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38 LA R G E T R E E S AVOOD. Feb. 1827.
ference.” * The Commodore may ha\'e been pleased by the
appearance of these trees, hut must haA'e fancied their quality
and dimensions such as he describes. The largest are generally
rotten at the heart, and all are more or less defectit'e. Their
Avood is heaA'y, and far too brittle for masts: Ave could not
use it eA-en for boat-hook staves. I t makes, hoAvever, tolerable
plank for boat-building, and, Avhen seasoned, might be used in
sliips. For common purposes, such as houses, or fences, it is
very serviceable.
We AAandered about to examine the country ; but, excepting
the track of some quadruped, Avhose foot Avas small and
cloven, rather like a pig’s, Ave saAV nothing neAv. The traces
of foxes Avere numerous every Avhere. We found no fish of
any description in the riA'er. Geese and Avild ducks Avere
numerous, Avhose young Avere at this time scarcely fledged, and
an easy prey. We also observed here, for the first time, the
parroquet, AA'hich Bougainville described to be common in the
Strait. He carried specimens home Avith h im ; bu t some
naturalists of those days decided that there must have been a
mistake, because, as they averred, parroquets did not exist in
so high a latitude. BougainA'ille, hoAvev'er, made no mistake,
for the speciesf is A'ery abundant in the neighbourhood of Po rt
Famine, and has been seen by us in all parts of the Strait. I t
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 Narborough.*
• I. c.
t Psiiiacu^ smaragdimis, Gmel. I have no doubt th a t the bird we
saw is the same as Bougainville procured, and from which a description
has been given in the Ency. Meth., art. Ornith. 139; although a material
e rro r is made, for they are not splendidc viridis, nor is the uropygium r e d ;
in other points, however, the description is correct. See Buffon’s Hist.
N a t. 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, who is incredulous of the correctness of Bougainville’s
assertion, appends the following note : “ Perruches, probably sea-parrots,
Feb. ISTi PA RRO QU E T S— F ISH. 39
All accounts of Port Famine informed us of its abounding
in fish, but as yet Ave had taken none excepting Avith hook and
line, although the seine had been frequently shot. At last,
hoAvever, in the first Aveek of February, Ave had a successful
haul of mullet and smelts, many of the former Aveighing eight
pounds, and the latter measuring fifteen inches in length.
After this Ave Avere often very fortunate, and on one occasion
caught, at one haul of the seine, sixteen hundred-Aveight of
smelts, some A\-eighing tAA-o pounds, and measuring tAventy
inches in length. A feAV days preA'iously Ave had a draught of
muUet, Avhich served the creAvs of both Adventure and Beagle
for three days. Geese, Avild ducks and teal, snipe, and now
and then Avoodcocks, Avere to be found by taking a short Avalk ;
there AA’ere, however, no quadrupeds fit for food Avhich aac
could take. Foxes and Avild cats Avere occasionally seen, and a
foot-mark of some large animal of the feline race, probably a
puma, was once observed upon the beach. V e found many
traces of horses, AA'hich shoAved that the Patagonian Indians
sometimes come thus fai- south. Had we been so fortunate as
to meet them here, Ave might have procured, perhaps, a regular
supply of guanaco meat.
On the 9th of February, as the Aveather seemed favourable
for asce nding Mount Tarn,* Lieutenant Cooke, the Surgeon,
and Anderson, the botanical collector, set off in advance to
select a convenient place for passing the night, carrying Avith
them a tent and provisions. I folloAved later in the day, and,
Avhile the boat’s creAv Avere aiTanging their loads, made some
observations AA'ith a barometer on the beach.
Our Avay led through thick underAvood, and then, Avith a
gradual ascent, among fallen trees, covered Avith so thick a
coating of moss, that at every step Ave sunk up to the knees
o r auks."’ Buffon also doubted the fact, and the author of Histoire
Naturelle, art. Oiseaux, tom. ii. p. 322, suggests the possibility of a
specimen ha\'ing been obtained in some other p a rt of the Avorld, and put,
Ua' mistake, amongst those collected in the Strait.
• So named because Mr. Tarn, the surgeon of the Adventure, vras the
first person who reached its stinmiit.
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