THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 201 



of the men brouglit me a small live specimen of Valuta 

 Magellanica. The morning of the 19th, Good Friday, was 

 cloudy, with fine drizzling rain falling. Many Fuegians 

 were observed watching the ship, but did not attempt to 

 hold any communication with us. In the afternoon a party 

 of us landed, and passed some hours on shore, but did not 

 succeed in meeting any of these people, though we saw two 

 of their dogs, which were large, rough, shaggy, black and 

 white animals, about the size of the Newfoundland breed, 

 which ran off rapidly on our approach. A little yellowish- 

 green bird, which we had not previously noticed (the Chry- 

 somitris harbata), was observed flying about in flocks near 

 the ground, but none were obtained on this occasion. On 

 the 20 th heavy rain fell during the morning, and in the after- 

 noon the weather was bright and clear, but blowing pretty 

 hard. The wind continued during the two following days, 

 and nothing particular took place. The Fuegians continued 

 to watch the ship, and we saw several individuals, who had 

 white feathers stuck in their hair, engaged in trampling 

 down some of our turf beacons with, their feet. The wind 

 moderating on the afternoon of the 22d, we moved over to 

 St. Jago Bay, and there anchored. The 23d was clear and 

 bright, the Patagonian coast looking very beautiful, with its 

 diversified lights and shadows, but it was blowing so hard 

 that we could not leave the ship. Great herds of guanacos 

 were observed not far from the beach. The following morn- 

 ing was calm and bright, with the air frosty, and a slight haze 

 over certain portions of the land. Early in the forenoon 

 a sail was announced, which by and by proved to be H.M.S. 

 " Sutlej," on her homeward-bound course from the west- 

 ward. She anchored for a few hours at a short distance 

 from us, which allowed of our despatching a mail-bag by 



