Correspondence — Straits of Magellan 67 



description, wliicli entirely surpassed my expectations of the grandeur of this por- 

 tion of the Strait. Sometimes the nearerheights would be bathed inbriglit sunlight, 

 while the more distant snowy ones lay in shadow ; and at others the sun shone 

 brightly on the snowy slopes and summits. Every now and then there were 

 splendid irises on the hills, in some instances nearly tlie whole rugged side being 

 rainbow tinted. We saw some ver)' fine glaciers, several of which were most 

 extensively crevassed, both longitudinally and transversely. I look forward with 

 much satisfaction to their exploration next year, or the year after. We anchored 

 in the afternoon in a beautiful little cove in Praya Parda. I had no opportunity of 

 landing, but two or three of the officers were on shore for a short time, and, as 

 usual, brought me off any specimens that they could lay their hands on. By 

 this means 1 got specimens of Dcsfontainesia spinosa, and the largest -berried 

 specimen of Pernettya mucronata that I have ever seen. The Dcsfontainesia 

 was new to me, and I felt considerably puzzled at first as to its nature, owing to 

 the combination of character which it presents. W^e parted from the ' Zealous ' 

 next morning and retraced our course. We were, as before, struck with the 

 savage grandeur of much of the scenery, and I was rather amused to hear Mr 

 Darwin's remark that " the distant channels between the mountains appeared, 

 from their gloominess, to lead beyond the confines of this world," echoed by 

 one of our men. We saw several Fuegians' canoes, and lay to for a short time to 

 allow one of them to come alongside. There were three men in her who kept 

 shouting and screaming while they were coming towards us, reminding us of 

 sea-birds in the nature of their vociferations. On coming alongside they shouted 

 "rope, rope, yaummer schooner !" then kept up a perpetual demand for "ta- 

 baca," accompanied by a variety of gesticulations. As usual they were misera- 

 ble-looking objects, very slightly clothed with short guanaco-skin cloaks, which 

 left their long lanky legs bare, and only partially covered their bodies. Their 

 canoe, which was formed of five pieces of wood or bark sewn together with 

 narrow stripes of bark, had a fire in it made of damp boughs of evergreen 

 beech. They exchanged some arrows, a bow, and a quiver, for tobacco, and, 

 after having been presented with some ship-biscuit, shoved off apparently much 

 amazed at the revolutions of the screw as we went on our way. We anchored 

 in Port Gallant early in the afternoon so that I had another opportunity of 

 landing there. I found the woods extremely wet, and progression excessive- 

 ly fatiguing from the uneven nature of the ground. There was a death-like 

 stillness, only broken occasionally by the chirping of a little bluish-black wren. 

 I obtained a few additional lichens, and Jungermanniae ; and two specimens of 

 the humble-bee, which I have mentioned, were procured. A seining party 

 was despatched from the ship and got a very successful haul. Among those 

 obtained there was a fine specimen of, I believe, a Uranoscopus, which I have 

 preserved. It had a row of parasitic Lernaeans along each side, and so symmetri- 

 cally were they arranged, that, on a cursory view, I took them for integumen- 

 tary appendages. 



"Next day we returned to Sandy Point, where we remained for a day 

 or two. I must not forget to mention that the two officers (Mr Heskyun, 

 and Mr Connor) who were left at Elizabeth Island during our absence, at 

 the Falkland Islands, and western portion of the Straits, procured some plants of 

 which I had not previously got specimens, such as Embothrium coccineum, Aspi- 

 dium metrioides, both of which were obtained in Laredo Bay. On the 20th we 

 left Sandy Point, and proceeded to Peckett Harbour, where we spent some little 

 time. I was on shore on two occasions with Captain Mayne, when he was en- 

 gaged in triangulating, and got a few specimens. I found Bolax glebaria abun- 

 dantly round about the harbour, as well as a low shrubby plant with fleshy leaves. 

 On the 27th we left Peckett Harbour. While the anchor was being got in, 

 some Siphunculi and a sea cucumber came up on the cable. 



" We proceeded to Oazy Harbour, where we anchored early in the afternoon. 

 Shortly after our arrival, two of the officers who had preceded us, came on 

 board, bringing with them specimens of a small brown tern and a beautiful 

 brown-breasted goose. There seems to be at least three species of geese in the 

 Straits, i.e., the kelp or rock-goose (Anser antarcticus), the upland goose (Anser 

 Magellanicus), and this brown-breasted one, which is much smaller than the 



