12 



THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



all are almost invariably roofed in with the universal o-alvanised 



iron. 



AKGKNTINE GAUCHO 



The Welsh colonists have introduced a good strain to the 

 oTOwing population, and there are constant wholesome as well as 

 vicious importations. In a country where shepherding of one 



sort or another is the chief 

 industry, it is inevitable that 

 some equivalent of the cow- 

 boy of the North must be 

 developed. The Gaucho is 

 the Patagonian cowboy, and 

 he is manly and picturesque 

 enough to be very interest- 



ing- 



The Gauchos are pic- 

 turesque both in their lives 

 and in their appearance : a 

 pair of moleskin trousers, long boots, and a handkerchief usually 

 of a red pattern, a slouch hat of black felt, and a gaudy poncho 

 serve them for apparel. The poncho, which is merely a rug with 

 a hole in the middle for the head, makes a comfortable great-coat 

 by day and a blanket by night. 



A Gaucho may be sprung from any nation on earth. Even as 

 the shores of Patagonia are washed by the farthest tides of ocean, 

 so the same tides have borne to people her solitude a singular 

 horde of massed nationalities. But it is the man born in the 

 country of whatever stock who becomes the true Gaucho. In- 

 fancy finds him in the saddle, and he grows there. Other men can 

 stick on a horse, but the Gaucho can ride. Living as they do, 

 they form a class alone. On horseback they are more than men ; 

 on foot, I am half tempted to say, less, for they would rather 

 ride fifty miles than walk two. They are farm-hands, shepherds, 

 horse-breakers, occasionally good working vets, and when they 

 prosper they buy waggons and go into the carrying trade ; in 

 fact, they form the foundation of Patagonian life. 



The coast settlements are similar to such places all the world 

 over : storekeepers, men who run wine-shops, traders, and the 



