^14 PECULIAII LIGHT PAllTY MISSING. April 1829- 



The following are extracts from Captain Fitz Roy's journal 

 of this cruise of the Beagle. 



" Monday 7th April. Several of our people were employed 

 in gathering cranberries, and preserving them for future use ; 

 they are anti-scorbutic, as well as the wild celery, much of 

 which has been used with our guanaco soup. 



" Wednesday, 8th. I went to Oazy Harbour with Lieute- 

 nant Skyring, who surveyed the harbour while I examined the 

 cove to the northward. 



" Oazy Harbour appears large, but the part where there is 

 anchorage is very small, and a strong tide sets in and round it, 

 by which a bank is thrown up, a short distance inside the 

 entrance; there is very little wood, and some difficulty iri 

 obtaining fresh water, even in a small quantity. The anchorage 

 outside might be more convenient for procuring guanaco meat 

 from the Indians than Gregory Bay, but it is exposed to winds 

 between W.S.W. and S.S.E. 



" At my return to the Beagle, I was much surprised to find 

 that Lieutenant Kempe, Mr. Bynoe, and a boy, had not yet 

 come back from a shooting excursion. A boat had been to the 

 appointed place at sun-set, and had waited an hour without 

 seeing them. At seven, a light was seen on the top of Quoin 

 Hill, and I sent a boat to the spot, with cautions about land- 

 ing, being in doubt whether it was shown by them or by the 

 Indians ; but the boatswain, who went with her, could find no 

 person, nor any light. He waited some time, and returned on 

 board. (Z) A similar light was again seen, more than once, during 

 the dark and gloomy weather, with small misty rain falling, 

 and a light breeze from the westward, which we had all night. 



" Thursday, 9th. No signs of our officers, nor any appearance 

 of the Indians. Fearing that some accident had happened, I sent 

 two boats away, with arms and provisions^ to look for them all 

 round the harbour, and the large lagoon which communicates 



(I) This was a remarkable instance of what I often observed afterwards 

 in those regions, a kind of ' ignis fatuus,' which sometimes was stationary, 

 like the light of alanthorn, and at others suddenly flitting, like the flashes 

 of pistols, at a distance. It was only seen upon the louver hills. — R, F. 



