THE PAMPAS OF PATAGONIA. 9 







but to show a couple of inches of cap, and even if it 

 were motionless, the birds noticed it at once and were 

 off. The ostriches possess the same extraordinary 

 certainty of vision. Added to which they seem to be 

 devoid of the smallest particle of curiosity, a quality 

 which is often the hunter's best ally. I have seen them 

 run on my appearance while they were still on the 

 furthest verge of sight. There is not much to shoot at 

 in an ostrich, and one's chances are generally obtained at 

 fairly long range ; certainly I fired at very many more of 

 the birds than came to bag. An ostrich when hit through 

 the body, however severely, almost invariably makes a 

 short rush of from fifty to one hundred yards before falling 

 dead. During the eight months spent in the country 

 frequented by ostriches and seeing birds on an average 

 at least once a day, and often attempting to get within 

 shot, I secured only twenty-four, and of these I rode down 

 eight with dogs, leaving a total of but sixteen to the rifle. 



As was to be expected, I am not destined to get a 

 shot at the three birds that had escaped out of the 

 canadon, for though I follow them to the point where I 

 had seen them disappear, it is only to find they have 

 vanished altogether among the ridges of the hummocks 

 which had attracted me from the riverbank. Some of 

 these hummocks are covered with grass at the base, but 

 nearly all of them run up into hard, bare, sun-baked 

 earth towards their summits. 



I leave the cruzado to feed while I scramble to the 

 top of the nearest hummock, and I almost immediately 

 become aware that my horse's movements are being 

 watched by an animal that can only be a guanaco buck. 

 It stands at gaze about six hundred yards from me, but so 

 far has not seen me against the hillside, for I have not yet 



