41 



Not wishing to explore the mines themselves we passed 

 on and about half an hour later we came to a place were two 

 huts showed us the abode of another pair of gold washers. 



There was nobody there and so we took the opportunity 

 of visiting one of the huts of which the door stood open. 



My companion who had little belief in the industry of 

 the local workmen suggested that the owners of the huts 

 had gone to Punta Arenas to drink the (/old, which they 

 had rescued from the river. 



The hut was of the poorest description. It contained a 

 sort of a bed more fit for a pig than for a man and some 

 cooking ustensiles. 



A meagre kitten with a white, grey, black, and red coat 

 came up to me and rubbed itself against my legs. 



Outside the hut hung the carcass of a sheep by way of 

 provisions. 



As I was looking at the carcass a lot of little birds 

 flew on it and greedily ate of the grease. They were so 

 tame that I could have almost caught them with my hands. 



They were all specimens of my old friends Oxyurus spini- 

 cauda which had followed me so often invisibly and I 

 was not a little surprised to see them so unmindful of me 

 as they are usually only heard but very seldom seen. 

 Probably they were accustomed to feed on the grease of 

 the lamb and not being disturbed by the owner of the 

 hut had got so tame as I found them to be. 



This was an excellent opportunity to see the birds close 

 by and I could not but admire the rich goldenyellow and 

 brown stripes of the head. In these birds the underside 

 was silky white and during my visit to S. America I have 

 always seen them like that in a state of nature. As I have 

 however seen a stuffed bird with a yellow underside and 

 as the inhabitants call them Citronhirds I suppose that in 

 the breedingseason the white underparts change into yelloiv. 



After having admired the birds and fed the kitten with 

 some of the meat we returned to the riverbed where in 

 some shallows the golddust was clearly visible, and followed 

 its course for a little longer. 



Notes from the Leyden IMuseura, Vol. XXX'V. 



