DISCOVERY OF THE RIVER KATARINA AND LAKE PEARSON
Fears of winter coming on -- Stormy days -- Quiet nights
-- Picnics in Patagonia -- Start by night -- Hellgate by
starlight -- Camp on beach -- Advance up North Fjord --
Approach to River Katarina -- Shallow water -- Leave
launch -- Advance with canvas boat -- Tameness of huemul
-- Anecdote of Canoe Indians -- White-faced ducks -- First
sight of lake -- Bernardo falls ill -- Immoderate bags of
so-called sportsmen -- Problem of shrinkage of Lake
Argentino -- Discovery of Lake Pearson -- Description --
Bernardo better -- Comet -- Obliged to turn back --
Hellgate by firelight.
After our return from our trip to the South Fjord the weather became
very threatening, and I was beset with many anxious fears that the
winter might set in rigidly, and entirely preclude any attempt to
solve the problem of the yet unvisited and unknown river and lake
whose existence was conjectured at the end of the North Fjord. Snow
fell and blocked the pass to Punta Arenas,[31] which was our south
road to the coast, but luckily a milder spell followed, the snow
melted and I was encouraged to remain just a little longer to carry
out my original idea of making another effort to thoroughly explore
the North Fjord.
Storms, however, swept over the lake, and although we undertook a
couple of short expeditions in the launch, we waited for better days
before again facing the difficulties of the Hellgate passage. Again
and again we saw squalls and waterspouts come curling down the channel
between the frowning cliffs. Day followed day with heavy winds, the
coming of the light seemed to be the signal for the gales to rise,
whereas on many nights the weather was fairly still, and the water in
consequence calmer. It was during this period of waiting that we
arranged the following programme, which I find scribbled upon a page
of my diary:
PICNICS IN PATAGONIA.
Arranged by the Patagonian Picnicking Company on the
most lavish scale.
On the Free Pampas!
Over glorious Lakes!!
Through illimitable Forests!!!!!
Ladies and gentlemen desiring to make this unique trip should
communicate _at once_ with the Secretary, Herr Bernardo Hähansen.
Unequalled Scenery!!! Horse Exercise!!!
Guanaco Shooting!!! Ostrich Hunting!!!
A special feature will be made of water-trips in the
magnificent steam-yacht, the fastest boat on Lake
Argentino, commanded by an officer of immense experience
and charming manners, who has instructions to do all that
he can for the comfort of the passengers.
WRITE EARLY.
Applications are pouring in. Only a limited number of
passengers can be accommodated. Don't be one of the
disappointed! You pay £500. We do the rest!!!!!!!
_N.B._--The cultured conversation of the Chief Engineer
free of charge. (Gratuities regarded merely as a graceful
compliment.)
Passengers are expected to insure their lives in favour of
the Company for sums of not less than £1000 each with
respectable Insurance Companies.
The engagement of picturesque heathen camp-servants will be
made a special study by the Company.
[Illustration: EVENTIDE]
At length, weary of waiting on the wind's vagaries, we determined to
start by night, during the quieter period we usually then enjoyed, and
make what progress we could up the intricacies of Hellgate.
Accordingly, at 1 o'clock P.M. on May 3, we began our voyage. We
passed through Hellgate and left many silent bays behind us as we kept
on our course just outside the inky shadow of the cliffs. The water
was still working after the blow of the daytime, but on the whole we
had favourable weather and the stars shone brightly. With dawn the
wind arose and we were forced to put in to an anchorage on the east
shore of the Fjord. Afterwards, travelling by day, we made our way
to the peninsula, rocks often jutted out into the fairway, but these
were easy to locate, as we had been through the channel before and had
some knowledge of its reefs. A number of icebergs had been blown down
out of the western channel, but the water had fallen considerably
since our last visit, and when we reached the peninsula we found it
impossible to resume our former camp there, so we were forced to pass
an uncommonly cold night on a bare bit of beach without so much as a
bush to shelter us.
From time to time we spent a good while on this peninsula. It was
studded with erratic boulders, and the soil on it varied from six to
twelve inches in depth. On this visit I saw a red-crested woodpecker.
The views from the higher part of the peninsula were infinitely grand.
The gigantic glacier, the dark forests, the innumerable icebergs
floating below the black cliffs--all these combined to make up
pictures which I should like to be able to reproduce.
In time the weather moderated, and we made a last essay to penetrate
to the farther end of the main Fjord. As we proceeded the water became
shallower, so that it was necessary occasionally to take soundings.
There were also many rocks. We once more noticed dry sticks and leaves
drifting past, and presently ahead of us, through a gap in the
Cordillera, we caught a glimpse of flat country. This time we
fulfilled our desire and attained to the termination of the Fjord,
where we came to the mouth of a river of considerable size. It swung
out from round the base of a cliff, and had thrown up a slight bar
where it joined the waters of the lake. I named it the River Katarina.
We camped at this point and began at once to explore the valley of the
river. It flowed over a stony bed, presenting much the appearance of a
large Scotch trout-stream. The _cañadon_ through which it passed was
very wide, and the stream wound greatly. At the time of our visit the
river was very shallow, and there was not water enough to float the
launch, in fact a stone picked up from the bottom lodged itself
between the blades of the propeller and we had to haul up for repairs.
This business of repairing was one we often had to perform, and
necessity being the mother of invention, the dodges we resorted to
were original. The launch, if once hauled up on the beach and sunk in
the sand, would have been too heavy for the three of us to get back
into the water. On these occasions we therefore used to cut the
largest tree-trunks available and roll them under the keel while still
half in the water, then the two heaviest of us would go into the bows,
which were, of course, in comparatively deep water, and our weight in
this position served to raise the stern sufficiently to allow of the
third man to execute the repairs needful to the propeller. In the
present instance it was found that the machinery was severely
strained, though fortunately no damage had been done to the blades of
the propeller.
Though the river was shallow in May, we saw abundant evidence that it
must carry a greatly increased volume of water in the earlier part of
the year. But not finding it possible to take the launch up the
channel, we decided on anchoring her as securely as we could and
continuing our expedition in the small canvas boat. This we did a day
or two later.
Our camping-ground on the bank of the Katarina was among high and
rather coarse grass, which would have made excellent feed for horses,
but I should not think it possible to keep horses in that _cañadon_,
as, being encircled by hills, the sun would seldom reach it during the
winter. There were many patches of wood, composed of rather stunted
trees, but it was difficult to penetrate among them, their trunks grew
so close together. A certain amount of game lived in the valley,
huemules, guanacos, pumas and Cordillera wolves.
The extraordinary tameness of the huemul here was, of course,
accounted for by their entire ignorance of man. During my wanderings
from the camp I had opportunities of making many interesting
observations on this point. They would almost always, if you kept
still and made no attempt to approach them, advance timidly towards
you. It was in this valley of the Katarina that I met with the most
remarkable instance of boldness on the part of these animals. I have
given this story in full in another chapter, but I may shortly allude
to it here. I was some miles from the camp, among thick grass and
scrub, when I perceived emerging from a thicket at a little distance
the spiked horns and red-brown sides of a huemul buck; behind him
were two does, half hidden in the thicket. Finding that they had
perceived me, I lay down on the grass and watched to see what they
would do. One could read in their movements and attitudes the battle
between timidity and curiosity that was going on within them. A third
half-grown doe now appeared, and all four began to drift, as it were,
slowly in my direction, keeping their eyes fixed upon me all the time.
Now and again they would stop, then move on a few steps nearer, but
after a long time they grew courageous enough to come right up to me,
and the younger doe sniffed at my boot, then started back some paces,
her companions naturally following her example. I could easily have
touched her with my hand during a good part of the time. At last the
buck lowered his horns as if with the intention of turning me over,
but the sun was now sinking, and I was obliged to take my way
homewards. As I stirred the huemules made off, but halted at a short
distance to stare again at the queer object which had for the first
time in their lives entered within their ken.
[Illustration: _CAÑADON_ OF THE RIVER KATARINA]
That evening, as we sat round the camp-fire, Cattle told us an amusing
story illustrative of the quickness with which the Canoe Indians of
the western or Pacific coast pick up the art of bargaining. He with
two companions was living in the eternal rain of the Chilian side of
the Cordillera, when one afternoon they struck a camp of Canoe
Indians, who ran away into the forest on seeing the boat of the white
men coming up the fjord. After a time, however, curiosity overcame
their terror, and an old woman advanced from under the trees and
commenced to open communications with the travellers by means of
signs. She was probably sent out on account of her uselessness to the
tribe, as, in the event of the white men being evilly disposed, her
loss would have been regarded as no great misfortune. By-and-by she
was joined by the other Indians, and the party fell to bartering. One
of the Englishmen bought a fine sea-otter's skin for a box of matches,
and the old lady, who had made the first advances, was asked by signs
if she had another to dispose of. She ran back into the forest and
presently returned with the half of a skin in each hand. She demanded
a box of matches for each piece, for, thinking to improve upon the
last bargain, she had cut the otter-skin in two with a bit of glass!
Our next move was to trace the river up to its source. After assuring
ourselves that the launch could not go up the stream, we made all
ship-shape in the camp and prepared to go ahead by putting our bedding
and food in the canvas boat. We set out one grey morning, following
the left bank of the Katarina. Parallel with the course of the river
ran a chain of small hillocks, and behind these again a series of
reedy lagoons. These last were literally black with duck, especially
the variety known locally as the "white-faced duck," otherwise the
Chiloe widgeon. The lagoons contained brackish water, and I fancy the
whole depression in which they lie is flooded in the spring.
On this day Cattle and I, from the top of a hillock, descried what we
took to be water in the north end of the _cañadon_. This was our first
sight of the lake the shores of which I afterwards reached.
In the evening we camped at a spot opposite to the mouth of a
tributary of the Katarina that flowed from the hills on the eastern
side. At this point Bernardo knocked up. He had had hard work all day
with the boat, for the stream was full of shoals, and wind and current
were strong against him. He had been in the river off and on, and as
he was already suffering from a slight cold when we set out this
treatment had not improved it. By night his chest seemed a good deal
affected, and his breathing was difficult. The rain of the afternoon
turned to snow in the night, and it became very cold, a comfortless
position for a feverish man. Our means for dealing with illness were
limited, but hot cocoa and rugs seemed the best treatment under the
circumstances, and we further sheltered him under the canvas boat,
which, being turned over, made a tolerable hut.
[Illustration: RIVER KATARINA]
Having brought a certain amount of provisions with us, we did not
shoot much. There can be little question that, had Patagonia been a
country rich in trophies, its less remote valleys would long ago have
known the crack of the rifle. Fortunately for its _feræ naturæ_, the
small horns of _Xenelaphus bisulcus_ do not offer sufficient
attraction. There is no sport on earth finer than big-game shooting in
moderation, but in all parts of the world I should like to see a
universal law prohibiting any one sportsman or professional hunter
from shooting more than a limited number of a particular animal in a
year. This idea, as a universal law, is, of course, impossible of
fulfilment, but surely in sport moderation and a due regard for the
survival of the various kinds of game should be the guiding rule and
principle. However, my pen has carried me away. I merely say that it
would be well if public opinion trended more resolutely towards
censuring the hunter who selfishly makes immoderate bags. At the
present moment he is looked upon as rather a fine fellow by those who
lack any real knowledge of the subject, for no man is more strongly
opposed to such doings than the true sportsman.
Owing to the unfortunate accident of Bernardo's illness, the general
advance of our party was out of the question. It only remained for me
to push on alone, and to give up any attempt to take the boat farther.
Cattle stayed with Bernardo, to look after him, while I went on up the
valley along the banks of the Katarina.
There can be little doubt that all the _cañadon_ of this river formed
at one time part of Lake Argentino, and that the hills in the valley
were merely small islands in the same. One of the most interesting
facts in connection with Lake Argentino is the large volume of water
that is precipitated into it by a number of rivers and mountain
torrents. Besides the Rivers Leona and Katarina, there are two or
three streams of considerable size and countless snow-fed cascades
falling from the cliffs. On the other hand, the only large outlet is
the River Santa Cruz, and though that river carries off an important
amount of water to the Atlantic, the quantity is not sufficient to
account for the fact that the great lake is surely if slowly shrinking
in size. The North and South Fjords with their adjoining reaches of
water at one time formed part of a wide-spreading lake, whose waters
washed completely round the bases of the mountains--such as Mount
Buenos Aires--and of hills that now stand upon out-jutting points of
land or actually upon the present lines of the shores. The reason for
this shrinkage of the lake, when appearances would seem to point
rather to increase of size, is difficult to discover.
[Illustration: THE LAST REACH]
The features of the _cañadon_ of the Katarina changed but little as
I walked on deeper into it. I saw two huemul bucks, one accompanied by
two, the other by three does; I also saw some guanacos. The Giant's
Glacier, which crosses the head of Lake Argentino as far as the
peninsula on which we camped, ran parallel behind the cliffs of the
western shore, glimmering out palely in the north-west ahead of me.
Presently I passed over a stream, and later topping a low bluff I
found myself on the shores of a lake, the distant gleam of whose
waters Cattle and I had seen on the previous day. I was, of course,
very eager to take a photograph of it, but everything around was
shrouded in mist, and I had with me only a binocular camera, the
mechanism of which did not permit of long exposures.
[Illustration: LAKE PEARSON]
I must admit that I was disappointed with the lake when I arrived at
it, as I had expected a much larger piece of water. The nearer shores
were somewhat low and covered with boulders, while upon the farther
sides rose a semicircle of hills whose escarpments fell in places
abruptly to the water. About the inferior spurs of a somewhat higher
mountain to the north a dense black forest clung. The morning was
grey and the water lay dark and ruffled under a chilling wind, while
about the distant cliffs of the northern shore wreaths of cloud hung
sullenly, only lifting at intervals here and there sufficient to give
a glimpse of the bare crags behind them.
Towards the afternoon luck befriended me, for the sky cleared and the
sun broke out for a short time, giving me the opportunity I had been
hoping for. I made haste to use the camera with such results as will
be seen on p. 285.
This lake I named Lake Pearson.
On my return to the camp I found the sick man improving, which was a
relief, as under the circumstances we had very little to give him in
the way of comfort. Bernardo was a cheery fellow, who met the
disagreeables of his lot good-temperedly, and I have no doubt this
helped towards his recovery. Eventually he became quite well.
During the night a comet was visible, hanging in the clear sky like a
white sword, hilt downwards. It was very brilliant and very beautiful,
seen as we saw it above the dark forest.
There were many reasons why I hoped to be able to push deeper into
this region, but it was growing very late in the season, winter with
its accompaniment of furious storms was almost upon us, and this fact,
joined with the strained and weakened condition of the engine of the
launch, compelled us to give up the thought of further exploration. We
therefore took advantage of a spell of rather better weather to make
our way back down the Fjord. The wind was blowing sulkily out of the
north, but this gave us the benefit of a following sea. Once or twice
during our passage squalls overtook us, but always blowing mercifully
in the direction of our course. Thus we had a following sea right up
to the cliffs of Hellgate. In one place a big iceberg had stranded
beneath the cliffs.
We landed under the bluffs of Hellgate and lit a fire of _Leña dura_,
which roared and crackled in the dusk, lighting up the gloom of
Hellgate with red light. Later we ran across safely to our anchorage
off the Burmeister Peninsula.
FOOTNOTE:
[31] Burbury made his way south just in the nick of time. I was
obliged to send him to the coast to meet Scrivenor, who was, according
to my arrangements, about to leave for England.