208 IDLE DAYS IN PATAGONIA 



apart, and had evidently been resorted to by a 

 herd of deer or other wild animals for a very 

 long time, for the boles were polished to a glassy 

 smoothness with much rubbing, and the ground 

 beneath was trodden to a floor of clean, loose yel- 

 low sand. This grove was on a hill differing in 

 shape from other hills in its neighborhood, so 

 that it was easy for me to find it on other occa- 

 sions ; and after a time I made a point of finding 

 and using it as a resting-place every day at noon. 

 I did not ask myself why I made choice of that 

 one spot, sometimes going miles out of my way 

 to sit there, instead of sitting down under any 

 one of the millions of trees and bushes covering 

 the country, on any other hillside. I thought noth- 

 ing at all about it, but acted unconsciously; only 

 afterwards, when revolving the subject, it seemed 

 to me that after having rested there once, each 

 time I wished to rest again the wish came asso- 

 ciated with the image of that particular clump of 

 trees, with polished stems and clean bed of sand 

 beneath; and in a short time I formed a habit of 

 returning, animal-like, to repose at that same spot. 

 It was perhaps a mistake to say that I would 

 sit down and rest, since I was never tired : and yet 

 without being tired, that noonday pause, during 

 which I sat for an hour without moving, was 

 strangely grateful. All day the silence seemed 

 grateful, it was very perfect, very profound. 

 There were no insects, and the only bird sound 

 a feeble chirp of alarm emitted by a small skulking 



