The earth and its inhabitants The earth and its inhabitants .. earthitsinhabita293recl Year: 1893 INHABITANTS OF ARGENTINA. 415 165.âIndian Populations of South Argentina. Scale 1 : 16,000,000. All the PatagouiaiiS have for several years lived in complete subjection to the Argentine authorities. They even call themselves Christians ; but despite their apparent physical strength they are often decimated by epidemics. Although generally sober, they indulge in drunken orgies on all festive occasions, and these degrading scenes sometimes last for weeks together. At such times the Fie women carefu
The earth and its inhabitants The earth and its inhabitants .. earthitsinhabita293recl Year: 1893 INHABITANTS OF ARGENTINA. 415 165.âIndian Populations of South Argentina. Scale 1 : 16,000,000. All the PatagouiaiiS have for several years lived in complete subjection to the Argentine authorities. They even call themselves Christians ; but despite their apparent physical strength they are often decimated by epidemics. Although generally sober, they indulge in drunken orgies on all festive occasions, and these degrading scenes sometimes last for weeks together. At such times the Fie women carefully collect all dan- gerous implements, knives, clubs, lassos, and hide them away in some remote gorge, where they take refuge with the children till the bout is over. For ihe part the Tehuel- che Indians are dying out without passing through the period of servi- tude. These aborigines still jare- serve their haughty spirit, freely roaming their dreary solitudes from north to south, from the foot of the Andes to the shores of the Atlantic. They wear their flowing locks bound round the head with a broad band- age, like that which is used to com- press the skull to the required shape in infancy. Like so many oiher primitive peoples, they carefully pluck out all hairs from the face, and till recently emploj^ed for this purpose small silver tweezers iden- tical with those that have been found in the old sepulchral mounds of the Calchaqui Indians in the pro- vince of Catamaroa.* But in their present impoverished slate they have generally to rest satisfied with simple knives with which all sprout- ing hairs are shaved off. Since their submission to the Argentine Government, the Pata- gonians have been obliged to renounce all warlike expeditions. Consequently they no longer go about armed with the national spear and cowhide buckler embellished with metal ornaments. At present their only weapon is the hola i)erdida, 'lost 310 Miles. * Francisco P. Moreno, Viaje à la Patagoni
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