[Illustration:  Bartering with Fuegians]

[Footnote 4:  These skins proved to be the very finest quality ever plucked, and each separate skin was valued in England at from 4_l_. to 5_l_.]

The party consisted of a man, a woman, and a lad; and I think I never saw delight more strongly depicted than it was on the faces of the two latter, when they handled, for the first time in their lives probably, some strings of blue, red, and green glass beads.  They had two rough pots, made of bark, in the boat, which they also sold, after which they reluctantly departed, quite naked but very happy, shouting and jabbering away in the most inarticulate language imaginable.  It was with great difficulty we could make them let go the rope, when we went ahead, and I was quite afraid they would be upset.  They were all fat and healthy-looking, and, though not handsome, their appearance was by no means repulsive; the countenance of the woman, especially, wore quite a pleasing expression, when lighted up with smiles at the sight of the beads and looking-glasses.  The bottom of their canoe was covered with branches, amongst which the ashes of a recent fire were distinguishable.  Their paddles were of the very roughest description, consisting simply of split branches of trees, with wider pieces tied on at one end with the sinews of birds or beasts.

Steaming ahead, past Port Gallant, we had a glorious view over Carlos III.  Island and Thornton Peaks, until, at about seven o clock, we anchored in the little harbour of Borja Bay.  This place is encircled by luxuriant vegetation, overhanging the water, and is set like a gem amid the granite rocks close at hand, and the far-distant snowy mountains.

[Illustration:  Thornton Peaks]

Our carpenter had prepared a board, on which the name of the yacht and the date had been painted, to be fixed on shore, as a record of our visit; and as soon as the anchor was down we all landed, the gentlemen with their guns, and the crew fully armed with pistols and rifles, in case of accident.  The water was quite deep close to the shore, and we had no difficulty in landing, near a small waterfall.  To penetrate far inland, however, was not so easy, owing to the denseness of the vegetation.  Large trees had fallen, and, rotting where they lay, under the influence of the humid atmosphere, had become the birthplace of thousands of other trees, shrubs, plants, ferns, mosses, and lichens.  In fact, in some places we might almost be said to be walking on the tops of the trees, and first one and then another of the party found his feet suddenly slipping through into unknown depths below.  Under these circumstances we were contented with a very short ramble, and having filled our baskets with a varied collection of mosses and ferns, we returned to the shore, where we found many curious shells and some excellent mussels.  While we had been thus engaged, the carpenter and some of the crew were employed in nailing up our board on a tree we had selected for the purpose.  It was in company with the names of many good ships, a portion of which only were still legible, many of the boards having fallen to the ground and become quite rotten.