. Through the heart of Patagonia. Natural history. GRASSY CAMP 154 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA That night we put the horses in splendid grass, and in the false dawn of the next morning were in the saddle again. We had about fifty miles to cover before reaching Horsham Camp, and never in my life have I so regretted my weight as on that day. About noon, as we were crossing a white dry lake-bed, a column of smoke went up on Fenix Ford ; our comrades were then hurrying to us as we were to them. We an- swered at once, and a couple of hours later per- ceived two horsemen on a distant rise. Two I
. Through the heart of Patagonia. Natural history. GRASSY CAMP 154 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA That night we put the horses in splendid grass, and in the false dawn of the next morning were in the saddle again. We had about fifty miles to cover before reaching Horsham Camp, and never in my life have I so regretted my weight as on that day. About noon, as we were crossing a white dry lake-bed, a column of smoke went up on Fenix Ford ; our comrades were then hurrying to us as we were to them. We an- swered at once, and a couple of hours later per- ceived two horsemen on a distant rise. Two I Nothing wrong in camp then! Hurrah! They turned out to be Scrivenor and Burbury. At last the ve^^a, two miles out of Horsham Camp, began. I had ridden so much off my horse that the cinc/i would not hold him. An awful wind arose and the country round—burned by those miserable Santa Cruz people—sent up dust in clouds and blinded us. At last the green tents came in sight, one of which held, I knew, a reindeer sleeping-bag, wherein was to be found warmth and sleep. When we met my first question was, of course, to ask as to who might be the perpetrator of the two fires we had seen upon the previous day, and which were still burning. "As to those," said Burbury, "they must have been lighted by the little man whom you entertained at the Fenix. He came into our camp after he left you, as also did his companions. We knew that you would wonder who had lit the smokes. When we saw yours, we at once came to meet ; As we rode along towards our base camp we passed through acres of fire-blackened land and cursed the small man (his name is still a mystery to us) by bell,, book, and candle. 1 had carefully informed him that two fires was our " Come-at-once" signal, and can only suppose that the irre- sponsible little creature had forgotten. After all, our resentment. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectnatural, bookyear1902
