THE STRAITS OF PATAGONIA. 
191 
a post-office, a pier, and even a railway leading to some recently-discovered coal-mines. Gold 
has also been found in the neighbourhood, and should it be met with in greater quantity, 
a second San Francisco might spring up upon the shores of Patagonia. Two Chilian 
men-of-war—a corvette and an ironclad—lay in the roads ; and it seemed evident, from what 
we saw at Valparaiso as well as in this new colony, that the Chilians, since they have 
shaken off the Spanish yoke, are stirred up to new life by the invigorating spirit of liberty 
and independence. 
Our arrival, unfortunately, did not coincide with the time when the native Patagonians 
visit the settlement for purposes of trade; we therefore missed the opportunity of seeing 
specimens of this race of giants. A few 
natives of Tierra del Fuego were hanging 
about the town—beings, perhaps, next to 
the aborigines of Australia, the most 
forsaken by nature and man. At present, 
Punta Arenas is, excepting the Falkland 
Islands, the only civilised place in this 
part of the world, and forms a convenient 
port of call for steamers plying between 
Monte Video and Valparaiso. 
We left on the 18th, with the inten¬ 
tion of visiting, on our way, Elizabeth 
Island, a small, long-shaped island of slight elevation, situated in the Strait to the northward 
of Punta Arenas, and noted for its flocks of wild-fowl. An exploring party having been 
landed, reported on its return the existence of a deposit of bones ; accordingly, in the hope 
that a further examination might result in some discovery valuable from a scientific point 
of view, it was decided to devote another day to this work. On landing next morning, 
we found the north-east end of the island occupied by countless birds, whose nests thickly 
SITE OF KITCHEN-MIDDEN ON ELIZABETH ISLAND. 
covered the ground. Disturbed at our approach, they rose, “soaring the air sublime,” and 
the sky was “ fanned with unnumbered plumes.” At- a short distance beyond, the sea had 
laid bare the side of a bank of earth rising about fifteen feet above the highest fringe of 
seaweed. For a distance of about 4 00 f ee b an d near the top of the bank, a dark, layer was 
