1 6 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: ZOOLOGY. 



feet, returning my expression of surprise with one of interested curiosity. 

 For an instant I stood admiring the rich golden brown of their sleek, 

 glossy coats, as they alternately cropped the rosebuds and other choice 

 morsels from the foliage about them, or cast inquiring glances toward 

 me. Suddenly, remembering 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 unsportsmanlike 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 companions remained, unalarmed either by the report of the 

 fatal shot, or the death struggles of their companion. While engaged in 

 skinning and dressing the carcass of the dead animal, the live ones stood 

 at a distance 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 

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

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

 and, saddling a horse, conveyed both to our tent, where they were 

 properly cared for." (Hatcher, /. c, pp. 130, 131.) 



The following forcibly illustrates the tameness of these animals in their 

 native haunts : 



" In the early morning and late afternoon deer were common about the 

 edges of the wood and in the small open parks within, while in the middle 

 of the day they were frequently met with in the depths of the forests. 

 The degree of confidence and fearlessness displayed by these traditionally 

 timid animals was indeed most remarkable. It was plainly evident that 

 they were entirely unacquainted with man. On one occasion, while tramp- 

 ing through the woods with my shotgun in quest of smaller game, I came 

 upon a full grown male lying quietly at the base of a large tree. As I 

 stopped to observe him, he remained quite still for a moment and looked 

 at me, with nothing of fright in his countenance. Then slowly getting 

 upon his feet he came walking directly toward me with that measured 

 and firm tread characteristic of the family. The entire attitude and bear- 



