midnight
They move about only in their canoes , living on shell-fish , seals ' flesh , and fish , their habits being more filthy and disgusting even than are those of our present friends . Phineas laughs at the notion of their being our fellow-creatures , and says that they must have sprung from apes ; but Tony , who has seen many strange people , says that he would not give a fig for the supercargo 's opinion , for that he has known white men become almost as brutish in their appearance , and much more brutish in their manners , just from living a few years among born savages , cut off from all communication with their fellow whites . A little practical experience often shows the folly of these would-be philosophers . On the Pacific coast of this end of America are found the unsubdued tribes of the Araucanians in vast numbers , so that in this one small portion of the continent are many hundred thousand savages , all lying in the midnight of heathen darkness . Phineas observes that it is a pity they can not be swept away , and civilised men , with whom it would be an advantage to trade , introduced in their stead . He esteems men in proportion as they are able to exchange gold dust , ivory , spices or precious stones , not knowing their value , for glass beads and Brummagem knives and needles . I can not help thinking that all those savages have immortal souls , and regretting that they should be allowed to pass away from this life without having the light of gospel truth set before them .