JAN. 1769 TERRA DEL FUEGO 49 
butica),' both which are as pleasant to the taste as any 
herbs of the kind found in Europe, and, I believe, possess 
as much virtue in curing the scurvy. 
The trees here are chiefly of one sort, a kind of birch, 
Betula antarctica, with very small leaves. It has a light 
white wood, and cleaves very straight. The trees are some- 
times between two and three feet in diameter, and run thirty 
or forty feet in the bole; possibly they might, in cases of 
necessity, supply top-masts. There are also great quantities 
of cranberries, both white and red (Arbutus rigida).3 Inhabit- 
ants I saw none, but found their huts in two places, once in 
a thick wood, and again close by the beach. They are 
most unartificially made, conical, but open on one side, where 
were marks of fire, which last probably served them instead 
of a door. 
15th. By dinner we came to an anchor in the Bay of 
Good Success [Terra del Fuego]: several Indians‘ were in 
sight near the shore. 
After dinner, went ashore on the starboard side of the 
bay, near some rocks, which made the water smooth and the 
landing good. Before we had walked a hundred yards, 
many Indians made their appearance on the other side of 
the bay, at the end of a sandy beach which forms the bottom 
of the bay, but on seeing our numbers to be ten or twelve 
they retreated. Dr. Solander and I then walked forward a 
hundred yards before the rest, and two of the Indians 
advanced also, and sat down about fifty yards from their 
companions. As soon as we came up they rose, and each 
of them threw a stick he had in his hand away from him 
and us: a token, no doubt, of peace. They then walked 
briskly towards the others, and waved to us to follow, which 
we did, and were received with many uncouth signs of 
friendship. We distributed among them a number of beads 
and ribbons, which we had brought ashore for that purpose, 
1 Closely allied to the common English weed, Cardamine hirsuta, Linn. 
2 The Betula of Banks is a species of beech, Fagus betulotdes, Mirb. 
3 Pernettya mucronata, Gaudich. 
* Banks constantly uses the term Indians to denote the natives of a 
country, throughout the ‘‘ Journal.” 
E 
