Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.1): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

CHAPTER IX. Detention in Port San Antonio — Humming'-birds in snow showers Fuegians — Geolooical remarks — Canoes — Carving — Birds — Fish Shag Narrows — Glaciers — Avalanches — Natives — Climate — Winter setting in — Adelaide loses a boat — Floods — Lightning — Scurvy — Ade- laide's survey — Bougainville Harbour — Indians cross the Strait, and visit Port Famine — Sealing vessels sail — Scurvy increases — Adelaide sent for guanaco meat — Return of the Beagle — Captain Stokes very ill — Adelaide brings meat from the Patagonians — Death of Captain Stokes. Our stay at this port was prolonged beyond my intention by thick snowy weather and hard gales, which cut off our communication with the shore ; for notwithstanding we were in so sheltex-ed a place, and the vessel had three anchors down, we did not consider her quite secure against the violent squalls. We had been fortunate in procuring observations, and took advantage of our detention to lay down the operations of the preceding days on paper. Muscles were found in great abun- dance on the mud flats. There are thi-ee varieties, one of which has a bitter, disagreeable taste, but the others are exceedingly good and wholesome. One of the latter is of large size (My- tilus Magellmiicus of the Ency. Meth.) The other is of a more globose form than the bitter sort, and has a very obtuse hinge and margin. The bitter kind contains pearls, which are valueless, because small, and of a bad colour. At first there were plenty of sea-birds* in the cove, which took refuge at the head of the bay ; till after two days, they deserted us altogether. There appeared to be an abundance of fish ; but as we had not provided ourselves with a seine, and they • Here we obtained a second species of the Steamer-duck, which is described in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, as ' Micropterus Putachonicua, Nob.' It differs from the it/, hrachypterus not only in colour but in size, being a smaller bird, and having the power of raising its body, in flight, out of the water. \\e called it the ' Flying- Steamer.'