NO WATER 10 1 



leagues ahead. Wishing to keep going as long as possible 

 we decided to make on for the German's. All five of the 

 horses were hitched to the wagon, and we Went along fly- 

 ing. At two places a side trail led off but we stuck to the 

 telegraph line, until we concluded that we had surely gone 

 fifteen miles, and the estancia was to be only twelve: so 

 we picked out a place with fair grass and made another dry 

 camp. 



On starting out next morning we met the German on 

 his horse, and he pointed out his tiny hut under the hill 

 not over half a mile ahead. On seeing the place we con- 

 cluded that the Basque's object had been to pass us along. 

 All through this section there had been less than two inches 

 of rain during the past twelve months, and even if a man 

 had water he hated to see it used. In such a country saving 

 water gets to be a regular mania. About ten this morn- 

 ing we came to a pool by the roadside where we un- 

 hitched and spent half an hour letting the horses drink, 

 soak their noses and drink again, an example we were not 

 loath to follow. Continuing we came about two in the 

 afternoon to the sea again at Calleta Olivia, a small Ger- 

 man settlement from which wool is shipped and to which 

 provisions for the neighborhood are brought. We got 

 some feed for the horses, then hitched the five in again and 

 started for the water, three leagues away. 



The first part of the road was on the hard beach and 

 went finely. Then we struck inland again, and finally came 

 to the desired sheep-shearing sheds and the water. It was 

 a good camp site. We found a couple of young Germans 

 there and as their provisions were short, invited them to 

 supper with us. They turned out to be new arrivals in 

 the country and working for Herr Romberg. We had a 

 very pleasant evening over the camp fire, ranging through 

 comparisons between student life in Germany and America. 

 I was much surprised in this section to see how readily 

 all the Germans spoke English, and asking about it, found 



