228 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



I lay down and possessed my soul in patience, waiting until the 

 moment when the herd should choose to move. They had left 

 me time enough and to spare for observing them through the 

 glasses. Three black bulls, a yellow one and a red were the pick 

 of the herd, there were some cows and well-grown calves also, and 

 these last began to proceed very leisurely down a cow-track, which 

 would ultimately lead them on to ground where they might be 

 stalked. I had tied up my horse in a hollow among some bushes 

 of Lena dura. It was a glorious evening and the shadows stood 

 out very distinctly, so much so that from the slightly higher ground 

 I could see with the telescope the movements of the shadows of 

 the bulls. The bases of the mountain were steeped in clear still 

 dusk, there was no wind, and the whole scene lived again fantasti- 

 cally in the smooth waters of the lake. When one is shooting, no 

 matter how intent one may be upon the game, it is natural to 

 observe these things and enjoy them, in a secondary sense possibly, 

 but none the less keenly. Anyway, there was plenty of time to 

 observe, for the herd took it easy, and now and then one of the 

 big bulls would come to a standstill and stare about him. The 

 yellow bull especially took my fancy, the spread of his horns must 

 have been over four feet. At length, however, the last of the herd 

 disappeared into a gully and I hastened forward. About a mile 

 separated me from the point, and this I covered at good speed ; the 

 final bit necessitated a crawl, which ended on the edge of a low 

 rocky plateau. Here I peered through some fuchsia-bushes. To 

 my disgust the herd had quickened their pace, and were a little 

 beyond range upon a space of level land beneath me ; they lingered 

 here for an uncommonly long time, giving me ample opportunity 

 to study the surrounding cow-tracks and the grass-bare wallows. 

 Meantime the precious light was fading, and the reflections of the 

 snow-peaks were beginning to blur and darken in the mirror of 

 the lake. Ahead of the herd were a number of tracks, which ran 

 parallel with each other for a certain distance, but afterwards 

 branched into different directions. I could see them dimly through 

 the telescope. Should they happen to take the lowest of these, 

 they would be delivered into my hands, for it led immediately 

 under a cliff over which I could get within a few yards of them. 



