THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 337 



trees of most of the cottages which we passed, hawks or 

 vultures were perched, while great lean pigs, covered with 

 long black hair, prowled about the doors, and miserable- 

 looking curs barked at us till we were out of sight. We 

 observed one field covered with foxgloves running to seed, 

 and obtained a single peloric flower of the usual form. 

 After ascending a rising ground which commanded a good 

 view of the Pudeto Creek, and a stream of considerable size 

 running into it, we retraced our steps to the town, which we 

 left for the ship at five p.m. 



The forenoon of the 2d was marked by the arrival of the 

 mail with our letters, and the afternoon was devoted to 

 botanising on shore, some additional ferns being procured. 

 The 3d and 4th were fully occupied by most of us in writing 

 letters to be despatched by the mail, a considerable num- 

 ber passing the afternoon of the latter day on shore. On 

 this occasion I obtained several other plants, including a 

 handsome species of Chilian nettle (Loasa), which revealed 

 its nature in an unmistakable manner by severely stinging 

 my hands when gathering it. We saw a single specimen of 

 a scissor-bill {Ehynchops Tnelanura) flying along close to the 

 water, with its beak wide open, and the elongated under man- 

 dible as it were ploughing the surface. On the rocks on the 

 beach I obtained for the first time a small live specimen of a 

 remarkable Gasteropod, the ConcJiolepas Peruviana, which ad 

 heres to its site with the firmness of a limpet, and several 

 examples of a strong thick Turbinoid shell with a purplish- 

 black epidermis, the Chlorostoma atrum. The former mollusc 

 is widely distributed along the coast of Chili and Peru in the 

 Laminarian zone, where it holds on with great tenacity to the 

 rocks, and, being regarded as a delicacy, is much sought after as 

 an article of food by the inhabitants of these countries, from 



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