CHAP, ix.] ART IN MAKING A FIRE. 141 



fox will be classed with the dodo, as an animal which has perished from 

 the face of the earth. 



At night (i7th) we slept on the neck of land at the head of Choiseul 

 Sound, which forms the south-west peninsula. The valley was pretty 

 well sheltered from the cold wind ; but there was very little brushwood 

 for fuel. The Gauchos, however, soon found what, to my great surprise, 

 made nearly as hot a fire as coals ; this was the skeleton of a bullock 

 lately killed, from which the flesh had been picked by the carrion- 

 hawks. They told me that in winter they often killed a beast, cleaned 

 the flesh from the bones with their knives, and then with these same 

 bones roasted the meat for their suppers. 



May \%th. It rained during nearly the whole day. At night we 

 managed, however, with our saddle-cloths to keep ourselves pretty well 

 dry and warm ; but the ground on which we slept was on each occasion 

 nearly in the state of a bog, and there was not a dry spot to sit down on 

 after our d#iy's ride. I have in another part stated how singular it is 

 that there should be absolutely no trees on these islands, although 

 Tierra del Fuego is covered by one large forest. The largest bush in 

 the island (belonging to the family of Compositse) is scarcely so tall as 

 our gorse. The best fuel is afforded by a green little bush about the 

 size of common heath, which has the useful property of burning while 

 fresh and green. It was very surprising to see the Gauchos, in the 

 midst of rain and everything soaking wet, with nothing more than a 

 tinder-box and piece of rag, immediately make a fire. They sought 

 beneath the tufts of grass and bushes for a few dry twigs, and these 

 they rubbed into fibres; then surrounding them with coarser twigs, 

 something like a bird's nest, they put the rag with its spark of fire in 

 the middle and covered it up. The nest being then held up to the wind, 

 by degrees it smoked more and more, and at last burst out in flames. 

 I do not think any other method would have had a chance of succeeding 

 with such damp materials. 



May igth. Each morning, from not having ridden for some time 

 previously, I was very stiff. I was surprised to hear the Gauchos, who 

 have from infancy almost lived on horseback, say that, under similar 

 circumstances, they always suffer. St. Jago told me, that having been 

 confined for three months by illness, he went out hunting wild cattle, 

 and in consequence, lor the next two days, his thighs were so stiff that 

 he was obliged to lie in bed. This shows that the Gauchos, although 

 they do not appear to do so, yet really must exert much muscular 

 effort in riding. The hunting wild cattle, in a country so difficult to 

 pass as this is on account of the swampy ground, must be very hard 

 work. The Gauchos say they often pass at full speed over ground 

 which would be impassable at a slower pace ; in the same manner as a 

 man is able to skate over thin ice. When hunting, the party endeavours 

 to get as close as possible to the herd without being discovered. Each 

 man carries four or five pair of the bolas ; these he throws one after the 

 other at as many cattle, which, when once entangled, are left for some 

 days, till they become a little exhausted by hunger and struggling. 

 They are then let free, and driven towards a small herd of tame animals, 



