set out for the river Plata, and who were never afterwards heard of. Hence it was that Cavendish named the bay, Port Famine.

Between Port Famine and Cape Forward, the most southern point of Patagonia, there is a curvature of the coast, which contains three considerable bays; one of these receives a river, that is navigable by small vessels. Cape Forward consists of three hills; and at the foot of it the water is of great depth. Here the country, to the distance of ninety miles, is well wooded; and the trees are of large size. The soil in the valleys is fertile, and the inland hills are of immense height.

Westward from Cape Forward is Port Gallant, a deep harbour, with a narrow entrance, Bougainville, the French navigator, anchored in this harbour in December, 1767. The adjacent territory is covered with trees and herbage; and, about three miles inland, between two mountains, there is a remarkable cataract about twelve hundred feet in depth. The channel of the strait is here not more than three miles wide, and is embarrassed with small islands. Beyond this bay, the strait becomes more extended; is several leagues in breadth, and on both shores is woody. St. Jerome's Channel, eight or nine leagues north-west of Port Gallant, extends northward, and its termination has not yet been discovered. It is bounded on the west by a cape of the same name; beyond which is Cape Quod, consisting of craggy rocks, the highest of which resembles the ruins of ancient structures. breadth of the strait does not here exceed four miles; and the land, on both sides, is steep, rocky, and of horrific appearance. From Cape Quod the coast extends north-west for many leagues, and has, in different parts, several bays and inlets; and the strait terminates at a point of the Patagonian coast, called Cape Victory, which lies in fifty-two degrees fifteen minutes south latitude, and seventy-five degrees forty-five minutes west longitude from Greenwich. The south-west end of the

The

strait is formed by a square peninsula with two capes, one called Cape Pillar and the other Cape Desire.

The strait of Magellan is navigable from September to April; but, during the remainder of the year, it is extremely difficult and dangerous, on account of the violence of the winds, and the rapidity of the currents. Commodore Byron says, that this strait may, without much difficulty, be passed about the month of December; and, at this period, he considers it not only a safer but, a better course than that round Cape Horn. Among other advantages attending it, are the facility of catching fish in almost every part, and the abundance of wild celery, scurvy (grass, and other vegetables, which are to be procured from the shores. Wood and water are also to be procured at most of the anchoring places. Captain Wallis, who entered this strait in December, 1766, and quitted it in April following, states that here, even in the midst of summer, the weather was cold and tempestuous: the prospects had more the appearance of a chaos than of nature; and, for the most part, the valleys were without herbage, and the hills without wood."

We must now return to the entrance of the strait, for the purpose of describing the few parts which are hitherto known of the

Eastern Coast of Patagonia.

The first point of land, north of the strait, is called Cape Virgin. Betwixt this and the Bay of St. Julian, in the forty-ninth degree of south latitude, the shore is described by navigators, to be in general rocky, barren, and inhospitable.

The first European vessels that entered the Bay of St. Julian, were the Spanish squadron under the command of Magalhaens. He arrived there in the month of April, 1520; and, as the winter of the southern climates was then approaching, he continued there five

months, till the ensuing spring. The adjacent country was diversified with hills and valleys; and, at a considerable distance inland, were lofty mountains, the summits of which were covered with snow. For some

time it was thought that the country was uninhabited; but, after the squadron had been at anchor a few weeks, a single Indian ventured first to approach the shore; and afterwards several others made their appearance. Magalhaens describes them to have been much larger and taller than Europeans, to have had their bodies painted with various figures, to have carried bows and arrows, and to have been clad in a kind of garments made of the skins of beasts. They also wore a kind of shoes made of skins. These caused their feet to appear like those of an animal, whence Magalhaens named them Pata-gones, from the Spanish word Pata, which signifies a hoof; and this is said to have been the origin of the appellation of Patagonia, subsequently given to the whole adjacent country. Port St. Julian was afterwards visited by the English circumnavigators Drake, Anson, and others, whose destination was the Pacific Ocean; and it has been found a convenient place for the refitting and repairing of vessels.

Some distance north of this harbour is Port Desire or Deseado, called by Admiral Drake, Seal Bay, on account of the great number of seals which the crews of his ships killed upon the shore. No provisions nor refreshments are to be obtained here; for the whole country, to the distance of several miles inland, is barren and desolate. The mouth of the harbour is narrow, and has many rocks and shoals around it; and the tide runs with great rapidity. The islands adjacent to Port Desire abound in prodigious numbers of seals, penguins, and sea-birds.

Beyond Cape Blanco there are some large and extensive bays; but of the whole coast, betwixt this Cape and the river La Plata, very little is known.

The Indians of Patagonia.

With regard to the inhabitants of the southern extremity of America, they are usually divided into two distinct nations, one of which, called Moluches, live on the western, and the other, called Puelches, live chiefly on the eastern side of the mountains. Of these the former are subdivided into several tribes, some of which are now mixed with the Araucanos of Chili, and accord, in most of their habits and customs, with that people.

The Puelches, or eastern inhabitants of Patagonia, occupy nearly all the remaining parts of the country. They are subdivided into four tribes, the individuals of which have, in general, no fixed habitations nor places. of residence. One of these tribes called Tehuelhets, are the same that have been denominated Patagonians. They are more numerous than all the other Indians of this part of America. They are of gigantic stature, many of them being from six to seven feet in height. This is a fact, which was first established by Magalhaens, and which has subsequently been confirmed by the navigators, Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Bougainville, and numerous others.

Captain Wallis describes the Patagonians to be of a deep copper colour, and to have their hair straight, and as harsh as hog's bristles. This, he says, they wear tied in a bag, with a cotton string. They are well formed, robust, and bony, and are clothed with the skins of the guanaco, an animal of the camel tribe. These skins they sew together, in pieces about six feet long, and five feet wide; and wrap round their body, fastening them with a girdle. Some of the Patagonians wear a square piece of cloth, made of the downy hair of the same animal; this they hang round their neck, a hole being made for the head, and it falls down round their body as far as the knees. Their stockings or boots, are of the rudest kind; consisting

merely of the skin of a horse's thigh and leg, flayed off whole, dried, and softened with grease. They paint their face red or black. Round one eye they have often painted a large white circle, and round the other a black one. Similar circles are sometimes painted on other parts of their face, and round their arms. The eyelids of all the young women are painted black. Their teeth are, in general, white and even.

Most of them are furnished with a kind of sling, which they use as an offensive weapon, and carry with them, tucked in their girdle. This consists of a double string, about eight feet long, having a piece of leather at the extremity, capable of holding two stones, weighing about a pound each. The Patagonians use this sling, by whirling it round their head till it has acquired a sufficient force, when they discharge the stones from it against the object they are desirous to strike. In the management of this kind of double shot, they are so expert that they are able, with both stones, to hit a mark at the distance of fifty feet. In their chase of the guanaco and the American ostrich, they use this sling in a different way, they approach these animals by galloping after them on horseback; and, when near, they swing the balls round their legs so as to throw them down, and prevent their further flight.

All the Patagonians, both men and women, have horses, which appear to be of a Spanish breed, and which were, no doubt, originally obtained from the Spanish colonies; and they ride with great ease and security. Bougainville asserts that they lead nearly the same kind of life as the Tartars: that they wander, on horse-back, through the immense plains of South America, pursuing the game or wild beasts with which these plains abound. They eat their food raw, and even devour the paunch of the ostrich, without ny other preparation than turning it inside out and shaking it.

Each family of Patagonians is of a cast or tribe distinguished by the name of some animal; and they