THE ST. JOHNS HERALD — JULY 28, 1892
GIANTS OF THE CORDILLERAS ♢ They Guard Fabulous Treasures of
Gold and Silver in their Mountains
In western Patagonia, among the Cordilleras mountains, dwell the giants of whom so many big stories have been told. As a matter of fact these Arancanians, as they are called, are rarely under six feet in height and sometimes reach eight feet, seven foot men being not infrequent, says the Philahelphia Press. Though mildly disposed, they admit no strangers to their territory, and by stubborn resistance they have compelled Chili to let them alone. Fabulous treasures of gold and silver are believed to be stored away in their mountains, but prospectors who have ventured thither have always been driven away. They commonly adorn themselves with rich and heavy ornaments of these precious metals. The greater part of Patagonia belongs now to the Argentine Republic, Chili holding by treaty the strip along the Pacific coast, which continues its shoe-string-like territory for nearly half the length of South America.
Most of the country is a desert waste, cold of climate and contrasting strongly with the richly productive pampas or plains of the southern Argentine. These pampas are remarkable for the strange illusions which beset the eye of the traveler who journeys over them. On any bright day a distant thistle field is as like as not to be transformed seemingly into a forest, while a few clumps of grass will take on the appearance of a troop of horsemen. Mirages are constantly in view, frequently offering a delusive prospect of water, by which men are often deceived but their horses never.
From— The St. Johns Herald. (St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona Territory [Ariz.]), 28 July 1892. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
