The Indians of the mainland are strong and tall. Unlike most South American Indians, they go about well clothed. Occasionally they kill their horses for food, but their chief reliance for both food and clothing is the guanaco.

Although the Indians have inhabited this part of South America for centuries, they follow well-beaten trails. They live in a superstitious dread of evil spirits, who they believe dwell in the densely wooded mountain slopes of the Cordillera.

Fuegians
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The Indians of Tierra del Fuego archipelago are much inferior to those of the mainland. They go almost or entirely naked and subsist on fish. The canoe Indians, as those in the western part are called, build boats of bark sewn together with sinews. The boats are about fifteen feet long, and in the centre a quantity of earth is carried, upon which a fire is built. The canoe Indians have neither chief nor tribal relations; each family is a law unto itself. They spend most of their time during the day in rowing among the different channels where fish may be obtained. At night they generally go on shore to sleep. A hole scooped out of the ground or a sheltered rock with a few boughs bent down suffices for a house where all can huddle close together for warmth. Seldom do they sleep more than one night in a place, fearing that if they do not move on an evil spirit will catch them.

In the eastern part of Tierra del Fuego and on some of the other larger islands two tribes of Indians are found whose subsistence consists of sea food, guanacos, and such sheep as they can steal. These tribes are continually at enmity with the white settlers and will kill them whenever possible.

In spite of cloudy weather and cold winds, which are common a part of the year, the climate of Patagonia is milder than that of places much farther north, and the sheep require no feeding during the winter season. In the matter of sheep farms this section rivals Australia, since there is no fear of drought. The grass continues green the year around, and the sheep easily fatten upon it.

The drawbacks to successful sheep-growing are many and the business requires constant vigilance. Vultures, foxes, wild dogs, pumas, and Indians make serious inroads on the flocks. The wild dogs live in the surrounding forests and from time to time rush out in packs of from ten to thirty and attack the sheep. Notwithstanding all these troubles, however, the profits of sheep-growing are large.

Russians, Germans, French, Australians, English, and Scotch, many of whom have amassed large fortunes in a few years, are engaged in this lucrative business. As in all other sheep-raising countries, the collie is an invaluable aid to the shepherds. Not only are the principal islands chiefly devoted to sheep-raising, but a considerable part of the southern mainland is also devoted to this industry. On the island of Tierra del Fuego alone there are upward of a million sheep.