44 HUNTING EXTINCT ANIMALS 



first time we were really face to face with the problem of 

 how the horses were to get enough food. There was not 

 enough grass for a horse to fill his stomach if picketed, 

 nor could they help becoming entangled in the bushes 

 if they had a long rope attached to them. After feeding 

 each horse about two quarts of grain we put hobbles on 

 their front feet, and turned all but one loose. Then we 

 pitched our tent, got supper and were very glad to gather 

 inside around the little iron stove which particularly had 

 called forth jeers. 



After sundown the temperature dropped below freezing 

 and a stiff wind blew all night, as it had done through the 

 day; as in fact, it was to do every day. It was indeed a day 

 of relief when the wind was not howling, and its continual 

 performance often called to our minds that Dante had 

 made this the feature of his second inferno, constantly blow- 

 ing the spirits from place to place. Though it was spring- 

 time we were glad to wear woolen sweaters under our leather 

 coats; nor were we able to shed the sweaters for more 

 than a few hours at midday, at any time during the trip, 

 even in midsummer, for there is no time of the year when 

 the nights get warm, or when frost may not be expected. 

 The winter, however, is correspondingly mild, snow scarcely 

 ever lying more than a day, for the sun at noon warms 

 things up, and the snowfall is light. This is between lati- 

 tudes 42 and 46 south, which would correspond with Massa- 

 chusetts in the north. Apparently the ocean on the one 

 side tends to keep the temperature from extreme cold, while 

 the snow-clad Cordilleras, only 200 to 400 miles away on the 

 other side, prevent the warmth from becoming general. 



The first night with a new outfit is always an anxious 

 one. We had taken pains to have a mare in our bunch, for 

 horses do not readily leave them; but the question was 

 would they try to start back home during the night, and 

 would they all know how to pick up a living under these 

 circumstances? The real farm horse would have starved. 



