Boat Memory was a Yamaná Indian, taken from Tierra del Fuego in 1828 by Captain Fitzroy of the Beagle. The Fuegians had destroyed one of the boats of the sailing ship Beagle, and its crew named him in memory of the lost boat.
Along with Jemmy Button, Fuegia Basket, and York Minster, Boat Memory was brought to England to be educated and civilized. Unfortunately, he died in the Naval Hospital in Plymouth, England, after being vaccinated for smallpox.
It seems an odd name; but British sailors gave names like this to many foreigners who were incorporated into their ships' crews. Crew members also might be called after their jobs, so that the carpenter was "Chips", the person in charge of sails was "Sails" or "Sales", and the caretaker of the poultry was "Ducks".
Boat Memory's three compatriots were returned to Tierra del Fuego on the Beagle, written of by their shipmate Charles Darwin in his Voyage of the Beagle.