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The National Geographic Magazine 



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 ex- 

 planation since the deer in the same moun- 

 tainous region seem absolutely fearless 

 and prompted by curiosity rather than 

 fear when approached. On several occa- 

 sions, when in need of meat while travel- 

 ling through the Southern Andes, we lo- 

 cated 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 their 

 companion aroused in them any apparent 

 feeling of uneasiness. The surviving 

 members of the band stood about at a dis- 

 tance of only a few feet, taking notes as 

 it were, while we were engaged in skin- 

 ning and dressing the carcass of their 

 fallen comrade, often approaching so near 

 that we would be compelled to suspend 

 operations and urge the spectators to re- 

 move to a more respectful distance. 



THE ONAS OF THE FUEGIAN PLAINS. 



Closely resembling the Tehuelches and 

 evidently derived from the same original 

 stock, are the Onas, inhabiting the plains 

 and timbered regions of central, northern, 

 and eastern Tierra del Fuego. Like the 

 Tehuelches they are of splendid physique 

 and live entirely by the chase. They are 

 essentially a plains people and only occa- 

 sionally frequent the coast. Their island 

 having been separated from the mainland 

 for a remote period of time, they have 

 been practically cut off from all commu- 

 nication with their relatives on the north- 

 ern shores of the eastern stretches of the 

 Strait, and have thus developed a lan- 

 guage quite distinct from that of the 

 Tehuelches, while many of their customs 

 and arts differ materially from those of 

 the latter. Not being a maritime people, 

 they have been unable to import the horse 

 from the mainland, so that the Onas of to- 

 day are in much the same condition as 



were the Tehuelches of the mainland prior 

 to the introduction of the horse. With 

 the Onas the bow and arrow is still the 

 one indispensable weapon for offence and 

 defence, while bolas and horses are quite 

 unknown among them. 



Owing to the extremely advantageous 

 nature of their lands for sheep-farming 

 purposes and the consequent aggressive- 

 ness of the Fuegian sheep-grower of the 

 present day, the tribe is being rapidly 

 decimated, and their extinction in the no 

 distant future seems inevitable. Already 

 their natural habitat is entirely occupied 

 by Europeans, and they have been driven 

 back into less favorable districts where 

 food is scarce and obtained with difficulty. 

 Naturally a state of constant warfare ex- 

 ists which will inevitably lead to the ex- 

 termination of the Onas. 



THE CHANNEL INDIANS. 



Between the eastern and western coasts 

 of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego there 

 are extreme climatic and physiographic 

 differences. The treeless, semi-arid, and 

 level plains of the east coast, with but few 

 indentations, are replaced on the west by 

 an intricate series of islands, peninsulas, 

 capes, and promontories, separated by a 

 labyrinth of inlets, bays, sounds, and 

 channels, surrounded by one of the most 

 picturesque and rugged mountain systems 

 to be seen anywhere on the earth's surface. 

 These mountains serve as a barrier to the 

 southwesterly winds that prevail here, 

 and effectually deprive them, during the 

 passage over their summits, of most of 

 the moisture with which they have become 

 charged on their long journey across the 

 Southern Pacific. Thus precipitation is 

 constantly taking place, and the surface 

 is perpetually drenched with moisture, 

 thereby producing a vegetable growth, 

 which at low altitudes, even in the latitude 

 of the south and west coasts of Tierra del 

 Fuego, rivals in profusion and luxuriance 

 that of the Tropics. It contrasts strik- 

 ingly with the eastern plains and river val- 

 leys, which are destitute of trees or forests 



