

IS34.] TIERRA DEL FUEGO AND THE WEST COAST. 243 



the pole than Port Famine !* Inhospitable as this climate 

 appears to our feelings, evergreen trees nourish 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 (sucli as the Patellae, Fissurelloe, 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 abundarl 

 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 Valdivia (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 

 observations 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, and February. The temperature of Dublin is 

 taken from Barton. 



f A£iieros, Descrip. Hist, de la Prov le Chiloe, 1791, p. 94. 



K 2 



