136 



SOUTHERN ABORIGINES. 



addition of a half petticoat, made of skins, if they cannot pro- 

 cure foreign coarse cloth. They clean their hair, and divide 

 it into two tails, which are platted, and hang down, one on each 

 side. Ornaments of beads, bits of brass, or silver, or any 

 similar trifles, are much prized, and worn in necklaces, or as 

 bracelets ; sometimes also as ear-rings, or round their ankles. 

 Mounted upon horses of an inferior size, averaging only about 

 fourteen hands and a half in height, though rather well-bred, 

 the Patagonians seem to be carried no better than the full- 

 accoutred dragoons, who rode eighteen stone upon horses equal 

 to twelve ; yet those horses, so slight in comparison with their 

 masters, carry them at full speed in chase of ostriches or guana- 

 coes; and we all know what our dragoon horses have done under 

 their heavily-weighted, but determined riders. With bridles of 

 hide tied to the lower jaw, when there is not a Spanish bit, and 

 a light saddle of wood, covered with some skins and placed 

 upon others, a Patagonian rides hard when there is occasion — 

 but frequently changes his horse. Many large dogs, of a 

 rough, lurcher-like breed, assist them in hunting, and keep an 

 excellent watch at night. (Note at end of Chapter VIII.) 



The toldos (huts) of these wanderers are in shape not unlike 

 gipsy tents. Poles are stuck in the ground, to which others 

 are fastened, and skins of animals, sewed together, form the 

 covering, so that an irregular tilt-shaped hut is thus made. 

 Three sides and the top are covered ; but the front, turned 

 towards the east, is open. These toldos are about seven feet 

 high, and ten or twelve feet square ; they are lower at the 

 back, or western side, than in front, by several feet. These 

 are their ordinary dwellings ; of other rather larger construc- 

 tions a description will be given hereafter. 



The country inhabited by these Patagonians is open and, 

 generally speaking, rather level, but with occasional hills and 

 some extensive ranges of level-topped heights (steppes). There 

 are very few trees, and water is scarce. The eye wanders over 

 an apparently boundless extent of parched, yellow-looking 

 semi-desert, where rain* seldom falls, and the sky is almost 



• Except during a few days in each year, or perhaps at intervals of 

 two or three years, when it pours down in torrents. 



