May 1829. chanticleer and adventure sail. 205 



found in sheltered places, but not larger in dimensions than 

 the beech.* Where no trees are produced, the ground is 

 covered with tufts of chamitis and donacia, which, being of 

 a bright-green colour, give the sides of the hills a lively and 

 verdant appearance. Had the state of the weather permitted 

 our boats to leave the neighbourhood of the cove, or had the 

 woods afforded any addition to collections for natural history, 

 our detention would have been more agreeable ; but, with the 

 exception of a few corvorants, divers, and ' steamers,' with now 

 and then a solitary hawk, or a Patagonian ' warbler,' we saw 

 no traces of animal life. No Indians came near us, having been 

 frightened away by the Chanticleer ; for when Captain Foster 

 was absent at night, after attempting to land at Cape Horn, 

 several rockets were fired off as signals, and a few Indians who 

 were then in the cove were so much alarmed, that they v/ent away 

 next day, and never afterwards showed themselves, although I 

 dare say we were very narrowly watched by them. 



Having supplied the Chanticleer with the provisions she 

 required, we prepared to leave St. Martin's Cove. On the 

 24th the Chanticleer sailed, and in two hours after we also 

 left this dismal cove, in which we experienced a succession of 

 very bad weather, an almost constant S.W. wind, and for the 

 last month a scarcely ceasing fall of either rain, hail, or snow. 

 The Chanticleer bore away round Cape Horn, and was soon 

 out of sight. 



This was my last meeting with Captain Foster, who, the 

 night before we sailed, communicated to me a presentiment, 

 which he could not shake off, that he should not survive the 

 voyage. I cannot now resist indulging in the melancholy satis- 

 faction of saying a few words to the memory of my late excellent 



* The underwood is composed chiefly of Arbutus rigida — Berheris 

 parvifolia and ilicifolia — {sempervirens of Banks and Solander). Vero- 

 nica {decussata ?) and, in moist places, Cineraria leucanthema, and Dyse- 

 more integrifolia ; both of which are found in all the sheltered corners 

 of Tierradel Fueg-o. No Fuchsia was seen, but Mr. Anderson g'athered 

 the sweet-scented Galliocene marginata^ and a species of Escalonia, on the 

 hill sides. ; 



