162 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



Later in the evening of this day we entered the 

 Straits of Magellan, and after passing a jutting 

 point of shingle, called Dungeness Point — a name 

 which reminded us forcibly of home — we anchored 

 in Possession Bay. Early next morning we 

 weighed anchor, but, owing to a very strong head 

 wind, we were not able to make any way, and were 

 obliged to anchor again. 



During the day two curiously-marked porpoises 

 played round the ship ; they were pure glossy 

 white excepting the head, tail, and dorsal fin, 

 which were black. Comparatively little is known 

 of the porpoises and dolphins of the southern 

 oceans, and these may very likely have belonged 

 to some undescribed species, but all our attempts 

 to harpoon them were unsuccessful. 



At eight o'clock next morning, the wind having 

 dropped, we started westwards and passed through 

 the first " narrows." Three hours later we steamed 

 close past St. Elizabeth and St. Magdalena 

 Islands, formerly famous for the large number 

 of kelp-geese which bred on them, and thence 

 onward through the second " narrows." In these 

 " narrows " enormous numbers of sea-birds — 

 terns, skuas, albatroses, and diving petrels — were 

 seen. Of these birds perhaps the most noteworthy 

 was the skua,* as from this time until we reached 

 Valparaiso this species was continually encountered. 

 The country, as seen from the ship, was, from 



* Megalestris chilensis. 



