APAMS ; CONrHOI.OfUrAT. NOTF.S FROM THILF. AND HRAZIT.. 349 



name from the chief town where it is distilled. Nor, apparently, do 

 the natives appreciate the natural water for washing. Of course, in 

 a district absolutely destitute of vegetation, no wild land creatures are 

 to be found, except a few lizards on the rocks above the wash of the 

 surf, though what they feed upon I could never discover. Perhaps 

 they prey upon the Z^'/Ve, which are abundant ; flies are too scarce 

 to furnish a constant livelihood. This region of desolation extends 

 for ten to fifty miles inland, and under these conditions the collector 

 of land and freshwater species, of course, draws an absolute blank. 



I therefore turned my attention to marine species, and made 

 many excursions along the rocks. To collectors desirous of a spice 

 of excitement with their occupation I can heartily recommend this 

 district. Large irregular masses of granite, weathered smooth and 

 slippery with kelp, afford a most precarious foothold, and a slip 

 might easily deposit one in a deep pool -or cleft, without a possi- 

 bility of extricating oneself. Moreover, on the calmest day there is 

 always a tremendous surf and a huge irregular swell, which one has 

 to watch carefully to avoid being washed off the rocks altogether. 

 It is always just within the range of this surf that the finest specimens 

 are to be found, and several times an ill-timed dash for these ended 

 in a hurried scramble of retreat, and often a complete wetting as well; 

 and I never returned from these excursions otherwise than scratched, 

 bruised, and wet through. On one of these occasions, at Caleta 

 Buena, I chanced upon specimens of what proved to be two new 

 species of Astyris. 



At Pisagua, leading from the south end of the town, there is an 

 ancient coast-road on the steep mountain-side. Where it leaves the 

 town it is about a hundred feet above sea-level, and it has recently 

 been improved by cutting it deeper into the hill on the landward side. 

 On passing this cutting, which is about four feet deep, I noticed 

 strata of sea shells, which immediately reminded me of similar 

 deposits on other parts of the coast, which Darwin in the "Voyage 

 of the ' Beagle '" described as raised beaches, A further examina- 

 tion of the spot showed that the road traversed an Inca burying 

 ground. I found that the place had been recently excavated. Several 

 human skeletons were lying on or just below the surface, all in the 

 characteristic doubled-up attitude ; they had been buried wrapped 

 up in a coarse grass matting. None of the skulls were perfect, the 

 upper and lower jaws were all missing, as if the excavators had taken 

 them to study the dentition. 



In addition to human remains, were skulls of some large species of 

 dolphin, skulls of sea-lions (? Otaria juhata), the rib of a small whale, 

 and dogs both large and small ; to one of the latter, which was enve- 



