FORESTS AT VILLARINO BAY. 151 



inches. The brilliant green of the ferns and several species of mosses 

 and Hepaticae was mingled with golden-colored Hypnums, and the richly 

 tinted whites, pinks, oranges and yellows of a multitudinous variety of 

 lichens and fungi. Nor was this beautiful assemblage of colors and pat- 

 terns limited to the surface of the ground ; the trunks of the trees were 

 likewise covered with them, while they hung in long festoons from the 

 lower branches like beautiful draperies, frequently arranged with fauUless 

 taste. The trees were, generally speaking, of considerable dimensions, sev- 

 eral feet in diameter, but rather low and with numerous large horizontal 

 branches. So low and abundant were these branches in many places, that 

 they offered a serious obstacle to my progress through the forests and 

 compelled me to leave the ground and take to the branches, where for 

 several hours I walked about, stepping from one limb to another, fre- 

 quently many feet above the earth. While thus engaged with these 

 novel experiences, and in the midst of such interesting surroundings, I 

 was so completely shut in and protected by the dense foliage of the 

 uppermost branches of the trees, that I was only occasionally reminded of 

 the fierce storm which was raging without by the increased rumbling 

 above my head, due to the particularly violent "williwaws" that at inter- 

 vals descended from the snow-clad mountains in the rear and swept down 

 through the forests and out over the turbulent waters of the bay. The 

 delicate foliage kept perpetually fresh by frequent showers and the variety 

 and harmony of colors displayed by the ferns, mosses, Hepaticse and 

 lichens, which grow in such profusion in the depths of these forests, are 

 most pleasing in their effects. They enhance the other natural beauties 

 of this region and give to the quiet depths of these sylvan retreats a 

 peculiar attractiveness, contrasting strongly with the rugged canons and 

 serrated peaks of the higher Andes. 



Since I had been assured by the ship's officer that I need be in no hurry 

 and might take my own time for returning to the vessel, I passed most of 

 the remainder of the day, quite alone, in the solitude of this truly wonder- 

 ful and primitive forest, returning in the evening with my botany press, 

 pockets and arms filled with botanical specimens, not a few of which 

 proved to pertain to previously unknown species. 



During the evening of the twenty-fourth of May the storm subsided, 

 and as the morning of the twenty-fifth dawned, we were steaming leisurely 

 through the western stretches of Beagle Channel, one of the most 



