COUNTRY SPORTS AND LIFE IN CHILE. 179 



away at tlie flesli ; anxious to verify the fact, I rode 

 slowly up to the animal. On my approach the birds 

 hopped lazily to the ground a few yards off. I passed 

 on_, and pulled up within twenty yards, when the birds in 

 a minute or two flew back to their feast. The mule paid 

 not the slightest attention to them one way or the other ; 

 indeed, from the fact of her leaving off cropping the 

 grass when the hawks left her, and resuming her feed 

 when they came back, I am inclined to think she liked 

 it. These hawks are about double the size of a sparrow 

 hawk, and abound all over Chile. They are easily tamed, 

 and are frequently seen in the cottages of the country 

 people. Their food principally consists of grubs, which 

 they dig for in the sandy soils ; numbers are also seen 

 on the sea-beach, apparently feeding on seaweed, or, 

 more probably, some parasite growing on the seaweed. 

 I was surprised at the horrible sores one sees every- 

 where in Chile on the backs of the pack mules ; although 

 three-fourths of the carrying trade in the country is done 

 by pack mules, and some thousands of muleteers are at 

 it from morning to night, yet I would back a British 

 Columbian or Californian packer to beat them all to 

 nothing. In the countries just mentioned I have known 

 a packer run a whole troop of fifty or sixty mules for a 

 month, and not have above two galled; a Chilian fletero 

 would do up at least ten in half the time. 



Travelling in South America anywhere — except in 

 the Argentine Republic and South Chile — is as safe as 

 travelling in the States, the only danger being near the 

 large towns. No native will attack you unless he is 

 perfectly sure he has the advantage; he has a mortal 

 dread of firearms, and if he only dreams you are armed 

 he will let you alone. Their usual mode of attack is by 



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