IDLE DAYS IN 

 PATAGONIA 



CHAPTER I 

 AT LAST, PATAGONIA! 



HPHE wind had blown a gale all night, and I had 

 -* been hourly expecting that the tumbling, 

 storm-vexed old steamer, in which I had taken 

 passage to the Eio Negro, would turn over once 

 for all and settle down beneath that tremendous 

 tumult of waters. For the groaning sound of its 

 straining timbers, and the engine throbbing like 

 an overtasked human heart, had made the ship 

 seem a living thing to me ; and it was tired of the 

 struggle, and under the tumult was peace. But 

 at about three o'clock in the morning the wind 

 began to moderate, and, taking off coat and boots, 

 I threw myself into my bunk for a little sleep. 



Ours, it must be said, w^as a very curious boat, 

 reported ancient and much damaged; long and 

 narrow in shape, like a Viking's ship, with the 

 passengers' cabins ranged like a row of small 

 wooden cottages on the deck: it was as ugly to 

 look at as it was said to be unsafe to voyage in. 



i 



