no THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



One would imagine that a people so dependent on their horses 

 for the very necessities of life would give attention and care to the 

 breeding and improv^ement of the stock. But this is far from 

 being the case. The Tehuelches appear to be, like other far less 

 intelligent races of uncivilised peoples, incapable of much fore- 

 thought. They live for to-day and make little provision for 

 to-morrow. As a case in point, they are allowing their horses 

 to become very deteriorated. The animals are, almost without 

 exception, to use a Spanish term, maiiero, which means of a 

 spoiled temper. In some localities they have been crossed with 

 the horses of the settlers which have a strain of English blood, 

 and the result is animals of spirit and of character, but viuy 

 inanero. The Tehuelches prize white horses, and overos, or 

 piebalds, exceedingly. The backs of their horses are generally 

 badly galled, but this is no matter for surprise, as they often ride 

 upon a sheepskin flung anyhow across the beast. The method of 

 breaking-in or taming is simple and severe in the extreme. It 

 consists of leaping on a raw colt and galloping him to exhaustion. 

 One reason why their horses are falling below level certainly is 

 that the Indians have a foolish trick of riding two- and three-year- 

 olds both hard and far. A colt of this age once fairly "cooked" 

 by an over-long ride will never be of very much use afterwards. 



And yet these people are peculiarly dependent upon their 

 horses. They will not walk ten yards if they can ride them. 

 And they have undoubtedly carried the art of riding to the last 

 perfection. I never knew what riding really meant until I went to 

 Patagonia and saw the Indians on horseback. We once asked an 

 Indian what he could do if he were left on the pampa without his 

 horses. "Sit down," he said. This man, however, was not a 

 Tehuelche but a Pampa Indian. 



The horses are far from large, the average running to about 

 thirteen hands, but they are wiry, untiring beasts, and some show 

 extraordinary speed. The manner in which they carry the heavy 

 well- developed Indians is wonderful. They are entirely fed on 

 grass. When the camp is made, they are simply turned out to 

 graze upon the pampa, where frequently the grass is sparse and 

 poor enough, though near many of the Indian camping-grounds 



