VISIT TO THE INDIAN CAMP--A PATAGONIAN--INDIAN
CURIOSITY--PHYSIQUE--COSTUME--WOMEN--PROMINENT
CHARACTERISTICS--AN INDIAN INCROYABLE--
SUPERSTITIOUSNESS.
Since we left Sandy Point our dogs had had no regular meal, and had
subsisted chiefly on rice and biscuits, a kind of food which, being
accustomed to meat only, was most uncongenial to their tastes and
unprofitable to their bodies. For their sakes, therefore, as well as
for our own, we looked forward to our visit to the Indian camp, apart
from other motives of interest, in the hopes of obtaining a sufficient
supply of meat to last for all of us, until we should arrive in the
promised land of game.
After breakfast the horses were saddled, and taking some sugar,
tobacco, and other articles for bartering purposes, we set out for the
Indian camp, accompanied by Gregorio and Guillaume. I'Aria and Storer
were left in charge of our camp, and Francisco went off with the dogs
towards Cape Gregorio, in the hope of falling in with some stray
ostrich or guanaco. The weather was fine, and for once we were able to
rejoice in the absence of the rough winds which were our daily
annoyance. We had not gone far when we saw a rider coming slowly
towards us, and in a few minutes we found ourselves in the presence of
a real Patagonian Indian. We reined in our horses when he got close to
us, to have a good look at him, and he doing the same, for a few
minutes we stared at him to our hearts' content, receiving in return
as minute and careful a scrutiny from him. Whatever he may have
thought of us, we thought him a singularly unprepossessing object,
and, for the sake of his race, we hoped an unfavourable specimen of
it. His dirty brown face, of which the principal feature was a pair of
sharp black eyes, was half-hidden by tangled masses of unkempt hair,
held together by a handkerchief tied over his forehead, and his burly
body was enveloped in a greasy guanaco-capa, considerably the worse
for wear. His feet were bare, but one of his heels was armed with a
little wooden spur, of curious and ingenious handiwork. Having
completed his survey of our persons, and exchanged a few guttural
grunts with Gregorio, of which the purport was that he had lost some
horses and was on their search, he galloped away, and, glad to find
some virtue in him, we were able to admire the easy grace with which
he sat his well-bred looking little horse, which, though considerably
below his weight, was doubtless able to do its master good service.
Continuing our way we presently observed several mounted Indians,
sitting motionless on their horses, like sentries, on the summit of a
tall ridge ahead of us, evidently watching our movements. At our
approach they disappeared over the ridge, on the other side of which
lay their camping-ground. Cantering forward we soon came in sight of
the entire Indian camp, which was pitched in a broad valley-plain,
flanked on either side by steep bluffs, and with a little stream
flowing down its centre. There were about a dozen big hide tents, in
front of which stood crowds of men and women, watching our approach
with lazy curiosity. Numbers of little children were disporting
themselves in the stream, which we had to ford in order to get to the
tents. Two Indians, more inquisitive than their brethren, came out to
meet us, both mounted on the same horse, and saluted us with much
grinning and jabbering. On our arrival in the camp we were soon
encircled by a curious crowd, some of whose number gazed at us with
stolid gravity, whilst others laughed and gesticulated as they
discussed our appearance in their harsh guttural language, with a
vivacious manner which was quite at variance with the received
traditions of the solemn bent of the Indian mind. Our accoutrements
and clothes seemed to excite great interest, my riding-boots in
particular being objects of attentive examination, and apparently of
much serious speculation. At first they were content to observe them
from a distance, but presently a little boy was delegated by the
elders, to advance and give them a closer inspection. This he
proceeded to do, coming towards me with great caution, and when near
enough, he stretched out his hand and touched the boots gently with
the tips of his fingers. This exploit was greeted with roars of
laughter and ejaculations, and emboldened by its success, many now
ventured to follow his example, some enterprising spirits extending
their researches to the texture of my ulster, and one even going so
far as to take my hand in his, whilst subjecting a little bracelet I
wore to a profound and exhaustive scrutiny.
[Illustration: INDIAN CAMP.]
Whilst they were thus occupied I had leisure to observe their general
appearance. I was not struck so much by their height as by their
extraordinary development of chest and muscle. As regards their
stature, I do not think the average height of the men exceeded six
feet, and as my husband stands six feet two inches I had a favourable
opportunity for forming an accurate estimate. One or two there were,
certainly, who towered far above him, but these were exceptions. The
women were mostly of the ordinary height, though I noticed one who
must have been quite six feet, if not more. The features of the
pure-bred Tehuelche are extremely regular, and by no means unpleasant
to look at. The nose is generally aquiline, the mouth well shaped and
beautified by the whitest of teeth, the expression of the eye is
intelligent, and the form of the whole head affords a favourable index
to their mental capabilities. These remarks do not apply to the
Tehuelches in whose veins there is a mixture of Araucanian or Fuegian
blood. The flat noses, oblique eyes, and badly proportioned figures of
the latter make them most repulsive objects, and they are as different
from a pure-bred Tehuelche in every respect as "Wheel-of-Fortune" from
an ordinary carthorse. Their hair is long and coarse, and is worn
parted in the middle, being prevented from falling over their faces by
means of a handkerchief, or fillet of some kind, tied round the
forehead. They have naturally little hair on the face, and such
growth as may appear is carefully eradicated, a painful operation,
which many extend even to their eyebrows. Their dress is simple, and
consists of a "chiripá," a piece of cloth round the loins, and the
indispensable guanaco capa, which is hung loosely over the shoulders
and held round the body by the hand, though it would obviously seem
more convenient to have it secured round the waist with a belt of some
kind. Their horse-hide boots are only worn, for reasons of economy,
when hunting. The women dress like the men except as regards the
chiripá, instead of which they wear a loose kind of gown beneath the
capa, which they fasten at the neck with a silver brooch or pin. The
children are allowed to run about naked till they are five or six
years old, and are then dressed like their elders. Partly for
ornament, partly also as a means of protection against the wind, a
great many Indians paint their faces, their favourite colour, as far
as I could see, being red, though one or two I observed had given the
preference to a mixture of that colour with black, a very diabolical
appearance being the result of this combination.
The Tehuelches are a race that is fast approaching extinction, and
even at present it scarcely numbers eight hundred souls. They lead a
rambling nomadic existence, shifting their camping places from one
region to another, whenever the game in their vicinity gets shy or
scarce. It is fortunate for them that the immense numbers of guanaco
and ostriches makes it an easy matter for them to find subsistence, as
they are extremely lazy, and, plentiful as game is around them, often
pass two or three days without food rather than incur the very slight
exertion attendant on a day's hunting.
But it is only the men who are cursed or blessed with this indolent
spirit. The women are indefatigably industrious. All the work of
Tehuelche existence is done by them except hunting. When not employed
in ordinary household work they busy themselves in making guanaco
capas, weaving gay-coloured garters and fillets for the hair, working
silver ornaments, and so forth. Not one of their least arduous tasks
is that of collecting firewood, which, always a scarce article,
becomes doubly hard to find, except by going great distances, when
they camp long in one place.
But though treated thus unfairly as regards the division of labour,
the women can by no means complain of want of devotion to them on the
part of the men. Marriages are matters of great solemnity with them,
and the tie is strictly kept. Husband and wife show great affection
for one another, and both agree in extravagant love of their
offspring, which they pet and spoil to their hearts' content.
The most prominent characteristic of the Tehuelche is his easy-going
good humour, for whereas most aboriginal races incline to silence and
saturnine gravity, he is all smiles and chatter. The other good
qualities of the race are fast disappearing under the influence of
"aquadiente," to the use of which they are getting more and more
addicted, and soon, it is to be feared, they will become nothing more
than a pack of impoverished, dirty, thieving ragamuffins.
After having sat for some time on horseback, in the centre of the
numerous circle above referred to, we dismounted, the act causing
fresh animation and merriment in our interviewers, whose interest in
us, after a thorough examination, had begun to flag somewhat. An
object which greatly excited their feelings was a rifle belonging to
my brother, and their delight knew no bounds when he dismounted and
fired it off for their edification once or twice at a distant mark. At
each discharge they set up a lusty howl of satisfaction, and nothing
would do for them but for each to be allowed to handle the weapon and
inspect its mechanism. There was a trader in the camp who had arrived
about the same time as we did, and amongst other wares he had brought
a rusty carbine with him for sale. He was called upon by the Indians
to produce it and fire it off to compare its qualities with those of
my brother's rifle. This he proceeded to do, but seven times in
succession the cartridges missed fire. Each time this happened he was
greeted with shouts of derisive laughter, and it was evident that both
he and his weapon were the objects of most disparaging remarks on the
part of the Tehuelches. One of them, a man of some humour, brought out
a small piece of ostrich meat and offered it to the trader in exchange
for his carbine, saying in broken Spanish, "Your gun never kill piece
of meat as big as this. Your gun good to kill dead guanaco." At which
witticism there was renewed and prolonged applause, as the newspapers
say.
But excitement reached its height when I produced the bag of sugar we
had brought, and began to distribute small handfuls of its contents
among the children. Everybody pressed round me--men and women,
hustling and pushing in their eagerness to get some of the coveted
dainty. I was obliged to be careful in my bounty, however, or we
should not have enough left to obtain any meat in exchange, and a
great many sweet-toothed Tehuelches had to remain disappointed in
consequence. As it was, we found considerable difficulty in obtaining
any meat. The Indians had not been out hunting for three days, and
there was hardly anything but pemmican in the camp,--a greasy
concoction, with which we by no means cared to experiment on our
stomachs. With difficulty we at last succeeded in obtaining the leg
and breast of an ostrich, and a small piece of half sun-dried guanaco
meat, which looked extremely untempting. This transaction having been
accomplished, we wandered leisurely about the camp, glancing at the
different objects of interest that came in our way, pestered not a
little as we moved along by swarms of yelping curs, which barked and
snapped viciously at us, and could only be kept at a respectful
distance by a free use of stones and whips. At one of the tents we saw
two remarkably clean and pretty girls, who were engaged on some kind
of sewing work; and beside them--probably making love to one (or
both)--stood an equally good-looking youth, who struck me by the
peculiar neatness of his dress, and his general "_tiré à quatre
epingles_" appearance. His hair was brushed and combed, and carefully
parted,--a bright red silk handkerchief keeping its glossy locks in
due subjection. His handsome guanaco capa was new, and brilliantly
painted on the outside, and being half opened, displayed a clean white
chiripá, fastened at the waist by a silver belt of curious
workmanship. A pair of neatly fitting horse-hide boots encased his
feet, reaching up to the knees, where they were secured by a pair of
gay-coloured garters, possibly the gift of one of the fair maidens at
his side.
Struck by his graceful bearing and well-bred looking face, I begged
Mr. B., who had brought a sketch-book with him, to make a sketch of
this handsome son of the pampa. During the process the young Indian
never moved, and preserved a perfectly indifferent demeanour; but when
the picture was finished, and given to him for inspection, his
forehead contracted with anger, an expression of fear came in his
eyes; he gave vent to some angry sounding gutturals, and finally, much
to our annoyance, tore the portrait to pieces. He was under the
impression that the object of making the sketch was to throw some evil
spell over him, and that a misfortune would happen if it were not
destroyed. Being relieved of this danger, his feelings regained their
natural calm, and he grinned contentedly at our evident wrath at his
high-handed proceeding.
The Indians were about to make their annual visit to Sandy Point,
where they go to obtain the rations of sugar, tobacco, etc., allowed
to them by the Chilian Government, and to barter with the inhabitants
for the luxuries of civilisation, in exchange for furs and ostrich
feathers, at which transactions, as they are seldom sober during their
stay outside the colony, they generally get worsted by the cunning
white man. Our curiosity regarding the Indians being satisfied, and
having obtained all the meat we could from them, we now turned
homewards.