212 RAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



beautiful bird I saw, tbe name of wbicli I forget ; it is a 

 small bird, about tlie size of an English sparrow, of a jet 

 black colour, with a square crimson patch between its 

 shoulders. There were many beautiful flowers about, 

 but I could not find the tropseolum, the most handsome 

 creeper I know ; it grows in the greatest profusion near 

 La Serena, covering whole bushes with its yellow, red 

 and purple tresses. I once saw a girl at a dance, with 

 her raven hair decked with strings of these jewels of 

 nature, and thought I never saw so fair an ornament. 

 The famous copihuoj that glorious creeper of the South, 

 will, unfortunately, not grow farther north than Curico. 

 This splendid plant, which sometimes covers a whole 

 tree, has a long, scarlet, bell-shaped flower, and excites 

 the admiration of all beholders. 



There was a very remarkable kind of sea bird in this 

 bay. It is called the ^'^ Pajaro nino,^^ or boy-bird. It is 

 a kind of penguin, and attains to the weight sometimes of 

 ten to twelve pounds ; it literally does live in the water, for 

 I never could discover that this bird ever visited the land 

 at all, the only portion of its body that is ever visible 

 being the extreme tip of its bill, and even this but 

 rarely. They may be seen swimming and darting about 

 singly beneath the surface of the water like porpoises. 

 They are of course extremely difficult of capture. 



Jose and Juan, our two fleteroSj went ofi" to collect 

 shellfish among the rocks, while Federico went in search 

 of an old fisherman who caught seals and speared fish 

 from his halsa. I meanwhile threw a line over some 

 rocks, and in a very short space of time had half a 

 dozen two-pounders floundering about on the beach. I 

 carried these back to the boat and threw them in, and 

 strolled on over rocks and shelving beaches, enjoying 



