The horses were unhitched, tied together and
swum across; a boat coming from some unseen corner, took passengers and
luggage across, leaving the coach itself alone, with a long wire tied to
the end of the pole. The horses were fastened to the end of this wire on
the other side of the river, and then, with a whoop and a cheer, the
coach tumbled head-over-heels into the raging flood, twisting and
turning in all ways, first one side up and then the other, until at last
it reached the near bank. And so we travelled on, back to civilisation;
a tiring journey in dust and heat by rail, bringing us home to the same
old flat, treeless, priceless plains of the Central Argentine, to dream
for many days of birds, fishes, animals, flowers, trees, good friends,
and the fine natives of the Northern Chaco.
WORK IN THE WOODS.
WORK IN THE WOODS.
The worker in the forests is of necessity an early riser, the nature of
his task requiring that he should be up betimes. His preparations for
breakfast are simple, and he is ready to start out after half an hour
spent in imbibing a few mates full of yerba infusion. The cartmen tie in
their bullocks, kept overnight in a corral, and drive off to bring in
wood prepared by the axemen, the bullock-herd takes his charges to
pasture and the men's employer mounts his horse to visit the camp of his
axemen, or goes to the store to fetch meat and provisions.
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