The religion of the Patagonians (according to Mr. Musters) is distinguished from that of the Pampas and Araticanians by an absence of trace of sun-worship. They believe in a great and good spirit who created the Indians and animals, and who dis persed them from a place which they call "God's hill;" but Mr. Musters is inclined to think that this belief owes its origin to a confused apprehension of the story of creation as told by the Christian missionaries. Curiously enough, this great and good spirit takes no concern with the beings whom he has created. idols are unknown, and during the whole of his wanderings Mr. Musters saw no trace of any periodic religious festival. Whatever religious acts the natives performed were prompted by their dread of mali cious demons, the chief of wh6m, Gnalichn, is always on the watch to cause mischief. To propitiate or drive away this spirit is the function of the wizard, doctor, or medicine man, Nvlio (as in other countries) combines the medical and magical arts. The Gualichu lurks outside the tondos. lie is invisible (except to the " doctor," who has the gift of second-sight), and he can enter into the bodies of people, and cause sickness and dil'ease of every sort. Besides the Gualichu, there are, as ha:; been said, many other evil spirits, who are supposed to inhabit subterranean dwellings, underneath certain woods and rivers and peculiarly shaped rocks, all of whom are saluted on occasion with special incantations. The cry'of the niahjar on the Cordillera betokens sickness or death; a certain toad-like lizard mysteriously lames horses; a fabulous two-headed guanaco is a sure forerunner of epidemic disease, etc. To counteract the influence of these, charms and talismans are liberally employed.
Their language is quite different from either Pampa or Araucanian. " Though able to converse in Tchuelehe," says Mr. Musters, "I could not at all tnideistand the Pam pas; and this is noted with reference to statements made in M. Guinnard's work, which, coupled with other internal evidences . . . compel me to doubt that the author was ever in the hands of the real Patagoniana." The same writer has a more favorable opin ion of their character than is common. He found them "kindly, good-tempered, impnl- sive children of nature, taking great likes or dislikes, becoming firm friends or equally confirmed enemies," They are, howevtir, •" steadily and rapidly decreasing," through, the combined effect of disease and bad liquor supplied to them by traders at the stations; and before long the race will be extirpated. '1'lle largest of these stations is Patagones
(formerly El Carmen), at the mouth of the Rio Negro, in the ektreme n.e. of the coun try. and bordering on the Argentine territory. It has a pop. of about 2,000, composed of Spanish and other settlers, negroes, and convicts from Buenos Ayres. At the mouth of the Chupat there was from 1865 till 1870 an unprosperous Welsh colony; at the mouth of the Santa Cruz, further s., there is also a petty station; and at Punta Arenas (Sandy Point)• on the strait of Magellan, the Chilian governinent have established a colony and a penal settlement.
See At Home with the Palagonians: a Year's Wanderin,gs orer the Untrodden Ground from, the Straits of Magellan to the Rio Negro, by George Chaworth Musters (Loud. 1871).
PaTilLA (from pat, fall) is. in Hindu mythology, the name of those inferior regions which have seven, or, according to some, eight divisions, each extending downwards 10.000 ,goinnas, or miles. The soil of these regions, as the relates, is sev erally white, black, purple, yellow, sandy, stony, and of gold; they are embellished with magnificent palaces, in which dwell numerous danavas, daityas, vakshas, and great snake-gods, decorated with brilliant jewels, and happy in the enjoyment of delicious viands and strong wines. There are in these regions beautiful groves, and streams and lakes, where the lotus blows, and the skies are resonant with the kokila's songs. They are, ill short, so delightful, that the saint Narada, after his return from them to heaven, declared among the celestials that Night was much more delightful than Indra's heaven. Prof. Wilson, in his Vishnu-Pordna, says " that there is no very copious description of Patala in any of the Portions; that the Most circumstantial are those of the Vd.gu and BRigaratn Pureinas ; and that the .211ahribluirata and these two Purdnas assign dif ferent divisions to the danavas, daityas, and ragas. . . The regions of the Patala and their inhabitants are oftener the subjects of profane than of sacred fiction, in conse quence of the frequent intercourse between mortal heroes and the serpent-maids. A considerable section of the Vrihat-Kathd consists of adventures and events in this sub terraneous'world." For inferior regions of a different description, see NA RAKA.