36 STEAMEK-DDCK. Feb. 1827.
I I
i ■
It would not lie an exaggeration to state its speed at from twelve
to fifteen miles an hour. The peculiar form of the wing, and
the short rigid feathers which cover it, together ivith the power
this bird possesses of remaining a considerable length of time
under water, constitute it a striking link between the genera
Anas and Aptenodytes. It has been noticed by many former
navigators. The largest we found measured forty inches,
from the extremity of the bill, to that of the tail, and weighed
thirteen pounds ; but Captain Cook mentions, in his second
A'oyage, that the weight of one was twenty-nine pounds.* It
is very difficult to kill them, on account of their wariness and
thick coat of feathers, which is impenetrable by any thing
smaller than swan shot. The flavour of their flesh is so strong
and fish)', that at first we killed them solely for specimens.
Five or six months, however, on salt provisions, taught many
to think such food palatable, and the seamen never lost .an
opportunity of eating them. I have preferred these ducks to
salt-beef, but more as a preventive against scurvy, tlian from
liking their taste.
I am averse to altering names, particularly in natural history,
Avithout A’ery good reason, but in this case I do think the
name of ‘ steamer’ much more appropriate, and descriptive of
the swift paddling motion of these birds, than that of ‘ racehorse.’
I believe, too, the name of ‘ steamer’ is now generally
given to it by those aaF o have visited these regions.
Many sheÌls-f were taken from the bottom by means of a fizgig
Avhich Mr. T am found in one of the Avigwams : it AA'as a
• Cook’s Second Voyage, 4to. p. 570.
t On the shores of E agle Bay AA'e procured a large collection of shells,
among Arhich Avere Margia'ita violacea (Nob. in Zool. Journ. v. 346, No.
53), a beautiful Modiola (M. irapesina, Lam.‘ ), a n ew Pectcn (P . vitreus
Nob. in Zool. Jour. v. 337, No. 17), and a delicate transparent-shelled
Patella, ansAvering the description of P . cgmbularia. The se four species
were found attached to floating leaA'es o f the kelp (iutct/s gigaJifetts'),
and afford food to the steamer-duck. We also collected good specimens
o f Murex Magellanicus, Lam.‘ , of Fissurella picta, Lam.*, and a great
number of the common patella o f tlie Strait, which forms a considerable
article of food for the Natives.
rough pole, eight or ten feet long, split crosSAvise a t one end,
and opened so as to form four prongs, kept apart by tAA'o small
pieces of wood. Although rudely made, it Avas excellently
adapted for a shell-gatherer, and is used by the Indians for
collecting sea-eggs, Avhich are found in the Strait of very large
size, and are doubtless, to them, a great delicacy.
During our excursion Ave ascertained the best place to ascend
the snoAA'y mountain, since named ‘ T a rn ;’ and the surgeon,
Avhose name it bears, set off AA'ith a party of officers to make
the attempt, in AA’hich he succeeded, and obtained such an
extensive vieAV as induced me to decide upon ascending it, a
feAV days afterAvai'ds, to procure healings from the suumiit, and
for the purpose of measuring its height Avith a barometer.
In the meantime I Aisited the Sedger river (Sarmiento’s
‘ Rio de San J nan de Posesión’), and found some difficulty in
entering it, because of seA-eral banks which are dry at I o a v
Avater. BetAA'een them, hoAvever, the stream keeps a small channel
open, by Avhich we effected our purpose. Every gale of
AAind causes the banks to shift, and betAA'een the times of our
first, and last, visit to Port Famine, the river’s mouth under-
Avent many changes. The bed of the rÍA'er is so full of fallen
trees, that AA-e could not go, Avith tlie boat, more than tln-ee
miles and a half aboA-e the entrance ; there it Avas about fifteen
yards wide, bounded on each side by tluckly wooded banks, of
moderate height. The trees on these banks ai'e large, chiefly
the tAvo species of Beech before-mentioned, and Winter’s-bark ;
there are besides many shrubs, and an impenetrable underAA-ood
of Arbutus, Berberís, and currant bushes. The lai-gest Beech-
tree that Ave saAV could not haA'e been more than thirty or
forty inches in diameter, which was insignificant compared Avith
those noticed by Commodore Byron. In describing his excursion
up this rÍA'er, he mentions “ trees that would supply the
British naA-y AAuth the best masts in the AA'orld.”* “ Some of
them ai-e of a great height, and more than eight feet in diameter,
Avliich is proportionably more than eight yards in circum-
M
! 1 i
!
. . • ''^1
• B\T0n’s Voyage round the World, 4to.p.3S,