The Phoenix herald., 1879-07-26

stoned by the above conflicting consid-
 erations they accordingly created the | Gualichu, a most accomm odating devil,
 who allows himself to be ignored or
 brought forward, as may best suit the momentary purpose of his clients. The good spirit, for obvious reasons, one
 hears very little about; the Tehnelche
 is quite willing to take the credit of his good actions on himself alone.
 'sThe office of chief or cdc5que among
 them is not altogether sinecure but its authority is extremely limited, being exercised merely ia such slight matters
 as the choice of the spot where the l tribe Is to camp, the route to be fol-
 lowed, and so forth. The Tehnelches are very jealous of their personal lib erty and complete individual equality is the recognized basis of their social and political system. Paraphrasing | Wordsworth I may say in prose, " rich man Is a rich man to them, and he is nothing more." In other words the | fact of one of their number possessing forty or fifty horses more than his fel- | lows seems to be accepted by them as | simple fact, which excites neither respect | for the possessor nor envy of his fortune. l Nor would 1t for moment occur to the owner of the forty or fifty horses to 1 fancy himself in any way superior to his poorer brethren. The little credit
 which wealth, per SC, commands, saves ths Indians from great many of the repugpant vices of white men, such as avarice, jealousy, servility. etc., and keeps up healthy, independent feeling among them, which is pleasantly mani fested in the politeness and kindliness of their personal intercourse.
 I Io1
 over, which is well calculated to pre-
 serve the existing state of things. When an Indian dies, however many horses he may possess, they are all killed, and his other belongings are scrupulously burned. Thus, no family can acquire such a preponderapce of | wealth as would enable 1t in time to ob- tain an ascenlant influence over and curtail the liberties of the rest of the tribe. Whatever the defects of the system may be from the political econ
 omist's point of view, 1t seems to be very we'll adapted to the desires and circumstances of the Tehnelches :; and as an instance of how socialistic tenden
 cles may be practically modified to suit certain exceptional conditions of exist ence, 1t Is perhaps not without some in terest.
 :" If required to distinguish the l rehnelche by a single char acteristic epithet, I should call him not the no ble but the happy savage. Far from
 being saturnine. and grave, he IS as | light hearted as child, all mIrth and contentment, and wonderfully easily moved to laughter. Life is, indeed, a very pleasant>matter for him. With out any exertion on his part being nee essary, all. his wants are supplied ln abundance. He has no onerous daily drudgery to undergo; he has no enc | mics to fear; he Is not driven from his | hunting grounds to starvation and death, like his North American cousins, by the ever-advancing white man. He is seldom visited by sickness, and his life Is unusually prolonged. That he has absolutely no troubles I will not affirm, but if he has any he certainly takes them very lightly.
 To conclude these few remarks on the Tehnelche race. in reviewing their characteristics it Is impossible not to award them high rank in the list of uncivilized nationalities. To admit that they have many faults is, after all, merely saying that they are human. b ut these faults are redeemed by many unusual excellencies. They are good natured, hospitable, and ahectionate; their instincts are gentle; violence and ferocity are foreign to their nature, and though not invariably veracious nor strictly honest, if they think you trust them they will take care not to unde ceive you. Their one great failing is their addiction to rum, to whose fatal agency the rapid decrease Tn their num- bers and the consequent fast-approach- | ing extinction of their race must be as- cribed." |
 Proceeding southward from the In | dian camp the party came to the river Gallegos, which, although in summer a shallow stream, was now swollen by | the melting snows on the Cordilleras, to broad and foaming torrent. To | reach Sandy Point without fording this | river was impossible. Three of the | party turned pack, but the author and | one companion, after waiting many | days in vain for the river to fall, their provisions and matches nearly exhaust | ed, determined to make the Perllous at | tempt. The account of their frightful perils in so doing, the subsequent loss of their horses, their desperate strug- | gle in half frozen and starved con- dition to accom- plish the remainder of | their journey son foot, is narrative of most thrilling and exciting iAterest.
 But even. when once more safely | within the bounds of civilization their dangers were not over. On the night | of their arrival at Sandy Point mu
 tiny broke out among the soldiers and | convicts, and the peaceful little settle | ment was soon the scene of drunken orgies and conf igration. The story of the authors escape, his efforts to save the wife and little children of the gov ernor, and their flight into the woods to escape from the drunken mutineers, is told with much vividness and graphic power.
 The book is written in pleasing style. Mir. Beerbohm writes with a cer- tain frankness and directness, and not only describes what he sees and hears with fullness of detail that makes the picture complete and lifelike, but takes