26 HUNTING CAMPS. 



panied me on the greater part of my journey, and, in spite 

 of some shortcomings, was considerably the most distin- 

 guished of our pack. For as time went on various dogs 

 joined the camp, Bian, a big lurcher belonging 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 grey- 

 hound which I procured later. 



Some of the finest runs I enjoyed came in the neighbour- 

 hood of Lake Buenos Aires, which lies in the very heart of 

 Patagonia, when Tom and Chichi were the only dogs on 

 whom I could rely. The very first guanaco that Tom had 

 experience of was a very old buck at which I obtained a 

 shot but struck too far back. I at once slipped Tom, who 

 ran into the guanaco within three hundred yards, when the 

 animal fell dying. Tom was much elated, and obviously 

 placed the death of the guanaco to his own sole credit, with 

 the result that as we were riding back to camp he went off 

 in chase of a second buck. This time, notwithstanding 

 an excellent start, he had a much longer run, but at length 

 came upon terms with his quarry, when the guanaco knocked 

 him backwards with a tremendous and well-aimed kick on 

 the head. Tom was young, and, though he was always 

 ready thereafter to chase guanaco, it was some months be- 

 fore he got over his experience, but invariably ran cunning, 

 leaving first hold to the other dogs. In spite of this he was 

 of immense use, for in a few bounds he would leave the 

 lurchers and cross-breeds far behind and would quickly 

 turn the quarry. 



One afternoon, having made an early camp, I caught 

 a fresh horse, the zaino or brown, a considerably smaller 

 animal than the cruzado and equally useful for shooting, 

 having in addition a turn for speed that was quite remark- 

 able. He was, however, only just up to my weight, and 

 consequently was not ridden except for half-days, and had 



