68 Journal of Travel and Natural History 



other two. I spent the greater part of the 29th on shore. In a little stream 

 running into the harbour, I obtained specimens of a small Lymncea, about the 

 size of our British L. peregra, and I found Hippuris vulgaris growing abun- 

 dantly. I observe you only give Port Famine as an attractive locality for this 

 familiar friend, so that the discovery of it in Oazy Harbour is interesting, inas- 

 much as it proves its occurrence in the bare as well as in the woody country. 

 In a flat space of ground close to the beach, I procured examples of an obscure 

 flowered composite plant, with a very pungent smell, and on some high ground 

 the foliage of Oxalis enneaphylla occurred plentifully, the flower being over. I 

 also observed some lingering specimens of Armeria maritima in flower, and the 

 Lycoperdon, which I saw first at Sandy Point, was very abundant in every stage 

 of growth and decay ; geese, ducks, and steamers were seen in considerable 

 numbers, as well as several barranchas (Polyborus Braziliensis). 



" On the 1st of April I again landed, and walked about on the high ground out- 

 side the harbour. The Magellanic Ribes was common, and I got three specimens 

 of Botrychium lunaria. I was interested to find, on reference to the ' Flora 

 Antarctica,' that the only locality you give for this little fern is Good Success 

 Bay, in the extreme south of Fuegia, between two and three hundred miles from 

 Oazy Harbour. We left Oazy on the morning of the 2d, and spent a day or 

 two in the neighbourhood of Laredo Bay. On the 5th, we anchored off Cape 

 St Vincent, Fuegia, and I had an opportunity of paying a visit to Quarter- 

 master Island, at the entrance of Gente Grande Bay, with one of the officers. 

 On landing on this island, which is in some places bounded by high clay cliffs, 

 and in others slopes gradually down towards the sea, it was curious to obsei-ve 

 what great numbers of shells (principally Fissurellas) had been carried up to the 

 high ground by cormorants and other birds. At one place, at the top of some 

 high cliffs, there was the most extraordinary assemblage of cormorants that I 

 have ever seen. On a very moderate computation, they must have numbered 

 considerably upwards of a thousand. It was most amusing to notice the 

 difficulty which they experienced in taking wing on our approach, so closely 

 were they packed together. Rank after rank hustled foi-ward, and, breaking up, 

 flew over the cliffs out to sea. 



' ' In walking over the island, I got two geraniums not procured previously, as 

 well as a Thlaspi (I suppose the T. Magellanicum), which was very abundant 

 in certain spots. We spent the 8th lying in Gregory Bay, and a number of us 

 spent the afternoon on shore. I was fortunate enough to find a good Pata- 

 gonian skull in a sand-bank. It was very perfect when first procured, all the 

 teeth being present, and ground down to a uniform level. I am sorry to say, 

 however, that one zygoma, and the turbinated bones, crumbled away, and one 

 incisor was lost. On the loth, I spent a day and night in Fuegia, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Isidro Point, at the eastern entrance of the second Narrows. I 

 obtained three live specimens of a species of Lithodes on the beach. On land, 

 I found some specimens of Calceolaria nana, still in flower, one or two lichens 

 growing on the ground, &c. Our common mushroom appears to be widely 

 distributed over the Straits : thus we have procured it at Sandy Point, Elizabeth 

 Island, Oazy Harbour, and Gregory Bay on the Patagonian ; and on the coast 

 of Lee Bay, and at Isidro Point on the Fuegian side. Small lizards were rather 

 common. I believe they all belonged to one species, though the colouring 

 varies considerably. Mr Darwin does not appear to have met with reptiles of 

 any description south of Santa Ci'uz. This lizard, however, seems to be not 

 uncommon in tlie eastern part of tlic -Straits, for I have specimen.^ from Sandy 

 Point (wooded country), as well as from St lago Bay on the Patagonian side, 

 and from Lomas Bay and Point Isidro in Fuegia. I .saw considerable numbers 

 of a large yellowish-brown moth, and a single specimen of an apterous grass- 

 hopper was taken. 



RoiiT. O. Cunningham." 



