iiini) nri:>r is riii-: vicimiv of cm'i-: iionx 



11!) 



tlio nineteenth. As we reaeheil tlie pass 

 the squalls increased, and wo had to 

 run in and anchor. Kain. hail, or snow 

 would sweep over the island in a sud- 

 den squall, after which, perhaps, the 

 sun would shine for a few minutes and 

 then be blotted out bv another squall. 

 While awaiting; fairer weather, I 

 climbed up to the top of Brecknock Is- 

 l;in<l aiul obtained several of the lars^e 

 seed snipe first seen on Wollaston Is- 

 land. On a nest with four eggs, by the 

 side of a small rock, a sitting bird was 

 wholly e.xposed to the beating hail 

 squalls. One of these passed over just 

 before I reached the nest, the cutting 

 pellets driving with such force that I 

 could not face them. A couple of 

 broods of half-grown young were seen 

 running about among the rocks, but 

 they were as invisible as young terns on 

 a gravelly beach the moment they 

 squatted down to hide. 



Heavy seas and squalls drove us back 

 three times when we essayed to weather 

 the point into the open Cockburn Chan- 

 nel, and the third time we drifted on 

 to a sunken rock w^hen edging in to an- 

 chor. Although WT ran out the kedge 

 anchor, it was not until a substantial 

 rise in the tide assisted us that we 

 finally slid off our precarious perch. 

 The fourth trial was successful and we 

 ran out into Cockburn Channel at five 

 o'clock on the morning of January 22. 

 Heading northward before a fair south 

 wind, we made the ninety miles to 

 Punta Arenas by seven o'clock in the 

 evening, thus finishing a most interest- 

 ing two months' trip in a locality 

 where, unless one is provided with ex- 

 perienced help, he is very likely to be 

 reported missing, as were the two 

 youths we met during our short cruise. 



Although the trip had been w^ell 

 worth while, and a most interesting lot 

 of material had been gathered. I had 

 not obtained the yellow-nosed albatross, 

 one of the most desirable birds of the 

 southern ocean. Meeting Captain 

 Grande, who was carrying firewood 

 from Beagle Channel to l?io Gallegos, 



about forty miles north of Magellan 

 Strait, I bargained with him to run out 

 to Diego Bamirez Island with me after 

 he had discharged a small cargo at 

 Ushuaia, the Argentine penal settle- 

 ment just across Beagle Channel from 

 ]\rurray Narrows. It was two months 

 bef(u-e we got away from Punta Arenas 

 and it was April 7 before we reached 

 Lort Bay again, having had to turn 

 back on account of bad weather after 

 getting a few miles outside of False 

 Cape Horn. Diego Bamirez is similar 

 to Ildcfonso Island inasmuch as only a 

 fair weather landing can be made. We 

 remained at Lort Bay until April 20, 

 having both anchors down most of the 

 time, and howling gales with heavy 

 snowfalls to prevent our leaving. As 

 we had expected to return to Bertrand 

 Island about April 10, we had taken 

 only a couple of sheep and a guanaco to 

 eat and these had been consumed by 

 the twentieth. Therefore when clear 

 weather showed on that date we sailed 

 back to the captain's ranch and I de- 

 cided, as the birds probably had left the 

 nesting ground by this time, to take a 

 chance on finding them off the south 

 side of Tierra del Fuego as we sailed 

 out of Beagle Channel. We took a load 

 of sheep from Bertrand Island for 

 Ushuaia and left Beagle Channel witli 

 a load of firewood for Rio Gallegos on 

 ]\Iay 6, but although wandering and 

 black-browed albatrosses were seen, none 

 of the yellow-nosed were sighted, nor 

 Avere any seen on the run up the 

 coast. 



As winter time was near at hand and 

 there was a probability of some of the 

 pelagic Antarctic birds coming up 

 along the Tierra del Fuego coast, I 

 made a second trip around this island 

 with Captain Grande, and in Septem- 

 lier hired his vessel for a run out to sea 

 around the Falkland Islands down to 

 Staten Island and back to Magellan 

 Strait. In all these months I never 

 once saw an unmisrakable yellow-nosed 

 albatross and finally gave up the quest 

 as the suuinicr tiino drew near. 



