Through the heart of Patagonia . mp and prepared to go ahead byputting our bedding and food in the canvas boat. We set out onegrey morning, following the left bank of the Katarina. Parallelwith the course of the river ran a chain of small hillocks, andbehind these again a series of reedy lagoons. These last wereliterally black with duck, especially the variety known locally as thewhite-faced duck, otherwise the Chiloe widgeon. The lagoonscontained brackish water, and I fancy ihe whole depression inwhich they lie is flooded in the spring. ^)n this day Cattle and I, from the top of a hillock, de
Through the heart of Patagonia . mp and prepared to go ahead byputting our bedding and food in the canvas boat. We set out onegrey morning, following the left bank of the Katarina. Parallelwith the course of the river ran a chain of small hillocks, andbehind these again a series of reedy lagoons. These last wereliterally black with duck, especially the variety known locally as thewhite-faced duck, otherwise the Chiloe widgeon. The lagoonscontained brackish water, and I fancy ihe whole depression inwhich they lie is flooded in the spring. ^)n this day Cattle and I, from the top of a hillock, descriedwhat we took to be water in the north end of the canadou. Thiswas our first sight of the lake the shores of which I afterwardsreached. In the evening we camped at a spot opposite to the mouth of a THE RIVER KATARINA AND LAKE PEARSON ^83 tributary of the Katarina that flowed from the hills on the easternside. At this point Bernardo knocked up. He had had hardwork all day with the boat, for the stream was full of shoals, and. RIVI:K KATAklXA wind and current were strono- ao-ainst him. He had been in theriver off and on, and as he was already suffering from a slight coldwhen we set out this treatment had not improved it. By night hischest seemed a oood deal affected, and his breathino- was rain of the afternoon turned to snow in the nioht, and it becamevery cold, a comfortless position for a feverish man. ()ur meansfor dealing with illness were limited, but hot cocoa and rugsseemed the best treatment under the circunistances, and we furthersheltered him under the canvas boat, which, being turned over,made a tolerable hut. Having brought a certain amount of prcnlsii^ns with us, wedid not shoot much. There can be little question that, had Pata-gonia been a country rich in trophies, its less remote valleys wouldlonof aoro have known the crack of the rifle. b^ortunau-l\ forits ferw natii7(C. the small horns of Xcuclaphus bisu/cus do notoffer sufficient attraction.
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbrittenj, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1902
