A LOST SUPPFR 89 



seemed as if the signal for going caused new leads to turn 

 up, and we simply had to say "nothing more." 



In the morning Billy and Shumway went to the hill 

 to bring in the last two specimens, though the bandages 

 were still wet, and they had to be packed in the wagon 

 in dishes of sand to prevent too much shaking. By ten we 

 were all packed up, and started up across the new trail 

 we had laid over to Durk Ventner's, where we stopped and 

 had the last cup of tea with our Boer friends, and all went 

 in to see the youngest Ventner of all. Crossing the pampa, 

 we stopped for the night on the spring just under its east 

 edge. Near by was a ranch house, to which I went osten- 

 sibly to ask permission to camp, really in hopes we should 

 get an invitation to supper. Of this I failed, so we had 

 to gather wood and get our own repast. It was a delight- 

 fully warm evening, and after supper our friend with his 

 wife and children came out to walk about and view the 

 farm (and us). We chatted with him a few minutes, 

 after which he remarked, "if you want to, you can come 

 up to the house and have a talk." We did, and in spite of 

 the form of the invitation, had a good time drinking tea 

 and talking over the sheep, a topic which always dominates 

 the conversation in Patagonia. 



The next noon found us pulling into Port Visser, where 

 we obtained the loan of a house to use as headquarters 

 while we packed up our collections. Here we came right 

 up against the lack of lumber. All the lumber in the coun- 

 try is imported either from the United States or from Nor- 

 way, and costs about three times what the same grade does 

 at home. In northern Argentine there are great forests, 

 but that part of the country has not yet been generally 

 opened up, and what is brought out is used mostly in the 

 neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Then many of the sorts 

 of timber are suitable for building purposes, either 

 being excessively hard, and available only for cabinet 

 work or railroad ties, or being too soft for any construe- 



