A CAMPING TRIP IN ARGENTINA. 



L. S. MC CAIN. 



If any of the dear readers of Recreation 

 wish to vary the dull monotony of exist- 

 ence, regardless of consequences, let them 

 betake themselves to the sub-tropical re- 

 gions of South America, and after ex- 

 periencing the petty annoyances of ban- 

 dits, snakes and yellow fever, return to the 

 swamps of Arkansas, where a higher civ- 

 ilization prevails, and only mosquitoes 

 serve to sustain one's interest in life. 



Mr. J. K. Riffel and I started from Bu- 

 enos Ayres with outfits and guides to accu- 

 mulate specimens, fun and experience, our 

 destination being the boundary between 

 Bolivia and Peru. After a few days' 

 travel, we met 3 Americans, all that re- 

 mained of a large party who had gone into 

 Bolivia after gold, some months previous. 

 All the others had been killed by the In- 

 dians, who attacked them shortly after 

 their arrival. The Peruvian government 

 sent 20 men to explain to the Indians the 

 errors of their ways, but the messengers 

 were never afterward heard from. 



Our guides, being good Christians, nat- 

 urally objected to taking human life unnec- 

 essarily, even an Indian's ; so when they 

 heard of this state of affairs they quietly 

 stole away by the light of the moon, with 

 a cargo of our spare bedding, guns and 

 ammunition. Not a man in Argentina 

 could we find to go into Peru or Bolivia, 

 except one Irishman, Pat, who informed 

 us that the greatest trouble was to pro- 

 cure sacks large enough to hold the gold, 

 which was lying around loose in large nug- 

 gets. 



"Pat, what brought you to this country?" 

 we asked. 



"Strength of body and weakness of 

 mind," he replied. 



As we could not obtain more men, we 

 reluctantly turned our steps toward the 

 pampas of Western Argentina. After some 

 days of railroad, horseback and boat travel, 

 we reached the Colorado, a magnificent 

 stream bounded by vast plains of sand or 

 grass, with some timber near the hills and 



spurs of the Andes. Game, of limited va- 

 riety but in great numbers, abounded, 

 among which were the guanacho, an ani- 

 mal resembling a small camel, minus the 

 hump ; deer ; hares, or rabbits ; armadillos ; 

 lions, or pumas ; and occasionally wild cat- 

 tle ; all of which furnished us a valuable 

 collection of skins and heads. Small fur- 

 bearing animals are plentiful farther South, 

 in the Patagonian regions, and several 

 Americans are doing well in the trapping 

 and hunting business. 



We pushed South, following the Eastern 

 slope of the Andes, a country of unbound- 

 ed mineral resources, animal life, and tim- 

 ber and thousands of lakes, of wonder- 

 ful depth, containing fishes of great va- 

 riety. As there are absolutely no means 

 of transportation or communication, the 

 enormous wealth of this region will not 

 for many years be opened to civilization. 

 Sheep and cattle furnish the wealth of the 

 country, as they require no feeding, and 

 little work. Even some of the Pampas 

 Indians possess thousands of sheep and 

 cattle, but not realizing their wealth, con- 

 tinue to live in dirt and squalor, allowing 

 their herds to grow wild, or be confiscated 

 by an occasional white man with an eye 

 to business and an elastic conscience. 



At present our encampment is near a 

 small lake in Rio Negros. As I write this, 

 on a boulder overlooking the water, I can 

 see the fish playing at a depth of 20 feet ; 

 and a few hundred yards out on the plain 

 a herd of deer are grazing, oblivious of 

 human presence. From here we will go 

 to Punta Arenas, Chili, spending a year or 

 2 in short trips to Terra del Fuego and 

 the neighboring islands. 



Buenos Ayres has a zoological garden 

 far superior, both in numbers and variety 

 of animals, to any in the States. Anv 

 stranger contemplating a Southern trip will 

 find it advisable to bring his entire outfit 

 from the States, and to keep his money in 

 his boots, to avoid awakening in the na- 

 tives an undue eagerness for his company. 



St. Peter: Where did you come from? 

 Arrival: I jumped down from the roof 

 of a New York office building. — Life. 



192 



