114 HUNTING EXTINCT ANIMALS 



eggs of several sorts, many of which they gave me, but I 

 had to buy Paddy's (three years old), promising him a 

 can of pears for them. 



In the morning we had some difficulty finding our horses, 

 which had strayed some eight miles from the house, but 

 about noon we mounted and rode straight across country 

 for the estancia. About two miles from our destination 

 Billy started to teach Blackie to open and shut gates 

 without the rider dismounting. The opening went all 

 right, but when the gate was coming shut, the horse bolted 

 and jammed Billy's foot against the post, giving it a bad 

 wrench which took over two weeks to cure. We got in soon 

 after, in time for supper. 



While we were away the boys had spent half of each day 

 in the saddle on a fresh horse every morning, to bring in 

 sheep for the shearers, and in the afternoon had worked in 

 the pens and sheds, until they had learned to muster, drive, 

 draft, dip, mark, and cut sheep, and had become so enthusi- 

 astic that they were willing to continue the job indefinitely. 

 Our team had had a week's rest in good pasturage. 



Our plan had been to start next morning on the long 

 drive of over 230 miles to Comodoro Rivadavia, but we 

 found a big muster of sheep planned for and the extra men 

 needed to hunt out the sheep; so we put the start over 

 until Monday morning and all got out about four in the 

 morning to gather the 3,000 sheep wanted. We had good 

 luck and before nine had the mob of sheep in the corral, 

 and before noon they had all been through the drafting 

 runways, and three or four hundred wethers were picked out 

 to be sold to the railroad camp. The remainder of the day 

 we spent simply loafing around the ranch or reading at the 

 house. Next morning it was with many regrets that we 

 said good-by to our very generous friends, making plans 

 to hear from them, and if possible to see them when they 

 made one of their pilgrimages to England. 



First, we pulled into Mazaredo to ship our accumulated 



