50 The Naturalist in La Plata. 
historical and other works, and which I propose to 
discuss briefly in this place. 
There is a remarkable passage in Byron’s Nar- 
rative of the loss of the Wager, which was quoted 
by Admiral Fitzroy in his Voyage of the Beagle, 
to prove that the puma inhabits Tierra del Fuego 
and the adjacent islands; no other large beast of 
prey being known in that part of America. “I 
heard,” he says, “‘a growling close by me, which 
made me think it advisable to retire as soon as 
possible: the woods were so gloomy I could see 
nothing; but, as I retired, this noise followed me 
close till I got out of them. Some of our men did 
assure me that they had seen a very large beast in 
the woods. . . I proposed to four of the people to 
go to the end of the bay, about two miles distant 
from the bell tent, to occupy the skeleton of an old 
Indian wigwam, which I had discovered in a walk 
that way on our first landing. This we covered to 
windward with seaweed; and, lighting a fire, laid 
ourselves down in hopes of finding a remedy for our 
hunger in sleep; but we had not long composed 
ourselves before one of our company was disturbed 
by the blowing of some animal at his face; and, 
upon opening his eyes, was not a little astonished 
to see by the glimmering of the fire, a large beast 
standing over him. He had presence of mind 
enough to snatch a brand from the fire, which was 
now very low, and thrust it at the nose of the 
animal, which thereupon made off... . In the 
morning we were not a little anxious to know how 
our companions had fared; and this anxiety was 
increased upon our tracing the footsteps of the 
