36 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



turn out to be free from the fault. Indeed it is quite probable that 

 he may be soft and fat after his easy youth upon the pampas, and 

 not till about the fifth or sixth gallop will he show such vices as are 

 in him. At first he is ridden on the bocado, which is a soft strip 

 of hide tied round the lower jaw. This answers to the heavy 

 snafifle which is the first bit a colt has to submit to in England. 



The Gauchos of Patagonia are not nearly patient enough with 

 the mouths of their mounts, spoiling many by harsh treatment. 

 Different colours in horses are supposed to indicate different tem- 

 peraments ; thus they say a Moro colt is generally docile, while a 

 Picaso has the reputation of being very much the reverse. 



The horses of Northern Patagonia — such as were ours, for they 

 came from the banks of the Rio Negro — are reputed to be more 

 spirited than those bred in the south, But this theory is possibly 

 owing to the fact that the average Gaucho of the north is a better 

 rider than his brother of the south. The horses are, I fancy, much 

 the same. 



Many Patagonian horses are what may be called " quick to 

 mount," starting at a canter as soon as their rider's foot touches 

 the stirrup. This also is the fault of the breakers-in. There are 

 few tricks more annoying or, upon a hillside, more dangerous. 



After this short description my readers will be able to under- 

 stand more fully the happenings which I am about to describe. 



On October 3 we set out from Mr. Greenshields', and at the 

 moment of starting Fritz Gleditzsch, a German from Dresden, 

 whom I had brought with me from Buenos Aires, and whom I had 

 engaged on the best recommendations, came to me and told me 

 that he could not go farther because he had had no meat to eat 

 upon the previous night. As the meat- shed was situated about 

 two hundred yards from where my men were encamped, and as 

 he had free access to it, I began to understand that Fritz was 

 something of an old soldier. Had I been able to get another 

 man to replace him on the spot I should have done so, but with 

 my large troop of horses I was more or less in the hands of 

 my peones, a not uncommon difficulty to overtake the traveller 

 in Patagonia, and one upon which ma.nY peones count. 



The real reason for Fritz's recalcitrance turned out to be the 



