. Through the heart of Patagonia. Natural history. FIRST HUEMUL CAMP 162 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA camp by a little pool. Here we had a mat'e by the fire and gave our horses grass. Then came our climb up the ragged cliffs by which we had descended. They were very high, nsmg fold on fold, set as always with loose stones and shifting sand, a needle or two of black rock stick- - - --™,^, - . ^ T? ing out gauntly from their steep faces. The next day Jones and I went hunting. We desired to secure a few heads and skins of the huemul and we determined to devote a day to that purpose. I will desc
. Through the heart of Patagonia. Natural history. FIRST HUEMUL CAMP 162 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA camp by a little pool. Here we had a mat'e by the fire and gave our horses grass. Then came our climb up the ragged cliffs by which we had descended. They were very high, nsmg fold on fold, set as always with loose stones and shifting sand, a needle or two of black rock stick- - - --™,^, - . ^ T? ing out gauntly from their steep faces. The next day Jones and I went hunting. We desired to secure a few heads and skins of the huemul and we determined to devote a day to that purpose. I will describe that excursion at full length, as it was one typical of Patagonian sport. Of course we rode. You ride everywhere in Patagonia. I rode Luna, and Jones one of the Zainos—Fritz the younger, a very rough horse. When we started a light rain was falling and the summits of the Cordillera were purple with threatening cloud. The rain gave the mountain wind the softness which the pampero lacks. We quickly crossed the lower hills and saw some guanacos in the valleys. We did not shoot any but rode on upwards until we came to the hi'^^h ground, where bushes of matd negra and black fragments of basalt made a desolate picture with the low clouds rolling over the wet hills. Presently a cloud enveloped us and we took shelter beneath a rock. It looked as if we were in for a wet day, but to our delight, after an hour of waiting the wind blew away the clouds and showed the pale blue sky beyond, the weather turned colder and set in fine. We jumped on our horses and jogged on until the high ground was reached. Here we dismounted and spied the country with the telescope. We had come to the conclusion that nothing was in sight when, moving a little higher, I saw an ostrich in a marsh not more than two hundred yards away. The bird had not perceived us, and fortunately the ground was favourable for. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitall
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectnatural, bookyear1902
