96 Idle Days in Patagonia. 
in position; then the commander had a happy in- 
spiration, and all the strong women were made to 
display themselves on the walls in male attire. 
Dummy soldiers, hastily improvised from blocks of 
wood, bolsters, and other materials, were also placed 
at intervals ; so that when the Brazilians arrived in 
sight they were surprised to see four or five hundred 
men, as they thought, on the ramparts before them. 
From the high ground behind the town where they 
had halted they commanded a view of the river for 
several miles, but the expected ships were not yet 
in sight. The day had been oppressively hot, with- 
out a cloud, and that march of about thirty miles 
over the waterless desert had exhausted the men. 
Probably they had been suffering from sea-sickness 
during the voyage; at any rate, they were now mad 
with thirst, worn out, and not in a fit state to 
attack a position seemingly so strongly defended. 
They determined to retire, and wait for a day or 
two, and then attack the place in concert with the 
ships. To the joy and amazement of the Pata- 
gonians, their formidable enemy left without firing 
a shot. Another happy inspiration came to the aid 
of the commander, and as soon as the Brazilians 
had disappeared behind the rising ground, his 
seventy men were hastily dispatched to collect and 
bring in all the horses pasturing in the valley. 
When the invaders had been about three or four 
hours on their spiritless return march, the thunder 
of innumerable hoofs was heard behind them, and 
looking back, they beheld a great army, as they 
