My Antarctic Goose.



147



Conception, I left the bird at the railway station, and in the evening

took the night express to Santiago. The guard of the train kicked

up a shindy (as the English say) on finding the Goose in my

compartment, but fortunately some fellow travellers prevailed upon

him to overlook my unusual and illegal piece of baggage.


Arriving safely at Santiago on the following morning, I

happened to go to a hotel, the manager oi which was fortunately

kindly disposed towards birds, and he promised to procure me a

large box in -which the Goose could be placed. Unluckily, in Chile,

the final accomplishment of a promise is apt to take place some con¬

siderable time after the promise itself, and as the poor Goose had to he

freed from its very confined quarters in the small box, I had to turn

it out in a corner of the room, where it could rest and feed, both of

which it did, rather to my surprise, living alternately in the box and

in the room for three days, after which the promised box of larger

dimensions arrived.


The next night found me en route for Buenos Ayres by the

Trans-Andean Railway, and I had to pass the night at Los Andes,

where I had the greatest difficulty in getting my luggage and the

Goose to the hotel, as there was nothing in the shape of porters, hut

some diminutive boys, as is usual in Chile. Carrying the Goose, along

with some other birds, I tumbled over a deep open drain just in

front of the hotel which was in a dark street with no light. Luckily

the Goose w T as none the worse, which was more than I could

congratulate myself on, but I reached the hotel with my belongings.


Next morning I left for the Andes in a train starting at nine

o’clock, and found it crowded with passengers, so that I began to

despair as to whether I should be able to take the Goose in my

compartment, but my difficulty was overcome through the courtesy

of a German official who found me a place in a second-class

compartment which was fairly empty.


Except for having to tip the train guard an occasional ‘peso’

when he came to say that birds were not allowed in a passengers’

compartment (and these officials seemed to be gifted with second

sight for discovering my goose in a box which was all but closed up),

I had no more trouble until I arrived at Puente del Inca (Argentine)

when a fresh official boarded the train and insisted upon my poor



