42 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



centre, winding in sharp bends, a dry river bed. Towards 

 evening, after travelling all the afternoon down the canadon 

 since one o'clock, I rode on and found the bed of the river held 

 water in four places. Near the third of these we camped. Saw 

 an ostrich and a few sentinel guanaco. Caught an armadillo. 

 The scenery here consists of alternations of pampa and canadon, 

 canadon and pampa, and over all the tearing wind, which seldom 

 drops. 



" 1 have given out two tins of jam and one of Swiss milk, one of 

 coffee and milk and some vegetables. Sometimes we soak our 

 biscuit and bake it. It is very good treated so. I am writing this 

 by the fire at seven o'clock. Coldish. 



" Jones has not turned up yet, and must have had to sleep out in 

 nothing save a blanket, poor chap ! He was to have cut our tracks 

 and followed them up. 



" October ii. — All our tropillas right this morning, and at 8.30 

 I rode out of the camp and met Jones, who had found the three 

 strayed horses about a league from the old camp. 



"We started and made our way down the empty river-bed, 

 which now broadened and was pebbly, like a Scotch trout-stream. 

 Before we left Mai Espina estancia the foreman told us the road 

 down the canadon was very clear — ' muy limpio,' and only four 

 and a half leagues in length, but we have been in it two days and 

 are in it still. About 5, as I was riding ahead with the troop of 

 horses, I came upon the track of wheels in deep scrub. I went 

 back to the waggon and found it on the left bank of the river-bed. 

 Upon one side were thorn-bush and sand, and upon the other a 

 swampy vega of wet grass. Through this the track led, and into 

 this the waggon lumbered, then two of the horses foundered in the 

 black mud and the waggon sank. Of course that put an end to our 

 day's journey, and I sent on Jones to bring back Burbury and the 

 troop. We were in a land of many flies, chiefly sand-flies, which 

 buzzed and stung horribly. Jones had tied up the horses on the 

 Rio Chico and we could not reach them to-night. Fritz found 

 sixteen eggs in an ostrich's nest and Hollesen found one. The 

 one was fine but the sixteen were chickenny. 



"We all turned to, unloaded the waggon and pulled it out 



