;834.] TIERRA DEL FUEGO AND THE WEST COAST, 243 



the pole than Port Famine!* Inhospitable as this climate 



appears to our feelings, evergreen trees flourish luxuriantly under 



it. Humming-birds may be seen sucking the flowers, and parrots 



feeding on the seeds of the Winter's Bark, in lat. do"" S. I have 



already remarked to what a degree the sea swarms with living 



creatures ; and the shells (such as the Patellae, Fissurellge, Chitons, 



and Barnacles), according to Mr. G. B. Sowerby, are of a much 



larger size, and of a more vigorous growth, than the analogous 



species in the northern hemisphere. A large Voluta is abundant 



in southern Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. At 



Bahia Blanca, in lat 39° S., the most abundant shells were three 



species of Oliva (one of large size), one or two Volutas, and a 



Terebra. Now these are amongst the best characterised tropical 



forms. It is doubtful whether even one small species of Oliva 



exists on the southern shores of Europe, and there are no species of 



the two other genera. If a geologist were to find in lat. 39^ on 



the coast of Portugal, a bed containing numerous shells belonging 



to three species of Oliva, to a Voluta and Terebra, he would 



probably assert that the climate at the period of their existence 



must have been tropical ; but judging from South America, such 



an inference might be erroneous. 



The equable, humid, and windy climate of Tierra del Fuego 

 extends, with only a small increase of heat, for many degrees 

 along the west coast of the continent. The forests, for 600 

 miles northward of Cape Horn, have a very similar aspect. As 

 a proof of the equable climate, even for 300 or 400 miles still 

 further northward, I may mention that in Chiloe (corresponding 

 in latitude with the northern parts of Spain) the peach seldom 

 produces fruit, whilst strawberries and apples thrive to perfec- 

 tion. Even the crops of barley and wheat f are often brought 

 into the houses to be dried and ripened. At Yaldivia (in the 

 same latitude of 40°, with Madrid) grapes and figs ripen, but are 

 not common ; olives seldom ripen even partially, and oranges 



* With respect to Tierra del Fuego, the results are deduced from the 

 observ-ations by Capt. King (Geographical Journal, 1830), and those taken 

 on board the Beagle. For the Falkland Islands, I am indebted to Capt. 

 Sulivan for the mean of the mean temperature (reduced from careful ob- 

 servation at midnight, 8 a.m., noon, and 8 p.m.) of the three hottest months 

 viz. December, January, ana February. The temperature of Dublin is 

 taken from Barton. 



t Agiieros, Descrip Hist, de la Prov. de Chiloe, I7<i!, p 94. 



