8o Cruise of the ^'' Alert.'''' 



of the loveliest of South American ferns, the HymenopJiylhini 

 cruentiim. 



The morning of the 8th May broke wet and gloomy as we got 

 under way and initiated the next stage on our journey. All day 

 long the rain fell in torrents, and a fresh northerly breeze, blowing 

 right in our teeth, raised a heavy, chopping sea, which made the 

 old ship heave uneasily, and gave us a sort of foretaste of what we 

 should have to encounter next day on emerging from the Gulf of 

 Penas into the troubled waters of the Pacific. Steaming thus 

 against wind and sea, we made such slow progress that night had 

 fairly come on us when we crept under shelter of the lofty hills 

 which overshadow Island Harbour. 



On the following morning we entered the open sea, and steered 

 for Valparaiso. 



