436 NATURAL HISTORY OP 



small collection of plants, the principal of wliicli were the 

 Chusquea so abundant at Ancud, several Myrtaceod, the 

 Edwardsia microphylla, Citharexylon cyanocarpum, Sarmienta 

 repens, a pnrple Labiate, an Uncinia, the large white Zibertia 

 common at Chiloe, and a handsome purple Zathyrus, new to 

 me. We saw a number of kelp-geese {Chloephaga antarctica), 

 as also some steamer-ducks, and a few parroquets. On the 

 way back, as we pulled along the coast of the island, we 

 maintained an anxious scrutiny for the cave, and at length 

 stopped at a spot where there seemed to be an opening in 

 the rocks. On landing, I was much pleased to find that we 

 had hit upon the right place ; and on entering the small cave, 

 which must have measured about four yards long by nearly 

 four feet and a half in height, and the same in breadth, we 

 wef e rewarded by the discovery of four crania,'" and a number of 

 other bones, which we carried off in triumph to the vessel. 



On the 24th we got under way at four a.m., but after pro- 

 ceeding about fifteen miles southwards, in the course of which 

 we passed over various islands as laid down in the chart, rain 

 and mist set in so thick that we anchored at Port Balena, in a 

 group of islands not honoured with any special name. Here I 

 ob^-ained two small species of Crustacea, a Betceus and Pala^mon 

 or Hippolyte, in the dredge. We remained at anchor till shortly 

 after noon, when the rain and mist cleared off, and we got 

 under way, passing southwards between the mainland and 

 the myriads of islands of which the Chonos Archipelago is 

 composed, and halting for the night at or in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of Port N'evada, which, like the two preced- 

 ing anchorages, was not laid down in the Government chart, 

 but which is situated somewhere on the western side of the 

 northernmost large mass of the Archipelago, and consequently 

 to the north of the Mnualac Channel 



* Now ill the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. 



