In Search of the Castaways [63]
of the Atlantic, and the prevailing west wind, made the climate of this district particularly damp. This was evident by the fertility and abundance of the pasture and its dark color. However, the clouds remained unbroken for the present, and in the evening, after a brisk gallop of forty miles, the horses stopped on the brink of deep CANADAS, immense natural trenches filled with water. No shelter was near, and ponchos had to serve both for tents and coverlets as each man lay down and fell asleep beneath the threatening sky. Next day the presence of water became still more sensibly felt; it seemed to exude from every pore of the ground. Soon large ponds, some just beginning to form, and some already deep, lay across the route to the east. As long as they had only to deal with lagoons, circumscribed pieces of water unencumbered with aquatic plants, the horses could get through well enough, but when they encountered moving sloughs called PENTANOS, it was harder work. Tall grass blocked them up, and they were involved in the peril before they were aware. These bogs had already proved fatal to more than one living thing, for Robert, who had got a good bit ahead of the party, came rushing back at full gallop, calling out: "Monsieur Paganel, Monsieur Paganel, a forest of horns." "What!" exclaimed the geographer; "you have found a forest of horns?" "Yes, yes, or at any rate a coppice." "A coppice!" replied Paganel, shrugging his shoulders. "My boy, you are dreaming." "I am not dreaming, and you will see for yourself. Well, this is a strange country. They sow horns, and they sprout up like wheat. I wish I could get some of the seed." "The boy is really speaking seriously," said the Major. "Yes, Mr. Major, and you will soon see I am right." The boy had not been mistaken, for presently they found themselves in front of an immense field of horns, regularly planted and stretching far out of sight. It was a complete copse, low and close packed, but a strange sort. "Well," said Robert. "This is peculiar certainly," said Paganel, and he turned round to question Thalcave on the subject. "The horns come out of the ground," replied the Indian, "but the oxen are down below." "What!" exclaimed Paganel; "do you mean to say that a whole herd was caught in that mud and buried alive?" "Yes," said the Patagonian. And so it was. An immense herd had been suffocated side by side in this enormous bog, and this was not the first occurrence of the kind which had taken place in the Argentine plains. An hour afterward and the field of horns lay two miles behind. Thalcave was somewhat anxiously observing a state of things which appeared to him unusual. He frequently stopped and raised himself on his stirrups and looked V. IV Verne around. His great height gave him a commanding view of the whole horizon; but after a keen rapid survey, he quickly resumed his seat and went on. About a mile further he stopped again, and leaving the straight route, made a circuit of some miles north and south, and then returned and fell back in his place at the head of the troop, without saying a syllable as to what he hoped or feared. This strange behavior, several times repeated, made Glenarvan very uneasy, and quite puzzled Paganel. At last, at Glenarvan's request, he asked the Indian about it. Thalcave replied that he was astonished to see the plains so saturated with water. Never, to his knowledge, since he had followed the calling of guide, had he found the ground in this soaking condition. Even in the rainy season, the Argentine plains had always been passable. "But what is the cause of this increasing humidity?" said Paganel. "I do not know, and what if I did?" "Could it be owing to the RIOS of the Sierra being swollen to overflowing by the heavy rains?" "Sometimes they are." "And is it the case now?" "Perhaps." Paganel was obliged to be content with this unsatisfactory reply, and went back to Glenarvan to report the result of his conversation. "And what does Thalcave advise us to do?" said Glenarvan. Paganel went back to the guide and asked him. "Go on fast,"