THE RIVER VALLEYS 79 



Although I never attempted to make a big bag upon any day 

 during the time I spent in Patagonia, yet, no doubt, an enormous 

 quantity of geese could be shot in a single day. Quite close to the 

 settlements a couple of hundred might be secured by two guns in 

 a day, and during the migration a far greater number. 



The whole of the valley of the River Chico is excellent for 

 wild-fowling, and I expected the numbers of birds to increase as 

 we drew nearer to Lake Buenos Aires. And certainly in the 

 canadon of the River Deseado I was not disappointed, but of that 

 I will write in its due place. 



On November 2 we resumed our march, still following the 

 valley of the Mayo, past the scenes of our sport of the previous 

 day. A little after midday Jones saw a whitish object among 

 some bushes at the edge of the river and asked my leave to go 

 and see what it was. Presently he came riding back to say it 

 was a wild cow and that \\t had observed her through the glasses. 

 She was nearly a mile distant, and, taking my rifle, I rode off 

 with Jones and we stalked her. to about 200 yards. We again 

 examined her carefully through the telescope, and seeing that she 

 was five or six years old and unbranded, the fact of her belonging 

 to a wild herd rather than being a truant escaped from the settle- 

 ments two hundred miles away appeared to be certain. It was with 

 considerable keenness that we crawled up nearer, as wild cattle 

 afford the best sport of all Patagonian animals. 



These wild cattle have some of them been wild for many 

 generations, their remote ancestors probably being the herds which 

 the Spaniards originally possessed in the Valdez Peninsula on the 

 east coast during the earlier occupation of Patagonia. Since then 

 from time to time numbers of cattle escape from the coast-farms 

 and run wild, and, joining the older free herds, breed wild. Such 

 herds are still to be found in considerable numbers among the 

 foot-hills of the Cordillera. Musters in his book gives an account 

 of meeting with a wild bull. "We had expected before reaching 

 this point to have found cattle in considerable numbers, but 

 the warmth of the day had probably driven them into the thickets 



to seek shelter Presently .... after riding about a mile, I 



espied two bulls. Two men were sent round to endeavour to drive 



