SOUTHWARD HO! 



23 



so as time goes on. Physically the younger people are far better 

 developed than their elders, red-faced, open-eyed, straight- 

 backed boys in big felt hats, each with a bright-coloured handker- 

 chief knotted round his neck 

 and the guanaco-wool poncho 

 hanging from his shoulders. 

 They are very picturesque and 

 look their best on horseback. 

 In this matter of riding also 

 there is a wide difference be- 

 tween the styles of the old and 

 the young men. The latter, who 

 are Patagonian born, seem to be 

 part of their horses, but the 

 elders, however excellent long 

 practice has made them, never 

 attain to the proficiency of their 

 sons. 



Although the colony of 

 Trelew is to-day in a more or 

 less flourishing condition and 

 very Welsh, a grave danger menaces it. In fifty years time 

 how will it be with the racial element ? Will there be as many 

 Welsh then as now.? I fear not, and the result is difficult to 

 foresee. The danger takes the form of the dark-eyed Argentine 

 maiden, who is rather apt to "make roast meat of the heart" 

 of the Welsh youth. While the Welsh girls do not take very 

 readily to Spanish-speaking husbands, the Welsh boys fall very 

 much in love with the daughters of the South. So it is to be 

 concluded that the language difficulty will settle itself, or, at any 

 rate, become more easy of arrangement with each succeeding 

 generation. If the girl you love speaks only Spanish, it is quite 

 obvious you must learn Spanish in order to be able to talk to her, 

 and, under the circumstances, you will not find the task a very 

 hard one. Then children nearly always show a preference for the 

 mother's tongue and speech in contradistinction to that of the 

 father. Probably, if these prophecies were uttered in Trelew, the 



HUMPHREY JONES, JUN. 



