Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

PATAGONIA.

animal in a state of nature, with a long slender neck and fine legs. It is very common over the whole of the temperate parts of the continent, as far south as the islands near Cape Horn. It generally lives in small herds of from half a dozen to thirty in each; but on the banks of the Santa Cruz we saw one herd which must have contained at least five hundred.

They are generally wild and extremely wary. The sportsman frequently receives the first notice of their pres

[graphic][merged small][subsumed]

ence by hearing from a long distance their peculiar shrill neighing note of alarm. If he then looks attentively, he will probably see the herd standing in a line on the side of some distant hill. On approaching nearer, a few more squeals are given, and off they set at an apparently slow, but really quick canter, along some narrow beaten track to a neighboring hill. If, however, by chance he abruptly meets a single animal, or several together, they will gener

PATAGONIA.

ally stand motionless and intently gaze at him; then perhaps move on a few yards, turn round, and look again. What is the cause of this difference in their shyness? Do they mistake a man in the distance for their chief enemy, the puma? or does curiosity overcome their timidity? That they are curious is certain; for if a person lies on the ground, and plays strange antics, such as throwing up his feet in the air, they will almost always approach by degrees to examine him. It was a trick repeatedly practised by our sportsmen with success, and it had, moreover, the advantage of allowing several shots to be fired, which were all taken as parts of the performance. On the mountains of Tierra del Fuego I have more than once seen a guanaco, on being approached, not only neigh and squeal, but prance and leap about in the most ridiculous manner, apparently in defiance, as a challenge. These animals are very easily tamed, and I have seen some thus kept in Patagonia near a house, though not under any restraint. They are in this state very bold, and readily attack a man by striking him be hind with both knees. The wild guanacos, however, have no idea of defence; even a single dog will secure one of these large animals till the huntsman can come up. In many of their habits they are like sheep in a flock. Thus, when they see men approaching in several directions on horseback, they soon become bewildered, and know not which way to run. This greatly favors the Indian mode of hunting, for they are thus easily driven to a central point and surrounded.

The guanacos readily take to the water; several times

PATAGONIA.

at Port Valdes they were seen swimming from island to island. Byron, in his voyage, says he saw them drinking salt water. Some of our officers likewise saw a herd ap parently drinking the briny fluid from a salina (salt-marsh) near Cape Blanco. I imagine that, in several parts of the country, if they do not drink salt water they drink none at all. In the middle of the day they frequently roll in the dust, in saucer-shaped hollows. Herds sometimes seem to set out on exploring parties. At Bahia Blanca, where, within thirty miles of the coast, these animals are extremely infrequent, I one day saw the track of thirty or forty, which had come in a direct line to a muddy salt-water creek. They then must have perceived that they were approaching the sea, for they had wheeled with the regularity of cavalry, and had returned back in as straight a line as they had advanced. The guanacos, like sheep, always follow the same line.

The puma, with the condor and other carrion-hawks in its train, follows and preys upon these animals. On the banks of the Santa Cruz the footsteps of the puma were to be seen almost everywhere; and the remains of several guanacos, with their necks dislocated and bones broken, showed how they had met their death.

THE PUMA.

THE puma, or South American lion (Felis concolor), is not uncommon in Chile. This animal has a wide geographical range, being found from the equatorial forests,

CHILE.

throughout the deserts of Patagonia, as far south as the damp and cold latitudes (fifty-three to fifty-four degrees) of Tierra del Fuego. I have seen its footsteps in the cordillera of Central Chile, at an elevation of at least ten thousand feet. In La Plata the puma preys chiefly on deer, ostriches, bizcachas, and other small quadrupeds; it there seldom attacks cattle or horses, and most rarely man. In Chile, however, it destroys many young horses and cattle, owing probably to the scarcity of other quadrupeds. I heard, likewise, of two men and a woman who

[graphic][merged small][merged small]

large bushes, and lies down to watch it. This habit is often the cause of its being discovered; for the condors, wheeling in the air, every now and then descend to share in the feast, and, being angrily driven away, rise all together on the wing. The Chilean then knows there is a lion watching his prey; the word is given, and men and dogs hurry to the chase.

The flesh of the puma is in great esteem, resembling veal not a little both in color, taste, and flavor.

LA PLATA.

THE JAGUAR.

THE wooded banks of the great rivers appear to be the favorite haunts of the jaguar; but south of the Plata, I was

THE JAGUAR.

told they frequented the reeds bordering lakes: wherever they are, they seem to require water. Their common prey is the capibara, or water-hog, so that it is generally said, where capibaras are numerous there is little danger from the jaguar. Falconer states that near the southern side of the mouth of the Plata there are many jaguars, and that they chiefly live on fish. This account I have

heard repeated. On the Parana they have killed many wood-cutters, and have even entered vessels at night. When the floods drive these animals from the islands they are most dangerous. I was told that,

a few years since, a very large one found its way into a church at Santa Fé: two priests, entering one after the other, were killed, and a third, who came to see what was the matter, escaped with difficulty. The beast was destroyed by being shot from a corner of the building which was unroofed.

[graphic]
[graphic]

THE CAPIBARA.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »