3 8 Cruise of the * 'A lert. ' ' 



ceeded under steam to Peckett Harbour, an anchorage about 

 twenty-five miles to the north-east of the colony. Arriving about 

 four p.m., all of us who could, landed, and set off in pursuit of game. 

 Even here, so little to the eastward of Sandy Point, the aspect of 

 the country was completely different. The land was entirely 

 devoid of trees, and the only plants of any size were the barberry 

 and balsam bog, the latter growing as luxuriantly as at the 

 Falklands. Walking was laborious, for the ground was every- 

 where riddled with the burrows of the tucutuco, a curious rodent 

 {Ctejioviys)^ which the Chilians call caroiini. There was a fresh 

 breeze blowing, and the birds were consequently very wild, and 

 by no means numerous. We obtained specimens of the crested 

 duck {Alias cristatd), upland goose {ChloepJiaga inagellanicd), grebe, 

 plover, soldier starling, snipe, sandpiper, and Ccntrites niger. The 

 tucutucos here evidently differ in their habits from those described 

 by Mr. Darwin, for they come out of their burrows occasionally (I 

 believe at dusk), and one was caught by Lieut. Vereker, and 

 given to me. 



The next day we were again under way, and having taken on 

 board some horses belonging to Mr. Dunsmuir, the British Vice- 

 consul of Sandy Point, proceeded towards Elizabeth Island, a few 

 miles off. This island has recently been rented from the Chilian 

 Government by Mr. Dunsmuir, and proves of value for stock 

 farming. Tucutucos have not yet succeeded in reaching it, a 

 matter of no small importance as regards the value of the land, 

 for their mining operations are almost ruinous to the pasturage. 

 The island is about six miles long and four miles broad, and 

 consists of an elevated plateau of undulating grass land, termi- 

 nating at its margin in cliffs three hundred feet high, which front 

 the sea. Mr. Dunsmuir has stocked it with four hundred sheep, 

 who are left usually in charge of a shepherd and his family ; and 

 he has also, for commercial purposes, adopted measures for the 

 protection of the upland geese, which breed in large numbers on 

 the island. The object of our visit was to bring over for him 



