1834. 



RIVERO TAKEN LOW. 



331 



which gave about two gallons of milk daily, besides fourteen 

 others, five or six of which were in calf. By one means or other 

 all but one of the murderers were taken, and a cutter was hired 

 to remove them to the flag-ship at Rio de Janeiro."'' 



Before the Beagle's arrival Lieut. Smith had succeeded in 

 capturing the principal murderer, and transporting him to an 

 islet in the Sound, where he was watched, and furnished with 

 provisions by the boat's crew. The lieutenant applied to me 

 for assistance, and knowing that he was not safe while such a 

 desperate character as Rivero was at large, though on an islet, 

 and that the life of Luna (the king's evidence) was still more 

 risked, I took those men, and one named Channon, who was 

 said to have been an accomplice in the plot, though not an 

 active agent, on board the Beagle. Rivero was put in irons, 

 Channon confined to the ship, and Luna left at liberty, though 

 watched. 



When Mr. Low returned from his sealing expedition he 

 found that his life was sought, as a friend of Mr. Brisbane ; 

 and as he could do nothing on foot against the mounted gau- 

 choes, he retired to Kidney Islet, at the entrance of Berkeley 

 Sound, to await the arrival of some ship. Tired, however, of 

 inaction, he set out to go westward, in search of some whaler, 

 and on the 6th of February, when in great distress, he fell in 

 with our tender, the Adventure, and immediately offered his 

 services as a pilot : they were accepted, provisionally, by Lieut. 

 Wickham, and afterwards by me, trusting that the Admiralty 

 would approve of my so engaging a person who, in pilotage 

 and general information about the Falklands,Tierra del Fuego, 

 Patagonia, and the Galapagos Islands, could afford us more 

 information than any other individual, without exception. 



Mr. William Low is the son of a respectable land-agent in 

 Scotland ; he was brought up as a sailor, and possesses strong 

 common sense, quick apprehension, a readiness at description, 

 and an extraordinary local memory. 



On the 13th the Adventure arrived: she had almost completed 

 her examination of the west, south, and south-east outer coasts, 

 in a very satisfactory manner, having been greatly forwarded 



