306 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE 



it down with a ball, but it was immediately swallowed 

 up in the obscurity, and I heard it crashing 1 away among 

 the rocks and stones as it pursued its headlong , flight 

 down the gloomy canon. 



Having made sure that there were no further bovine 

 or other occupants of the cave, I lay down upon 

 the soft white sand of its floor, with carbine and pistol 

 close at hand, a flat stone for a pillow, and tried to 

 woo a fitful slumber. Outside the mists floated down 

 the valley, and the scarcely perceptible breeze moaned 

 within the cavern's mouth and played among the rocks 

 in unseen sport. Otherwise not a sound broke the 

 stillness ; the solitude was uninterrupted, not a living 

 thing was abroad, and even the only human being 

 within that vast amphitheatre of the Andes was soon 

 absent in the land of dreams. 



Some hours must have passed, when I awoke, dis- 

 turbed by a snorting and pawing, and, looking up, 

 I beheld the form of the bull, intercepting the light 

 at the cavern's mouth. The animal, doubtless asking 

 itself by what right he had been turned out of his warm 

 cavern, had returned to see if the intruder had gone. 

 I waved my arm. ' Go away 1 ' I shouted, and, 

 respecting the sound of a human voice, he retired. 

 * Your hide/ I meditated aloud, ' is thicker than my 

 cuticle, and can stand the cold better,' adding : ' This 

 is the working of the laws of compensation, for the 

 animal of greater intelligence is less thoroughly pro- 

 tected against the elements.' The bull was probably, 

 however, not consoled by this platitudinous remark, or, 

 indeed, by any philosophical reflections, for he con- 

 tinued to paw the ground outside as if desirous 

 entering and contesting the matter. 



