72 HUNTING EXTINCT ANIMALS 



In most cases the wood was silicified, each particle of the 

 original wood having been replaced molecule by molecule 

 by silica; so that while no wood really remained, yet every 

 feature, even to the microscopic structure of the cells was 

 preserved. In a few cases the wood was carbonized and 

 black, being then much softer than in the other cases. 



The more we studied the matrix, the way the logs lay, all 

 being horizontal, and the curious admixture of kinds, the 

 more it appeared that this deposit was not in the original 

 habitat of the trees, but represented drift wood which had 

 floated down an ancient stream, perhaps like the great 

 rafts which drift down the Amazon and La Plata rivers 

 after the spring rains, finally becoming waterlogged and 

 sinking in the mouth of the river. At any rate the sands 

 in which the fossil trees were buried were of marine origin, 

 and had been laid down near shore in rather shallow water. 



Going through we marked some chunks of the various 

 sorts to be taken out for show specimens, and others for 

 study purposes. Then they were photographed where they 

 lay. The next day was entirely consumed getting the 

 wagon as near as possible to the place and bringing the 

 selected specimens to it. The largest pieces we took 

 weighed about 300 pounds, being short sections of tree 

 trunks. We could not take every piece we wanted, how- 

 ever, for each one had to be carried on a man's back down 

 a steep slope, across the gulch, and up a narrow guanaco 

 trail for 150 feet or more to get it to the wagon. In gen- 

 eral, a section from each kind of wood was enough, and 

 only a few of the rarer and more fragile pieces had to be 

 bandaged up in flour paste jackets to make them firm 

 enough for safe transportation. 



Before we left the country we wrote to the Governor of 

 Chubut telling him of the scenic interest of this locality 

 and suggesting that the land, still a part of the public 

 domain, be reserved as a state park. It will certainly 



