CHAPTER XXV 



VIZCACHA-HUNTING IN AN ARGENTINE DESERT- 

 GIANT SNAKES 



OUR stay in Tucuman lasted but a few days. During 

 this time our Quechua boy, who had been with us constantly 

 since our first arrival in Cochabamba, spent most of his 

 time at the zoological park. The lions, the tigers, even 

 the camels did not interest him greatly; but the elephant ! 

 It was impossible that there could be any such animal. He 

 spent hour after hour seated on the ground silently con- 

 templating the great creature. I wondered what his people 

 would say to him when he returned to them and attempted 

 to describe what he had seen. 



As our next efforts were to be directed toward a new 

 province, it was again necessary to secure the very essen- 

 tial permits. This time there was no trouble. At San- 

 tiago del Estero, a backward city of small size and not par- 

 ticularly attractive appearance, we were required merely 

 to be photographed and have our finger-prints taken, after 

 which we received certificates stating that we had no police 

 record in that state and were assumed to be respectable 

 and trustworthy; the licenses to hunt were attached. We 

 wasted no time in the city and took the first available train 

 to Suncho Corral, about a five hours' ride. 



Suncho Corral is a collection of perhaps fifty adobe shacks, 

 and its inhabitants seemed to be mostly Turks and Syrians. 

 We paid our respects to the local jefe without delay and 

 he secured for us permission to camp on the landholding 

 of a friend of his; the place was about a mile distant. We 

 pitched the tents in a delightful grove on the bank of the 

 Rio Salido. All the country is covered with a dense growth 

 of cacti, shrubbery, and tall, thorny trees; it was unlike 

 any we had seen before. There were a few small areas 



