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 our left, right in front, and gradually wreathing the hills to our
right, a huge prairie fire came rushing rapidly along. Dense masses of
smoke curled aloft, and entirely obscured the sky; the flames, which
shot fiercely up, cast a strange yellow glare over everything. Even
whilst we watched, a strong gust of wind swept the fire with
incredible swiftness towards us, and in a second we were enveloped in
such a dense cloud of smoke that we were unable to see one another.
The situation had now become critical, and not a moment was to be
lost. Half choked, and bewildered by the suddenness with which the
danger had come upon us, we scarcely knew what course to take. Already
our horses were snorting with fear, as the crackling of the burning
grass and bushes came nearer and nearer. To run away from the coming
fire was useless; the alternative was to face it at a gallop, and get
through it if possible. To throw our guanaco mantles over our heads,
and draw them as tightly round us as we could, was the work of a
second, and then digging our spurs into our horses, we dashed forward,
every one for himself. The moments that followed seemed an eternity.
As I urged my unwilling horse forward, the sense of suffocation grew
terrible, I could scarcely draw breath, and the panting animal seemed
to stagger beneath me. The horrible crackling came nearer and nearer;
I became conscious of the most intolerable heat, and my head began to
swim round. My horse gave two or three furious plunges, and then burst
madly forward. Almost choked, come what might, I could bear the mantle
over my head no longer, and tore it off me. The sudden sense of
relief that came over me as I did so, I shall never forget. I looked
up, the air was comparatively clear, and the fire _behind_ me. By some
miracle I had passed through it unhurt! I looked for my companions,
and, to my inexpressible joy, saw them emerge one by one from the
black mass of smoke, which was now rapidly receding into the distance.
Congratulations and exclamations over, we retraced our steps to try
and discover how we had managed to escape so luckily. The reason was
soon apparent. By a piece of fortune we had happened to ride over a
narrow pebbly tract of ground, where the grass was extremely sparse,
and where there were but few bushes; had chance led us over any other
track, where the grass was thick and tall, we could scarcely ever have
got through the danger. Our poor horses had suffered a good deal as it
was, their feet and legs being scorched and singed severely.
Our thoughts now flew to our camp, and to Storer and I'Aria, whom we
had left behind there. That they had escaped we had little doubt, but
for our tents and chattels we felt there was no hope. The landscape
seemed completely changed by the fire, all around, as far as we could
see, stretched black smoking plains, and the outlines of the hills
had become quite unfamiliar to us.
With rather heavy hearts we pushed forward, eagerly scanning the
country for some indication which might guide us to the quarter where
our camp had stood. If, as we had every reason to believe, our things
were burnt, our Patagonian trip was at an end, for the present, at all
events. Fortunately things did not turn out so badly. Presently my
husband, who was riding in advance of the others, gave a shout, and
made signals for us to come on. I need hardly say that we did not lose
a moment in joining him, and a welcome sight, as we got up to him, met
our eyes. Some two or three hundred yards below the hill on which we
were, we perceived our little white tents standing safe and unharmed
on a narrow green tract of land, which looked like a smiling island in
the midst of the vast black plain. Storer and I'Aria, too, we could
see moving about, and, overjoyed, we galloped down towards them, they
running out to meet us, having suffered no little anxiety, on their
parts, as to what might have happened to us. We pressed question after
question to I'Aria and Storer as to how they had managed to save the
camp. Storer was unable to give any intelligible account, so entirely
upset was he by fright, but I'Aria's natural philosophical calm had
not deserted him, even on this occasion, and from him we heard all
particulars. The fire, he informed us, had been caused by the Indian
we had met in the morning on the look-out for strayed horses. This man
had amused himself by setting fire to the long dry grass in various
places, and, fanned by a strong wind, the flames spread, and soon
assumed enormous proportions.
Quick to perceive the possible danger our camp was in, the Indian at
once galloped up, and with the assistance of I'Aria and Storer, set
about making a "contra-fuego" or counter fire, that is to say, they
gradually set fire to the grass all round the camp, letting it burn a
considerable tract, but always keeping it well in subjection, beating
it out with bushes and trampling it under foot, so that it could not
get beyond their control. This precautionary measure was fortunately
completed by the time the big fire came on, and although, for a minute
or two, they were half suffocated by the smoke, the fire passed
harmlessly by the camp itself, the burnt belt around it proving an
effectual safeguard.
Our horses were all safe, as they had been grazing on the far side of
a stream in an adjacent valley. The camp was in great disorder; the
tents were blackened by the smoke, the provision-bags and other
chattels lay scattered in confusion. Our furs and rugs had been used
to cover the cartridges with, for, whilst the fire raged around it,
the camp was deluged with showers of sparks, and an explosion might
easily have occurred, had this precaution not been taken. For some
time we were busy putting things straight, and in the meanwhile
François arrived from his hunting excursion. It had proved
unsuccessful; and as we had obtained but very little meat from the
Indians, for the sake of our dogs, who had been on very short rations
for some time, it became a matter of great urgency that we should get
as soon as possible into regions where guanaco and ostrich were
plentiful, and accordingly we decided to start on the following day.
Dinner over, my companions were not long before they went to sleep,
but feeling little inclination to follow their example, I strolled
out, and wandered round the camp, watching with interest the strange
changes that came over the landscape as day waned and night came
slowly on. The black hills behind the camp loomed like shadowy
phantoms against the sky; far and wide slept the silent pampa, its
undulating surface illumined by the rays of a lovely moon. The faint
glow which tinged the horizon, and the strange noises which a puff of
wind occasionally brought to my ears, showed that the mighty fire was
still burning in the distance with unbated fury, perhaps not to stop
in its devastating course till it reached the sea-coast.
For a long time I stood immersed in the contemplation of this weird
desolate scene, giving myself up to the mysterious feelings and the
many vague and fanciful thoughts it suggested, till, overcome with the
excitement and exertions of the day, I had at last to give way to
drowsiness and seek my couch.