234 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



thing- brown move on a knoll above me and about four hundred- 

 yards distant. A huemul doe had appeared upon it. She was not 

 frightened, and was entirely unaw^are of my proximity. Soon she 

 was joined by a buck, a four-pointer with nice clean horns. There 

 were now two sporting interests in the landscape, the greater and 

 the less. The cattle had turned and w^ere m.oving relentlessly 

 upwards over bare ground where a stalk was out of the question. I 

 turned my attention therefore again upon the huemules, from whom 

 1 found myself separated by two deep gullies. 



In an hour's time the cattle had diminished to mere specks 

 upon the side of the mountain, and a strong wind having arisen,, 

 which blew from the huemules towards me, I thought I might 

 safely try a shot at the buck. It knocked him clean head over 

 heels. He proved to be in line coat, and I at once set to work to 

 skin him. By the time I had finished it had grown quite dark. 

 As for the herd, they were too clever for me. I never sighted 

 them again, but that big yellow bull I shall often see in dreams. 

 Perhaps I may be permitted to meet with him when I attain 

 to the happy hunting-ground of my desires. 



Apart from the rifle, there are other ways of hunting wild cattle, 

 but in the practice of these open ground is naturally a necessity. 

 Boleadores will rarely stay on a bull, but the lasso is an efficient 

 weapon, and on horseback a Mauser pistol will take a lot of beat- 

 ing. In the last instance the hunter gallops level with his 

 quarry and trusts to his horse to carry him clear of danger in 

 case of accident. As a rule, wild cattle avoid open ground, and 

 if they chance to be away from the cover of the forest keep a 

 sharp watch. Their hides arc worth about £\ more or less 

 when sold in the settlements, a value which is enough to turn 

 every man's hand against them, were there any men in those dis- 

 tricts whose hands might be so turned. Put the wild cow will long 

 continue to breed in her chosen solitudes, and indeed she is well 

 able to take care of herself. From all I saw of wild cattle, they 

 yield the palm as a sporting animal to few others in the world. 



