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

38 LARGE TREES WOOD. Feb. 1827. ference.""'* The Commodore may have been pleased by the ap})earance of these trees, but must have fancied their quality and dimensions such as he describes. The largest are generally rotten at the heart, and all are more or less defective. Their wood is heavy, and far too brittle for masts : we could not use it even for boat-hook staves. It makes, however, tolerable plank for boat-building, and, when seasoned, might be used in ships. For common purposes, such as houses, or fences, it is very serviceable. We wandered about to examine the country ; but, except- ing the track of some quadruped, whose foot was small and cloven, rather like a pig's, we saw nothing new. The traces of foxes were numerous every where. We found no fish of any description in the river. Geese and wild ducks were numerous, whose young were at this time scarcely fledged, and an easy prey. We also observed here, for the first time, the parroquet, which Bougainville described to be common in the Strait. He carried specimens home with him ; but some naturalists of those days decided that there must have been a mistake, because, as they averi*ed, parroquets did not exist in so high a latitude. Bougainville, however, made no mistake, for the species-j- is very abundant in the neighbourhood of Port Famine, and has been seen by us in all parts of the Strait. It feeds principally upon the seeds of the Winter's-bark. The existence of this bird in Tierra del Fuego is also mentioned by Cook and Narboroush.* * I. c. + Fsittacus smarafjdiims, Gmel. I have no doubt that the bird we saw IS the same as Bouf,''airiville procured, and from which a description has been given in the Ency. IMeth., art. Ornith. 139; although a material error is made, for they are not splendidc viridis, nor is the iiropygium i-ed ; in other points, however, the description is correct. See Buffon's Hist. Nat. des Oiseaux, vi. 262. PI. enl. n. 85, Perruche des Terres Magel- laniques, Bougainville says, " we have likewise perceived some perrokeets : the latter are not afraid of the cold." To which the English translator, T. R. Forster, wlio is incredulous of the correctness of Bougainville's assertion, appends the following ntjte : " Perruches, probably sea-parrgts.