16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
ing their guns, for in the puna beyond this
chaos there was a possibility of Eduardo's partridges;
but their main purpose was to contemplate
a lofty rock-face with an inaccessible
ledge upon which the condor had nested in
the past and might well be nesting now.
They threaded the chaos, and although the
north-facing boulders were coated with old ice
they found several interesting plants among
them as well as some droppings that Eduardo
pointed out as being those of a vicuña.
'How do they differ from those of a guanaco?'
asked Stephen.
'Apart from the fact that they lie separately
rather than in a family heap, I should find it
difficult to say,' replied Eduardo.
'But if you were to see the two side by side
you would distinguish them at once. This is
low for a vicuña, however; he must have come