Through the Heart of Patagonia

t-Four languages-Signalling by smokes-Searching for horses-Favourite words and phrases-Nag of the baleful eye-Ca?adon of the dry river-Bad ground-Flies-Ostrich eggs-Shootin

all the technicalities of our

been recaptured shortly before our arrival in Trelew. The purchase of them was, however, the best speculation I could make under the circumstances, since all the animals were good and sound. Had I bought by small instalments in Trelew, not only would every man within journeying distance have very naturally attemp

, and to each is assigned a madrina, or bell-mare, which is never ridden, and which is trained to be caught easily. At night she is hobbled, and her troop remain round about her. Naturally a well-trained madrina is one affair, while a badly-trained

PA RO

he horses of a morning. A horse used to hobbles can travel in them four or five leagues in a single night, so the reason why the mares should not be allowed ever to become used to travelling in hobbles is obvious. The madrina has a bell attached to her neck,

y answer. Some of the names are melodious and pretty-alazan, which means chestnut, cruzado, the name given to a horse that possesses alternate white feet, the off fore and the near hind foot, or the othe

n, ch

h-grey and whi

o,

co,

th crossed

w with black s

a, slit

o,

ro,

ebald or

n or bay with

ith white blaze

nd white in p

o, str

llo,

toast-c

rown or

ying to pull the palenque out of the ground. He is then saddled up, generally with an accompaniment of bucking, and the Gaucho who is to tame him climbs upon his back. Another mounted Gaucho is near by to "ride off," which he does by galloping between the colt and any dangerous ground or object. Probably the colt will begin by bucking, but if he does not do so during his first gallop it by no means follows t

y harsh treatment. Different colours in horses are supposed to indicate different temperaments; thus th

to be more spirited than those bred in the south. But this theory is possibly owing to the fact that the avera

r as soon as their rider's foot touches the stirrup. This also is the fault of the

will be able to understand more fully th

farther because he had had no meat to eat upon the previous night. As the meat-shed was situated about two hundred yards from where my men were encamped, and as he had free access to it, I began to understand that Fritz was something of an old soldier. Had I

A

te of Exped

AGO

large

en, who had applied to join the expedition. I took them both along, for, having paid Master Fritz's way from Buenos Aires, I did not r

de Mayo with Fritz, that that gentleman was looking forward to a soft job, and had

e a small shallow lagoon upon which a couple of ashy-headed geese (

aylight Burbury, with some of the men, rode out to recover them. They returned unsuccessful. During the morning a wandering Gaucho came into camp and said he had seen some horses in a ca?adon near by. The Welshmen rode out there but came back disappointed, as the horses were not ours. At eleven o'clock next morning I sent three of the men back to M

tory, and remark that he is well acquainted with the country round. If asked whether he can give any opinion as to the whereabouts of the lost horses, he says, "Quien sabe?" but suggests they may be in a "ca?adon muy limpio," to which horses often stray. In reply to any question as to where the ca?adon may lie, he replies, "Over there," and waves his hand half round the compass. He may add that he is looking for seven mares of his own that strayed away last Friday week or he would himself undertake the office of guide. If any hint of payment be given, he goes on to say that, since his mares have be

e, and watching the men ride in and out of the moonlight and the shadows. As the night advanced the cold increased. The moon left us about 3.30 A.M. and it became very

waggon began to move off an alazan fell beneath the front wheel, which passed clean over his near fore leg. Strangely enough, owing to some inequality of the ground, the waggon, although v

NOR (GEOLOGI

keep them together on the open pampas, where, as a further disadvantage, the grass was poor and sparse, and the horses had to scatter a great deal to feed, I decided to cut across to the Rio Chico of Chubut and march along the river valley, the tall cliffs of which would serve as a barrier to

s-Spanish, English, German and Welsh, bu

one of these spread rather much, but was easily put out with a spade. It is strange how small an area burns i

e following

llo, the Zaino, and the Blanco, and this although one was maneado and the other two tied together. This is a great hindrance. We got the waggon ready on the interminable pampa and decided to strike down at once for the Rio Chico by way of a large ca?adon four and a half leagues long. This will add some days to our journey to Colohuapi. But if we continue losing and searching for horses, shall we ever get there? One day we cover twenty-one

, and we started on the back track, for the ca?adon we must strike lies a league behind us. Barckhausen was to ride an untamed black

eyes are the s

ngers clut

one case it is some grim and grotesque oath that he mentally lives on, sometimes it is a line of a hymn, sometimes it is a bit of an advertisement. There are few books in the camp, an

VERO, A B

nd he danced at the edge of the lagoon with four men at the other end of the lasso. We tied his legs in slip-knots and pulled him over, and when quieter saddled him. He bucke

after travelling all the afternoon down the ca?adon since one o'clock, I rode on and found the bed of the river held water in four places. Near the third of these we camped. Saw an ost

ilk and some vegetables. Sometimes we soak our biscuit and bake it. It is ve

sleep out in nothing save a blanket, poor chap! H

8.30 I rode out of the camp and met Jones, who had found

of horses, I came upon the track of wheels in deep scrub. I went back to the waggon and found it on the left bank of the river-bed. Upon one side were thorn-bush and sand, and upon the other a swampy vega of wet grass. Through this the track led, and into this the waggon lumbered, then two of the horses foundered in the black mud and the waggon sank. Of course that put

d pulled it out with some toil from the m

ca?adon of the Rio Chico

t one o'clock. Found that if I could not shoot a guanaco we must open our reserve of tinned meat, and I did not wish to begin upon it so soon. Rode on ahead of the troop revolving these matters. My horse was extra lazy. I was thinking of the ostriches I had observed when I saw over a ridge to the left the ears of a guanaco. There was a dry nullah-bed which curved in beneath the ridge. It was pebbly and sparsely set with thorn. I lay down and crawled until I came to some water, and then I looked again. I could see the first guanaco, an old buck, peering with his long neck swaying, and looking at the Tostado which I had tied up. To tie up your horse in view is the most successful thing you can do in this country of long-necked game, and of game which is so often pursued with dogs and on horseback. Sometimes the most ordinary game takes, from the circumstances surrounding its pursuit, a reflected interest not its own. So it was in this case; nor, indeed, is the guanaco always an easy quarry, in fact it is a shy animal in the districts where it is hunted by Indians.[3] I crawled along, just a thorn-bush, and that a

NTER'S

rough the marshes. In the night the dogs began to bark, for a lion came into camp. We could hear it moving by the dead camp-fire among the pots and pans. Burbury fired his revolver in its direction; he was s

CONCOL

u go and catch a guanaco.' To-night he was roasting an ostrich egg and it exploded and shot h

un till the hide of guanaco we had bound it with should dry. So I decided to take to-day as o

e village church hidden in English lanes and fields. Half the charm of this life we are living out here lies in thinking of our return to the land that gives us all comfort and a silent welcome of green springs. Went out to-day after the lion and

ER AND MOTHER OF THE

on the track a few leagues back. She was six months old, always cheerful, and wagging her whip of a tail, always up to the march. Half an hour before she died I saw her hunting a young fox, her first. She had brown eyes and I had got fonder of her than I knew. Tom used to drive her from her food, biting her, and from the softest bed, and I am now glad to think I sometimes made him give way to her. Just before Lady's death, I shot a cavy (Dolich

of my horses h

long seven leagues and encamped at the foot of a ridge with 200 yards of dead bush between us and the yellow Chico. Goin

danger of turning over. Scrivenor photoed it. At 2.20 waggon horses

esires. Even as in life we wend towards distant ambitions, and, coming up to them, find new ones arise upon the horizon beyond, and so we travel all our days, looking longingly ahead. This valley of the Chico is a wild

jumped off my horse one passed and halted within seventy yards. The herd made a pretty picture standing on the bare, desert-brown hillside in the tearing wind. I cle

pipe is a mighty ally. Here am I in the little 4 ft. tent which Burbury and Scrivenor have pitched to sleep in, wrapped in a poncho a-reek with the smoke of Indian camp-fires, enjoyi

re shall we be? At the Lake Buenos Aires, I hope. Several horses this morn

ht, though fine and bracing; in evil weather it wears an aspect of forlornness. The farther

ery great, but with care, in spite of boulders and hard-going, it seemed as if I could get my waggon up to the foothills, and I looked forward to bringing back many specimens in it. But

ack no specimens to speak of in that case. One must wait and see what Burbury can get from the people at Colohuapi. The camp is in a valley and is surrounded by bare mud cones 100 feet in height, a few bushes shiver in th

of the Chico)! I took my gun down to the river and shot five wid

ng in a rickety way, followed by periods of lying down, and at last we went round over a rise and crawled down on him. I thought he was dead but for the shadow of his neck, and I crawled on with but one cartridge left in my gun. As I neared him, up he got and I fired again and hit him. He was growing very weak. Scrivenor shouted that he had no revolver, and so here were we with only our knives. I followed the guanaco and Scrivenor went round. I was upon him first but my knife was weak. Scrivenor, startled from his usual calm, and with a shout, leaped at the guanaco and caught him round the neck. So we bore hi