32 HUNTING CAMPS. 



the horse from the Auracanian tribes, whose country marches 

 with that of the Tehuelches to the north-west, the latter 

 now always hunt upon horseback. 



The Tehuelches are a fine race, with large well-hewn 

 features ; their skin is of a reddish brown, but, though 

 they still average six feet in stature, they have noticeably 

 deteriorated in physique from their habit of riding on all 

 occasions and everywhere. A man will not walk a hundred 

 yards, but catches his horse and rides the distance. As far 

 as the upper part of the body is concerned, the breadth of 

 shoulder and great back and arm muscles demand admira- 

 tion, but their lower limbs are not proportionately strong. 



The Tehuelches, unlike most savage tribes, have never 

 adopted the white man's weapons. I never saw an Indian 

 with a firearm, though doubtless an odd revolver may find 

 its way into their guanaco-skin toldos. But for the pur- 

 poses of the chase they use the boleadores, and some of 

 them are even so conservative as to retain the flint knife 

 of prehistoric times. Boleadores used for the chase of 

 guanaco or ostrich are loaded with balls of solid metal or 

 with stones. Three such missiles, each the size of a tennis 

 ball, one being pear-shaped, to fit the grasp of the hand, 

 are sewn up in raw-hide bags and fastened at the three points 

 of a thong like a Y, two arms of which are some four feet in 

 length, the third longer. Seizing this weapon by the pear- 

 shaped ball, which is at the single end of the Y, the Indian 

 hunter, going at full gallop, whirls it round his head, letting 

 it fly at the neck or legs of the ostrich or the guanaco that 

 he may be chasing. The impact of the heavy balls will 

 often break the quarry's legs, or at any rate in a few bounds 

 or strides entangle them in such a way as to bring it to the 

 ground. 



An organised day's hunt with the Tehuelches is an in- 

 teresting function. The cacique, or chief, arranges the 

 plans, having first made sure of the neighbourhood of large 



