CROSSING THE CABEZA DEL MARE. Across Patagonia BY LADY FLORENCE DIXIE WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SKETCHES BY JULIUS BEERBOHM ENGRAVED BY WHYMPER AND PEARSON 'PUCHO.'   LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen 1880 The rights of Translation and Reproduction are reserved. Printed by R. & R. Clark , Edinburgh . TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, ALBERT EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, THIS WORK DESCRIPTIVE OF SIX MONTHS' WANDERINGS OVER UNEXPLORED AND UNTRODDEN GROUND, IS BY

WHY PATAGONIA?—GOOD-BYE—THE START—DIRTY WEATHER—LISBON—THE ISLAND OF PALMA—PERNAMBUCO. "Patagonia! who would ever think of going to such a place?" "Why, you will be eaten up by cannibals!" "What on earth makes you choose such an outlandish part of the world to go to?" "What can be the attraction?" "Why, it is thousands of miles away, and no one has ever been there before, except Captain Musters, and one or two other adventurous madmen!" These, and similar questions and exclamations I heard from

BAHIA—RIO DE JANEIRO—RIO HARBOUR—THE TOWN—AN UPSET—TIJUCA—A TROPICAL NIGHT—MORE UPSETS—SAFETY AT LAST. A day after leaving Pernambuco we dropped anchor again; this time in the magnificent "Bahia de todos los Santos," the ample dimensions of which make its name a not inapposite one. Bahia itself is built on a high ridge of land, which runs out into the sea, and forms a point at the entrance of the harbour. The town is half hidden among huge banana trees and cocoanut palms, and seen from on board

BEAUTIES OF RIO—MONTE VIDEO—STRAITS OF MAGELLAN—TIERRA DEL FUEGO—ARRIVAL AT SANDY POINT—PREPARATIONS FOR THE START—OUR OUTFIT—OUR GUIDES. I could not repress a pang of regret as we steamed slowly out of Rio Harbour. There may be scenes more impressively sublime; there are, without doubt, landscapes fashioned on a more gigantic scale; by the side of the Himalayas or the Alps, the mountains around Rio are insignificant enough, and one need not go out of England in search for charming and romantic

THE START FOR CAPE NEGRO—RIDING ALONG THE STRAITS—CAPE NEGRO—THE FIRST NIGHT UNDER CANVAS—UNEXPECTED ARRIVALS—OUR GUESTS—A NOVEL PICNIC—ROUGH-RIDING—THERE WAS A SOUND OF REVELRY BY NIGHT. Early in the morning the horses were driven up and saddled, some trouble being experienced with the pack-mules, who were slightly restive, taking rather unkindly to their loads at first. As our guides were busy hunting up the requisite number of horses, and finishing their preparations for the journey, we took

DEPARTURE OF OUR GUESTS—THE START FOR THE PAMPAS—AN UNTOWARD ACCIDENT—A DAY'S SPORT—UNPLEASANT EFFECTS OF THE WIND—OFF CAPE GREGORIO. The sun had hardly risen the next morning ere our little camp was again astir. Making a hasty toilet I stepped out and found that our guests had all risen, and were busy in getting their guns and shooting accoutrements ready for the coming sport. As soon as they had partaken of some coffee, the whole party started off to the plains below, and for an hour or so, ti

VISIT TO THE INDIAN CAMP—A PATAGONIAN—INDIAN CURIOSITY—PHYSIQUE—COSTUME—WOMEN—PROMINENT CHARACTERISTICS—AN INDIAN INCROYABLE—SUPERSTITIOUSNESS. Since we left Sandy Point our dogs had had no regular meal, and had subsisted chiefly on rice and biscuits, a kind of food which, being accustomed to meat only, was most uncongenial to their tastes and unprofitable to their bodies. For their sakes, therefore, as well as for our own, we looked forward to our visit to the Indian camp, apart from other moti

THE PRAIRIE FIRE. As we rode along, our attention was attracted by a faint smell of burning, and presently thick clouds of smoke came rolling towards us. We pressed wonderingly on, anxious to discover the whereabouts of the fire, which we trusted lay somewhere far from our camp. Reaching a slight eminence, we were able to command a view of the country ahead. A cry of dismay escaped our lips as we looked around, and drawing rein, we stared blankly at one another. A fearful sight lay before us. To

UNPLEASANT VISITORS—"SPEED THE PARTING GUEST"—OFF AGAIN—AN OSTRICH EGG—I'ARIA MISLEADS US—STRIKING OIL—PREPARATIONS FOR THE CHASE—WIND AND HAIL—A GUANACO AT LAST—AN EXCITING RUN—THE DEATH—HOME—HUNGRY AS HUNTERS—"FAT-BEHIND-THE-EYE." The next morning we were up betimes, as we were going to continue our journey. Whilst we were engaged in the tedious operation of packing up, an Indian woman walked suddenly into the ring of bushes which surrounded our encampment, and seated herself silently by the f

ELASTIC LEAGUES—THE LAGUNA BLANCA—AN EARTHQUAKE—OSTRICH-HUNTING. We should like to have lingered on in the beechwood valley, but the necessity of pushing forward as quickly as possible was too urgent to allow of our indulging in our lazy desires, and daybreak saw our party once more in the saddle. The country over which we rode this day was more rugged and hilly than any we had crossed previously; the sun shone down upon us in all the intensity of its summer heat, and the glare of the hot dry gr

DEPARTURE FROM LAGUNA BLANCA—A WILD-CAT—IBIS SOUP—A FERTILE CAÑADON—INDIAN LAW AND EQUITY—OUR FIRST PUMA—COWARDICE OF THE PUMA—DISCOMFORTS OF A WET NIGHT—A MYSTERIOUS DISH—A GOOD RUN. After a four days' stay at Laguna Blanca, our horses being sufficiently rested, we resolved to continue our journey. I had got to feel quite at home in the little ravine where our camp had been pitched, and notwithstanding my anxiety to push forward and get over the monotony of the plains as soon as possible, in le

A NUMEROUS GUANACO HERD—A PAMPA HERMIT—I'ARIA AGAIN LOSES THE WAY—CHORLITOS—A NEW EMOTION—A MOON RAINBOW—WEATHER WISDOM—OPTIMIST AND PESSIMIST—WILD-FOWL ABUNDANT—BAD LUCK. The next day found us once more in the saddle, jogging along over the plains with the hopes of a speedy arrival at the Cordilleras to cheer us, under the depression of spirits which the dreary monotony of the country could not fail to produce. The character of the landscape was what we had been accustomed to since leaving Cabo

A MONOTONOUS RIDE—A DREARY LANDSCAPE—SHORT FUEL RATIONS—THE CORDILLERAS—FEATURES OF PATAGONIAN SCENERY—HEAT AND GNATS—A PUMA AGAIN—"THE RAIN IS NEVER WEARY"—DAMPNESS, HUNGER, GLOOM—I'ARIA TO THE RESCUE—HIS INGENUITY. After another day's sojourn at this encampment we resumed our journey. We took a good supply of fuel with us, as we were now entering on the barren, woodless region, during our transit over which we should have to rely solely on the provision we now made. Leaving the beechwood behin

A SURPRISE—A STRANGE SCENE—AN IDLE DAY—CALIFATÉ BERRIES—GUANACO-STALKING—A DILEMMA—MOSQUITOES—A GOOD SHOT. The next morning I was pleasantly awakened by a bright ray of sunshine, which forced its way through the opening in my tent, leaving me little inclination to sleep any longer. I lost no time in getting up, and stepped out, anxious to see what kind of country we had got into under cover of the fog of the previous day. For a moment I was quite bewildered by the contrast of the scene now befor

AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY—PASSING THE BARRIER—CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLES—FOXES—A GOOD RUN—OUR FOREST SANCTUARY—ROUGHING IT—A BATH—A VARIED MENU. We were up early the next morning, for we had perhaps a long journey before us, the country we were about to penetrate being as unknown to our guides as to ourselves; and no one could say when and where we might find a suitable place for camping that night. All helped to drive up and saddle the horses; their long rest and the rich grass in the valley had done them go

EXCURSIONS INTO THE MOUNTAINS—MYSTERIES OF THE CORDILLERAS—WILD-HORSE TRACKS—DEER—MAN THE DESTROYER. The first few days of our sojourn in the mountains were spent in making short excursions into the different gorges that stretched away inwards for miles and miles—far as the eye could reach. We were full of curiosity to penetrate and fathom their hidden mysteries; but this was out of the question, owing to the limited supply of provisions which we were able to carry with us. In these solitary wan

AN ALARM—THE WILD-HORSES—AN EQUINE COMBAT—THE WILD STALLION VICTORIOUS—THE STRUGGLE RENEWED—RETREAT OF THE WILD HORSES. One evening, after dinner, we were all sitting round the camp-fire, discussing coffee, when I'Aria, who had gone to have a last look at the horses before turning in, came running back, and announced that he could see the Indians coming down the valley in great numbers. We immediately jumped up and hurried out to inspect the new arrivals, not a little annoyed at the prospect of

EXCURSION TO THE CLEOPATRA NEEDLES—A BOG—A WINDING RIVER—DIFFICULT TRAVELLING—A STRANGE PHENOMENON—A FAIRY HAUNT—WILD HORSES AGAIN—THEIR AGILITY—THE BLUE LAKE—THE CLEOPATRA PEAKS—THE PROMISED LAND. It was arranged that night that Mr. B. and my brother and myself should make an expedition with Gregorio, towards the three strange peaks already mentioned. In order to spare our horses, no cumbersome articles were to be taken, a kettle, some biscuits, coffee, and meat, being all we contemplated carry

WE THINK OF RETURNING—GOOD-BYE TO THE CORDILLERAS—THE LAST OF THE WILD HORSES—MOSQUITOES—A STORMY NIGHT—A CALAMITY—THE LAST OF OUR BISCUIT—THE UTILITY OF FIRE-SIGNALS. A few more days spent in the Cordilleras brought us near the time when it was necessary to begin to think of returning to Sandy Point. Our provisions were beginning to sink rapidly; tea and coffee and sugar we still had plenty of, but the biscuit bags were getting ominously low, and all our other dainties had already been consumed

ISIDORO—AN UNSAVOURY MEAL—EXPENSIVE LOAVES—GUANACO SCARCE—DISAPPOINTMENT—NIGHT SURPRISES US—SUPPERLESS—CONTINUED FASTING—NO MEAT IN THE CAMP. We rode down a broad valley, which led to the Gallegos River, where we were to camp for the night. On reaching its farther end we were suddenly surprised by the sight of an Indian camp, composed of three tents, which were pitched on the other side of the river. Having little curiosity to make the acquaintance of their inmates, we continued our journey alon

THE HORSES LOST—UNPLEASANT PROSPECTS—FOUND—SHORT RATIONS—A STRANGE HUNT—A STERN CHASE—THE MYSTERY SOLVED—THE CABEZA DEL MAR—SAFELY ACROSS—A DAMP NIGHT—CABO NEGRO AGAIN. We had a short march to make next day, and it was nearly noon, therefore, when I'Aria started off on his usual morning task of driving up the horses. In the evening, as one may rely on their not straying very far, the horses are turned loose, after being unsaddled. In fact, no other method would be practicable, for if they were k