282 THROUGH THE HEART OF PATAGONIA 



That evening, as we sat round the camp-fire, Cattle told us an 

 amusing story illustrative of the quickness with which the Canoe 

 Indians of the western or Pacific coast pick up the art of bargain- 

 ing. He with two companions was living in the eternal- rain 

 of the Chilian side of the Cordillera, when one afternoon they 

 struck a camp of Canoe Indians, who ran away into the forest on 

 seeing the boat of the white men coming up the fjord. Afier a 

 time, however, curiosity overcame their terror, and an old woman 

 advanced from under the trees and commenced to open communi- 

 cations with the travellers by means of signs. She was probably 

 sent out on account of her uselessness to the tribe, as, in the event 

 of the white men being evilly disposed, her loss would have been re- 

 garded as no great misfortune. By-and-by she was joined by the 

 other Indians, and the party fell to bartering. One of the English- 

 men bought a fine sea-otter's skin for a box of matches, and the old 

 lady, who had made the first advances, was asked by signs if she 

 had another to dispose of. She ran back into the forest and 

 presently returned with the half of a skin in each hand. She 

 demanded a box of matches for each piece, for, thinking to improve 

 upon the last bargain, she had cut the otter-skin in two with a bit 

 of glass ! 



Our next move was to trace the river up to its source. After 

 assuring ourselves that the launch could not go up the stream, 

 we made all ship-shape in the camp and prepared to go ahead by 

 putting our bedding and food in the canvas boat. We set out one 

 grey morning, following the left bank of the Katarina. Parallel 

 with the course of the river ran a chain of small hillocks, and 

 behind these again a series of reedy lagoons. These last were 

 literally black with duck, especially the variety known locally as the 

 "white-faced duck," otherwise the Chiloe widoreon. The lao-oons 

 contained brackish water, and I fancy ihe whole depression in 

 which they lie is flooded in the spring. 



On this day Cattle and I, from the top of a hillock, descried 

 what we took to be water in the north end of the canadon. This 

 was our first sight of the lake the shores of which I afterwards 

 reached. 



In the evening we camped at a spot opposite to the mouth of a 



