a century later, and had read the quaint descriptions of the region by Magellan, Drake, Cook and the hardy sea explorers who followed them.
Out in the straits whales, porpoises and seals made their presence known at times, but sea birds were more constant objects of interest. The nesting places of cormorants were marked by masses of black backed, white-breasted birds, acres in extent. From low island levels Cassin terns rose in clouds of protesting thousands when our boats grounded.
"Steamer" ducks[1] kept well ahead of the active oarsmen, their flightless wings aiding their webbed feet in a manner suggestive of paddle wheels used as auxiliaries to screw propellers, trailing a foamy wake a hundred yards behind. The species belongs exclusively to southern South America and is altogether the most notable bird of the straits region. It is said to weigh over fifteen pounds. While it can not, or at least does not, fly, and is seldom inclined to dive, the rapidity of its progress over the surface long ago attracted the attention of explorers and navigators. Most observers are of the opinion that the wings move alternately when in motion. An occasional penguin—that flightless, burly diver, peculiar to Antarctic seas—only showed himself above water in porpoise-like leaps and was seldom easy to get.
The diving petrel,[2] also Antarctic in range, was by special request a mark for all guns, but no specimens were taken. As a quick diver it
