At Home with the Patagonians.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 137, 25 June 1872, Page 3

At Home with the Patagonians.

Mr Musters comes before the public : with excellent credentials. He is the first English traveller who has lived with the Telmelches, and shared in their sports, privations, and dangers, for the sole purpose of seeing an unknown land, and of gaining an acquaintance with the wandering tribes by whom it is sparsely occupied. Such an adventure, full of peril and involving no common hardships, demanded the highest endurance, courage, and sagacity, and these traveller's virtues appear to have ben possessed by Mr Musters. He acquiied the habits of the Indians, and exhibited the strength and dexterity which are so highly valued by them. He painted his face and body after the fashion of the country, and found the custom useful as a preservative from chapped skin, and from the heat of the sun ; he allowed himself to be tattooed " by a fair enslaver;" he lea'-ued how to "ball" the ostrich and guau ■•o, how to go along period without food, and e:;cited the admiration of the Indians by the skill with which he broke in an untamed horse, or joined in the dance in full costume of ostrich feathers and girdle of beTs. Mr Musteis made no objection to thb food of the country. He found the meat of the guanco excellent and the ostrich eggs nutritious, acquired quite a taste for horseflesh, a;e armadillos with satisfaction, and advises all travellers " to boil their puma." Nor was he wholly insensible to the charms of the ladies, and confesses to have been nearly inveigled into matrimony by a Patagoniuo beauty : '■ A fair young Indian, whose hair cut across ihe forehead denoted widowhood, moreover having several mares and considerable possessions, to whom I had perhaps paid some sight attention, proposal that I should set up toldo with her. Tin's was quite out of my programme of the journey, but inasmuch as {he alliance might prove useful as well as agreeable, and deling lonely in Ihe absence of any particular friend, I half agreed; so a gobetween was desp.it'bed to arrange the dowry, and it Wj'S se'.tled that 1 should give a revolver in exchange for two horses, to be provided by the fair one's friends. However, the evening before the haopy day on which we were to have been united, the alarm oarae; and as she belonged io the Sou hern Indians. [ thought better of giving np inv arms, so I assigned as a '•easou for withdrawing from the bargain that I did not wish to leave my friend Orkiki's toldo. I. have no doubt that her people, desiring the help of my firearms, had suggested ..he mai'.-h to secure me to! support their side. The lady at first was rather disgusted, but soon got over it,, and we remained on our ">>-.ne>- ; '< 'entlly terms." The Tehuelobe wonTMi a,e Tepres?n.>d as modest and attractive, and as having (jiiitc as g"oat an aptitude for flirtation as their move civilised sisters. A hateful fashion, common of he in Eurone. apoe.us to bono., u.iknown in Patagonia for Mr Musievs tells us how greaily he admired a young lady's hah', and how disappointed he was. on meeting her one day, to find "that she had uken her snare hair off. and her natural locks were the reverse of 'ong." The hair of the men in Patagonia is generally longer hen that of the women, and they take great care of it, "making! their wives o r other female relatives, brush it out ene'elly at least once a day." On the other hand, the men wear neither eve-! brows, heard, nov mouslache, and null out every hair from their face with silver tweezers. Mr Mus ers was urged to undergo the same opera! ion, but declined to comply with the advice. The habits of the Patagonians contrast very favourably with those of most barbarous or semi-bar-barous tribes. Their sense of decency is very strong, so also their love of cleanliness. Men and worn"!] bathe pverv morning, <: scrupulously apart and generally before daylight." and when they can obtain soap they use it freely. While in camp the women make up skin mantles. sewing with untiring energy, while the men work in s :i ver and iron, or make saddles, which they frequently gamble away. Mr Musters thinks that, so far from being gluttonous, they eat less than civilized people. When not under the influence of liquor—a curse bestowed on them by Englishmen—they are friendly and good-n, hired, although naturally suspicious of Si'rangers; and the writer observes that perhaps the finest trait is their love for their wives and children. " Matri-! monial disputes are rare, wife-beatin" xmknewn, and ihniniense grief with which! the loss of a wi"o is mourned is ceriainlv not civilised, for the widower will destro'v! all his stock and burn all his possessions."! Children, too, are treated with the utmost' indulgence, ride the best hoises, and are; not corrected for their faults. It is the

delusion of some Englishmen, a delusiou strengthened perhaps by Mrs Norman's song, that the desert Arab is kind to his horse; but the Tebuelche Julian is reallyfond of the animal on which he depends for food and life. And the horse appreciates the treatment he leoeives. The smallest children can mount racers which show signs of fear and temper when approached by a white man. " Indeed there appears to be a sort of instinctive mutual bond between the Indians and their horses. Hunting is of coarse the common employment of the Indians, and racing is their pastime. The horses, which are entirely grass fed. possess great speed and endurance. The Northern lodians will ride at full speed down the most precipitous places, but they guard against danger by placinv hide shoes on sbe'v horses' fore feec."