The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-12-27

in the hot ashes, just far enough from the
blaze not TO crack the shell, beating the
batter now and then and turning it around,
so that the mixture will not adhere to the
sides. If a novice, you will probably burn
your fingers pretty badly, and may be up
set the whole thing in the fire; hut even in
the latter case you may be consoled with
the though that you haven'tIost much, an
that the duty of friendly politeness, as de-
manded by local etiquette, has been relig-
iously fulflled-in the c~leanest possible
manner, without touching d dog-licked
utensil belonging to the toldo.
However charming the life of a noble
savage may be, its delights do not appear
to be shared to any great extent by the
weaker sex, even in Patagonia. l never
saw
WOMEN WORK HARDER
than these, even society leaders in the cen
tire of the swim and l am told that their
u%ntiring industry is the same year in and
out. Notwithstanding the clumsiness of
their tools, they sew neatly and with re-
markable rapidity-their only thread being
sinews from the backs of old guanacos, and
their needle a silver of bone, sharpened at
one end and a hole punched in the other.
The labor on a single fur capa, or mantle
which both men and women wear, is i'm
mense; and besies those required FOR their
own use, they are constantly making others
for sale. The skins are taken from guiana
cos less than a month old, because after
that age the fur begins to grow coarse and
woody, and are first pegged to the ground
with long thorns of the algarroba tree and
left to dry in the sun. When thoroughly
seasoned they are taken up and scraped
with pieces of flint or bits of broken glass
fixed into a rude handle. Then they are
smeared all over with a mixture of tallow
and liver, kneaded into pulp; after which
they must be rubbed in the hands for hours,
until they become soft and pliable. Then
they are spread on the ground and cut with
a sharp knife into suitable pieces, dove
tailed to fit one another in order to give
greater strength to the seam. A number
of women sit dow together to sew these
pieces, each with her bone needle, sinew
thread and bodkin made of a sharpened
nail. a whole mantle is never sewn at
once, but when half is finished 1t is pegged
out OF the ground, its surface slightly
m~oistened, and each woman takes a chunk
of red ochre and
STAIN 1T WITH GREATEST CARE.
When the ground work is done, apattern
is put on-usually spots n lines of black,
blue and yellow, sometimes varied by tri-
angles and small crosses-the latter device
probably borrowed from the missionaries
When the painting Is concluded, it is left a
udy VI lWO OIy duu WE6u Tue QUIET nail
has been simlrally treated, the twain are
welded into one unbroken surface of soft
est, finest fur.
Then there are no end of fllets to be
woven, for the mems heads and their own
from the ~unravelled threads of cloth OBJ
tanned at the settlements or from the Arau.
c~anians. In the same way they weave belts
or garters, the latter not for their own
stockingless legs, but to hold up the horse
hide boots of their lords and masters. They
must also sew skins together for beds, the
the coverings of the toldos and for sale,
scrape and dress horse-hides for seats, sad.
dies and partition walls, and do a thousand
other things which keep them constantly
employed; while their lazy men folk''
smoke, gamble, race horses, play ball and
hunt only when the exigences of the lardel
require.
Some of the men are surprisingly expert
workers in silver, considering their rude
implements. They take the silver dollars
obtained in barter and temper them until
they become malleable enough to be beaten
into shapes, for buckles, garters, plates