HUNTING IN THE ANDES. 29 



there exists a plenitude of the larger Patagonian animals, 

 There the distribution of the species overlaps. Guanaco 

 in great herds came down from the tableland near the 

 Manantial Peak, and in a single day's ride I saw sixty- 

 one ostriches (Rhea darwinii). Considerable numbers of 

 wild cattle roam in the forests of Mount Frias ; guemal, 

 the beautiful deer peculiar to the Andes, are to be 

 found hi the same district, while among the rocks a 

 quantity of pumas and Magellan wolves make their 

 lairs. To the north and west stretch enormous areas, 

 through which great herds of game wander. 



I gained my first view of the Patagonian Andes 

 across the rough waters of Lake Buenos Aires. I had 

 ridden six hundred miles over the pampas, looking 

 forward to the time when I should at last come to the 

 eastern limit of the guemal deer, of which, so far as I 

 know, there were at that time but two specimens in 

 England, both presented by the Argentine Government 

 to the British Museum. 



The huemul or guemal is the sole representative of 

 the deer tribe in southern Patagonia, and it inhabits 

 the entire range of the Andes. Naturalists have placed 

 guemal in two main divisions, the Peruvian and the 

 Patagonian. The few Peruvian specimens which I 

 have seen are inferior to their cousins of the south, 

 being smaller and less symmetrical. The Patagonian 

 deer stands some 36 or 38 inches at the shoulder, and 

 weighs, I should judge, though I never had the 

 opportunity of putting an animal in the scales, some 

 160 Ibs. The horns in the British Museum are poor, 

 and I had very great hopes of being able to secure some 

 finer specimens. 



Early in my travels I had been told that the guemal 



