Feb. 1827. STEAMER-DUCK. 35 
occasions, he attempted to change the name of the strait to 
Estrecho de la Madre de Dios; but it had been too long called 
Magalhaens, for even the influence of Sarmiento, backed by 
the power of Philip, to persuade the world to countenance so 
great an injustice. 
“ Magallanes, Senor, fué el primer hombre 
Que abriendo este camino le did nombre.” 
Ercilla Araucana, Cant. T. oct. 8. 
During an excursion with Mr. Tarn to Eagle Bay,* beyond 
Cape San Isidro, we found many wigwams. They were then 
novelties to us, and we were ignorant of their being such cer- 
tain indications of very sheltered places, as subsequent expe- 
rience has shown them to be. We often used them, after they 
had been well cleaned out: a boat’s sail, thrown over the 
hemispherical roof, was a sufficient protection from rain ;—and 
from wind they are always well defended by their situation. 
Here we saw, for the first time, that most remarkable bird the 
Steamer-duck. Before steam-boats were in general use, this 
bird was denominated, from its swiftness in skimming over the 
surface of the water, the ‘race-horse,’ a name which occurs 
frequently in Cook’s, Byron’s, and other voyages. It is a 
gigantic duck, the largest I have met with. It has the lobated 
hind-toe, legs placed far backwards, and other characteristics 
of the oceanic ducks.t The principal peculiarity of this bird 
is, the shortness and remarkably small size of the wings, 
which, not having sufficient power to raise the body, serve only 
to propel it along, rather than through the water, and are used 
like the paddles of a steam-vessel. Aided by these and its 
strong, broad-webbed feet, it moves with astonishing velocity. 
* So named by Bougainville. 
¢ It belongs to the group which M. Temminck has lately named 
Hylobates, without attending to the name long since conferred upon it 
by Dr. Fleming. I designated it Oidemia Patachonica, from its large 
dimensions, in my communication upon the Ornithology of the Straits. 
Zoological Journal, vol. iv. p. 100. On my return to England, I found 
that M. de Freycinet had figured this bird, in the account of his last 
voyage in l’Uranie, where it is described by Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard 
under the name of Micropterus brachypterus. 
p2 
