The men of silence will, in the savage state, take a hint as quickly as an English gentleman; the men of uproar will only accept a hint when it is backed by a command. The Tehuelche will not remain at a camp-fire where he is not wanted. He lacks passion, perhaps, but appreciation pleases him. His dignified courtesy can best be exemplified by a story.
At one time, while we were travelling across the pampas and had camped for the night, an Indian rode in upon us in the twilight. The Indian did not talk Spanish, nor could we speak Tehuelchian. In silence he joined us at our evening meal and stopped afterwards to smoke a pipe of tobacco, then he got to horse and rode away.
The next morning our horses were missing; they had evidently strayed during the night. I went out to look for them, and after a time saw them far away across the pampa advancing towards me in a compact mob. A rider was driving them up. As soon as he saw me, and I had recognised our guest of the preceding evening, he sent forward the horses at a gallop in my direction, and, wheeling round, was off and out of sight in a moment. He did not wait to be thanked, and yet it was obvious, from the condition of the horses, that he must have found them a long way off and driven them for a considerable distance. It is in courtesies of this kind that the silent peoples excel.
I am no wild admirer of the noble savage. He is, generally speaking, a highly objectionable person. But to see a race--so kindly, picturesque, and gifted with fine qualities of body and mind--such as the Tehuelches, absolutely at hand-grips with extinction, seems to me one of the saddest results of the growing domination of the white man and his methods of civilisation.
[7] There is, however, a great variation in the development of the lower limbs in different individuals.
[8] This name is preferred by the Indians themselves. To call them _los Indios_ is a breach of etiquette. _Paisano_ means, of course, son of the land, a title in which the Tehuelche takes pride.
[9] The evil spirit is supposed to take up its quarters behind the _toldos_.
[10] While prosecuting the inquiries which led to the compilation of this account of the Tehuelches it was thought that the author desired to take a bride from the _toldos_. He was informed that seven mares would purchase a young and efficient helpmate.