572 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



to guide him. The Gaucho 

 labours to give his horse 

 'a silken mouth,' as he aptly 

 calls it: the Indian's horse 

 has it from birth. Occa- 

 sionally the Gaucho sleeps 

 in the saddle: the Indian 

 can die on his horse." It 

 should be added that Gauchos 

 are for the most part of 

 Spanish origin on the paternal 

 and Indian on the maternal 

 side; being half-breeds, they 

 demand no further notice 

 here. Pampas Indians, like 

 the Patagonians, confine their 

 long hair by a fillet passing, 

 across the forehead, round 

 the head. 



To the south of the Eio 

 Negro we enter the country 

 of the Patagonians, or 

 Tehuelches (Chuelches), as 

 they are called by their 

 Araucanian neighbours; a 

 people celebrated for their 

 tall stature, and, in former 

 days, for the fierceness and 

 cruelty of their disposition. 

 There are various tribal 

 groups of these people, into 

 the consideration of which 

 it will be unnecessary to 

 enter here; but it may be 

 mentioned that originally they were divided into the Northern Tehuelches, who ranged some 

 distance south of the Chubut River, and the Southern Tehuelches, who inhabited all the country 

 soiith of the Eio Chico, and thence extended into Tierra del Fuego. Of late years, however, 

 these divisions have been swept away by the migrations of these wandering people. It is 

 suggested by Keane that the Tehuelches are descended from a numerous nation of gigantic 

 aborigines, who inhabit the Brazilian states of Matto Grosso and Goyaz, and have long been 

 known to the Portuguese settlers as Bororos. The Tehuelche language is perfectly distinct from 

 both the Araucanian and the Puelchean of the Pampas Indians. 



Writing of the Tehuelches, Darwin says that " their height appears greater than it really 

 is, from their large guanaco [skin] mantles, their long flowing hair, and general figure; on 

 an average their height is about 6 feet, with some men taller and only a few shorter; and 

 the women are also tall; altogether they are certainly the tallest race which we anywhere 

 saw. In features they strikingly resemble the more northern Indians whom I saw with 

 Rosas, but they have a wilder and more formidable appearance; their faces were much painted 

 with red and black, and one man was ringed and clothed with white like a Fuegian." On 

 the other hand, Captain Musters, who made a long journey through the heart of Patagonia, 

 puts the average height at not more than 5 feet 10 inches. Individual men of 6 feet 4 

 and 6 feet 10 inches have been measured. In general physique the Tehuelches accord with 



By j>ermission of t/ie South American Missionary Society. 



MAPUCHE NATIVES OF ARAUCANIA. 



