THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 49 



lapwing ( Vanellus cayanus), which appears to be widely dis- 

 tributed over South America, as I met with it later in the 

 Strait of Magellan, and I believe it also occurs in Brazil. 

 Like its British representative, it occasionally proves very 

 troublesome, flying around the pedestrian and frequently 

 uttering its harsh cry. We stopped at noon at a posada to 

 get some country wine, and while we were there a couple of 

 gauchos, very handsome fellows, came in to refresh them- 

 selves. At the belt of each, in a sheath, was a sharp dagger- 

 like knife, which upon examination proved, to our amuse- 

 ment, to be of Sheffield manufacture. 



On the afternoon of the 29th I took a stroll of a few 

 miles out of the town, along the sea-coast, in the direction 

 of Maldonado. On the rocks, above high-water mark, I 

 found a variety of plants in flower, such as a pretty white 

 Petunia, frequently forming fine masses of white, a Matricaria, 

 and a species of Medicago. I spent a good deal of time 

 watching with much interest the operations of some ants 

 busily engaged in gathering up stores, and carrying such loads 

 as often entirely to conceal their bodies. Some were carry- 

 ing the spirally-twisted pods of the Medicago, while others 

 bore away the heads of flowers of the chamomile, disappear- 

 ing with them into the holes leading to their subterranean 

 habitations, for their dwellings were not in ant-hills. I 

 noticed that almost invariably there was a circular hard space 

 of ground around the entrances, I suppose worn by their in- 

 cessant peregrinations. A beautiful bright green lizard with a 

 long tail was very common, but so fleet that I did not succeed 

 in catching any, and many specimens of the Painted Lady 

 butterfly {Cynthia cardui), which I afterwards discovered 

 both in Brazil and Chili, were flying about the flowers. The 

 beach was singularly destitute of life, a small crab {Cyrto- 



E 



