18 



the gentian, and with leaves not three parted as in all the species 

 of the genus which I had before seen, but divided into nine or ten 

 narrow segments which radiated into the form of a pretty star. 



I had now reached a gentle slope covered with a green carpet 

 of low heath-like shrubs, bearing fruit very much like cranberries 

 and small, stiff glossy leaves. These were of three species: Per- 

 nettya miicroiata and Pernettya pU7nila, ericaceous plants belong- 

 ing to the same tribe as Arctostaphylos ; and Empetriim nigjninty 

 van rtibrum, a red variety of the common crow-berry, the typi- 

 cal form of whi^i is widely spread in arctic and alpine regions in 

 Europe, Asia and North America. I found but two other shrubs 

 at Gregory Bay ; Berber'is dulcis^ var. btixifolia^ and Chiloboth" 

 riwn antelloideSy a composite growing about eight feet high, 

 with large white-rayed heads of flowers, which were beginning to 

 bloom at the time of our arrival 



On reaching the top of the slope I stopped and concealed my- 

 self behind a bush ; for only a few yards away from me were two 

 young foxes playing before the entrance of their den. As I stood 

 watching them their mother came up with some object in her 

 mouth, which she laid down before them. The httle creatures 

 could not have been more than a month old, yet, young as they 

 were, they immediately began snarling and fighting for the pos- 

 session of the object. When T started toward them, however, to 

 sec what it was, they both dropped it and scampered into their 

 hole. It was a small mole-like animal with fine, soft fur, Cten- 

 omys Magellanica, which Darwin, in his Journal, calls *' Tucu- 



tuco." I afterwards noticed many acres which were undermined 

 by its burrows. 



From the knoll on which I was standing, two small lakes 

 could be seen, one of them gleaming in the sunshine like burnished 

 silver, the other stretching out like a sheet, its surface ruffled only 

 by the swallows which were skimming above it. Around the 

 shores several pairs of wild geese were feeding on the crow- berries, 

 wild celery, and other plants. They allowed me to approach 

 quite near to them, but suddenly a pair of lap-wings flew up from 

 a bed of rushes, screaming so loudly that the geese were fright- 

 ened away. 



The lake which shone so brightly was nearly dry. I found 



