"Patagonia is a desolate region, comprising an area of about three hundred and fifty thousand square miles; its northern boundary is the Rio Negro, and there have been disputes between Chili and the Argentine Republic concerning the right to the country. It has been finally agreed that Chili may have the west coast and the country along the strait, while the republic may possess the region bordering on the Atlantic. Several colonies have been made in Patagonia by the two claimants, but none of them have succeeded. [Illustration: THE GUANACO.] "The population is very small, considering the area; some authorities place it as low as three thousand, and none higher than ten thousand; the latter figure is probably excessive. The plains are covered with a few shrubs and scanty grass, or with nothing at all, and the valleys are the only places where cattle and horses can find sufficient grazing to keep them alive. Some of the northern tribes have herds of cattle and sheep, mostly stolen from the Argentine Republic, but the southern natives have no cattle and but few horses. Notwithstanding their desolate character, the plains support countless numbers of ostriches and guanacos; the feathers of the former and the skins of the latter are articles of commerce, and their flesh serves as food. When the Indians are unsuccessful in hunting these animals they live upon horse-flesh, and many of them prefer it to any other article of food. "We met at Sandy Point a guacho from the Argentine Republic who had spent several years in Patagonia, and made a living by hunting. He had a troop of dogs which he used in the chase of the ostriches and guanaco, and he told us that it was his plan to start out with two or three Indian attendants, and be absent for weeks at a time. When he saw an ostrich he sent his dogs after it, and followed close behind on horseback; with dogs and bolas he rarely failed to bring down his game, and the same was the case with the guanaco. He had from six to a dozen horses; when one was wearied he quickly changed the saddle to another. When he had gathered a sufficient quantity of ostrich feathers and guanaco skins to pay for the journey, he came to Sandy Point, and he had arrived there only the day before we met him.