48 HUNTING EXTINCT ANIMALS 



Though it was still raining we got ready and started on 

 the road. Just as I was mounting my horse, Paddy pulled 

 away from me and started back toward home. It took 

 over four miles of coaxing, cussing and manoeuvering, before 

 he was ready to be caught. The wagon had gone ahead, 

 but about noon we all got together once more. After noon 

 it began to pour again, and when we had to come down off 

 the pampa, the mud got deeper and deeper, until at last 

 we rounded a hill and saw the most welcome Dos Posos 

 (two wells) before us. 



Along the telegraph line from Buenos Aires to the Straits 

 of Magellan, at intervals of about fifty miles there are 

 stations for the upkeep of the line, which also serve as post- 

 offices and meteorological stations. Here one can send 

 telegrams, and mail is brought in or out "whenever any 

 trustworthy person happens to be going to the nearest 

 port," usually at intervals of months. Pulling up to the 

 house we asked for shelter and supper. There were only 

 a woman and some children there. She was sorry but 

 neither was possible. I went back to the wagon and got 

 the Governor's letter, and then there was plenty and we 

 could bring our beds into the front room! (Throughout 

 the country no one has extra beds, travelers being expected 

 to carry their own; so usually a horseback traveler is 

 accompanied by his pack horse with blankets, etc.) The 

 house was a government building and built of wood, with 

 a floor in the front room, though the other rooms had 

 none. There was also a fireplace in the kitchen (but no 

 stove), but next day the fire had to be removed to the 

 middle of the room to keep it going. Here we had the 

 same meals as before, except that the boiled mutton was 

 served at night, and in two courses, the first being soup, 

 the mutton being removed, and for the second it was 

 replaced and served as the piece de resistance. 



This was the beginning of the biggest rain any of us 

 had experienced. We saw in the morning that we were 



