10 



rill-: AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



from rain squalls. 

 After leaving Ti 1 1 1- 

 bales Island we 

 sailed nearly south 

 for twenty-five 

 miles and swung 

 around into 



Christmas Sound, 

 an island-dotted 

 channel which sep- 

 arates Hoste Is- 

 land from several 

 small islands bor- 

 dering the south- 

 ern ocean. We 

 anchored for the 

 night halfway 



down the sound, 

 and when we 

 sailed again a day 

 later, we headed 

 for Ildefonso Is- 

 land which lies 

 about twenty miles 

 out in the open 

 ocean to the south- 

 ward. After get- 

 ting outside the 

 sound four or five 



Steamer ducks are often surprised asleep on 

 some jutting rock in the quiet channels of south 

 Chilean waters 



The nest of the steamer duck is cleverly hidden under a stump 

 or dense bush a few yards back from the beach, and the newly 

 hatched young follow their parents into the cold waters of the 

 sound, seemingly indifferent to temperature changes 



miles, the breeze 

 began to increase, 

 and the captain 

 turned back to 

 anchor in a se- 

 cluded cove inTre- 

 fius Bay, which 

 forms the south- 

 ern entrance to 

 Christmas Sound. 

 Ildefonso Island 

 lias no anchorage, 

 being merely a 

 long narrow rock 

 sticking up a few 

 h und red feet above 

 the water, and as 

 its shore line is 

 swept continually 

 by the heavy seas 

 that roll up from 

 the westward, 



landing is possible 

 (inly on calm days, 

 and these are of 

 rare occurrence. 

 The island was 

 plainly visible 



from Trefius Bay, 

 but although we 

 anchored on the seventh, 

 it was not until the seven- 

 teenth that the rain and 

 snow squalls gave place to 

 a sunny day. While await- 

 ingr the good weather, we 

 rowed about among the 

 islets in the bay. On one 

 a flock of kelp geese was 

 stopping while they molted 

 their wing feathers. It 

 was a mixed flock of males 

 and females, and I noted 

 that wdiile these nonbreed- 

 ing birds were unable to 

 Hy. several pairs of adult 

 geese with young could fly. 

 A couple of weeks later, 

 near Cape Horn we saw 

 another small flock of geese 

 molting, but on the entire 



I 



