270 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: GEOGRAPHY. 



by, and without any better instruments than a common knife with which 

 to cut and fit, a wooden or bone awl used as a delicate punch instead of 

 needle, and sinew taken from the loin of the adult guanaco for thread. 

 The women on the left in Fig. 41 are engaged in sewing and fitting. 

 The trimmings left after the manufacture of such a mantle are not wasted, 

 but used in making still other articles, in which the rich mole-colored 

 brown of the forehead, the brilliant white of the flank and belly and the 

 tawny red of the legs are associated with the skins of small skunks, a 

 species of wild-cat, or other animals that frequent this region, and the whole 

 arranged in most striking patterns and frequently displaying no little taste. 

 Mantles made after this fashion form the chief clothing and bedding used 

 by these Indians. They are not only very warm, but extremely soft and 

 light. In addition to this they are capable of being washed just like ordi- 

 nary flannels. While the skins of the guanaco are far more frequently 

 used than those of other animals, they are by no means exclusively so used. 

 I frequently saw mantles made of ostrich skins, skins of the skunk, puma, 

 and a smaller, spotted wild-cat. As rugs to spread on the ground 

 underneath the bedding, dressed and painted horse-skins seemed in 

 almost universal use. Boots for men, women and children were made of 

 the skin from the hind legs of horses, cattle, mountain lions and the adult 

 guanaco. Such boots are known as "potro" boots, and in making them 

 the hock is used as the heel, and the lower portion for the foot and upper 

 for the leg. Such a boot is well shown on the boy in Fig. 43. 



The Tehuelche toldo, or tent, is made of a number of skins taken from 

 the adult guanaco. These are sewed together and fitted over a frame- 

 work of poles, as may be seen in Figs. 44, 45 and 46. The tents are 

 always set facing the east, for the prevailing winds are from the west. 

 In front of each tent there is placed a number of stakes, to which an 

 apron, some four feet in height, is attached as an additional protection, 

 when there is an easterly wind. Except for this, the front of the tent is 

 left open. In the rear of the tent, which is lower than the front, there 

 are arranged a number of sleeping compartments, each of a size sufficient 

 to accommodate two persons. These are separated from one another by 

 skin or cloth partitions. In the accompanying figures are shown photo- 

 graphs of typical Tehuelche men and women. 



After the guanaco the rhea is, of the animals indigenous to this region, 

 of most importance alike to the Indian and the white settler. A few 



