y of Indians gathered by the shore of a small,
fresh-water lake. Most of them were watering their horses, but half a
dozen were grouped round a man lying on the ground, apparently
injured. Their sharp eyes quickly marked Simeon filling his vasculum
with the coveted specimens, and, waving their hands in friendly
greeting, two of them advanced at a gallop. One spoke fairly good
Spanish, and explained that the son of their chief had broken his leg
by a fall from his horse, and he begged Simeon--whom he conceived,
from his occupation of gathering simples, to be a medicine man--to
come to their assistance.

Simeon's own Spanish was too poor to undeceive them, but, thinking he
might be of some use, he went back with them, and rigged out a set of
splints, that made it possible to carry the young man to their
encampment, about a mile away. In gratitude for his services, they
accompanied him to the ship on his return, mounting him on one of
their horses and forming a bodyguard round him. It was then that they
proposed the guanaco hunt to the officers of the ship; their own visit
to the Straits being simply in pursuit of game.

The morning of the hunt the captain described as unusually warm for
that region, even in January, and not particularly clear; there was a
haze that was just not a fog. The Indians met them about a mile back
from the shore, bringing a dozen extra horses for their guests. The
quietest beast was selected for Ponsonby, but its docility was so
questionable, and the rider's inexperience so evident, that the
captain persuaded him to give up the chase, and content himself with a
ride to the encampment to inquire about his patient. The last ever
seen of him he was sitting on horseback watching the departing hunt.

Guanacos in large numbers had been seen on the plains to the
northwest, whereas the Indian camp lay to the northeast, and
Ponsonby's route was widely divergent to that of the hunters. All that
was known is that he never reached the encampment; perhaps he mistook
the trail, and, having left his compass in his cabin, had no means of
ascertaining his direction--or perhaps his horse became unmanageable
and bolted, carrying him far inland; at all events, his chance without
a compass was poor, for a tremendous rain came on, which lasted for
three days, leadening the sky to an even gray, with no mark of setting
or rising sun.

At the end of four days the horse he had ridden came into camp
riderless; its sad