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The vegetation was strangely reminiscent of that in our own southwest, although I suppose it is all classified quite differently by the botanists.  There was a pale, dry bunch grass, twisted dwarfed trees that looked like greasewood, a shrub that resembled mesquite.  One plant grows in a rounded, bright brown hummock, and is called guanaco plant.  Near Patagonas there is a vast salt lake. Patagonas is on the edge of the Rio Negro and the border of Patagonia.

Last night on the train Bill insisted on picking up the most formidable uniformed gentleman that any of us had seen. The Shippens warned him against doing so, and Mr. Newbery, who is traveling with us, said he would get the snub of his life.

"Leave him alone," said I, out of twelve years of experience. "They'll probably be bosom friends, we'll exchange Christmas cards for years, and doubtless he'll even get us some ostriches."

The man, a big mustachioed Argentine, turned out to be - not a general, but a police inspector, and sure enough he knew someone in Patagonas who had some ostriches.  When we reached the town, he and Bill parted, with hearty handclasps, only after the officer had sent a telegraph to his friend, and assured us that the ostriches (really rheas) would be there for us on the return journey.

We crossed the Rio Negro about five o'clock, a small stream here, and bordered with a sort of willow that had turned bright russet for autumn.  We saw a tame ostrich in somebody's chicken yard, and hoped that it might eventually come into our collection.

[[underline]] May 28 - Bariloche [[/underline]]

The train was cold when we awoke.  The coffee in the comidor was so vile I switched to tea, and Newbery recommended drinking cognac with it, saying "You really need cognac in this country."

The foothills of the Andes rose in strange shapes on both sides of the train. There were palisades of rock, and regular basaltic formations, rim rock, and table lands.  Everywhere were flocks of sheep, and twice we saw tame guacanos in farmer's backyards.  Strutting across the high plains were a large flock of martinetta (the large tinamou) so close that the question-mark crest on their heads was plainly visible from the train window. We saw Andean geese flying in wedge-shaped formation, and once, on a lake, a flock of flamingoes rose and spread their rose-and-black wings against the bright blue sky.

About an hour before we were due to arrive in Bariloche

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