MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE TEHUELCHES 99 



any punishing power, than in seeking the favour of the Good 

 Spirit or returning him thanks for benefits received. Human 

 nature under the frock-coat of civiHsation is much the same as 

 under the capa of the Tehuelche. 



By inference one can see that the Patagonian beHeves in a 

 future Hfe — a Hfe much on the Hnes of his earthly one, but 

 abounding in those things which he most desires, and which here 

 he finds in short measure. I only know that the land he is going 

 to after death is a land flowing, not with milk and honey, but with 

 grease. On the pampas of life here below the guanaco is lean and 

 seldom yields an ounce of fat, and as I have myself experienced 

 the craving for fat, or fat-hunger, I know it to be a very real and 

 uncomfortable demand of the human system. But in the 

 Patagonian Beyond the guanaco herds will be plump and well 

 provided with supplies of suet, and the califate-bushes always laden 

 With ripe and purple berries. 



The traditions of the tribes go back to the epoch when 

 they hunted on foot and used bows and arrows, as well as the 

 tolas, armed with a large single ball of stone. That period may 

 be one hundred, or possibly a hundred and fifty, years ago. 

 Then a tribe of Pampa Indians rode down out of the north and 

 brought to the Tehuelches the inestimable boon of horses. 



At the present day no worse evil can happen to an Indian 

 than to be left without a horse and dependent on his own legs. 

 He rides perpetually, and in consequence has almost lost the 

 walking capabilities of other men.* He lives upon horseback, and 

 there earns his living, so to speak. With his dogs he rides down 

 his game, but he has no skill in tracking any more than the dogs. 

 But, for all that, his sight is keen ; the quality of extraordinary 

 long-sightedness, which distinguishes men used to scanning vast 

 levels of sea or land, is essentially his. 



The Tehuelche, although in many ways offering a complete 

 contrast, yet in some points forms a strange parallel to the Esqui- 



* Here I disagree with Captain G. C. Musters, who claims excellent walking powers 

 for the Tehuelches. That they can walk well if forced to do so is possible, but we need 

 look no farther than their boots to perceive that they rarely go afoot. The Patagonian 

 pampas are covered with thorn and the thin foot-covering of the Indians would be torn 

 to pieces in the course of a two-hours tramp over such ground. 



