ASCENT OF MOUNT TARN 



249- 



When the Beagle was here in the month of February, I 

 started one morning at four o'clock to ascend Mount Tarn,, 

 which is 2600 feet high, and is the most elevated point in this 

 immediate district. We went in a boat to the foot of the moun- 

 tain (but unluckily not to the best part), and then began our 

 ascent. The forest commences at the line of high-water mark, 

 and during the first two hours I gave over all hopes of reaching 

 the summit. So thick was the wood, that it was necessary to 

 have constant recourse to the compass ; for every landmark, 

 though in a mountainous country, was completely shut out. In 

 the deep ravines the deathlike scene of desolation exceeded all 

 description ; outside it was blowing a gale, but in these hollows- 



PATAGONIAN SPURS AND PIPE. 



not even a breath of wind stirred the leaves of the tallest trees. 

 So gloom}-, cold, and wet was every part, that not even the 

 fungi, mosses, or ferns could flourish. In the valleys it was 

 scarcely possible to crawl along, they were so completely bar- 

 ricaded by great mouldering trunks, which had fallen down in 

 every direction. When passing over these natural bridges, one's 

 course was often arrested by sinking knee-deep into the rotten 

 wood ; at other times, when attempting to lean against a firm 

 tree, one was startled by finding a mass of decayed matter ready 

 to fall at the slightest touch. W^e at last found ourselves among 

 the stunted trees, and then soon reached the bare ridge, which 

 conducted us to the summit. Here was a view characteristic of 

 Tierra del Fuego ; irregular chains of hills, mottled with patches 



