176 CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS OF CHAP. u. 



Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and, for comparison, that of 

 Dublin : 



Summer WinUr Mean of Summer 

 Temp. Temp. and Winter. _. 



Tierra del Fuego ; \ 5338'S. 50 33 '08 41 -54 



Falkland Islands , 51 30 S. 51 



Dublin S3 21 N. 59-54 39 'a 49 '37 



Hence we see that the central part of Tierra del Fuego is colder in 

 winter, and no less than 9^ less hot in summer, than Dublin. Accord- 

 ing to Von Buch the mean temperature of July (not the hottest month 

 in the year) at Saltenfiord in Norway, is as high as 57'8, and this place 

 is actually 13 nearer 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. 55 S. I 

 have already remarked to what a degree the sea swarms with living 

 creatures ; and the shells (such as the Patellae, Fissurellae, 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 Blancha, 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 perfection. Even the crops of barley and wheat f are often brought 

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



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

 observations by Captain King (Geographical Journal, 1830), and those taken 

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

 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, and February. The temperature of Dublin is taken 

 from Barton. 



f Agueros, "Descrip. Hist, de la Prov. de Chilo^," 1791, p. 94, 



