BANKING DIFFICULTIES 69 



Next morning I went to the National Bank to draw some 

 money, but in spite of the letter from the President of the 

 Trelew bank identifying my signature, an introduction by 

 Mr. Evans, the manager of the local branch of the Chubut 

 Mercantile Company, my passport, and the Governor's^ 

 letter, I "was not personally known" and could get noth- 

 ing. The only possible way was to telegraph to Trelew 

 and order my account transferred to Comodoro, which I 

 did at once. After two days there was no reply and I had 

 to leave without any cash. I had learned something, how- 

 ever, about telegraph lines in Argentine. The regular 

 time involved in a reply is three or four days. The first 

 day the message is put in at the postofifice and lies there 

 until all telegrams for the day are in, when they are all 

 sent. Next forenoon they are distributed. A quick reply 

 might get back to the office that night, but usually it is the 

 succeeding day, that is three days after sending, that one 

 may begin to look for a reply. The telegraph is part of 

 the postal system, and the rate the same for all parts of 

 Argentine, 50 centavoes (22 cents) for fifteen words includ- 

 ing the address, double if in a foreign language, and treble 

 in code. Throughout this southern section of the country 

 it is very extensively used, as letters take an average of a 

 month to make a round trip, on account of the irregu- 

 larity of the boats. 



My saddles had been lost again, but from my mail I 

 located them in Buenos Aires and sent a set of telegrams 

 about them also. It took all day Tuesday writing letters 

 and attending to errands, and when no reply was in by 

 noon Wednesday I had to leave for the return trip in order 

 to make connections with Billy. Late that afternoon I 

 made the same camping ground as on the way down, and 

 had another fine night, but this time the moon was only 

 three quarters full and the weather not so warm. In the 

 morning I met Billy a little beyond the danger point, he 

 having started at three-thirty in the morning to meet me. 



