220 EA.MBLES AFTER SPORT. 



eiglit feet. The skins are dubbed and made quite water- 

 proof by a mixture of goat's blood and red ocbre which 

 is rubbed into them. It would be impossible to upset 

 such a boat if only thB man keeps his seat, and of course 

 it cannot be stove in. I almost forgot to say that the 

 boatman kneels down in the bows, or smaller end of 

 the boat, and propels the machine with a paddle. They 

 don't go very fast obviously, but an adroit movement 

 of the paddle sends them round literally like a top. 

 Many of the surf-beaten islands of the Chile and Peruvian 

 coast would be quite unapproachable if it were not for 

 these balsas, as a wooden boat would be stove imme- 

 diately. 



We anchored some little way off a largeish island 

 round which the sea beat unceasingly, and the old 

 fisherman landed us one by one through the surf. Juan 

 and Jose went fishing off the rocks, and the " ancient '' 

 looked after the commissariat department, while Federico 

 and I went seal shooting. I took a short gun and got 

 a few conejos and duck, while F. took a rifle I lent him and 

 tried his hand at potting seals on the rocks ; I don't 

 think he hit one solitary seal. I was using a poly- 

 groove, spherical, heavy deer-stalker by Purdey, with 

 hair trigger, about 16 - bore ; with three- and- a -half 

 drachms of glazed rifle powder and a hardened bullet 

 it settled the business of anything up to two hundred 

 yards. I only shot and got one seal, which the old 

 fisherman was highly delighted at. Altogether, we did 

 nob have any very good sport at these islands, but^ the 

 wildness of the scene and the beautiful view of the 

 distant Andes amply compensated us for our trouble. 

 After doing full justice to our meal, which was spread 

 underneath a huge frowning rock as big as a small castle, 



