70 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



them food to last them upon their journey to civilisation, as well 

 as the worst buck-jumper of the troop, and told them to leave the 

 camp as soon as possible. Fritz, after some further talk and after 

 remarking to Hollesen in German that they had better have stayed 

 after all, climbed on to the horse and rode away. 



The Germans at the outset had been admirable workers, apart 

 from their cunninof, which tiuLTcd most of their conduct. Yet 

 perhaps, if they had gone on with us, we might have paid for 

 Hollesen's misdoings with the Indians, by getting into trouble 

 with the tribe who had saved his life and whom he had so scurvily 

 requited. As it happened, a few days later we came upon the very 

 tribe with whom he had had to do. 



I will now take some extracts from my diary : 



" October 28. — The Germans left us this morninor. I think we 

 shall be all the better without them. Immediately on their depar- 

 ture I determined to march to the cahadon or valley of the River 

 Senguerr, giving up the route suggested by the Indian, as it v^as 

 likely that the horses would stray upon the pampa. It was neces- 

 sary to decrease the weight of some of our cargo, which we at once 

 set about doing. The reason for this was that, having so few men, 

 each pair of us would have to look after six cargueros, or pack- 

 horses, and we were consequently obliged to lessen their number. 



" While we were getting ready a thin rain and a yelling wind 

 came down the cafiadon as we started to catch the horses. The 

 salt marsh over which the Germans had orone lav behind us, and 

 ahead were shallow lagoons around which the tussocks whistled in 

 the wind. But I think we none of us noticed the inclemency of 

 the weather, we were soaked to the skin as we worked, and in an 

 hour and a half — a record as to time in cargoing up even with the 

 aid of the men who had gone — we had loaded the last cargueiv of 

 the twelve, and with extra ropes hanging to the saddles, a brandy 

 bottle protruding from each of the pockets of Barckhausen and 

 with Jones perched high and stirrupless upon a sack of beans, we 

 set off." 



Providentially, not a single cargo shifted, although we covered 

 something like fourteen miles. I should have mentioned that one 

 of the reasons which weio'hed with me in a^rain seekingf the cafiadon 



