d
contentious about their prey. They snap up, as food, all the offal
thrown out of doors; and thus they render themselves serviceable to
the inhabitants, who consequently do not destroy them. In some of the
valleys of Peru, I met with these birds again, but very rarely and
always single and solitary. I continued my excursions on the
sea-shore, but with little satisfaction, for the pouring rain had
driven animals of every kind to their lurking-holes. After a few days,
I went on board the "Edmond," for the purpose of visiting PUNTA ARENA,
a town on the side of the bay, whither our boat used to be sent for
fresh water. The ground surrounding the spring whence the ships obtain
supplies of water, is sandy, and it becomes exceedingly marshy further
inland. After wandering about for a few hours, I found myself quite
lost in a morass, out of which I had to work my way with no little
difficulty. The whole produce of my hard day's sport consisted of an
awlbeak, a small dark-brown bird (_Opethiorhyncus patagonicus_), and
some land-snails. On our return, as we were nearing the ship, we
killed a seal (_Otaria chilensis_, Muell.), which was rising after a
dive, close to the boat.

On the 22d of June, all our ship's company were on board by order of
the captain. We weighed anchor, and cruized about for some time. At
length, about five in the afternoon, we returned, and the ship was
anchored again precisely on the spot she had left a few hours before.
It was set down in the log-book that the wind was not sufficiently
favorable to allow the ship to pass out safely through the narrow
entrance to the bay. But all on board were well aware that this was
merely a pretence on the part of the captain, who, for some reason or
other, wished to stop longer at San Carlos.

I was very much pleased at this opportunity of prolonging my stay at the
Island of Chiloe, hoping that better weather would enable me to make an
excursion into the interior. But the sky still continued overcast, and
the rain poured incessantly. One day, however, I undertook a journey to
Castro, in company with the French Charge d'Affaires to Peru, one of my
fellow passengers on the voyage. A merchant accommodated us with two
horses, saddled in the Chilian manner; but he warned us to be on our
guard, as horses were often restive when just returned from their summer
pasturage. We set off very promisingly. The commencement of our ride was
pleasant enough, though the road was stee