344 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



very heavy swell, causing the vessel to roll and pitch very 

 unpleasantly. The 15th passed little less uncomfortably, the 

 wind blowing hard during the night, and on the morning of 

 the 16th we were glad to sight Cape Tres Montes. Shortly 

 before noon we reached Port Otway, a fine harbour in the 

 peninsula of Tres Montes, and there anchored for the re- 

 mainder of the day. As usual, a party of us landed, and 

 passed the afternoon on shore, some in quest of sport, and 

 others on the look-out for specimens. I found the vegetation 

 intermediate in character between that of the north of 

 Chiloe and that of the northern Channels. Evergreen beech 

 and Winter's-bark were among the prevailing trees in the 

 thick woods, which were as wet as those of the western part 

 of the Strait and the Channels. The stems of the trees were 

 everywhere covered with a profusion of lichens, mosses, and 

 ferns — species of Hymenopliyllum, such as H. cruentum, cau- 

 diculatum, pedinatum, etc. etc., and Grammitis australis, being 

 especially abundant. Philesia huxifolia, Mitraria coccinea, 

 and several other shrubs not yet identified, were plentiful 

 among the undergrowth ; and our explorations were rewarded 

 by finding specimens of a beautiful Gesneraceous creeper, 

 the Columnea ovata, which does not appear to have been 

 previously recorded to the south of Chiloe. It ascended 

 the trunks of the trees to a height of twelve feet or more, 

 and its beautiful deep red flowers, which occurred near 

 the tips of the branches, were somewhat difficult to pro- 

 cure. On one of the shrubs I captured a rather large beetle 

 of the family Lucanidm, the Chiasognathus Reichei, new to 

 the national collection ; and the sportsmen shot a couple of 

 otters, Lutra CMlensis (an animal which ranges from the 

 Chonos Archipelago as far south as the Strait of Magellan), 

 some kelp-geese, several kingfishers, and a white egret (Ardea 



