124 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



On the 11th we left our anchorage in the morning, and 

 were engaged for some hours in taking soundings, anchoring 

 again off Cape Espiritu Santo, on the coast of Fuegia. Here 

 I again accompanied a surveying party on shore, as I natu- 

 rally was anxious to leave no spot that was accessible to me 

 unvisited. Owing to the nature of the beach, and the surf 

 upon it, we were compelled to get out of the boat and walk 

 through the water for some distance. The cape resembles 

 Cape Virgins on the Patagonian shore, in presenting a face of 

 high bold cliffs, which, from their white colour, are visible at 

 a long way off ; and the stratification of these cliffs is very dis- 

 tinct, their lower and larger half being formed of strata of soft 

 pale yellowish-white sandstone, and their upper of the hard 

 clay abounding in boulders so common on the Patagonian 

 coast. Two large hawks were sitting on their nest built half- 

 way up on a ledge, and a couple of eagles were seen flying about 

 not far off. Leaving my companions engaged in taking their 

 observations on the summit of the cape, I walked along the 

 smooth sandy beach which extended beneath it for about a 

 mile, looking for live Volutes. My search proving fruitless, and 

 nothing of interest being to be met with, I after a time scram- 

 bled up to the high ground above the shore, soon observing 

 my friends in the distance making energetic signals to me. 

 Accordingly, I quickened my steps to ascertain the cause, 

 which, on reaching them, soon became apparent, as they 

 pointed out to me that groups of Fuegians were making their 

 appearance on the neighbouring rising grounds, which rendered 

 it highly imprudent for any one, entirely unarmed as I then 

 was, to stray far from the party. We remained for a few 

 minutes on the top of the cliff, watching the movements of the 

 natives, and I was struck by the bright purplish appearance 

 presented by some of the hollows in the land. This I subse- 



