THE PAMPAS OF PATAGONIA. 17 



of the camp-fire, and between it and me a little troop 

 of six horses with the black mare, which I learn later 

 that the gauchos have found a dozen miles away up the 

 back trail. 



From the description given above it will be seen that 

 although the pampas possess no animal that carries a 

 trophy, yet a day spent upon them with the rifle is 

 capable of yielding excellent sport, a fact perhaps 

 enhanced by the knowledge that so far very few 

 sportsmen have visited them. Indeed, with the 

 exception of Captain Chaworth Musters, of the Royal 

 Navy, who in 1876 roamed all over the south of 

 Patagonia in company with a tribe of Tehuelches, it 

 would seem that this region is one of the rare parts of 

 the earth to which the British sportsman has not been 

 attracted. The voyage is long and the fauna do not 

 present any great variety, yet guanaco, wild cattle, 

 ostriches, and pumas exist upon its pampas in vast 

 numbers. Having described a day with the rifle alone, 

 it will be well to turn to an even more exhilarating method 

 of hunting pampa game, that is with horse and hound. 



Before leaving Buenos Aires I had purchased a fawn- 

 coloured hound, an imposing-looking creature, big 

 enough and fast enough, one would have thought, to puU 

 down any macho, however large or strong. This hound, 

 Tom, accompanied me on the greater part of my journey, 

 and, in spite of some shortcomings, was considerably the 

 most distinguished of our pack. For as time went on 

 various dogs joined the camp, Bian, a big lurcher belong- 

 ing to one of my Welsh peones ; Chichi, a smaller animal, 

 that was handed over to me because her sore feet made 

 her useless to her master, who was travelling fast ; and 

 a large black greyhound which I procured later. 



H.C. C 



