GOOD OPPORTUNITIES LOST. 



385 



watch the tide, on the day of new moon, at the entrance of the 

 channel, and brought back a piece of the rock of which the 

 last-mentioned cluster of islets consists. It is similar to that 

 of Fury Island and Mount Skyring, apparently metallic, with 

 a sulphureous smell, when struck or broken.* Small pieces 

 put near the compass did not seem to affect it sensibly ; but I 

 did not spend time in trying the experiment with nicety, being 

 satisfied of the general result. There may be metal in many 

 of the Fuegian mountains, and I much regret that no person 

 in the vessel was skilled in mineralogy, or at all acquainted 

 with geology. It is a pity that so good an opportunity of ascer- 

 taining the nature of the rocks and earths of these regions should 

 have been almost lost. 



" I could not avoid often thinking of the talent and expe- 

 rience required for such scientific researches, of which we were 

 wholly destitute ; and inwardly resolving, that if ever I left 

 England again on a similar expedition, I would endeavour to 

 carry out a person qualified to examine the land ; while the 

 officers, and myself, would attend to hydrography 



* Geological Society, Coll. No, 197. 



VOL. L 



2c 



