"We next had lunch which consisted of maté. As we sat waiting for the kettle to boil, several blue-winged teal (Querquedula cyanoptera) passed over us and went down in a small marsh towards the Genguel. After these Jones had another stalk, and killed two. As he was returning a couple of geese flew over at about thirty-five yards distance, and he dropped the female quite dead. It is extraordinary what an amount of shot these geese will in a general way carry off with them. For all my shooting in Patagonia I used No. 4 shot and 26 gr. of ballistite. The gun which I used most was a 12-bore moderately choked in both barrels, and this I found answered every purpose of wild-fowl shooting in Patagonia excellently.
"At reasonable ranges a number of black-necked swans (Cygnus nigricollis) fell to this weapon.
"After picking up the goose, we again turned our attention to the nineteen that I have mentioned earlier. They then went on a good distance downstream, and here, under cover of the rushes, we stalked up within twenty yards of them, and shot three as they rose. One of the flock swung back, and both of us fired at him, bringing him down. Thinking we had enough geese, we decided to follow the ducks, which we did in a rather desultory manner. We bagged two more, both pintails, before we returned to camp in the evening, having had a very pleasant day's sport."
Although I never attempted to make a big bag upon any day during the time I spent in Patagonia, yet, no doubt, an enormous quantity of geese could be shot in a single day. Quite close to the settlements a couple of hundred might be secured by two guns in a day, and during the migration a far greater number.
The whole of the valley of the River Chico is excellent for wild-fowling, and I expected the numbers of birds to increase as we drew nearer to Lake Buenos Aires. And certainly in the cañadon of the River Deseado I was not disappointed, but of that I will write in its due place.
On November 2 we resumed our march, still following the valley of the Mayo, past the scenes of our sport of the previous day. A little after midday Jones saw a whitish object among some bushes at the edge of the river and asked my leave to go and see what it was. Presently he came riding back to say it was a wild cow and that he had observed her through the glasses. She was nearly a mile distant, and, taking my rifle, I rode off with Jones and we stalked her to about 200 yards. We again examined her carefully through the telescope, and seeing that she was five or six years old and unbranded, the fact of her belonging to a wild herd rather than being a truant escaped from the settlements two hundred miles away appeared to be certain. It was with considerable keenness that we crawled up nearer, as wild cattle afford the best sport of all Patagonian animals.
These wild cattle have some of them been wild for many generations, their remote ancestors probably being the herds which the Spaniards originally possessed in the Valdez Peninsula on the east coast during the earlier occupation of Patagonia. Since then from time to time numbers of cattle escape from the coast-farms and run wild, and, joining the older free herds, breed wild. Such herds are still to be found in considerable numbers among the foot-hills of the Cordillera. Musters in his book gives an account of meeting with a wild bull. "We had expected before reaching this point to have found cattle in considerable numbers, but the warmth of the day had probably driven them into the thickets to seek shelter..... Presently ... after riding about a mile, I espied two bulls. Two men were sent round to endeavour to drive the animals to a clearing where it would be possible to use the lassoo.... At the end of five minutes ... a yell from the other side put us anxiously on the alert, and we had the gratification to see one of the animals coming straight towards our cover. Alas! just as we were preparing to dash out, he turned on the edge of the plain, and after charging furiously at his pursuer dashed into a thicket, where he stood at bay. We immediately closed round him, and dismounting, I advanced on foot to try and bring him down with a revolver. Just as I got within half a dozen paces of him, and behind a bush was quietly taking aim at his shoulder, the Indians, eager for beef, and safe on their horses at a considerable distance off, shouted, 'Nearer, nearer!' I accordingly slipped from my cover, but had hardly moved a pace forward when my spur caught in a root, and at the same moment el Toro charged. Entangled with the root, I could not jump on one side as he came on; so, when within a yard I fired a shot in his face, hoping to turn him, and wheeled my body at the same instant to prevent his horns from catching me, as the sailors say, 'broadside on.' The shot did not stop him, so I was knocked down, and, galloping over me, he passed on with my handkerchief, which fell from my head, triumphantly borne on his horns, and stopped a few yards off under another bush. Having picked myself up and found my legs and arms all right, I gave him another shot, which, as my hand was rather unsteady, only took effect in the flank. My cartridges being exhausted, I returned to my horse and found that, besides being considerably shaken, two of my ribs had been broken by the encounter.
"The Indians closed round me, and evinced great anxiety to know whether I was much hurt. One, more courageous than the rest, despite the warning of the cacique, swore he would try and lasso the brute, and, accordingly, approached the infuriated animal, who for a moment or two showed no signs of stirring; just, however, as the Indian was about to throw his lasso, it caught in a branch, and before he could extricate it the bull was upon him. We saw the horse give two or three vicious kicks as the bull gored him. At length he was lifted clean up, the fore-legs alone remaining on the ground, and overthrown, the rider alighting on his head in a bush. We closed up and attracted the bull in another direction, then went to look for the corpse of our comrade, who, however, to our surprise, issued safe from the bush, where he had lain quiet and unhurt, though the horse was killed. This little incident cast a gloom over our day's pleasure, and lost us our Christmas dinner, as Orkeke ordered a retreat to the spot where we had left our mantles, although we tried to persuade him to attack the beast again, or, at any rate, remain and eat some of the dead horse, and try our luck next day, but he was inflexible.... On our way across the plain previously described, wild cattle were seen, and one chased; but he, although balled by Orkeke, contrived to slip the bolas, and escaping to cover, stood to bay, where he was left master of the field."
In the present instance, however, nothing at all exciting was in store for us. My first bullet struck the cow behind the shoulder a little high, she went down upon her knees, and a second shot brought her to the ground. On our approaching she staggered to her feet, whereupon Jones gave her a shot in the brain. We then set about grallocking and skinning our quarry, and were delighted to find that she carried a good deal of fat. We were at the time running very short of this essential article of diet, for, as has been said, the guanacos supply none at this season of the year, when they are still in poor condition after the hardships of the winter.
When we had finished cutting up the meat, we packed it as well as we could upon our saddles and rode away. The amount of meat with which we had laden our saddles made them extremely uncomfortable; this was very much so in my own case, as I was riding a little black horse whose temper was not of the sweetest, and which had been but seldom ridden since our start, and was consequently very fresh and skittish. We had spent a long time over our task of cutting up the cow, and the troop had gone far ahead. After riding about an hour we saw a white bull upon the hillside above us, but on using the telescope perceived it carried a brand upon its flank. We therefore left it in peace.
A little later, as we were riding under the western barranca of the cañadon of the River Mayo, we came upon some fairly fresh tracks of sheep. This fact, taken in conjunction with the appearance of the white bull, made me begin to wonder whether it was possible that the cow I had shot might not prove to be a tame one. We pushed on more rapidly, the tracks growing sharper and more distinct. Presently the tracks began to run into beaten lines, and such always mean in Patagonia that man is not far off. As we rode we discussed the chances as to who the owners of the sheep would turn out to be, and this we found sufficiently exciting, as we had beheld no strange face for many a day.
Very soon, as we rode round a curve of the cliff, we came in sight of five armadillo-shaped tents lying snugly in the valley. We had not expected to come upon the Indians, who, so our guide had told us, were in the valley of the River Mayo, until some time later, but this was undoubtedly the encampment to which he had alluded. A number of sheep and of horses, together with a small herd of cattle, proved them to be an unusually rich tribe.
The remainder of our party, on sighting the huts of the Tehuelches, had halted and were waiting for my arrival. We now rode together in the direction of the tents, and, while we were yet afar off, the hounds about the squat tents broke into a chorus of barking. As we drew nearer we could see that the tall figures, wrapped in guanaco-skins, were standing in the openings of the toldos, on the look-out for the arrival whose presence had been heralded by the dogs. The sun was setting by this time over the high cliffs of the cañadon, and the toldos threw lengthened shadows upon the ground.
When we came within a short distance, the Indians stepped forward, finely developed men, of a swarthy brown, with high cheek-bones, their coarse black hair falling round their faces, and tied about the brows with a red band. The tents seemed to be full to overflowing of old women and lean hounds, all huddled together upon the ground, and a crowd of curious faces peeped forth. The toldos were made of guanaco-skins, sewn loosely at their edges, and supported squarely on awkward-looking props or posts, forked at the top to admit the ridge-poles. The skins were fastened to the earth outside with wooden pegs. These dwellings appeared to be anything but weather-proof, for at the seams and lower edges were gaping slits, through which the sky or the ground was visible. As to the shape of the toldos, if you can imagine a very squat, deep-draught boat, cut off at rather beyond the half of her length, and turned upside down, you will have some idea of their appearance. On the roof, and about the wooden props, pieces of guanaco-meat had been hung out to dry in the sun. Within, as I have said, upon the skins which strewed the floor the dogs and grandmothers of the tribe were mingled.
It was our first experience of a Tehuelche encampment, and perhaps the most remarkable feature of it was the presence, in one form or another, of the guanaco. Some of his flesh was cooking at a fire outside the tents, the toldos themselves were composed of his pelts, the ponchos which some of the women were weaving were made from his wool, the boots were formed of his neck-skin, some of the horse-gear of his hide, the men's capas of his skin, while dogs, men, and women alike were fattened upon the food he provided. As I stood there, examining all these things, my mind kept running upon the cow which I had killed, and which I was now more than half afraid might have belonged to the Indians. If such proved to be the case, I knew that they would resent it very bitterly, and even perhaps attempt to make some sort of reprisals upon our horses. The idea of saying nothing about it, were my surmise as to the chance of its having been their property correct, struck me as being the least troublesome course to pursue; but nothing is more abhorrent than dealing in this way with aboriginal tribes. Personally, I should look upon picking the pocket of a civilised person as, in comparison, almost a meritorious action. I may as well say at once that I told them of the matter of the cow through the vaqueano or guide whom I hired from their tents, and offered to pay for it if it happened to be their property. The vaqueano, however, said that no cow of that colour belonged to their herd, and, taking into consideration that she was six years old and unmarked, I made my mind easy on this point.
I shall now break off from the thread of my narrative and give a description of the Tehuelches, detailing the facts which I gathered about them during my residence in Patagonia. I will only preface it by saying that few peoples are more interesting to study than the Tehuelches, of whom various travellers have given such widely differing accounts.
Indian method of curing measles—Driving out the devil—Magellan—Patagon—Long boots—Reports of travellers—One of the finest races in the world—Nomadic—Hunters—Decreasing in numbers—Introduction of horses—Bolas—No history—Keen bargainers but not progressive—Features—Good teeth—Women—Morality—Young and old women—Half-bloods—Paisanos—Reserved in character—Habits—Infants' heads bandaged—Dance—Wives bought—Price of a wife—Marriage ceremony—White man in toldos—Bad influence—Connections of white men and Tehuelche women—Dress and adornment of women—Work—Lazy race—High wages—Ceremonies and customs—Religion—Gualicho—Fear of Cordillera—Fat hunger—Tehuelche lives on horseback—Esquimaux and Tehuelche—Primitive peoples and their habits—Food—Tobacco—Pipes—Language—Tribal government—Physical strength—Decreasing numbers—Men of silence and men of uproar—Courtesy of a Tehuelche.
Snow lay in the hollows so deep that only the lean crests of the higher bushes could thrust themselves through its surface. The wind, which had driven the snowstorm of the morning away to the east, swept drearily down out of an evening sky where neither sun nor sunset hues were to be seen, nothing but a spread of cold and misty grey, growing slowly overshadowed by the looming promise of more snow.
In the middle of the level white pampa two figures upon galloping horses were visible. As we came nearer we saw that one was that of a man clothed in a chiripa and a capa in which brown was the predominating colour. He was mounted on a heavy-necked powerful cebruno horse, his stirrups were of silver, and his gear of raw-hide seemed smart and good. As he rode he yelled with all his strength, producing a series of the most horrible and piercing shrieks.
But strange as was this wild figure, his companion, victim or quarry, was stranger and more striking still. For on an ancient zaino sat perched a little brown maiden, whose aspect was forlorn and pathetic to the last degree. She rode absolutely naked in the teeth of the bitter cold, her breast, face and limbs blotched and smeared with the rash of some eruptive disease, and her heavy-lidded eyes, strained and open, staring ahead across the leagues of empty snow-patched plain.
Presently the man redoubled his howls, and bearing down upon the zaino flogged and frightened it into yet greater speed. The whole scene might have been mistaken for some ancient barbaric and revolting form of punishment; whereas, in real truth, it was an anxious Indian father trying, according to his lights, to cure his daughter of the measles!
It appeared that the girl had taken the disease in an extremely acute form, and Indian belief and reasoning run something on these lines:
First fact—The child was possessed by a devil of great power and ferocity, who set up such a trouble inside her body that it came forth through her skin in blotches and spots.
Second fact—A devil is known to dislike noise and cold. All devils do. Hence the ride of the unlucky patient without a shred to protect her from the strong west wind snow-fed with bitter cold, and the almost incredible uproar made by the old gentleman upon the dark brown horse.
If one concedes the premises, it must be admitted there was method in his madness.
The above account was given me by Mr. Ernest Cattle, an accurate observer, whose knowledge of the wild districts of Patagonia is unique.
Such is the Tehuelche Indian of Patagonia to-day, and facts tend to show that he has in very few particulars departed from the customs, manner of living and modes of thought which distinguished his forefathers in the dawn of authentic Tehuelchian history. The earliest mention of the natives of Patagonia occurs on the occasion of the discovery of the country by Magellan in 1520. They were described as men of huge stature, giants in fact, and the very name Patagonia is said to be derived from the epithet "patagon," or "large feet," which the Spaniards bestowed upon them on account of the enormous tracks their footsteps left upon the sand of the seashore. The Tehuelches are not, as it happens, a large-footed though they are a tall race, but, considering the curious persistency of habit, which is one of their chief characteristics, the idea taken up by the Spanish is easily explained. The Tehuelches wear boots of potro (colt-skin) or guanaco-skin, which project in a narrow point some inches beyond the toes. There can be little doubt, judging by all else we know of them, that their ancestors of Magellan's day wore the same shape of foot-gear. The impressions left by such boots would very naturally, on being observed by voyagers, take their place as indications of a race of giants. In connection with this idea I may mention that several early writers united in giving a very bad name to the Tehuelches. No reputation could be more totally unmerited. From reading such accounts one would be left with the conviction that the Tehuelches are blood-thirsty and barbarous savages. This is certainly not the case now, and I do not believe, judging from all I saw of them under various circumstances, that such accusations could ever have been deserved. Some travellers appear to have fallen into the error of confounding them with other Indian races of South America, whose characteristics and history differ absolutely from the people of whom I am writing.
We see here how easy it is for travellers to make mistakes. More than one writer has charged them with the habit of eating raw flesh; whereas they cook the meat for food, but on occasion they will eat raw fat and drink the warm blood of the ostrich, which facts, no doubt, have given rise to the above misstatement.
Although not giants, the Tehuelches are certainly one of the finest races in the world. Most of them average 6 ft., some attain to 6 ft. 4 in. or even more, and in all cases they are well built and well developed. Physically, the men are splendid fellows, who look yet more nobly formed and proportioned because of the ample folds of the skin capas and ponchos in which they wrap themselves. Their way of life tends to muscular excellence, but even taking that into consideration the development of the arms, chest, and, in fact, the whole body above the loins is extraordinary. But the lower limbs are sometimes disappointing, being, in fact, the lower limbs of a race of riders.[7]
The Tehuelche Indians of Patagonia are essentially nomads, living chiefly upon the proceeds of their hunting, and, in a less degree, maintaining themselves upon sale or barter connected with their limited holding of domestic animals. Agriculture or tillage is absolutely unknown among them. The hunting-ground is farm enough for them, and they pitch their tents of skin where they will, or change their quarters at the dictates of necessity or whim. They always break camp if a death occurs among the tribe, for the spot is then considered accursed. And they are, of course, also largely influenced in their movements by the wanderings of the guanaco herds, which form their principal quarry.
There are five existing camps of Indians to be found in Patagonia. I visited two of them and a third small outlying group. Their numbers have sadly decreased since the days of the opening 'seventies, when George Chaworth Musters made his abode in the tribal toldos and followed with them in their wanderings. He speaks of two tribes of Tehuelches, the northern and the southern, only distinguishable by a slight difference of dialect, and who met and intermarried, although they did not object to espousing opposite sides in a quarrel. Other tribes whom he mentions did not inhabit the part of the country of which I am writing.
The Tehuelches proper appear to have been fairly prosperous and numerous in his day, but even then he says, speaking of them: "Supplies of rum procured in trade at the settlements ... and disease, small-pox especially, are rapidly diminishing their numbers." Things have undoubtedly gone from bad to worse in this unhappy direction, and I am inclined to think that the number of Tehuelche Indians surviving at this period can be little over a few hundreds in number. Rum is undoubtedly their chief foe. Drink to the uncivilised man is a danger against which he is provided with no defence, either social or moral. Having once tasted its fatal pleasures, he has no reason for forbidding himself an indulgence his animal nature craves.
Since the day on which the Spanish adventurers first sighted the Patagonian coast, perhaps the one "event" in the history of the Indians may truly be said to be the introduction of horses into their land. Otherwise they seem to have altered little in their way of life. Magellan says they came down to the ship clad and shod in guanaco-skins; they are clad and shod in guanaco-skins to-day. Their tools and knives were sharp-edged flints; I have seen the Indians skin their quarry with precisely the same weapons.
Bows and arrows were indeed in use among the tribes when the Spaniards visited the coast; these have now been superseded by the boleadores, an innovation which in its present form came into fashion after the Indians began to know the value of the horse. The bolas is the weapon of the Tehuelche. With it he kills his game, and with it also he catches wild colts, and finds it useful in his simple process of training. The bolas is made up of three thongs of raw hide fastened together at one end, the other free ends having attached to them stones or bits of pot-iron sewn up in skin. The Indian throws his weapon with marvellous accuracy at any animal he may be pursuing, and the thongs coiling instantly round the legs or neck of the creature, bring it to the ground, or, at any rate, entangle it hopelessly.
It may well be judged that this race have no history. They remain in touch with the methods and customs according to which their forefathers were wont to live centuries ago, and who in their turn had derived them from still older generations. Though most of the men now possess cheap store knives of steel, I have seen, as I said before, many a quarry skinned with the prehistoric flint knife. They are an intelligent people, indeed keen where bargaining is concerned, as long as they are sober; yet they seem to be entirely lacking in that quality which would enable them to forget the past with its traditional usages and methods, and to follow even remotely the sweeping onward rush that, like a tornado, carries with it the lagging races of mankind. Although the men possess unusual strength, they do not in the least know how to apply it. Their faces are somewhat flat, although the features are more or less cast in the aquiline mould, and fairly regular. The hair is coarse and lustreless, its blackness relieved by a fillet or handkerchief of scarlet. Their teeth are excellent, toothache being almost unknown in their tents. Although they bathe, I have never observed among them any article that would in any way correspond to the tooth-stick of other nomadic peoples. Their beautiful teeth are perhaps due to their habit of chewing a gummy substance that exudes from the incensio bush. Musters, in his book, says they use this as a dentifrice.
The women are not, according to our European ideas, beautiful, and such comeliness as they may sometimes possess in youth blossoms and fades quickly. They are, however, strong, and much of the camp work falls to their share. The older women can boast of a brand of ugliness all their own. Age to these ladies brings several vices in its train. Most noticeable is a craving for strong waters, a weakness from which the younger women are entirely free.
The morality of the Tehuelches is, on the whole, admirable. Unfaithfulness in the wife is rare, and not often bitterly revenged. A point as regards the morality of the women is to my mind rather luminous. While the younger chinas are unexceptionable in their moral virtues, the older women cannot be so highly commended. They are rather apt to wander from the stricter paths of decorum. When the husband of one of these elderly houris dies, as soon as the due period of mourning is past, the bereaved one will take up with any male in her tribe for either a longer or a shorter period. For ugliness sheer and unrivalled these grandmothers of the tribes stand alone. Also, as they get on in years, these ladies often run to fat. I remember one immense woman in the toldos on the pampas between Lake Argentino and Gallegos, who had put on flesh in a manner and to an extent almost unbelievable.
The younger women, while the flush of girlhood is still upon them, possess a certain comeliness which I can only describe by the adjectives "savage" and "stolid." Yet the abundant coarse black hair hanging round the heavily quiet faces, in which the features, though flattened, are still slightly aquiline, the wide-open, patient eyes, the healthful colour, and the strong, white, even teeth, which their slow smiles disclose to you, make them, on the whole, a personable race.
The half-bloods, as is usual, often possess real beauty, the alien strain giving them that vivacity which the pure race seems to lack.
Some of the pictures show an unsightly slit of the lip in the case of a few paisanos.[8] This hare-lip is by no means universal, but is an hereditary peculiarity that appears in many of the members of one special household. The arrival of a stranger in the camp makes the women retire shyly within themselves, and it is only by chance—as it is in the case of wild animals—that the new-comer ever sees the unaffected and natural character shine out. When in contact with whites the Tehuelche man also becomes reserved, the whole expression of his countenance changes, and he is very suspicious of being laughed at, a point on which he is very susceptible, and which he deeply resents.
I cannot but think that the constant accusations of uncleanliness that have been brought against the Tehuelche Indians are due to the single fact that their dogs are allowed to live in the toldos. The result in a country where scab is common may be left to the imagination. But, apart from the crawling things which inhabit his toldos, the Indian is fairly cleanly, bathing each day and swimming in the lakes and lagoons. The women make excellent mothers, and the father is inordinately proud of his offspring, especially of his sons. Of how many races can so many good things be truthfully said?
They have a singular custom of bandaging the heads of infants in such a manner as to produce a flattening of the back of the skull. It might be worth the while of physiologists to go deeper into the matter, with a view to discovering how far this alteration in the brain-space determines the character of the individual operated upon. Interesting results might thus be obtained and some vexed problems solved.
A certain stage in the life of each girl is celebrated by a festivity in the camp. An ornamented toldo is put up temporarily for the girl's occupation, and the young men of the tribe march round it singing while the women howl, probably with a view to exorcising any evil spirit who may be lingering about the camp.[9] The ceremony is followed by a feast, and the evening winds up with a dance. The men alone take part in this, and it consists in circling round the fire, pacing sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly. A few dance at a time, accompanying their movements with a constant bowing or nodding of the head, which is adorned with tufts of ostrich feathers. When one party is tired out another takes its place.
Wives, of course, are bought and sold, but when a lady is purchased by a suitor whom she happens to dislike, there is trouble for the bridegroom, and conjugal obedience is only enforced after struggles, of which the not infrequent result is that the mark of the lady's teeth remains permanently upon her lord.
The price of a wife varies, as must be expected in the natural course of things. Strangely enough, a girl's value often depends upon the number of her brethren, who must receive two horses apiece. To buy a bride with means or rather animals of her own, an heiress in fact, who comes of well-to-do people, as much as a hundred mares have been given—or shall I say paid.[10]
When desirous of carrying on matrimonial negotiations the would-be bridegroom must always employ a go-between. To omit this ceremonial method of approach would be an outrage on etiquette. I conclude, though I do not know it for a fact as regards Patagonia, that the go-between in that country gets his pickings from both sides as his congener does elsewhere.
The marriage ceremony is delightfully simple. After the preliminary bargaining has been successfully brought to a close, the happy bridegroom mounts his horse and rides to the toldo of his intended and hands over his appointed gifts, receiving those of the parents in return. He then carries back his bride amid the cheers and cries of his friends, and in the evening there is a feast. Musters remarks that on these occasions the dogs are not permitted to touch the meat or offal of the animals killed, as it is considered unlucky if they do so.
The gifts which are exchanged between the parties form in a more or less degree a marriage settlement, for in case of divorce her parents' gifts accrue to the wife. Polygamy is allowed but not much practised among the tribes.
Few phenomena are to my mind more unaccountable than the action of the white man who "goes fantee."
"Went fantee, joined the people of the land,
Turned three parts Mussulman and one Hindoo,
And lived among the Gauri villages,
Who gave him shelter and a wife or twain."
This singular mental or moral warp which results in a man "going fantee" is by no means uncommon in Patagonia. Of course, as may be imagined, a certain proportion of such men fall to this condition at the end of the career variegated. Others prefer ruling in Cathay to serving in any other community more dignified; others again take daughters of the land to wife because their trade lies with the Indians.
There is, however, one very strong objection to this latter course of marrying, Tehuelche fashion, a china of the toldos, and that is that all the relatives of the lady in question are apt to quarter themselves upon the bridegroom. Occasionally the white man objects, but I imagine that the cases of those who object successfully are rare. But there is one estanciero in Patagonia who is the father of two buxom daughters by a Tehuelche wife. These girls are now grown up, and their tribe was encamped during the winter of 1900 not two hours' ride from the dwelling-place of their father. Yet I am assured the father never aided the tribe or his own offspring in any way, although that winter was so severe that starvation visited the toldos of the tribe. A man of this mettle is, however, not frequently to be heard of, and cases of a quite laudable affection having existed between a white man and a china are on record.
But, at the same time, it must be repeated that the influence of the white who goes to live among the Indians as one of themselves, almost without exception, makes for evil. I have already spoken of the offspring of the mixed unions. The Tehuelche blood gives to the faces of the half-breed women an expression of sad patience, while the Spanish connection adds certainly to their gift of beauty.
The women have very simple ideas of adornment. They generally take the form of silver necklets and the red fillet bound in their hair.[11] Their dress is composed of the picturesque guanaco-skin capa, or mantle, worn with the wool inside. Woman, to tell the truth, holds no such bad position among the Patagonian Indians. She does the cooking, but little else that can be called hard work, except the taking down and pitching of the toldos when the tribe break camp. They carry on a slack industry in the form of weaving ponchos from guanaco wool. Some species of earth is used for dyeing the wool, but the resulting colours are dull. In this particular the Tehuelches differ from the Indians of the northern pampas, whose dyeing materials are derived from herbs, and give brighter tints. These ponchos and saddle-rugs made by the chinas are much prized and sought after as curiosities, hence the makers demand very high prices for them—even up to thirty or forty dollars each.
The women also spend some of their time in sewing together the skins of guanaco or ostriches into rugs, using sinews for thread. Rugs of this kind and bunches of ostrich feathers form the staple commodities which they offer at the settlements for sale.
The hair of the adult animal, being harsh and coarse, is of less value in the market than that of the young guanaco; therefore the hunters endeavour to secure chiefly the pelts of the young guanaco, some of the rugs being even made from the skin of the unborn, which is cut out of the mother a few days previous to the date when they would naturally be dropped. At certain seasons enormous numbers of these pelts are to be seen drying, pegged out, beside the Indian toldos.
The time of year during which the hunting of guanaco chicos, or little ones, is carried on includes the latter half of October and the month of November.
I am afraid it must be confessed that the Tehuelches are a very lazy race. Nearly everything which makes any demand upon their energies—with the exception of hunting—seems too much trouble for them to do. Few individuals become even comparatively rich, and even then live none the better for it. One could never guess whether a man were rich or poor by his dress; he carries no sign of improved circumstances in his person or bearing. The owner of two thousand beasts will come into camp and sit by your fire, putting in a plea with the humblest for a cupful of maté. Occasionally an Indian will act as a guide across the empty distances of the pampas. They have an excellent idea of the value of their services and of the paper peso of the Argentine Republic. They set a high price upon themselves—a vaqueano, or guide, demanding five dollars a day or seventy dollars a month.
But however this quality may seem to approximate to civilisation, the customs with which he still surrounds the events of birth, sickness, and death are the old cruel forms that have been perpetuated through the ages, and they stamp him as remaining even to this day the very slightly diluted savage.
In some cases when a child is born, a cow or mare is killed, the stomach taken out and cut open, and into this receptacle while still warm the child is laid. Upon the remainder of the animal the tribe feast, and when they feast they carry out the notion thoroughly. After eating their fill, they lie about gorged and half insensible and let the world spin on. This is a quiet festivity, and only takes place in this modified form when the tribe happen to be out of fire-water.
But should there be liquor at hand, the younger women, who never drink on such occasions, go round beforehand and gather up every knife, hatchet, or, in fact, all and any weapon they can find, and bury them in some hidden spot about the camp.[12] This custom, which is in its own way pathetic, speaks for itself. Under the influence of liquor the nature of the peaceable Indian becomes completely changed. It maddens him, and the dance round the fires often ends in a free fight.
A variation of the foregoing birth-ceremony is yet more savage. If a boy is born, his tribe catch a mare or a colt—if the father be rich and a great man among his people, the former; if not, the latter—a lasso is placed round each leg, a couple round the neck, and a couple round the body. The tribe distribute themselves at the various ends of these lassos and take hold. The animal being thus supported cannot fall. The father of the child now advances and cuts the mare or colt open from the neck downwards, the heart, &c., is torn out, and the baby placed in the cavity. The desire is to keep the animal quivering until the child is put inside. By this means they believe that they ensure the child's becoming a fine horseman in the future.[13]
If an Indian dies the place becomes accursed. The camp is immediately removed to a fresh locality. When the dead man or woman is buried, certain ceremonies are observed about the grave, evidently with a view to enabling the departed to start in another life with an adequate outfit. Horses and dogs are slaughtered, so that he may have the means to pursue and kill the guanaco in the land of ghosts. Food and dead game are also placed in the grave to supply his needs at the outset of the new existence. Should the dead happen to be a child or a person of tender years, fillies and colts are slaughtered at the burial.
In former times, and in fact until quite recent years, it used to be the custom to place beside the corpse the silver-mounted horse-gear of the dead man, and to close the grave upon it. In a land where life depends not infrequently upon the strength of your raw-hide head-stall, for instance, the value of sound gear is properly appreciated; therefore this particular precaution for the welfare of the dead shows a very practical solicitude on the part of the survivors. To-day the Tehuelches still bury these possessions in the grave, but the custom is only continued with a reservation. Instead of leaving the valuable gear under the earth for all time, they now at the end of a twelvemonth dig it up again. How they reconcile this economical arrangement with the comfort of their lost friend I do not know, but it may be suggested that they imagine the inhabitant of another world has had full time in the course of a year to make suitable new gear for himself.
The religion of the Indians is interesting. It consists, of course, in the old simple beliefs in good spirits and devils, but chiefly devils, which, with variations dependent on climate and physical environment, represent all over the world the spiritual creeds of uncivilised races. The dominant Spirit of Evil, as feared by the Tehuelches, is called the Gualicho. And he abides as an ever-present terror behind their strange, free, and superstitious lives. They spend no small portion of their time in either fleeing from his wrath or in propitiating it. You may wake in the dawn to see a band of Indians suddenly rise and leap upon their horses, and gallop away across the pampa, howling and gesticulating. They are merely scaring the Gualicho away from their tents back to his haunts in the Cordillera—the wild and unpenetrated mountains, where he and his subordinate demons groan in chosen spots the long nights through.
The expedition under my command happened to encamp near one such place upon the southern shore of Lake Rica. It was a moonlight night, and loud rushing noises broke the peace of every hour of it. There happened to be a huge glacier on the opposite side of the lake, from which great pieces became detached at frequent intervals (for the mass of the glacier overhung the cliff), and these plunged with strange, loud explosions, I might almost call them, into the water. Such are the noises that terrify the Indian; he cannot explain them, and it is small wonder they excite his fears in the highest degree. For it must be remembered that in all practical ways the Tehuelche is a very brave man. Yet no pay can tempt him within the region of the Cordilleras, where to his superstitious mind the near presence of the Gualicho is manifested by those awful groanings and sounds which no human agency known to him could by any possibility produce.
In common with other savage peoples, the Tehuelches believe the Good Spirit to be of a far more quiescent habit than the spirits of evil. Long ago, at the epoch of Creation perhaps, the Good Spirit made one effort for the benefit of mankind,[14] but since then he has been otherwise occupied, and shown himself little interested with earthly matters. Like Baal, he is perchance upon a journey, or perchance he is sleeping. The result is the same; his worshippers must take care of themselves as well as they can, and the best method which offers is to ward off by all means in their power the attacks of the maleficent influence. For the Gualicho is of a very active disposition, and shows no scorn of small things. On the contrary, he is quite capable of descending upon a single Indian to punish him for an offence and to work him harm.
It is a humiliating reflection that the great mass of peoples have always been, and will always be, far more ready and fervent in propitiating an evil spirit, or endeavouring to avert the action of any punishing power, than in seeking the favour of the Good Spirit or returning him thanks for benefits received. Human nature under the frock-coat of civilisation is much the same as under the capa of the Tehuelche.
By inference one can see that the Patagonian believes in a future life—a life much on the lines of his earthly one, but abounding in those things which he most desires, and which here he finds in short measure. I only know that the land he is going to after death is a land flowing, not with milk and honey, but with grease. On the pampas of life here below the guanaco is lean and seldom yields an ounce of fat, and as I have myself experienced the craving for fat, or fat-hunger, I know it to be a very real and uncomfortable demand of the human system. But in the Patagonian Beyond the guanaco herds will be plump and well provided with supplies of suet, and the califate-bushes always laden with ripe and purple berries.
The traditions of the tribes go back to the epoch when they hunted on foot and used bows and arrows, as well as the bolas, armed with a large single ball of stone. That period may be one hundred, or possibly a hundred and fifty, years ago. Then a tribe of Pampa Indians rode down out of the north and brought to the Tehuelches the inestimable boon of horses.
At the present day no worse evil can happen to an Indian than to be left without a horse and dependent on his own legs. He rides perpetually, and in consequence has almost lost the walking capabilities of other men.[15] He lives upon horseback, and there earns his living, so to speak. With his dogs he rides down his game, but he has no skill in tracking any more than the dogs. But, for all that, his sight is keen; the quality of extraordinary long-sightedness, which distinguishes men used to scanning vast levels of sea or land, is essentially his.
The Tehuelche, although in many ways offering a complete contrast, yet in some points forms a strange parallel to the Esquimaux. The Esquimaux has never seen a horse, the Tehuelche never uses a boat, although his land abounds in sheets of water. Both races are eminently sluggish and peaceable. Both fear evil spirits, which they fancy live in particular localities. It is indeed a far cry from Greenland to Patagonia, but if you substitute the horse for the kayak and the seal for the guanaco, you will find that, although separated by space and race and circumstance, a certain resemblance between the people of the Far South and of the Far North exists. And of both races little evil can be said.
These primitive peoples, living close to nature, divided from man's original state only by the thinnest and filmiest of partitions, attain in a wonderful degree the art of doing without things. The Esquimaux starts upon a long day's hunting, with the thermometer marking many degrees below zero, upon nothing save a drink of water! A luxury such as coffee is said to enervate him.[16] The Patagonian Indian rides out of a morning having taken nothing at all in the way of sustenance. But he puts a pinch of salt in his belt, and when his dogs pull down their first guanaco or ostrich, he draws off the blood and swallows it mixed with salt.
The tribes live to a considerable extent on guanaco, and it is practically their life-work to follow the wanderings of the herds through the changing seasons. But the flesh of the ostrich is more palatable, and is, consequently, preferred when it can be procured. They drink maté in large quantities, which, as has been shown, is the universal habit on the pampas, where it is, in fact, indispensable, supplying, as it does, to a certain extent, the place of vegetables, besides having the valuable quality of refreshing and invigorating in a quite extraordinary degree.
They rarely smoke pure tobacco; it is too precious. They mix it with about 80 per cent. of califate-wood shavings. Once, when short of tobacco, I tried their mixture, and in truth there are many worse smokes upon the English and American markets. The califate is certainly a little acrid, but burns with a very blue smoke. I fancy one could get on tolerably well with this faked tobacco, aided by a bit of imagination and a strong throat.