266 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: GEOGRAPHY. 



A 



districts. Greatly reduced in numbers, he finds the area still left to him 



in his natural habitat more than ample to supply his simple wants and 

 satisfy his inherent, nomadic disposition. Left to himself, his necessities 

 are few and easily supplied, for nature in Patagonia is exceedingly lavish 

 in furnishing those animals that provide him with every domestic neces- 

 sity. Give to the Tehuelche his horses, dogs and bolas, and destroy all 

 animal life indigenous to the region, save only the guanaco, and he would 

 continue to exist, experiencing little inconvenience. 



The guanaco is, to his existence, the one important and indispensable 

 animal. From its flesh he derives his chief and, for long periods, only 

 sustenance, while from its skin his industrious wife constructs the family 

 toldo and makes with admirable skill and patience their ample clothing 

 and bedding, fitting and sewing the parts with the nicety and proficiency 

 of a skilled seamstress. A wooden or bone awl, used as a delicate punch, 

 is her needle, and the sinews taken from the loin of the same animal her 

 thread. From this same beast he likewise obtains the sinew for the 

 light but exceedingly strong thongs of his bolas. 



But the guanacos are in no danger of extermination. They roam in 

 thousands over the Patagonian plains. So abundant are they that, in 

 travelling across the country, it is scarcely possible to pass out of sight of 

 them. Contrary to the general rule with undomesticated animals, the 

 guanacos inhabiting settled regions are far less timid than those of 

 unsettled districts. In the region along the coast occupied by the sheep 

 farmers they exist in great numbers, are exceedingly tame, and are a 

 source of considerable annoyance to the herdsmen, who, nevertheless, 

 suffer them to go unmolested. Beyond the settlements the guanacos are 

 more difficult of approach and in the Cordillera they are exceedingly 

 wary, as is also the rhea, or so-called ostrich. This is the more striking 

 and difficult of explanation, since the deer in the same mountainous 

 region seem absolutely fearless and are prompted by curiosity rather than 

 fear, when approached. On several occasions, when in need of meat, while 

 travelling through the southern Andes, we located a band of deer and 

 walked directly up to within twenty or thirty feet of them before shooting. 

 Neither the report of the rifle, nor the death-struggles of a companion 

 aroused in them any apparent feeling of uneasiness. The surviving 

 members of a band would stand about at a distance of only a few feet, tak- 

 ing notes, as it were, while we were engaged in skinning and dressing the 



