Difference of Climate between East and West Patagonia.—Extraordinary Aridity of East Patagonia.—Zoology.—The Guanaco.—The Tucutuco.—The Patagonian Agouti.—Vultures.—The Turkey-buzzard.—The Carrancha.—The Chimango.—Darwin’s Ostrich.—The Patagonians.—Exaggerated Accounts of their Stature.—Their Physiognomy and Dress.—Religious Ideas.—Superstitions.—Astronomical Knowledge.—Division into Tribes.—The Tent, or Toldo.—Trading Routes.—The great Cacique.—Introduction of the Horse.—Industry.—Amusements.—Character.
Patagonia, the southern extremity of the American continent, is divided by the ridge of the Andes into two parts of a totally different character. Its western coast-lands, washed by the cold Antarctic current and exposed to the humid gales of a restless ocean, are almost constantly obscured with clouds and drenched with rain. Dense forests, dripping with moisture, clothe the steep hill-sides; and, from the coldness of the summer, the snow-line is so low that for 650 miles northward of Tierra del Fuego almost every arm of the sea which penetrates to the interior higher chain is terminated by huge glaciers descending to the water’s edge.
East Patagonia, on the contrary, a vast plain rising in successive terraces from the Atlantic to the foot of the Cordillera, is one of the most arid regions of the globe. The extreme dryness of the prevailing westerly winds, which have been totally deprived of their humidity before crossing the Andes, and the well-rounded shingles which compose the soil, have entailed the curse of sterility on the land. Monotonous warm tints of brown, yellow, or light red everywhere fatigue the eye, which vainly seeks for rest in the dark blue sky, and finds refreshing green only on some river-banks.
Many broad flat vales transsect the plains, and in these the vegetation is somewhat better. The streams of former ages have no doubt hollowed them out, for the rivers of the present day are utterly inadequate to the task. On account of the dryness of the atmosphere, the traveller may journey for days in these Patagonian plains without finding a drop of water. Springs are rare, and even when found are generally brackish and unrefreshing. While the “Beagle” was anchoring in the spacious harbor of Port St. Julian, a party one day accompanied Captain Fitzroy on a long walk round the head of the harbor. They were eleven hours without tasting any water, and some of the party were quite exhausted. From the summit of a hill, to which the appropriate name of “Thirsty Hill” was given, a fine lake was spied, and two of the party proceeded, with concerted signals, to show whether it was fresh water. The disappointment may be imagined when the supposed lake was found to be a snow-white expanse of salt, crystallized in great cubes.
The extreme dryness of the air, which imparts so sterile a character to the country, favors the formation of guano deposits on the naked islands along the coast, which are frequented by sea-birds. Protracted droughts are essential to the accumulation of this manure, for repeated showers of rain would wash it into the sea, and for this reason no guano deposits are found on the populous bird-mountains of the north. A similar dryness of the atmosphere favors the deposit at Ichaboe on the African coast, at the Kooria Nooria Islands in the Indian Ocean, and at the Chincha Islands on the Peruvian coast; and this kind of climate appears also to be particularly agreeable to the sea-birds.
Considering the excessive aridity of Patagonia, it seems surprising that the country should be traversed from west to east by such considerable rivers as the Rio Negro, the Gallegos, and the Santa Cruz; but all these have their sources in the Andes, and are fed by mountain torrents, which no doubt derive their waters from the atmospherical precipitations of the Pacific.
The zoology of Patagonia is as limited as its flora, and greatly resembles in its character that of the mountain regions of Chili, or of the Puna or high table-land of the tropical Andes of Peru and Bolivia, the height of which varies from 10,000 to 14,000 feet above the level of the sea.
In all these countries, situated in such different latitudes, the explorer is astonished to find not only the same genera, but even animals of the same species. The forest-loving race of monkeys is nowhere to be found in treeless Patagonia. None of the quadrumana ventures farther south than 29° lat., but on the borders of the Rio Negro, the northern boundary of Patagonia, some small bats are seen fluttering about in the twilight.
The dark-brown yellow-headed Galictis vittata, an animal allied to the Civets and Genets, is likewise found there, but much more frequently its relation the Zorilla, which ranges from 30° lat. to the Strait of Magellan, and, like the skunk of the north, has the power of discharging a fluid of an intolerably fetid odor.
The guanaco is the characteristic quadruped of the plains of Patagonia, where it is no less useful to man than the wild reindeer to the savage hunters of the north. It ranges from the Cordillera of Peru as far south as the islands near Cape Horn, but it appears to be more frequent on the plains of South Patagonia than anywhere else. It is of greater size than the llama, and resembles it so much that it was supposed to be the wild variety, until Tschudi, in his “Fauna Peruana,” pointed out the specific difference between both. The guanaco is a more elegant animal, with a long, slender neck and fine legs; its fleece is shorter and less fine; its color is brown, the under parts being whitish. It generally lives in small herds of from half a dozen to thirty in each; but on the banks of the Santa Cruz Mr. Darwin saw one herd which contained at least five hundred. Though extremely shy and wary, it is no match for the cunning of the savage; and, before the horse was introduced into Patagonia, man most probably could not have existed in those arid plains without the guanaco. It easily takes to the water, and this accounts for its presence on the eastern islands of Fuegia, where it has been followed by the puma, or American lion, who likewise pursues it on the plateaus of the Cordillera, 12,000 feet above the level of the sea.