CHAPTER II.

We enter Straits of Magellan--Reach Sandy Point--Gold and Coal--Surrounding Country--Elizabeth Island--Dredging--Fuegians at Port Famine--We enter Smyth's Channel--Canoe "Portage" at Isthmus Bay--Arrive at Tom Bay--A Fuegian Family--Trinidad Channel--Climate of Western Patagonia--Flora--Rock Formation--Soilcap--Natives--The Channel Tribe of Fuegians--Scarcity of Old People--Water-birds of Tom Bay--Sea Otters--A Concealed "Portage"--Habits of Gulls and Shags--Steamer-ducks--Land-shells--Fresh-water Fish--Deer 34-65