the shores of the mainland have been destroyed by the
cattle in their fondness for the nutritious base of the stem, a small
portion of which, as thick as the little finger, has a pleasant taste and
may be eaten by man, to whom it has occasionally furnished the principal
means of subsistence when wandering in the wilds of these inhospitable
islands. Great numbers of upland geese (Chloephaga magellanica) chiefly
in small flocks, were feeding on various berries and the tender grass.
Although seldom molested on this island, they became rather wary after a
few shots had been fired--still a sufficient number to answer our purpose
were procured without much difficulty. Unlike the kelp goose, which has a
very rank taste, derived from its feeding chiefly upon the filmy seaweeds
covering the tidal rocks, the upland goose is excellent eating, and
formed a welcome addition to our fare on board. Loggerheads and other
ducks, cormorants, and grebes, were swimming about among the beds of
kelp, and oyster-catchers of two kinds, gulls, kelp-geese, and many other
birds frequented the shores.

(*Footnote. For a full account of this useful plant, the growth of which
in Britain in certain favourable maritime situations has been attempted
on a large scale, I would refer to Botany of the Antarctic Voyage by Dr.
J.D. Hooker page 384 and plates 136 and 137.)

Meanwhile one of the gauchos rode over from Captain Sulivan's
establishment on the main by a ford passable at low-water, and was sent
back for a companion to assist him in catching the cattle. He was an old
weather-beaten half-bred Pampas Indian of the name of Escalante, whose
capability of enduring fatigue and privations of every kind were
described as being remarkable even in a gaucho. At length the cattle were
collected and driven up, and although eight hundred out of those
composing the herd had been reclaimed only three months, yet the whole
were easily managed by the two men on horseback, who rounded them in
without difficulty upon the summit of a low hill close to the
slaughtering-place. A fine dun heifer four years old was the first
selected; it was detached from the herd after some trouble, and pursued
by both gauchos who, throwing off their ponchos, untwisted the bolas from
round the waist, and, after swinging them round the head several times,
threw them in succession at the beast's hind legs but without taking
effect, as each time the animal stumbled for an instant and the bola