While he returned to Horsham Camp, Barckhausen and I rode on towards the _cañadon_ of the River de los Antiguos.
[19] I believe, as does Dr. Moreno, that a race of Indians, now extinct, once dwelled among the foothills of the Cordillera.
Descent into Gorge of the River de los Antiguos -- Rest-and-be-Thankful Camp -- First huemul -- Greed of condors -- Aspect of Gorge -- Tameness of guanaco -- Join Van Plaaten's route -- Stinging flies -- Signal-smokes -- De los Antiguos in flood -- Difficulty of crossing -- Attempt to swim over -- Washed away -- Loss of rifle and gun -- Return to western bank -- Cold night -- Start next morning -- Upper ford impassable -- Scanty diet -- Fording torrent -- Long ride to Horsham Camp -- Fire-blackened landscape -- News of red puma.
Barckhausen and I continued along the south shore of the lake until we struck the River de los Antiguos, a small but rapid torrent flowing through a huge frowning gorge, between very steep _barrancas_. Farther to the west a second river, the River Jeinemeni, runs for some distance almost parallel with it and discharges itself into the lake some little distance beyond the mouth of the Antiguos. Between these two rivers lies a tableland, which I was anxious to visit. We, therefore, looked for a favourable place to descend into the valley of the River de los Antiguos, and presently discovered a spot where the cliffs were rather less perpendicular. The _barranca_, which was about one hundred and fifty feet in height, being composed of sliding sand and stones, covered with a high growth of bushes, presented a troublesome route for the horses. They had been tied together by their headstalls, the only way in which it was possible to drive them. It was now necessary to dismount and take them down singly. Two of them, Mula and Luna, refused to face the slope, and had to be urged on by persuasions from behind. When Mula at last consented to begin the descent, he lost his head and slid down the _barranca_, almost carrying Barckhausen, who was pulling at his _cabresto_ from below, with him.
When we all arrived safely at the bottom, we found the bed of the river was formed of large boulders, and progress was consequently very slow. After a time we forded across, the water barely reaching to the horses' knees, but flowing so rapidly as to bring down good-sized tree-trunks with it. We made a camp in a bare place backed by a deep green forest. After our meal, which consisted of half an emergency ration each, a couple of two-ounce dumplings and some tea, we climbed the western _barranca_, and discovered an open space in the forest, where the grass rose to our middles, and we were greeted by the wet smell of earth, to which we had long been strangers on the dry stretches of the pampas. We called the spot Rest-and-be-thankful Camp, and at once moved the horses up to it, and on the way Fritz, who happened to be in an obstinate mood, lay down among the stones. Little did we think at the time how often we were destined to climb up and down that weary _barranca_.