68 DR. JOHN SCOULER. of the font and the walls in some parts preserved their whitewashed appearance. To the N. E. of the church is a beautiful plane watered by the largest rivulet we had seen, & quite covered by corn fields which are still sepa- rated from one another by their ancient land marks. As this valley approaches the hills, the clusters of Pteris raising their green fronds on the margins of the stream has a most pleasing appearance, & is in my opinion the most beautifull vegetable ornament of the island. Land animals are by no means numerous on Juan Fer- nandez, nor can it boast of a single indigenous mammif- erous animal. The bullock, the goat & the rat are the only animals of this class found on it, & all of them have been introduced. The cattle are now driven from the north side of the island by the frequent visits it receives. The people who are employed in procuring them adopt the following methods: The bullocks are driven into a small plane bounded on all sides by steap hills & are then shot. In taking the goats a different method is pursued. The hunters lay down in those situations that goats fre- quent & as they leap over them they cut their hamstrings with a sharpe knife. The island is entirely destitute of lizards and serpents. The rocky shores afford a safe retreat to the Procellaria & other sea fowls which abound near the island. Land birds are not so numerous, we only saw a species of pigeon & those only of small size. The bay abounds in inex[h]aus.tible supplies of fish so that although the visitor may be dissapointed in procuring any cattle from the shore, he may be certain of an abun- dant supply of fresh provisions. Our limited time did not allow me to examine the fish we caught with sufficient care. The most abundant & the best is a species of Gadus & the rocks are almost covered by a sp. of Cychpterus.
