164 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



early voyagers though many may still be seen 

 throughout the western portion of Magellan 

 Straits and in Smythe's Channel. 



The condor may have been shot down by 

 shepherds, of whom there are now numbers ; 

 but the decrease of the steamer-duck cannot be 

 ascribed to human agency, as all the vast tract of 

 country bordering the waters of Smythe's Channel, 

 in which these birds are found, is practically 

 uninhabited except by Fuegian Indians ; and, 

 although very few of these people were to be seen, 

 we found no vestige of duck-remains either in their 

 boats or in their deserted camps. 



