TAMENESS OF THE DEER. I3I 



sion of surprise with one of interested curiosity. For an instant I stood 

 admiring the rich golden brown of their sleek, glossy coats, as they alter- 

 nately cropped the rosebuds and other choice morsels from the foliage 

 about them, or cast inquiring glances toward me. Suddenly, remember- 

 ing that we had been without fresh meat for breakfast, I deliberately, 

 though reluctantly, drew my revolver from its scabbard, and having for 

 a moment subdued the compassionate feeling with which I had been 

 seized, it required little skill to despatch one of the trio and demonstrate 

 that man is not less brutal than other animals. Indeed, from a certain, 

 and to my mind questionable standpoint, it was about as unsportsmanlike 

 an act as could have been committed. But, like others even more un- 

 sportsmanlike which I shall later have occasion to relate, it served the 

 double purpose of providing us with a supply of meat and an addition to 

 our collection of the skins of recent Mammalia. The two survivors re- 

 mained, unalarmed either by the report of the fatal shot, or the death 

 struggles of their companion. While I was engaged in skinning and 

 dressing the carcass of the dead animal, the live ones stood at a dis- 

 tance of only a few yards, either indifferent, or at most only curious as to 

 the nature of the operation, and I could at any moment have easily de- 

 spatched them, had I been so inclined. Covering the carcass and skin 

 with brush so as to protect them from the carranchas, I returned to camp 

 and, saddling a horse, conveyed them to our tent, where they were prop- 

 erly cared for. 



We remained at this camp for a few days, examining the adjoining bad- 

 lands for fossils and making no inconsiderable additions to our collections 

 of recent birds, mammals and plants. After learning what we could of 

 our immediate surroundings, we crossed over the low continental divide 

 and camped on a small stream, which flows toward the Pacific along the 

 western border of the valley which we had already designated as Mayer 

 Basin, in honor of our friend General Edelmiro Mayer, Governor of the 

 Territory of Santa Cruz. It is a singular fact that, except in the region 

 of Lakes Viedma and Argentino, the main ranges of the southern Andes 

 nowhere form the watershed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 

 Throughout all the remainder of that vast extent of country the continen- 

 tal divide or watershed lies far to the east of the main ranges of the 

 Andes. This fact, which remained for a long time unknown, has been the 

 source of considerable friction between the Argentine and Chilian govern- 



