220 



JOURNEY ACROSS 



when our patience and good temper were ex- 

 hausted^ they came; and as miseries never 

 arrive singly, I was mounted on a wretched old 

 horse, to ride thirty miles over a fiery plain 

 without shade, to the post-hut where I am now 

 writings and inhaling the savoury steam of a 

 piece of goat's flesh which is roasting for our 

 dinner. 



We proceed on to St. Luis, where we hope to 

 arrive to-night. We saw two guanacos on the 

 plain, which had come down from the sides of 

 the mountains to browse. They are of a dun 

 colour, with skins like deer. The head is like 

 that of a lama, and, with their thin short tails, 

 they might, at a little distance, be taken for 

 rat-tailed horses, with ewe necks. We see our 

 day's journey before us — an undulating plain of 

 thirty miles, with some hills in the distance, 

 beyond which is St. Luis. The algaroba is now 



