REMARKABLE MIRAGE. 99 



would cause us to diverge from our direct route. On drawing near, how- 

 ever, they would gradually disappear and in most instances a gentle in- 

 cline of only a few feet would be found where we had supposed there 

 was a precipitous bluff rising several hundred feet above the plain. At 

 other times there would be double images of the same series of objects, 

 one image appearing directly above another, owing to the different re- 

 fracting powers due to the varying density of the several strata of the 

 atmosphere which lay between us and the various objects. These inter- 

 esting phenomena continued with most bewildering effects until about 

 ten o'clock. Then they entirely disappeared and the bushes, animals, 

 and inequalities upon the surface appeared in their normal conditions 

 much to our relief, I may say. For while we had been intensely inter- 

 ested in it all, it was not without its annoying features, since it was very 

 difficult to hold to a definite course, through the impossibility of being 

 able to select any fixed landmarks, by which to steer a direct course. 

 Nothing was stationary ; everything was constantly changing. 



When, shortly after ten o'clock normal conditions were restored, we 

 found ourselves in the midst of a vast plain with no permanent landmark 

 visible in any direction. The horizon described a perfect circle, and within 

 the circumference there appeared not even a solitary hill. The impression 

 was not unlike that at sea in calm weather, as one scans the surrounding 

 horizon, with this exception, that, at sea, I never have even the slightest 

 idea as to the different directions until looking at the compass. Here on 

 the plains of Patagonia, as on our own plains, I seemed instinctively to 

 know the points of the compass, and could travel for days at a time with- 

 out consulting that instrument. 



In the afternoon the blue skies of the morning were overcast with dark, 

 sombre clouds, which effectually shut out the genial warmth of the sun. 

 The wind grew stronger and the temperature lower, so that with my 

 position as teamster, I was chilled through and altogether decidedly 

 uncomfortable when, late in the evening, we came upon two small water 

 holes. As this was the first water we had seen during the entire day, we 

 were not long in turning out and making ourselves ready for the night. 

 There was a rather scanty supply of brown and withered, but nutritious 

 grass about the pools, enough, however, to furnish sufficient feed for our 

 horses for the night. As for ourselves, we soon had a brace of plover, 

 well salted and peppered, and broiling before a bed of embers. These, 



