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that, by my orders, was stretched ai-ound onr property, a restriction
which they did not attempt to evade. At sunset all
were told to go away, and they immediately, as well as cheerfully,
complied.
The next morning, and indeed throughout the whole day,
the neighbourhood of the wigwams exhibited the appearance of
a fair. I visited them, and found that they had not only repaired
an old irigwam, but erected another. Both together
contained the whole party, consisting of twenty-six individuals,
among whom wei'e an old man, and two old women. They had
brought over a collection of baskets, bows and arrows, stone
heads of knives, &c. to sell to our people, who had always
shown eagerness to possess these curiosities. The knife-heads
were made generally of pitch-stone; but the greater number
were of broken glass bottles, which they had collected when
they visited us last year. A few strings of beads purchased all
their riches ; after which they sold their dogs, and Mr. Graves
procured one of them for a knife and a string of beads. It
was a remarkably fine animal, and showed great reluctance to
be handled by our people, several of w’hom were bitten in their
attempts to take him to the boat.
At night one of the canoes was despatched to collect shellfish,
probably sea-eggs, from the reef of Rocky Bay. The following
morning all their goods were embarked, and then they
paddled their canoes to the beach, near the tents, where some
of their men landed. They had nothing to ofier in exchange
for several things which tempted them, and were beginning to
grow troublesome. One of them, the individual who threw a
stone at the sergeant, persisting to pass the boundary that was
marked upon the ground, which no one of them had before
presumed to do, was pushed back by the sentinel; upon
which he ran to his canoe and took out several spears, doubtless
intending to try to force a passage; but the appearance
of two or three muskets brought him to his senses, and the
spears were returned to the canoe; after which he became
familiar, and apparently friendly. This affair, however, was
soon followed by their departure, which gave me much satisfaction.
They went southward, landing for the niglit in Voces
Bay, and the following day went to the Adeona, in Bougainville
Harbour, where they remained some days.
The day after the Indians left us, a boat came from the
Adeona, to acquaint us that, in a day or two, she and lier
companions, the Uxbridge and Mercury, intended to leave the
Strait for the Falkland Islands ; upon which I prepared letters
or England, and a report of my proceedings for the Secretary
ot the Admiralty. The ships passed by on the 30th, and took
my letters.
This last month (June) set in with snow or rain, which continued
until the 11th, when the weather assumed a very threa-
tening appearance. On the 14th the barometer fell to 29. 27,
and the wind blew a hard gale from N.E. ; but in the after/
noon It veered round to S. W., and the mercury rose rapidly. A
gale from S.W. followed, and then to the end of the month we
had a series of moderate weather, but much snow. Themean temperature
for June was 32°,97 the range being between 19°,2
and 48%7.
July commenced with an unusually low temperature and a
high barometer; the former, on the 4th was 12°,2, and the latter
at the same time, at 30,5 inches, having risen since the
14th of June 1.82 of an inch. After this we had a few mild and
fine days, but paid dearly for them; a northerly gale set in,
bringing with it unwholesome damp weather, in which the
temperature rose to between 35° and 42°, and melted much
of the snow that had covered the ground, quite to the water’s
edge, during the last two months. Our sick-list, particularly
of cases of scurvy, increased so much, during this damp, tryino-
weather, that I determined upon sending the Adelaide to the
northward, to procure a supply of fresh meat from the Patagonians
; and, at the same time, to survey that part of the Strait
lying between Cape Negro and the Second Narrow.
Lieutenants Graves and Wickham, and Mr.Tarn, went upon
this service, the latter being most anxious to procure some
change of diet for the sick under his care, for some of whom
he was much alarmed. The appearance and severity of this dis-
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