Q14 PECULIAR LIGHT—PARTY MissInc. April 1829. 
The following are extracts from Captain Fitz Roy’s journal 
of this cruise of the Beagle. 
“* Monday 7th April. Several of our people were employed 
in gathering cranberries, and preserving them for future use ; 
they are anti-scorbutic, as well as the wild celery, much of 
which has been used with our guanaco soup. 
“© Wednesday, 8th. I went to Oazy Harbour with Lieute- 
nant Skyring, who surveyed the harbour while I examined the 
cove to the northward. 
‘“* Oazy Harbour appears large, but the part where there is 
anchorage is very small, and a strong tide sets in and round it, 
by which a bank is thrown up, a short distance inside the 
entrance; there is very little wood, and some difficulty in 
obtaining fresh water, even in a small quantity. The anchorage 
outside might be more convenient for procuring guanaco meat 
from the Indians than Gregory Bay, but it is exposed to winds 
between W.S.W. and S.S.E. 
** At my return to the Beagle, I was muchi surprised to find 
that Lieutenant Kempe, Mr. Bynoe, and a boy, had not yet 
come back from a shooting excursion. A boat had been to the 
appointed place at sun-set, and had waited an hour without 
seeing them. At seven, a light was seen on the top of Quoin 
Hill, and I sent a boat to the spot, with cautions about land- 
ing, being in doubt whether it was shown by them or by the 
Indians ; but the boatswain, who went with her, could find no 
person, nor any light. He waited some time, and returned on 
board.(/) A similar light was again seen, more than once, during 
the dark and gloomy weather, with small misty rain falling, 
and a light breeze from the westward, which we had all night. 
“ Thursday, 9th. No signs of our officers, nor any appearance 
of theIndians. Fearing that some accident had happened, I sent 
two boats away, with arms and provisions, to look for them all 
round the harbour, and the large lagoon which communicates 
() This was aremarkable instance of what I often observed afterwards 
in those regions, a kind of ‘ ignis fatuus,’ which sometimes was stationary, 
like the light of alanthorn, and at others suddenly flitting, like the flashes 
of pistols, ata distance. 1t was only seen upon the lower hills.—R. F. 
