The Greater Number Of Men Were Of A
Mixed Breed, Between Negro, Indian, And Spaniard.
I know
not the reason, but men of such origin seldom have a good
expression of countenance.
I called on the Secretary to show
my passport. He began to cross-question me in the most
dignified and mysterious manner. By good luck I had a
letter of recommendation from the government of Buenos
Ayres [5] to the commandant of Patagones. This was taken
to General Rosas, who sent me a very obliging message; and
the Secretary returned all smiles and graciousness. We took
up our residence in the _rancho_, or hovel, of a curious old
Spaniard, who had served with Napoleon in the expedition
against Russia.
We stayed two days at the Colorado; I had little to do,
for the surrounding country was a swamp, which in summer
(December), when the snow melts on the Cordillera, is over-
flowed by the river. My chief amusement was watching the
Indian families as they came to buy little articles at the
rancho where we stayed. It was supposed that General
Rosas had about six hundred Indian allies. The men were
a tall, fine race, yet it was afterwards easy to see in the
Fuegian savage the same countenance rendered hideous by
cold, want of food, and less civilization. Some authors,
in defining the primary races of mankind, have separated
these Indians into two classes; but this is certainly
incorrect. Among the young women or chinas, some deserve to
be called even beautiful. Their hair was coarse, but bright
and black; and they wore it in two plaits hanging down
to the waist. They had a high colour, and eyes that
glistened with brilliancy; their legs, feet, and arms were
small and elegantly formed; their ankles, and sometimes
their wrists, were ornamented by broad bracelets of blue
beads. Nothing could be more interesting than some of the
family groups. A mother with one or two daughters would
often come to our rancho, mounted on the same horse. They
ride like men, but with their knees tucked up much higher.
This habit, perhaps, arises from their being accustomed,
when travelling, to ride the loaded horses. The duty of the
women is to load and unload the horses; to make the tents
for the night; in short to be, like the wives of all savages,
useful slaves. The men fight, hunt, take care of the horses,
and make the riding gear. One of their chief indoor occupations
is to knock two stones together till they become round,
in order to make the bolas. With this important weapon the
Indian catches his game, and also his horse, which roams
free over the plain. In fighting, his first attempt is to throw
down the horse of his adversary with the bolas, and when
entangled by the fall to kill him with the chuzo. If the balls
only catch the neck or body of an animal, they are often
carried away and lost.
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