired," through ransom and purchase, four Fuegian natives,
whom he brought to England for a harebrained experiment in the
"improvement" of "savages." They arrived at Plymouth in October
1830 and remained until the Beagle set sail again in December 1831.
One of the four soon died of smallpox, but the others lived at
Walthamstow and received instruction in English manners, lan-
guage, and religion. They attracted widespread attention, including
an official summons for a visit with King William IV. FitzRoy,
fiercely committed to his paternalistic experiment, planned the next
Beagle voyage primarily to return the three Fuegians, along with an
English missionary and a large cargo of totally incongruous and
useless goods (including tea trays and sets of fine china) donated,
with the world's best will and deepest naivete, by women of the
parish. There on the tip of South America, FitzRoy planned to es-
tablish a mission to begin the great task of improvement for the
earth's most lowly creatures.