1 66 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



one could very easily over that ground shoot ten huemules and an 

 indefinite number of guanaco in one day, but such a proceeding 

 would be little short of a crime. Very dift'erent indeed were 

 my experiences after wild cattle, which I followed steadily at a 

 later date of the expedition, for eleven days before I had any 

 chance of a shot. 



Another good hour of the day during our expedition was that 

 when, pretty tired, one rode into camp, and saw the little green 

 tent pitched among the tussocks, the horses scattered round, the 

 big black pot upon the fire. You drank your mat^, smoked a 

 pipe while the black pot boiled, and you talked over the day's 

 doings. And so on until dark began to fall, and in the night you 

 could hear the sounds of the open, the rush of some river, the 

 moaning of wind across the plain or through the forests — when 

 near the Cordillera — perhaps the cries of wildfowl, or the whistle 

 of the Chiloe widgeon as the shadows closed down. Then came 

 preparations for the morrow — the beans were cut, the meat put 

 on, the fire raked up about to-morrow's breakfast ; and presently 

 you turned in, the shadows waxed and waned, and when you woke 

 the stars were paling in the western sky. 



JONES SMOKES THE PIPE OF VICTORY 



