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Tierra del Fuego: Of Sailors and Savages (1851—1900)
Contacts between ships and natives groups, as reported in the English-language press

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Introduction

Methodology

Conclusions

BALAKLAVA [1887]

Article title	Exciting Adventures	Ship	Ship, barque, Britain
Source	Daily Telegraph (Hawke's Bay, NZ), 27 April 1888	Date of event	1887
More info.		Location	Cape Pillar, Tierra del Fuego
Article	Transcript	Informant	Thomas Riordan, seaman

Abstract: The informant was washed overboard, clung to the shp's wreckage, and was ultimately washed ashore. Here he was taken prisoner by "big men", and carried to their camp. He made good his escape by murdering one of his guards at night.

Assessment: Other news reports state that as many as ten of the crew were swept overboard, near Cape Pillar. The natives were said to be "giants in size": however, this is not consistent with the believed location of the contact, in the territory of the relatively short-statured Kaweskar people. The captive feared cannibalism, but cited no evidence — but then, he imagined himself as the intended victim. It is unclear what happened between the time of his escape and his rescue — why, for instance, was he not recaptured.