PATAGONIA 



PATCHES 



799 



whole of Eastern Patagonia lias probably been 

 raised above tlie sea-level in tlie Tertiary period, 

 ami its most characteristic geological feature is 

 IN boundless expanses of shingle. The flora is in 

 consequence exceptionally poor, and appears to be 

 mainly derived from the lower slopes ot the Andes. 

 Herds of horses and, in tlie more favoured regions, 

 cattle are bred ; pumas and foxes, armadillos, 

 skunks, and tucotucos (a peculiar rodent) are met 

 with ; and among the birds are condors, hawks, 

 partridges, and flamingoes, ducks, and other water- 

 fowl. But by far the most important animals are 

 the gnanaco or Huanaca (q.v.), sometimes in herds 

 of two hundred or more, and two species of Rhea 

 (q.v.). 



Inhabitants. The population of Western Pata- 

 gonia, estimated at 3200 (or, including Ticrra del 

 Fuego, 4000), consists of a number of small indi- 

 penons nomadic tribes of Araucanian stock who 

 live by fishing and hunting, and the settlers at 

 Punta Arenas or Magellan's colony, mainly immi- 

 grants from Chiloe anil other parts of Chili. In 

 Eastern Patagonia the Argentine herdsmen are 

 iM-^'iiining to pasture their cattle in the northern 

 valleys, and Chilian immigrants are moving east- 

 wards. The Patagonians proper or Tehuelche 

 Indians, who are confined to Eastern Patagonia, 

 are perhaps about 7000 strong. They are generally 

 divided into two great trilies, the northern and 

 the southern, which speak the same language, but 

 are distinguishable by difference of accent. The 

 northern range chiefly over the district between 

 the Cordilleras and the Atlantic, from the Rio 

 Negro to the Chirbut, and even the Santa Cruz 

 River. The southern, who appear to be on an 

 average taller and liner, and are more expert 

 hunters, occupy the rest of Patagonia as far south 

 as the Strait of Magellan. The two divisions are 

 much intermixed. Magellan described the Pata- 

 gonians as 'so tall that the tallest of us came up 

 only to their waists; ' and, though such extravagant 

 statements have led others to deny the claim of 

 the Patagonians to be considered exceptional, there 

 is no doubt that they are one of the tallest races on 

 the globe. The average height of the male members 

 of Molten' party was rather over 5 feet 10 inches ; 

 two others, measured at Santa Cm/., stood 6 feet 

 4 inches each ; Pikchoche, who was in Berlin in 



I H7!l. was 5 feet 9 inches high, and stretched 5 feet 



II inches with his arms. The muscular develop- 

 ment of the arms and chest is extraordinary, and 

 in general the body is well proportioned. The 

 P.iiiigonians are splendid swimmers, can walk 

 great distances and for two and even three days 

 on end without being tired. Their cranial charac- 

 teristics are somewhat disguised by the fact that 

 the hinder part of the skull is artificially flattened, 

 tin 1 custom being to strap the child's head back to 

 a board to prevent it 'waggling' when carried 

 about the country on horseback. This process, 

 however, appears only to exaggerate a natural 

 tendency ; and it is asserted by the most scientific 

 investigators that the Patagonian skull is, next 

 to that of the Lapps, the shortest in the world. 

 The jaws are powerful, though with no trace of 

 prognathism. The expression of their face is ordin- 

 arily good-humoured though serious ; their eyes 

 are dark brown, bright and intelligent, their noses 

 aquiline and well-formed, their foreheads open and 

 prominent. The complexion of the men, when 

 cleansed from paint, is a reddish or rather yellowish 

 brown. Thick flowing masses of long coarse, black, 

 glo->y hair cover their heads. The scanty natural 

 growth of beard, moustaches, ami even eyebrows, 

 l carefully eradicated. The young women are 

 frequently good-looking, displaying healthy, ruddy 

 chffks when not disguised with paint. The dress 

 of the men consists of an under-garment rouud the 



loins, a long mantle of hide with the fur inside, 

 and boots or buskins of skin. The dress of the 

 women is very similar. Both sexes are fond of 

 ornaments. Besides mantles of guanaco hide, their 

 only manufactures are saddles, bridles, stirrups, 

 and lassos, which often evince wonderful ingenuity 

 and nicety of execution. 



The Patagonians believe in a great and good 

 spirit who created the Indians ami animals. Idols 

 are unknown, and whatever religious acts the 

 natives perform are prompted by dread of demons. 

 Kindly, good-tempered, impulsive children of 

 nature, the Tehuelche take great likes or dislikes, 

 becoming firm friends or equally confirmed enemies. 

 Protestant missions have been established amongst 

 them. They are steadily decreasing through disease 

 and bad liquor supplietl by trailers, and before long 

 will be extinct. The language is quite different 

 from either Pampa or Araucanian. Of European 

 settlements there are few in Argentine Patagonia. 

 The oldest, Patagones (formerly El Carmen), on 

 the Rio Negro, about 18 miles from its mouth, has 

 a population of about 2000, composed of Spanish 

 and other settlers (negroes), ami convicts from 

 Buenos Ayres. There are also the Welsh colony 

 on the Chubut (q.v.), and a petty station at the 

 mouth of the Santa Cruz. 



History. Magellan, before passing through the 

 strait, had in 1520 sailed along the whole of the 

 Patagonian coast ; and it is commonly believed 

 that it was from the large footsteps (pattigoiies) 

 observed near his winter-quarters at S. Julian that 

 the country derived its name. Another suggested 

 etymology is the Quichua word patacuna, ' terraces,' 

 the rule 'of the Incas having extended hither. 

 The great plain was traversed by Rodrigo de Isla 

 in 1535. Sarmiento de Gambo (commemorated by 

 the mountain in Tierra del Fuego (added greatly 

 to the knowledge of the west and south ( 1579-80), 

 and founded Spanish settlements, doomed to early 

 extinction, at Nombre tie Dios and San Felipe 

 (Port Famine). English interest in the country, 

 aroused by Drake's voyage in 1577, was kept up by 

 Davis, Narborough, Byron, Wallis, and the Jesuit 

 Falkner, and at last the beginning of a real scien- 

 tific acquaintance with the interior was made by 

 King, 1'itzroy, Darwin, and Musters. Since 1870 

 careful explorations have been carried out by 

 Argentine travellers. 



English works on Patagonia are Falkner's (1774), 

 Snow's (1857), Musters' ( 1871), Beerbohm's ( 1878), Lady 

 Florence Dixie's ( 1880 ), Coan's ( 1880 ) ; and see Fossarieu 

 (French, 1884), Burmeiater (Spanish, 1891), and Fouck 

 (Spanish, 1890). 



I'atilll. a walled town of India, in Baroda, 64 

 miles NW. from Ahmadabad, stands on a tributary 

 of the Banas, and manufactures swords, spears, 

 pottery, and silk and cotton goods ; the capital of 

 native dynasties from the 8th century to the 

 present day, it has many ruins ; pop. (1891 ) 32,646. 

 Patan is also a town of Nepal, 14 mile SE. of 

 Khatmandu (q.v.) ; Pop. 40,000. 



Patanjali is the name of two celebrated 

 authors of ancient India, who are sometimes 

 looked upon as tlie same personage, but apparently 

 for no other reason than that they bear the same 

 name. The one is the author of the system of 

 philosophy called Yoga (see SANSKRIT LITERA- 

 TURE), tlie other the critic of Pdnini (q.v.), circa 

 140 B.C. 



Patches. During the whole of the 17th and 

 beginning of the 18th century these fantastic orna- 

 ments were commonly worn by women and some- 

 times by men. In Jack Drum's Entertainment, 

 or the Comedie of Piisquil and Kutherine (1601 ; 

 2d ed. 1616), they are thus mentioned : 'For even 

 as blacke patches are worne, some for pride, some 



