74 



Cordovans Fo7/ag€ of Discoveiy 



ally different from the ostrich : on which account, several Spa- 

 nish naturalists, as well as Buffon, have reserved to the bird the 

 appellation iuyu, by which it is known to the inhabitants of the 

 district in which it was first observed ; so that the tuyu, which 

 is only found in America, ought not to be confounded with the 

 ostrich, which is a bird peculiar to Africa. 



We also saw some birds of prey ; amongst others, a kind of 

 small eagle, called by the naturalists the little eagle or grey 

 falcon, which is so frequent in the Falkland Islands. 



These are all the animals which are to be found at the en- 

 trance of the Strait of Magellan. 



We met with no fish of any kind here, so that it must be far 

 from plentiful ; and the shores also seem to be destitute of shell- 

 fish. 



We come now to the mountainous part of the Strait of Ma- 

 gellan, of whose temperature we have already made mention. 

 In the narrow plains and levels along the foot of the mountains 

 grow small round heaps, formed by a plant whose leaves are 

 round, and so closely set and interwoven together, that each 

 plant forms a sort of carpet, extremely equal and even, having 

 on the inside nothing but the roots, which, in proportion as 

 they grow, continue to increase this heap of leaves, until it 

 assumes the appearance of a large round loaf. This plant is 

 called by botanists sedum minimum. 



These heaps or loaves, as they may be called, are from one to 

 two feet high, and the same in diameter, and, when they are in 

 their vigour, are so strong as to bear the weight of a man ; but 

 we observed, that, when they began to decay, they easily gave 

 •way, on placing the foot on them. When they are in a middle 

 state, that is, neither so green as to possess all their power of 

 resistance, nor so decayed as to have the roots putrid, they 

 raise and lower their surface, when one stands on them, with a 

 sort of elasticity or tremulous motion, produced by their own 

 strength, as also by the moss or green crust of the ground, 

 which grows up among them. 



The surface or soil in which these loaf-shaped heaps grow, 

 is not the solid ground, but only the remains of other heaps of 

 the same kind, corrupted by the moisture ; so that the real soil 

 or earth is not met with for four, five, or six, feet lower down, 

 which must render extremely difficult, if not entirely abortive, 

 any attempt to bring into a state of cultivation this ground, 

 which, in all probability, has lain in its present state from its 

 first formation. The proper soil consists of a kind of clay, 

 of a darkish colour, and light, with some small stones, and a 

 little fine sand \ so that, if the soil were not so beset with the 



