Our manner of travelling was delightfully independent.

In the inhabited parts we bought a little firewood, hired pasture for the animals, and bivouacked in the corner of the same field with them.

Carrying an iron pot, we cooked and ate our supper under a cloudless sky, and knew no trouble.

My companions were Mariano Gonzales, who had formerly accompanied me in Chile, and an "arriero," with his ten mules and a "madrina." The madrina (or godmother) is a most important personage: she is an old steady mare, with a little bell round her neck; and wherever she goes, the mules, like good children, follow her.

The affection of these animals for their madrinas saves infinite trouble.