320 HATCHER'S WORK IN PATAGONIA 



offices of ex-Minister Estanislao Zeballos, one of the few hon- 

 orary members of the National Geographic Society. 



From Buenos Aires Mr Hatcher proceeded to Gallegos, the seat 

 of government of the province of Santa Cruz, a future empire of 

 half the area of all German}^ with a population of only about 

 1,600, including 300 Indians. Outfitting here with a light tent, 

 five horses, and a small cart, Mr Hatcher, accompanied b}'' a sin- 

 gle assistant (Mr 0. A. Peterson, of Princeton), traversed the coast 

 to Panta Arenas, making extensive collections in paleontclog}'' 

 and natural history. Punta Arenas, long an unimportant sta- 

 tion, became the center of immigration a few 5^ears ago in conse- 

 quence of discoveries of gold ; it is now the capital of the Chilean 

 territory of Magellan, with a population of about 3,400 ; the entire 

 territory supports a population of some 6,000, including about 

 800 Indians. Returning to Gallegos, Mr Hatcher and his com- 

 panion set out toward the Cordillera (or southern Andes) on De- 

 cember 1, 1896, and from that date until April 6, 1897, they saw 

 no human beings save themselves. They journeyed first west- 

 ward and then northwestward to Rio Santa Cruz, one of the prin- 

 cipal rivers of Patagonia. Finding this too large for fording, they 

 followed its banks to the great body of fresh water (Lake Argen- 

 tina) in which it heads ; there they were so fortunate as to find a 

 boat, abandoned by English explorers several years before, which 

 they appropriated and repaired, and in which they ferried their 

 cart and baggage over the stream, swimming their horses behind. 

 Journeying northward near the base of the Cordillera, they dis- 

 covered, among other new geographic features, a river full}^ equal 

 to the Santa Cruz in volume, occupying a most unexpected posi- 

 tion. It heads in the pampas east of the Cordillera, but flows 

 westward through a profound gorge and undoubtedly falls into 

 the Pacific at some undetermined portion of the rugged Chilean 

 coast. It is fed by glaciers, often of noble magnitude ; it is swift 

 and tumultuous, so that it was found impracticable to cross it, 

 or indeed to trace its course, with the facilities at command, more 

 than a part of the way through the canon in which it traverses 

 the Cordillera. Several weeks were spent in work about this por- 

 tion of the Cordilleran front. They were not without the inci- 

 dents common to exploration of uninhabited countries. Some- 

 times these were of serious character. In one case Mr Hatcher, 

 while separated from his copipanion, was accidentally struck on 

 the head by the metallic bit of his horse's bridle and so seriously 

 wounded that the horse escaped, leaving him alone and helpless 



