338 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



whom it receives the denomination of '* Loco." I never suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining live specimens to the south of Chiloe, 

 though on two occasions, on the following season, T found 

 dead shells in the Channels ; but there appears to be good 

 evidence that at one time the species existed at all events as 

 far south as the Messier Channel, as in Captain Stoke's nar- 

 rative of his surveying cruise on the west coast of Pata- 

 gonia, as given by King in the voyage of the " Adventure " 

 and "Beagle,"* it is recorded that at Port Santa Barbara, 

 island of Campanha, specimens "were found adhering to 

 the rocks in great numbers." Stokes alludes to the shells as 

 " used by the Magalhaenic tribes as drinking-cups ;" and 

 probably this is the true explanation of the occurrence of the 

 two worn shells of the species found by me in two different 

 localities in the Channels, and one of which was obtained at an 

 old Indian camp. As there appears to be no evidence of the 

 occurrence of the species in the Strait or Channels at 

 the present time, it seems most likely that those employed in 

 the manner mentioned by Stokes had been brought from a 

 great distance by the Indian tribes in the course of their ex- 

 tensive wanderings. No reference to their employment by 

 the Magellanic tribes is made by King, Pitzroy, Darwin, or 

 any other voyager with whose narrative I am acquainted, with 

 the exception of that of the ill-fated surveyor who states the 

 circumstance. The Chlorostoma is also widely distributed on 

 the coast of Chili — Port Otway (peninsula of Tres Montes) 

 being the southernmost locality where I met with it. 



In addition to these molluscs, I obtained on this day 

 several other marine animals, including specimens of a rather 

 large species of Porcellana (P. tuberculifrons) with very 

 broad pincer-claws of a beautiful bluish violet colour, with 



* Vol. i. p. 167. 



