50 IDLE DAYS IN PATAGONIA 



dreary day long for fair weather to fly abroad 

 in search of food. 



On the ground this vulture does not appear to 

 advantage, especially when bobbing and jumping 

 about, performing the " buzzard lope," when quar- 

 reling with his fellows over a carcass: but when 

 perched aloft, his small naked rugous head and 

 neck and horny curved beak seen well-defined 

 above the broad black surface of the folded wing, 

 he does not show badly. As I had no wish to 

 make a bag of vultures and saw nothing else, I 

 shot nothing. 



A little past noon on the second day we saddled 

 our horses and started on our homeward ride; 

 and although the wind still blew a gale, lashing the 

 river into a long line of foam on the opposite 

 shore, and bringing storms of rain and sleet at 

 intervals, this proved a very delightful ride, one 

 that shines in memory above all other rides I have 

 taken. We went at a swift gallop along the north 

 bank, and never had gray Patagonia looked more 

 soberly and sadly gray than on this afternoon. 

 The soil, except in places where the winter grass 

 had spread over it, had taken a darker brown 

 color from the rain it had imbibed, and the bosky 

 uplands a deeper gray than ever, while the whole 

 vast sky was stormy and dark. But after a time 

 the westering sun began to shine through the rifts 

 behind us, while before us on the wild flying clouds 

 appeared a rainbow with hues so vivid that we 

 shouted aloud with joy at the sight of such loveli- 



