At Home with the Patagonians [Paperback]

This is quite the best of the books written in the late 19th century by British travelers who were enchanted with Patagonia. Two others, RIDING ACROSS PATAGONIA by Lady Florence Dixie and WANDERINGS IN PATAGONIA by Julius Beerbohm, have recently been reprinted and both bear reading. Musters was the first to publish (in 1871), and was referred to very amusingly by Lady Florence in her book when she described the reaction of her friends to her expedition:

"Patagonia! Who would ever think about going to such a place? Why you will be eaten up by cannibals! What on earth makes you choose such an outlandish part of the world to go to? What can be the attraction? Why it is thousands of miles away, and no one has ever been there before, except Captain Musters, and one or two other adventurous madmen!"

Thank heaven for adventurous madmen like Captain Musters! Although he was by training a military man, he was able to blend in with the Tehuelche Indians of Patagonia and travel with them for months between Santa Cruz at the mouth of the Rio Chico and the relatively young settlement at Patagones, now known as the twin cities of Carmen de Patagones and Viedma.

To be flexible enough to be accepted by a native tribe and act, in effect, as a sub-chief in their dealings with the Araucanian and Pampas tribes and still retaining their respect at the end is a tribute to a remarkable personality. Like Charles Darwin in his VOYAGE OF THE HMS BEAGLE, Musters was a meticulous and mostly reliable observer. His book contains two appendices, one a glossary of terms and expressions in the Tehuelche tongue, and the other an amusing comparison of the myths discussing whether the Patagonian Indians were giants (they were taller than most Indians, but not giants).

Musters traveled some distance with his Tehuelche hosts, much of it along the eastern edge of the Andes, the land now traversed by the famous Ruta 40. During his travels, the characters of the individual men, women, and children in the tribes were skillfully delineated, as well as their customs and frequent quarrels.

By 1871, the Tehuelche were well on their way to extinction. Musters estimated that there were only 1,500 members of the several nomadic bands. Disease, drink, and feuds all played a part in decimating their population. During one alarming stretch between Geylum and the Coast, the tribe had to pass through an area with such bad water and poor hunting that the children began to die off at an alarming rate.

This is an outstanding work that is readable and scholarly at the same time. I give it my highest recommendation.

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