136 SOUTH AGAIN : NEW ZEALAND AND THE CAPE 



Berberry flowered with bright golden blossoms, the tufts 

 of Misodendrons on the beeches grew quite brilliant, and the 

 crumply leaved beech burst at every twig, emitting a delicious 

 resinous smell. Nature was evidently taking every advan- 

 tage of the fine days, and I began to think that seed-time 

 and harvest would all be over together in one month, and 

 could not conceive what the poor plants were to have to do 

 during all the summer if spring was so fine. My Father's class 

 song of Spring, all I remember of which is, ' The Larch hangs 

 all its tassels forth,' was nothing to this. I certainly never 

 saw anything like the sudden bound vegetation took in ten 

 or twelve days. We arrived in winter and it was summer 

 already. A few days more, however, changed the face of 

 nature, and after all the Snow had disappeared, two or three 

 hours covered everything with a white mantle and the 

 weather continued very changeable during our whole stay. 

 Clouds and fogs, rain and snow justified all Darwin's 

 accurate descriptions of a dreary Fuegian summer. In- 

 deed all Darwin's remarks are so true and so graphic 

 wherever we go that Mr. Ly ell's kind present is not only 

 indispensable but a delightful companion and guide. 



The Westerly winds which prevail seldom affect the 

 waters of the cove, but when they are strong and gales 

 set in with drifting clouds, snow and rain, the whole land 

 appears savage to a degree. The force of the wind and its 

 effects are not to be compared to Kerguelen's Land, where 

 the steady torrents of wind came rushing down in one 

 impetuous stream through the valley at the head of 

 Christmas Harbour ; here they dash down from the narrow 

 gorges of the mountains, deflected from their course, and 

 burst on the ship with a clap like thunder, tear the water 

 up and are gone in an instant ; two will sometimes meet 

 from opposite quarters, and unfelt a few yards off, whisk 

 up a cloud of spray and continue struggling down the Cove 

 until, perhaps, they split and run along in two divaricating 

 lines of foam, as far as the eye can trace them. The gusts 

 were in no instance stronger than at Kerguelen's Land, and 

 from their short duration do not bring a strain on the cable 

 or cause us to drift from our moorings, but from their sudden- 

 ness they were more remarkable. It was very interesting 

 to walk the deck with hat tied on and watch these freaks 



