88 EXCURSION INTO THE INTERIOR. 



[1823. 



that course ; being often compelled to deviate from it by the face of the 

 country, interspersed with elevated ridges, watercourses, precipices, 

 &c. This day's journey, though fatiguing, was very pleasant and 

 interesting. Parrots, and other birds of the most beautiful plumage, 

 surrounded us on every side (several of a species which I have never 

 seen in the museums or the private collections of naturalists). I also 

 examined various trees, which I have no doubt are highly valuable, 

 some for cabinet furniture, and others for drugs, and perhaps for die- 

 stuffs. I regretted extremely that we had not a scientific botanist and 

 mineralogist with us, as my own knowledge of those sciences is very 

 limited. But I am confident there is abundance of valuable wood in this 

 unexplored country ; and the specimens of copper, lead, and iron which 

 I brought away with me were pronounced to be, by the late scientific 

 Doctor Mitchill, the purest and most free from alloy of any that he had 

 ever seen. 



The interior of this country, I also discovered, abounds with some 

 very valuable vegetables for mariners who are pursuing long voyages ; 

 such as celery, scurvy-grass, and a variety of berries of very agreeable 

 flavour. To this circumstance Byron imputes the healthiness of his 

 whole ship's company, not a single person being affected with the 

 scurvy in the slightest degree ; nor was a single individual on the sick- 

 list from any other disorder. Among other curious trees which I ex- 

 amined in this excursion is the pepper-tree, or winter's bark, noticed 

 by Commodore Byron. These grow here in great plenty, as do many 

 others, with the nature of which I am totally unacquainted. 



We continued to proceed in the same direction until ten o'clock, P. M., 

 when we found ourselves on the eastern declivity of a mountain which 

 ascended gradually towards the north. This we concluded to be a 

 part of the celebrated chain before mentioned, the Cordilleras of the 

 Andes, and judged ourselves to be now about thirty miles from the 

 vessel, and forty-five from Cape Froward. Here we built a large fire, 

 and made a hearty supper of venison, having killed a fat deer but a 

 short time before. We then sought a few hours' repose ; but found it 

 almost impossible to sleep, as the dogs were engaged the whole night 

 among wild animals of different kinds. We therefore relinquished the 

 hope of rest, and at two hours after midnight, began to retrace our 

 weary steps towards Port Famine. 



May 5th. — This was Monday, the fifth; and we laboured through 

 the underbrush and matted clover with very little intermission, in the 

 direction of east-south-east, until noon, when we thought it expedient to 

 take some rest and refreshment. At two, P. M., we again set forward, 

 and reached the schooner in safety at eleven o'clock the same evening, 

 almost exhausted with fatigue and the want of sleep. We brought on 

 board with us, among other curiosities, several birds we had shot, of 

 the most beautiful plumage ; but which, for want of proper preserva- 

 tion, we were obliged to throw overboard afterward. I believe, how- 

 ever, that the richest museum in the world might derive some new and 

 valuable acquisitions from the interior of this unexplored country. Its 

 immense resources are as yet entirely unknown, as the avenues which 

 lead to them are still guarded by the dragons of traditionary fable. 



