1 84 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



application. On January 24 we reached dementi's estancia. We 

 were accompanied on the march by an old Irish sailor with a 

 Hibernian cast of countenance. The senora asked us into the 

 house and at once gave us hot milk and bread, which was very 



. ^ ..,^_^„- --^ 



FORD ON THE RIVER SANTA CRUZ 



grateful after a long day in the saddle. The valley near by was 

 full of sheep, and several healthy-looking children were playing 

 about the buildings. Here also I saw the first and only negro I 

 met with in Patagonia. The sight of his face gave me a sudden 

 vivid recollection of Hayti. A long-bearded Argentine patriarch, 

 whom I descried first in the half-lights of the kitchen during the 

 evening, looked a very Abraham and most venerable, but day- 

 light on the morrow robbed him of all romance. 



On this day (the 25th) we pushed on to the Sub-prefecto's 

 estancia. It consisted of the usual corrugated iron shanty and 

 barn. We marched on the following morning and reached La 

 Ultima Casa, where we were hospitably entertained by Mrs. 

 Hardy. She was indeed very kind. Her husband had been an 

 'Englishman, but she herself was an Argentine. It is certainly a 

 fact In Patagonia that the Argentines are far more ready to show 

 hospitality than are our own countrymen. One hardly wonders, 



