THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 161 



flourish with immunity from the ravages of the wild cattle 

 which have been its principal destroyers. A little bird, of 

 which many specimens Avere seen by us on this occasion in 

 the neighbourhood of the settlement, was, I believe, the 

 Chlorospiza melanodera, one of the Fringillidce, somewhat 

 resembling a yellow-hammer in general appearance, and flying 

 in small flocks. 



In the evening H.M.S. " Zealous " arrived, anchoring in 

 Port William just outside the harbour ; and we were grati- 

 fied by receiving a fresh supply of letters and papers. 



The 21st was fine, though rather windy. In the afternoon 

 I landed, with two companions, at the opposite side of the har- 

 bour from the settlement, and walked round to it, a distance of 

 about seven miles. On the beach I found a few Chitons, Tuni- 

 cata, and Sponges ; and we saw several cormorants and a great 

 number of steamer-ducks, which were very tame, but hard to kill. 

 One was, however, shot, and proved to be in no respect differ- 

 ent from the species as it occurs in the Strait of Magellan. 

 A few additional plants were also obtained, a species of 

 Achyrophorus among the number. On the 25th I went on 

 shore in the morning, and had a long walk to the eastern end 

 of the harbour, crossing over the neck of the peninsula which 

 separates it from the open sea beyond, and descending into a 

 sandy bay, on the beach of which the surf was breaking with 

 a thundering sound. Here I saw, for the first time, many 

 fragments of the stems of a gigantic sea-weed (Lessonia fusces- 

 cens) lying strewn about, some of the specimens exceeding 

 three inches in diameter. Dr. Hooker observes of this and 

 an allied species, that they 



" Are truly wonderful Algae, whether seen on the water or on the 

 beach, for they are arborescent, dichotoraously-branched trees, with the 

 branches pendulous, and again divided into sprays, from which hang 



M 



