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 carrying with us, except, of course, our
guanaco furs and guns.
Thus equipped, we started the next morning shortly after sunrise. Our
trip began badly. We had not gone far before my brother got into a
morass, out of which he had no little difficulty in extricating
himself; and as for his horse, at one time we thought the poor brute
would never get out again, so deep had it sunk into the trembling,
boggy ground. However, we managed to get it out at last, and, though
both well plastered with mud, neither its rider nor itself were any
the worse for this little _contretemps_. Proceeding on our journey, we
followed Gregorio at a merry trot towards the great ravine, through
which flowed that broad and rapid mountain stream, which it was
necessary for us to ford.
The ravine side was so steep that we had to dismount and lead our
horses down by a narrow track made by the wild horses. This pathway
seemed to fall almost perpendicularly down to the river, which roared
along, two or three hundred feet below us, and a slip or stumble might
have sent us pell mell, one over the other, into it. No such mishap
occurred, however, and, safely reaching the bottom, we proceeded to
ford the river. It was not so deep as we had expected, but it ran with
great force, and its bed being composed of shifting pebbles and large
boulders of rock, our horses floundered and splashed about in a
distressing way, and we all got more or less drenched by the time we
got through it. This being the summer season the water was
comparatively low, and we were able to follow the windings of the
ravine, riding over the dry strip of river-bed for a good distance.
But then the river began to dart about capriciously from one side of
the ravine to the other, the consequence being that we were
continually finding ourselves obliged to ford it again; and the ravine
sides were now so steep and thickly wooded that we had no option but
to follow the river. After two hours of splashing, and many a narrow
escape from complete duckings, the river made a sudden turn southward,
and in order to keep on our road towards the peaks we had to say
farewell to our convenient ravine, and make our way as best we could
through the beechwood forest. This was an arduous task. At times we
would get into a thicket which made progress impossible, forcing us to
retrace our steps, and try some other route, often to meet only the
same difficulty as before. Then a good broad clearing would turn out
to be equally impracticable, on account of a belt of bog stretching
across it, or a little ravine, which favoured our journey for a time,
would resolve itself into an _impasse_, and again we would have to
turn back. Fortunately the weather was fine and sunny, and we made
light of our difficulties, occasionally resting for a while to admire
some of the many lovely bits of landscape chance presented to our
eyes, or to feast on some bush, heavy laden with wild red currants,
which were now ripe and sweet. A peculiar phenomenon, suggestive of
some great fire in bygone ages, struck me in these forests.
Everywhere, among the younger trees, stood huge dead giants, gray and
leafless, and partially charred, as if a sudden sea of fire had swept
over them, drying up their sap and destroying their vital powers,
being quenched, however, by some sudden agency before it had time to
destroy their branches and trunks completely. These gray skeletons of
a bygone age looked weird and ghastly, standing amid the fresh green
trees around them, and the wind, sweeping through their branches,
produced a dry harsh rattle, which contrasted strangely with the
melodious rustle of the leafy crests of their comrades.
For three or four hours we worked our way through the forest, and I
never was more astonished at the marvellous powers of endurance of our
horses than on this occasion, to say nothing of their extraordinary
cleverness in scrambling over the trunks of fallen trees, and in
picking their way through boggy ground, where a wrong step to the
right or left would have been disastrous. At last we reached the
outskirts of the wood, all more or less scratched and bruised, and
thoroughly tired with our exertions.
But the peaks were still far off, and the sun was getting low, and
soon another strip of forest loomed ominously in front of us. We
resolved, therefore, to go no farther that day, and accordingly cast
about for some suitable camping-place.
We were not long in finding a little nook which was admirably adapted
to our purpose. Sheltered by a cluster of moss and grass-covered
boulders, and well fenced in by a circle of shrubs and trees, we found
a fairy circle of soft, velvety greensward, jewelled here and there
with knots of scarlet verbenas and wild violets. Bubbling from out
among the rocks a silver clear little stream flowed down its centre,
giving just the slight touch of life and movement required to make
this sylvan retreat as cheerful as it was cosy, not to speak of its
convenience as regards the kettle.
We soon had our horses unsaddled, and then Gregorio and Mr. B. set to
work to light a fire, whilst my brother went out with his gun, and I
gathered a capful of red currants, which I mashed up with sugar, with
a view to dessert. By the time my brother came back, bringing with him
a brace of wood-pigeons and parrots, which were soon plucked and
spitted, the rib of guanaco Gregorio had set to roast was done to a
nicety, and we all fell to and made a hearty meal, finishing with the
red currants aforesaid.
Then the men lit their pipes, and the social maté-bowl went round,
whilst we lay watching the sun setting over the mountains, gilding
their peaks with ever varying tints, and making their snowy glaciers
glow warm and golden under its magic touch. Far below, at our feet,
lay the ravine, with the river we had so often crossed that day,
looking like a winding silver thread in the distance. Around us
reigned perfect peace; the chattering flocks of parrots, which had
made the woods noisy during day-time, had gone to their leafy roosts,
and not a breath of wind stirred the silent trees. A few little birds,
who no doubt had their homes in the chinks of the boulders which
formed the background of our camp, hovered around us anxiously for
some time, till, finding they had nothing to fear from their strange
visitors, they took heart, and hopped from stone to stone into their
respective lodgings, and, after chirping a note or two, were silent
for the night.
We were not long in following their example, and rolling myself up in
my guanaco robe, with my head on my saddle, I slept as sound and sweet
a sleep "under the greenwood tree" as ever blessed a weary mortal.
Neither Puck nor Ariel played any pranks with me; though, for ought I
know, Titania and Oberon, and their fairy following, flying from the
sceptical modern spirit which ignores them, may well have made these
secluded sylvan haunts their own.
We were in the saddle early the next morning, and, plunging into the
woods, pursued our way through the same difficulties which had
hampered our progress the day before. After a time, however, we came
to a region evidently much frequented by wild horses, and eventually
we hit on a path worn by them right through the woods, and following
this, we jogged along at a very fair pace. Soon our horses began to
neigh and prick up their ears as we advanced towards a clearing. Their
cries were answered from somewhere beyond us, and pushing forward into
the open, we came upon a herd of wild horses, who, hearing our
advance, had stopped grazing, and now they stood collected in a knot
together, snorting and stamping, and staring at us in evident
amazement. One of their number came boldly trotting out to meet us,
and evidently with no pacific intentions; his wicked eye, and his
white teeth, which he had bared fiercely, looked by no means
reassuring. But suddenly he stopped short, looked at us for a moment,
and then, with a wild snort, dashed madly away, followed by the whole
herd. They disappeared like lightning over the brow of a deep ravine,
to emerge again on our view after a couple of seconds, scampering like
goats up its opposite side, which rose almost perpendicular to a
height of six or seven hundred feet. They reached its crest at full
gallop in the twinkling of an eye, and without pausing an instant
disappeared again, leaving us wondering and amazed at their marvellous
agility. I had often seen their paths leading up hill-sides which a
man could scarcely climb, but till now that I had witnessed a specimen
of their powers with my own eyes, I had scarcely been able to believe
them possessed of a nimbleness and cleverness of foot which would not
discredit a chamois.
From the open space on which we were now standing we could see a broad
lake lying at the base of some very high hills, behind which lay the
mighty mountain which culminated in the three peaks we were desirous
of reaching, and as a ravine appeared to wind in that direction from
the head of the lake, we now pushed forward towards the latter,
occasionally profiting by numerous wild horse paths to expedite our
advance. After a weary scramble of several hours' duration, we
threaded a last belt of forest, blundered and floundered through a
last bog, and after a short ride over a grassy plain studded with
bushes, which were literally blue with a profusion of califaté-berries,
found ourselves on the shores of a splendid sheet of water. The sight
well repaid us for our trouble. The lake, which was two or three miles
broad, lay encircled by tall hills, covered with thick vegetation,
which grew close down to the water's edge. Beyond the hills rose the
three red peaks and the Cordilleras. Their white glaciers, with the
white clouds resting on them, were all mirrored to marvellous
perfection in the motionless lake, whose crystal waters were of the
most extraordinarily brilliant blue I have ever beheld. Round the lake
ran a narrow strip of white sand, and exactly in its centre stood a
little green island with a clump of beeches growing on it. Each
colour--the white, the green, the blue--was so brilliant; the
scene--the wooded hills, the glaciers rising into the blue above, and
sinking mirrored into the blue below--was so unique, the spirit of
silence and solitude which lay over all so impressive, that for a long
time we stood as if spellbound, none of us uttering a word. Suddenly
we were startled by a rushing sound behind us, and in another instant,
making the air shake as it went, and almost touching me with the tip
of its mighty wing, a condor swept past us, rising with rapid flight
up, up, up into the air, we following him with our eyes, till he
became a mere speck on the sky, and finally disappeared, thousands of
feet up in the air. This incident seemed to break the charm that held
us silent, and we broke into a chorus of exclamations of praise and
wonder as every second some new beauty in the scene before us struck
our admiring gaze. Resuming our journey, we rode along the narrow
strip of beach towards the head of the lake. Occasionally we were
forced into the water, as at some spots there was no beach at all; but
at any rate we got on much quicker here than we had up to the present,
and in a comparatively short space of time found ourselves at the head
of the lake. We were close to the three peaks, which we could now see
were parts of the crater of an extinct volcano--the other portions of
which had fallen in, a prey to the action of the weather. We camped by
the side of a little stream which flowed into the lake. All night long
we could hear the thunder of avalanches, or what, perhaps, might have
been the rumbling of some distant volcano; and I found myself
nervously expecting a repetition of the earthquake which had surprised
us so disagreeably at the Laguna Blanca.
[Illustration: "WE WERE THE FIRST WHO EVER BURST ON TO THAT SILENT
SEA"]
In the morning we rode up a tall hill, from which we could get a good
view of the interior. At the same time we were able to assure
ourselves that it would be useless, slightly provisioned as we were,
to attempt to penetrate any farther, the country before us being still
more thickly wooded than that we had already traversed.
For some distance we could catch glimpses among the hills of bright
green valleys, with whose excellent pastures our nimble friends the
wild horses were doubtless well acquainted; and farther on rose a
forest of white peaks, one towering above the other, till the tallest
faded, hazy and indistinct, into the skies. I would fain have dived
into their farthest mystery, but it was not to be; so, with a sigh of
regret, we turned our horses' heads in a homeward direction. We got
back to the camp late in the evening, having taxed our horses' powers
to the utmost to accomplish our return trip in one day. Our account of
the wonderful blue lake and the strange country beyond excited the
envy of those who had remained behind, and led to a discussion as to
the practicability of our entering the mountains, bag and baggage. But
the difficulties in our way were too many and formidable, and
reluctantly we were compelled to abandon this seductive plan.