184 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



trees near the shore, thus completely disfiguring 

 the beauty of nature. 



In many parts of Smythe's Channel otters* 

 were met with. These animals nearly always 

 sink when shot, and we had some difficulty in 

 obtaining the single specimen which we brought 

 home. They were usually seen in parties of 

 three or four, swimming about among the kelp 

 weed close to the shore. In this thick growth 

 of weed it was not so difficult to retrieve them 

 when shot, as the strands of kelp prevented 

 them sinking before the boat's arrival. 

 Superficially, this animal is much like our well- 

 known otter, but the fur is perhaps slightly darker 

 in colour, and rather thicker. Several of the 

 parties of Indians we met with in this channel 

 had the remains of otters in their boats, and the 

 whole of their clothing seems to consist of the 

 skins of this animal. How they kill them I do 

 not know, but it may be that their dogs catch 

 them. I saw no arrows or any other weapons 

 in their canoes. The Patagonian natives use 

 bow and arrow to obtain their skins, but, from 

 all accounts, they appear to be more of a hunting 

 race than the Fuegians. 



On the morning of 9th February, we passed 

 through the " English narrows." This is the 

 most difficult part of the channel, as there is only 

 room for one ship to go through at a time, and 



* Lutra patachonica. 



