LIFE AMONG THE 0 STRICH-HITNTERS.* FAR-STRETCHING and apparently boundless plains,
of absolute aridity—diversified only by the deceptive glitter of the salinas, or salt lakes—over which wander two or three hunters, with vaga- bond instincts and a desire to be free from all social obligations, —such is the picture which rises in our minds, when we think of Southern Patagonia. These dreary pampas, home of the ostrich and the guanaco, extending uninterruptedly for thirty or forty miles, swept by fierce winds, with a sterile, sandy soil, covered with stones, present to the view nothing more than an occasional tuft of coarse, withered grass or a patch of stunted jume bushes, which furnishes at a pinch a poor enough nocturnal shelter. Suddenly, however, the traveller who has fallen a little in the rear of his companions will be surprised at their sudden disap- pearance, and on following their footsteps will find that the plain has terminated abruptly, and that they are descending in a zig- zag an almost vertical precipice to another plateau, some hun- dred feet below ; or it may be that they have reached one of those grand ravines or cations where alone it is possible to find a stretch of verdure or any alluvial soil. Yet Mr. Beerbolun tells us that the sober, hard Patagonian landscapes, with their impressive stillness and their grave immensity, had for him a stronger fascination than the most gorgeous tropical scenery, and for a time he found himself quite able to enter into the intoxicating feeling of delight with which the ostrich-hunter shakes off all conventional requirements, and clad in his fur capa, with his horses, dogs, and bolas, and one or two staunch companions, commits himself to the free life of the plains. The author himself, despatched from Buenos Ayres to St. Julian with an engineering party, to report upon the capabilities of the country between ports Desire and Santa Cruz, and being suddenly required to return to Brazil, took advantage of the visit of a party of hunters going southwards to dispose of their
* Wanderings in Patagonia. By Julius Beerbohm. London : Matto and Windue.
feathers at Sandy Point, in the Straits of Magellan, to make the journey in their company, and at the same time experience an entirely novel kind of life. As it turned out, however, he was by no means a gainer in point of time, while he very nearly fell a victim to hunger and cold, having been delayed by the impossibility of crossing the Rio Gallegos at that season, swollen by the melting snows of the Cordilleras into a rapid, broad, and dangerous torrent. The account of the passage when, after many attempts, it was at last successfully accom- plished, will make the reader hold his breath during its perusal, so imminent was the danger that the poor wearied traveller would, after all, be overpowered. Indeed, the whole book is full of exciting incidents, told with the vivid recollection of one of whose existence they formed some of its most striking episodes. Of his four companions, the chief Isidoro will be doubtless remembered by readers of Captain Musters' book, At Home with the Patagonians, as the wonderful rider and tamer of horses, a man distinguished for his vigilance, his sharpness of vision, and his extraordinary love of silence. A slender, well-built, swarthy man is Isidoro, an Argentine Gaucho, with a dash of Indian blood in his veins. Next to him comes another Gaucho, but this one, Garcia, is blue-eyed and fair- haired, and very nearly the equal of his companion in the arts of the chase. Guillaume, a Frenchman, and Maximo, an Austrian, make up the quartet, these two latter being en- dowed with wonderful powers of appetite, Maximo adding to his qualification of an excellent linguist the, under the circumstances, still more important one of being a master in Pampas cookery, — a department of the cuisine which requires a specially adaptive faculty, in order to turn out an appetising meal. The piZce de resistance is princi- pally ostrich, but this can be served with rice as a pot-au- feu, or steaks can be broiled, the wings, which are the greatest delicacy—something like turkey, "perhaps even finer "—being sent up as a separate dish, the gizzard roasted a l'Indienne ; and for the third course, a custard of ostrich-eggs, sugar, and gin. The guanaco, when fat, is said to be not unlike beef; but at certain seasons of the year it is terribly lean, and in that case only the head can be consumed, and it is usually roasted under the embers, and eaten cold. The mulito, or small variety of armadillo, is considered a great delicacy, and during the winter and spring months, when it is fat, the puma is greatly prized. Indeed, puma-fat seems to be invaluable to the hunter, who finds it impossible to subsist upon a diet of lean meat ; and to this he is often reduced, when his stores of biscuit and other provisions, and even salt, are exhausted. The killing of a puma is then quite an im- portant event, and Mr. Beerbohm says he often felt dis- gusted at the way in which he, as well as the others, used to gorge on the fat p,,r et simple, the hankering for it having be- come, he tells us, as strong as the drunkards' craving for alcohol. In the valley of the Gallegos, where they were some time de- tained, the travellers found plenty of wild-fowl, but having no guns with them, could not avail themselves of what would have been an agreeable change of food. The eggs of the swans, how- ever, like those of the ostriches, when procurable, assisted ma- terially in keeping up their strength; the latter are usually beaten up and roasted in their shells, the batter being stirred every now and then, to keep it from burning. Although supposed to be exceedingly indigestible, a hunter will eat as many as three or four eggs a day, Guillaume being even capable of consuming six of them in eight hours, in addition to his ordinary meals. The great stand-by of the hunter, besides tobacco, without which he considers life not worth having, is the South-American substitute for tea, the yerbi mate, which, having the invaluable property of retaining its flavour even after exposure to the air and damp, is much more useful than either tea or coffee, and even a better stimulant. Its restorative powers are wonderful, and there is nothing more invigorating after a hard ride, so that it is not surprising that the mate cup and bombilla (the small, per- forated pipe through which the decoction is sucked) should be in constant requisition. Mate is the dried leaf of the Iles paraguayensis ; it has a bitter, aromatic flavour, and is taken either with or without sugar. So much is it prized by the hunter, that he would forego any other luxury to obtain it, and is only without it when reduced to his saddest plight. Mr. Beerbohm suggests that an attempt should be made to introduce yerba mate as an article of European consumption, seeing that it could be imported pure at a far cheaper rate than either tea or coffee. The Patagonian ostrich is of much less value than his African congener, being a sma.11er bird, and the feathers fetching an in- ferior price ; it is not, therefore, love of lucre, as much as inclination for a free, unrestrained life, that leads men to devote themselves to ostrich-hunting. So prolific, however, are both the bird itself and the guanaco, which provides his captor with lasso, reins, bolas, and even shoes, as well as sustenance, that one of these careless, easy-going fellows is able to obtain every- . • g which he counts as necessary, as well as the few luxuries for which he cares. Mounted on one of his hardy horses, he follows his five or six mongrel greyhounds, who give chase to the prey, and when within distance swings his bolas round his head and discharges them with such precision that they become firmly twisted round its body, effectually keeping it prisoner until he can come up with it, and give it the coup de grace. The bolas are either round stones, or pieces of lead covered with leather, and united by a thong. Much skill is required to throw them well, and not a little cleverness is also needed to manage the cepa, or long fur robe, made by the Indian women, in which the hunter wraps himself, and by which he is effectually pro- tected from the searching winds of the Pampas. The horses, numbers of which roam wild over the plains, and are captured and trained by the Indians, are of remarkable endurance, seventy or eighty miles a day being as nothing to them, and at the end of such a journey they will start off after an ostrich as gamely as if they had been only just saddled. They will rarely, how- ever, allow themselves to be approached on foot, even by their owner, and the only way of catching them is by the lasso, although when once it is bridled, the horse will stand in one spot for hours, and not attempt to run away. Saddling in the Pampas is a serious operation, since bed and bed-covering are always carried with one. Two or three folded blankets are first smoothly laid on the horse's back, to be followed by the " carona," two thick pieces of leather sewn together, upon which is placed the saddle, firmly secured by a broad leather girth, and over this, again, are strapped sheep-skins, furs, and other coverings. A pack- horse conveys the tent, provisions, and cooking utensils. The dogs, of which there were eighteen in the company to which the writer attached himself, being the food-providers, must of course be tolerated ; but their thievish propensities, as well as their tendency to creep dripping wet into their owner's furs and pass the night in his close proximity, do not always render them very pleasant companions.
Of the Tehnelche Indians, Mr. Beerbohm gives us an interest- ing account. These people, who have probably been driven southwards by the more warlike races, are, according to the author, "in general intelligence, gentleness of temper, chastity of conduct, and conscientious behaviour in their social and domestic relations, immeasurably superior not only to the other South- American indigenous tribes, but also, all their disadvantages being taken into consideration, to the general run of civilised white men." They have a remarkable facility for picking up a language, and grasp new ideas in quite an extraordinary manner. They set no special value upon wealth, which therefore brings no social superiority to its owner, the rich man not being envied or the poor one despised, personal independence being most jealously cherished. The Tehnelche is described as good- natured, hospitable, gentle and affectionate, and although not always truthful or honest, incapable of deceiving those who trust him. He has, however, a great love of gambling, and an un- fortunate partiality for ram, which is leading to the speedy ex- tinction of a race which, from its physical and mental charac- teristics, would have seemed destined to a longer survival. Life seems to be a very pleasant affair indeed with these aborigines, and it is generally prolonged to an advanced age, their great rule being to take everything as easily as possible, and to secure as much enjoyment as can be had, the one thing which militates against this being their intense affection towards their children. If an only child dies, their grief is .excessive, and parents will frequently on such an occasion kill all their horses and burn all their belongings. The same thing is also scrupulously done on the death of every Indian, and thus no family can ever obtain a preponderance of wealth over the rest of the tribe. A visit to these Patagonians, of finely-built physique and even tempera- ment, seems to have suggested to Mr. Beerbohm whether, in
his jovial contentedness and philosophic indifference to goods which were to him unattainable, the self-sufficing "noble savage" might not really have the advantage of the man of much civilisation and many wants and cares. The question is not exactly a new one, nor is it difficult to answer.
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