128 Idle Days in Patagonia. 



pleasure was in society, in newspapers, the play, and 

 in the cafe where one meets one's friends of an even- 

 ing and has a pleasant game of dominoes. As these 

 things which he valued were merely dust and ashes 

 to me, I did not sympathize deeply with his discon- 

 tent, nor consider that it mattered much which por- 

 tion of the globe he made choice of for a residence. 

 But the facts of his case interested me ; and if I 

 should have a reader who has other ideals, who 

 has felt the mystery and glory of life overcoming 

 his soul with wonder and desire, and who bears 

 in his system the canker of consumption which 

 threatens to darken the vision prematurely to 

 such a one I would say, TRY PATAGONIA. It is far 

 to travel, and in place of the smoothness of Madeira 

 there would be roughness ; but how far men go, into 

 what rough places, in search of rubies and ingots 

 of gold ; and life is more than these. 



During this beautiful weather merely to exist has 

 seemed to me a sufficient pleasure : sometimes row- 

 ing on the river, which is here about nine hundred 

 feet wide going up to the town with the tide and 

 returning with the current when only a slight 

 exertion suffices to keep the boat swiftly gliding 

 over the pure green water. At other times I amuse 

 myself by seeking for the resinous gum, known here 

 by its Indian name maJcen. The scraggy wide-spread- 

 ing bush, a kind of juniper, it is found on, repays 

 me with many a scratch and rent for all the amber 

 tears I steal. The gum is found in little lumps on 



