At home with the Patagonians

by George C. Musters

The Indians were soon in full enjoyment of some grog and biscuits, which they naturally asked me to share. After a bite and a sup, finding the proceedings slow, I left the room, and shortly after met Mr. Alexander Fraser and Mr. Grenfell, the owners of an estancia a few miles lower down the river; and after introducing myself was most kindly received, and supplied with cash, a civilised medium of which I had not a sou to enable me to gratify the desire of treating my Indian friends to a bottle or two of wine and spirits and a few loaves of bread.

Mr. Fraser hospitably pressed me to come on to his establishment at once, but being desirous of handing the letters to the Commandante without delay, I returned across the river with the Indians.

A foretaste of Rio Negro manners was given us at the other side, as one of the horses, saddle, lazo and all, was missing—stolen by some of the civilised inhabitants. The horse belonged to El Ingles, and had been lent to Meña to go down from the encampment to the Guardia; the lazo belonged to me.

At the camp most of the people got more or less drunk, and Nacho received a richly-deserved thrashing for being pugnacious, after which he was lashed down, and left to cool in the frost for an hour.

In the morning I started for Patagones, accompanied by El Ingles and another Indian; but as our horses proved to be too tired to proceed into Patagones, we stopped for the night in a toldo at San Xaviel, the head-quarters of Linares and his Tame Indians.

I took up my quarters at the toldo of one Chaloupe, and after supper, being desirous of communicating the political arrangements to the chief, proceeded on horseback behind another horseman, who proved to be a brother of Rouque Pinto, to the chief’s residence, a long low house.

After a little delay I was ushered into the Sala, where the two wives of the chief were sitting sewing. The usual matè was served, and I waited long in vain for the chief, who was away collecting his followers for an intended pursuit of some of Calficura’s Indians, who had recently driven off cattle from the valley.

At last I bade good-night to my fair hostesses, and summoning my companion, who had been taking matè in the kitchen, set out to return. We had scarcely proceeded a hundred yards when the tramp of approaching horsemen was heard, and my companion enjoined strict silence, for fear of ‘accidents,’ and reined up our steeds under the shadow of some trees, till we heard the people pass. When their voices had died away in the distance we proceeded, and resumed our conversation, in the course of which he informed me that it was unsafe to meet people at night in this vicinity unless when well armed. I rather opened my eyes at this, and moralised considerably on the benefits conferred by civilisation on Indian races. At Chaloupe’s toldo I found Antonio Linares, brother of the chief, who had brought with him a bottle of brandy, over a glass of which I told him my business, which he promised to forward, and after a nightcap he left in search of more boon companions. This young fellow was very well dressed in cloth ponchos and chiripas, leather boots and clean linen, and wore a revolver in his belt. He playfully informed me that he had been in search of some one he had quarrelled with all the afternoon, and would have shot him if he had found him.

Mrs. Chaloupe made me up a luxurious bed with ponchos and my own saddle gear, and indeed all the inmates of the toldo showed me the greatest civility.

At an early hour in the morning I started on my now jaded horse in the hopes of seeing Linares, but on arriving at his house was informed that he had already left for Carmen to have an interview with the Commandante, Señor Murga.