THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 163 



cries. At one place, ten cormorants and three steamer-ducks 

 were assembled on three small rocks, placed side by side, and 

 would not take their departure till I had thrown a succession 

 of stones at them ; two of the former birds remaining after 

 several of the stones had struck the rock close to them, con- 

 tenting themselves with merely flapping their wings slightly, 

 and not taking the trouble to move till I had come within a 

 few feet of them. It was most curious to notice the numbers 

 of cormorants which were perched on old coal-hulks, not in the 

 least disturbed by the presence of the inhabitants of ships in 

 their vicinity. Five porpoises were disporting themselves at 

 one point of the harbour, within three or four yards of the 

 shore, entirely regardless of my near neighbourhood, and did 

 not leave their station until I threw a large stone on the back 

 of one of them, when they hurriedly scudded off in different 

 directions. On the ground near the beach, I found a hand- 

 some Senecio (S. Falklandicus) rather plentifully in bloom, as 

 well as one or two specimens of a beautiful Oxalis (0. ennea- 

 fhylld), long supposed to be peculiar to the Falkland Islands, 

 but which also occurs in eastern Patagonia. It is very plen- 

 tiful at the Falklands, but flowers early in the season, so that 

 it was nearly out of flower at the time of this our first visit. 

 The leaves are curiously divided into numerous segments, 

 and the flowers are large (about the size of, or a little larger 

 than, our common bindweed. Convolvulus arvensis), and of a 

 beautiful snow-white tint. In common with the other species 

 of the genus, it possesses agreeably acid qualities. 



I returned on board early in the afternoon, and soon after 

 a very thick mist came on, and next day we were detained 

 prisoners on board, as it was blowing hard. Eain or wind, 

 or both combined, appear to constitute the normal state of 

 things in these bleak and desolate islands, although fine days 



