208 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



not readily to be forgotten, to behold Camilo riding along 

 ahead of us at full speed, naked to the waist, his guanaco 

 robe being thrown off his back and shoulders, his black hair 

 streaming in the breeze, and his bolas revolving rapidly in 

 the air above his head. Waiting until he had come within 

 fifteen or twenty yards of the animal which he had selected 

 as his victim, he discharged the missile, which, flying through 

 the air, struck the guanaco, winding round and round its 

 hind-legs so as to lash them firmly together. The poor 

 creature, however, still managed to flounder on for a few 

 yards, but then stumbled and leapt in the air, when its 

 captor, springing from his horse, dragged it to the ground, 

 and stunned it with a blow on the head from one of his 

 balls. A second was secured by another of the Patagonians, 

 who finished it by drawing his long knife across its throat ; 

 and a third, which was a young individual, was caught a 

 few minutes later, and preserved alive. The fourth and last, 

 after being pursued for a long distance, escaped in safety. 

 On subsequent reflection, it appeared somewhat surprising 

 that no bipeds suffered on this occasion in addition to the 

 quadrupeds, as one or two of the riders who carried revolvers, 

 in the excitement of the chase wildly discharged them in 

 all directions, without much regard to the safety of their 

 neighbours. 



When we had all assembled, we dismounted from our 

 steeds, and witnessed the operation of eviscerating the two 

 animals which had been slaughtered, a process very speedily 

 accomplished. Drawing out their long triangular-bladed 

 knifes from their sheaths, and after giving them a few pre- 

 liminary wipes on the " steels which they always carry with 

 them, the Patagonians made a long, clean incision along the 

 middle line of the breast and abdomen of the guanacos. 



