The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-09
BEASTS ODD AND WILD.
Strange Forms of Life Found
in Far Patagonia.
DARWIN'S GUANACO MYTH,
Plainsmen Don't Believe the
Story Of the "Golgotha"
of the Beast.

49, NAh-. ~ ~ NENANNEN SIS - -
Nsavss OF Pstasonis-The Panther or
che south A-erissn Desert . Playful
Beast, Frierdiy 20 Ns.-~I.teimes.ce s.d
n.teresti.s Traits OF thesIrze.ehs-o-eer
Lattis ~'Pos.--s-The Arnssnie Exceed
i-siy aees Eating. Resides Being Usefui.
Let no sportsman or amateur naturalist be
deferred from visiting Patagonia by the dis
oouraging words Of Darwin. When that famous
naturalist had climbed the p~orphyry hills back
% Port Desire, and, gazing away over the brown
mesa, had seen little worth mentioning even by
. naturalist save there and there tufts of
brown. wiry grass and "stIll moro rarely
some low, thorny bushes" he went bacK to his
diary In the cabin of his ship and wrote "the
sociology of Patagonia is as limited a. Its fora"
II Patagonia DO compared with some parts of
the tropics where the forests rcsound ~contlnu-
ally with the cries Of birds and animals, whore
butterflies and hummingbirds nll the air. and
che insects are seen or felt in countless thou
sands. then, comparatively speaking, the fauna
n limited. And yet there were-and are-some
forms Of life In Pstagonia-inseots, for in
s~tanoe-which. II Darwin had happened along
ct the right time, would have made him think
the country about as full Of life as IL needed TO
be TO keep q human being on the Jump. There
are as many mosquitoes and punkies (gnats) In
Patagonia Is in any game country I have seen
IN tho two Americas, but the absence of this
sort Of life at certain seasons. Is one of the ad-
v~sntages which IL offers TO the sportsman, II
not to tho naturalist. However. thatlis q con-
sideration that would appeal only to those
sportsmen who prefer trolling TO casting q fly
and shooting deer from o boat instead of stalk
ing. For the hardy seeker after the thrills of
the chase, with incidental trophies. Patagonia
offers inducements quito the equal, all things
considered. Of any other wild part Of the earth.
Among the charms of q ~sojourn there may be
mentioned, for instance, the fact that parts of
the land tnow small in area. however,. have
never yet been visitsd by white men, and prob
ably not by Indians.
: OF the animals o sportsman would hnd there
Che first In point of numbers 10 the guanaco. Ny
FIRST view of the guanaco was from the compan-
ionway Of tho steamer In which I coasted the
land. II was hanging in the rigging about the
mainmast. The ships Captain had been away
on q hunt and had killed two. which were
brought on board and hung up while I wns writ
ing in my diary down below. I afterward saw
puanaoos oantering over the hills unsuspicious
of danger, and also fleeing toward q far country
because certain that danger was near. They
were even seen from the deck of the steamer as
she ran down the coast. Although certain set
Elements, to be described at another time. have
driven these animals from three or four old
time hAunts, their number In Patagonia, desert
though IL be. is like unto the number Of ante
lope that used TO range over favored parts Of the
United States. They are seen by the thousand.
In form and habits the guanaco is . very in
teresting beast. After o man has hunted It q
while he comes to think It q model Of beauty
and grace, but at first view. even on the plains,
IL seems to the majority OF people ridiculous.
" It Ia like o long-legged calf with a neck three
times too long," to quote the words OF q Yankee
sailor I found In Santa Cruz. As . matter Of
fact IL has the body Of a goat, but It stands from
three to four feet high when full sized. The
neck seems to be as long as the body. while the
legs. which are as long as those OF adeer, are
really thicker. and seem thicker than they are.
at least in winter, because of the length of
hair. The color OF the body of the full grown
beast is the red of q red COW, but the pelage Il
wool rather than hair until the animal
Is well on in years. However. the pelage OF the
legs is hair at all ages. In youth the wool is a
light, almost a fawn color. At all ages the
color of the back shades into white on the belly,
while in extreme old age the GuanacOs are said
20 turn almost white all over. The track OF the
guanaco Is something like that OF a deer, though
much larger. while the foot Is peculiar In thatit
has at the under side a very prominent cushion,
which projects below tho protecting, forked
hoof "a the foot Is lifted into the air and which
at all times probably supports the main weight
OF the body, making the step very light on the
btOuy uobcIt- no uOOl N u -
ing the dubious cushion. The cushion Is COW
cred with q rough but yielding skin, which,
though rough. Is not calloused as the foot Of q
barefooted man comes to be.
When Darwin was In Patagonia he wrote
some pages about the guanaco, paying consider
able attention TO its swiftness, its peculiar for
nation, which indicated that It was really the
humpless camel Of the South American desert.
and Its curious cry whtn alarmed, the exact
Il - 4. A..aa Dnt Intawaattna than all
this was q habit which he believed It had when
about 10 die. Along the Rio Santa Cruz he
found the ground under the brush actually
heaped up with the bones OF the guanaco. Ami
NAL after animal had crawled In under the
brushy shrubs. and. lying down upon the bones
OF others that had come there before II, had
breathed its last. He also noticed that when a
guanaco was wounded by u bullet It immedi-
ately headed away for the river. The Same
habit was observed on the Rio Gallegos, but In
no other place than these two valleys.
Will Darwin's words as q text, Mr.. w. II.
Hudson. whose Naturalist in La Plat" is the
most interesting work on natural history ever
written. has taken the trouble TO reason out the
cause for what he says "looks less like an in
stinct OF one OF the inferior creatures than the
superstitious observance OF human beings, who
have knowledge of death and believe In a con-
tinued existence after dissOlution; OF a tribe
that In past times had conceived the idea that
the liberated spirit Is only able TO find Its way
u its future abode by starting at death from
the ancient dying place OF the tribe or family.
and thence moving westward, or ~skyward, or
underground, or over the well-worn immemo-
rlaltrack, invisible TO material eyes" He thinks
thai this "strange and useless instinct" which
sends the guanaeo to a certain place when IL
feels the chills of death approach, once upon a
time played an important part In the life OF
the Species" and was rendered useless by
changes in tine condition OF life. We must
suppose" he says, that there is in the SEN
satlons preceding death some resemblance to
the sensations experienced by the animal "heh
its curious instinct took form and crystallized;
these would be painful sensations that threat
ened life. and freedom from them and safety 10
the animal would only exist ia a certain we'll
remembered spot" In short the guRnaco goes
there 20 escape a danger that does not now exist,