270 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



the launch, and roasted duck was voted good by the wakeful 

 Burbury. I sleepily thought the widgeon might have waited, and 

 after all somethino- scared the ducks and thev flew off to a dis- 

 tance of a couple of hundred yards. My stalk only resulted in my 

 securino- one of the birds. 



The ice we had observed earlier in the mouth of the most 

 westerly channel had by this time completely blocked the opening. 

 We spent the day wandering about upon the peninsula, and I tried 

 to get some photographs, but the attempt was rather hopeless in 

 the mist and rain. Indeed, althousfh advantacje was taken of everv 

 lifting of the weather, four pictures were all that this trip allowed 

 of my completing. 



The following day, in spite of bad weather, we made a third 

 attempt to head up the North Fjord, at the end of which we hoped 

 to And the " river with clear waters " mentioned by Dr. Moreno, 

 and at the end of that again the unknown lake. We made two 

 hours very slow progress, the north-west wind quickly beating up a 

 troublesome sea. W'e observed bits of wood travelling faster than 

 is usual in cases of drift, and now made sure that, could we but 

 reach the end of the Fjord, we should find the river whose current 

 we believed to be responsible for the comparatively rapid move- 

 ment of the wood. 



Our hopes were on this occasion destined to disappointment, 

 for. in spite of all our efforts, we were unable to go forward or to 

 make head against the bad weather, which continued for some 

 days. Besides this, the injector of the launch failed to perform 

 its office, and as the machinery was badly in need of repairs, and 

 the cracked plate was letting in water, I thought it better to run 

 before the wind to Cow Monte Harbour, which was, in fact, our 

 headquarters, and where such tools as we had were stored. One 

 point that was always in our favour while making these attempts 

 to force our way up the North F^jord, lay in the fact that the 

 prevailing winds from north-west or south-west, as the case might 

 be, helped rather than hindered us on our return passages. 



During this interval, while waiting for a second opportunity 

 of attempting to gain the extreme end of the North Fjord of 

 the lake, we arranged to make ai short voyage down the South 



