CHILIAN DEER. 1 85 



chance I discovered it. Although still alive, it was already surrounded 

 by a number of carranchas and some five or six condors. One of the lat- 

 ter, as I approached, was observed to have taken a position on the body 

 of the animal. It had already made a hole through the walls of the 

 abdominal cavity, and was then busily engaged in tearing out piecemeal 

 the intestines of the helpless but still living guanaco. Upon my near 

 approach the birds withdrew, and I soon discovered that, as usual, the 

 carranchas had been the first to detect the misfortune which had befallen 

 the beast, for already the eye had been torn from that side of the head 

 which was uppermost, though the tongue was yet intact. To send a ball 

 from my revolver into the brain of the helpless animal, and thus end its 

 sufferings, was a mission of mercy which I was not long in fulfilling. 



While nowhere in the plains region of Patagonia had we seen the 

 Chilian deer, Cariacus chilensis, yet I was not greatly surprised to 

 encounter it here in a region which, though destitute of forests and 

 distant from fifty to one hundred and twenty-five miles from the Andes, 

 had all the characteristics of a rugged mountainous region, when one 

 descended from the narrow, flat-topped tablelands to the bottoms of the 

 canons. I not only met with deer on various occasions in these canons, 

 but on returning to camp after this my first protracted journey in this 

 region, as I was travelling up the chasm in which we had pitched our tent, 

 I came suddenly upon a band of three at a distance of hardly more than 

 half a mile from camp. Since we had thought of remaining where we 

 were for the winter, this seemed an excellent opportunity for providing 

 an ample supply of jerked venison, which is far superior to the flesh of the 

 guanaco. As matters turned out later, it was perhaps unfortunate that 

 my revolver hung so handily at my side, for hardly had the thought 

 taken possession of me, when their three dead bodies lay on the talus- 

 covered slope. Leaving the scene of slaughter, I went on to camp, 

 returning a little later with Mr. Colburn, when, with his assistance, after 

 the process of evisceration, we conveyed the carcasses to camp, where the 

 flesh, skins and skeletons were properly cared for. In the hope of secur- 

 ing some of the Felidas that were known to inhabit this region, we had 

 poisoned the viscera, as had been our custom on other occasions. This 

 proved disastrous to "Nig," our dog, who, while perfectly good-natured 

 and absolutely worthless, had nevertheless the faculty of doing just those 

 things he was not wanted to do. We had taken particular pains to see 



