42 HUNTING CAMPS. 



outwitted. Above all, the world now contains few species 

 or sub-species of deer, of which no more than a couple of 

 specimens are attainable for purposes of study, and a very 

 special interest on that account pertained to the pursuit of 

 these deer. 



Owing to the fact that the heads available for study of 

 the guemal carried but two points on each horn, it has 

 been supposed that the single fork of the antlers was char- 

 acteristic of this species, but such is not the case. Of the 

 specimens which I obtained, two carry an extra point. In 

 one pair of antlers no less than two extra points are more 

 than indicated, and as these seemed to belong to a very 

 old buck, I am led to believe this animal, when his horns 

 were at their best, carried six developed points, and I have 

 heard on good evidence of an eight -point head. 



I was unable to gather any reliable information as to 

 when the guemal drop their horns, and I can only give the 

 facts of my own observations that the horns are in velvet 

 in November ; that they become clear of it, especially in 

 the case of old bucks, early in December ; and that as 

 late as the I2th of May the bucks are still carrying their 

 antlers. 



One feature that can hardly fail to strike any traveller 

 about the Andean foothills, as indeed upon the pampas 

 and throughout the whole of Patagonia, is the extraordinary 

 number of birds and animals of prey that exist in the country. 

 All about the lakes and in the edges of the forest uncounted 

 pumas and Magellan wolves, as well as myriads no other 

 word describes it of hoary dogs, have their abode and 

 seek their sustenance. The air, too, furnishes a correspond- 

 ing contingent of flesh and carrion eaters, coranchos, chim- 

 angos, and condors. Short of the Arctic circle, the struggle 

 for life is probably a harder one in Patagonia than in almost 

 any other region of the world. Not once or twice, but 

 again and again, when I killed wild fowl, my prize was 



