204 CHONOS ARCHIPELAGO. [CHAP. jan. 



there was no beach, but the steep sides dipped directly beneath the 

 water. The general aspect in consequence was more like that of 

 Tierra del Fuego than of Chiloe. In vain we tried to gain the summit : 

 the forest was so impenetrable, that no one who has not beheld it, can 

 imagine so entangled a mass of dying and dead trunks. I am sure 

 that often, for more than ten minutes together, our feet never touched 

 the ground, and we were frequently ten or fifteen feet above it, so that 

 the seamen as a joke called out the soundings. At other times we 

 crept one after another on our hands and knees, under the rotten 

 trunks. In the lower part of the mountain, noble trees of the Winter's 

 Bark, and a laurel like the sassafras with fragrant leaves, and others, 

 the names of which I do not know, were matted together by a trailing 

 bamboo or cane. Here we were more like fishes struggling in a net 

 than any other animal. On the higher parts, brushwood takes the 

 place of larger trees, with here and there a red cedar or an alerce pine. 

 I was also pleased to see, at an elevation of a little less than 1,000 feet, 

 our old friend the southern beech. They were, however, poor stunted 

 trees ; and I should think that this must be nearly their northern limit. 

 We ultimately gave up the attempt in despair. 



December loth. The yawl and whale-boat, with Mr. Sulivan, pro- 

 ceeded on their survey, but I remained on board the Beagle, which the 

 next day left San Pedro for the southward. On the I3th we ran into 

 an opening in the southern part of Guayatecas, or the Chonos Archi- 

 pelago ; and it was fortunate we did so, for on the following day a 

 storm, worthy of Tierra del Fuego, raged with great fury. White 

 massive clouds were piled up against a dark blue sky, and across them 

 black ragged sheets of vapour were rapidly driven. The successive 

 mountain ranges appeared like dim shadows ; and the setting sun cast 

 on the woodland a yellow gleam, much like that produced by the flame 

 of spirits of wine. The water was white with the flying spray, and the 

 wind lulled and roared again through the rigging : it was an ominous, 

 sublime scene. During a few minutes there was a bright rainbow, and it 

 was curious to observe the effect of the spray, which, being carried 

 along the surface, of the water, changed the ordinary semicircle into a 

 circle a band of prismatic colours being continued, from both feet of 

 the common arch across the bay, close to the vessel's side : thus 

 forming a distorted, but very nearly entire ring. 



We stayed here three days. The weather continued bad ; but this 

 did not much signify, for the surface of the land in all these islands is 

 all but impassable. The coast is so very rugged that to attempt to 

 walk in that direction requires continued scrambling up and down over 

 the sharp rocks of mica-slate ; and as for the woods, our faces, hands, 

 and shin-bones all bore witness to the maltreatment we received, in 

 merely attempting to penetrate their forbidden recesses. 



December i&th. We stood out to sea. On the 2oth we bade farewell 

 to the south, and with a fair wind turned the ship's head northward. 

 From Cape Tres Montes we sailed pleasantly along the lofty weather- 

 beaten coast, which is remarkable for the bold outline of its hills, and 

 the thick covering of forest even on the almost precipitous flanks. The 



