ANOTHER SNOW-STORM ON THE PAMPA. 



199 



wind swept down the slopes of the Andes and over the level surface 

 of the pampa. This was accompanied by a heavy fall of snow, which 

 was driven by the terrific winds in every conceivable direction. The 

 blinding snowstorm and constantly changing winds were calculated to 

 have a most bewildering effect upon the traveller forced to continue 

 his journey across the almost level surface of the plain. Such was the 

 nature of the storm, that the most conspicuous landmark was not dis- 

 cernible at a distance of more than a few rods, while so variable was the 

 direction of the wind, that it afforded an uncertain guide as to the course 

 one should pursue. Confronted with such conditions, since, to use a 

 military term, my present position was quite untenable, I was not long 

 in saddling and packing my horses and renewing my journey across the 

 plain in an attempt to reach a basaltic area which I knew lay some 

 twenty-five miles to the southward, and where I was in hopes of finding 

 shelter in some cave along the borders of the basalt and fuel sufficient 

 to make a cup of coffee, for I had had no refreshment of any kind since 

 the morning of the previous day. I knew that the prevailing direc- 

 tion of the wind was from the west and that if I kept it constantly on 

 my right my course would lie in as nearly a southerly direction as it 

 would be possible for me to hold under the conditions. I reached the 

 ledge of basalt about two o'clock in the afternoon and succeeded in 

 finding such shelter as I had anticipated. In a cavern in the basalt I 

 passed a not very uncomfortable night and the succeeding day broke 

 clear and cold, so that I was able to continue on my journey without 

 further difficulty. 



I directed my course toward some high hills lying about the head 

 waters of the Rio Belgrano. The succeeding day was spent in these 

 hills, though with little success, since the ground was still covered with 

 snow. From here I continued southward across the north fork of the 

 Rio Chico and on into Mayer Basin, which we had discovered on our 

 first expedition some two years before. 



Shortly after entering Mayer Basin, I had another one of those expe- 

 riences which serve to illustrate the extreme temerity of the deer of this 

 region, and which is undoubtedly due to the very limited contact which 

 they have had with man. For some hours one afternoon I had been 

 engaged collecting invertebrate fossils on the rather precipitous face of a 

 considerable cliff facing the broad valley of Mayer Basin. Having 



