IN THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN 13 



was favorable to certain large fungus growths on the trees, and used 

 as food by the natives. 



The chief constituents of the Magellan forest are the Antarctic 

 beech, 11 the evergreen beech, 12 and the "winters bark 13 (of the mag- 

 nolia order) with laurel-shaped leaves nearly four inches long. A so- 

 called cypress 14 is conspicuously abundant along the western channels. 



It was new and rich ground for the scientific prospector. The 

 naturalists were not to be deterred by the weather, but penetrated the 

 narrow side channels in the ship's boats, shooting, fishing, botanizing, 

 shore-collecting at low tide, photographing, hammering mesozoic fos- 

 sils from the rocks, digging in the ancient shell-heaps of the aborigines 

 and bartering with the natives. 



Suitable beaches for dragging the seines were not easy to find, but 

 the sailors usually secured enough smelt and mullet-like fishes for the 

 table and a considerable variety of finny oddities for the ichthyol- 

 ogist's alcohol tanks. The naval officers found sport for their trout 

 rods, in taking a trout-like fish abundant in the small streams. They 

 insisted on calling it a trout, but this peculiar genus, Haplo chiton, of 

 the austral fresh waters differs noticeably from the boreal fish in lack- 

 ing the adipose fin of the true trouts. To the angler it is equally 

 gamy. The ichthyologist ignoring the rules of the true sportsman, 

 swept many of the best pools with his nets. His " specimens," it is 

 needless to relate, did not appear upon the mess table, much to the 

 protest of the anglers. 



Collecting along shore at low tide yielded many interesting inverte- 

 brates. A univalve of the genus Concholepas clings to the rocks like 

 a limpet. It is as large as a man's fist and deep enough for a drinking 

 cup. I saw one in a canoe where it may have been used as a boat 

 bailer. It is also said to be used by the natives as food. The large 

 Chilian mussel 15 is abundant and seems to be the principal item in the 

 food supply of the natives. We found it excellent eating and obtained 

 specimens fully seven inches long. The handsomest sea shell of the 

 straits is Voluta Magellanica, which reaches a length equal to that of 

 the large mussel. 



The most interesting crustacean was an isopod of the genus Serolis, 

 which bears a superficial resemblance to the extinct trilobites and here 

 takes the place of our North American horseshoe crab 16 as a notable 

 zoological type. We obtained specimens of it in many localities along 

 shore and also in our dredge hauls. 



We were scarcely prepared to find frogs in this latitude, but four 



11 Fagus antarctica. 



12 Fagus betuloides. 



13 Drimys. 



" Libocedrus. 



15 Mytilus chilensis. 



16 Limulus polyphemus. 



