^256 TIERRA DEL FUEGO chap. 



heights. In the midst of such scenery we anchored at Cape 

 Turn close to Mount Sarmiento, which was then hidden in the 

 clouds. At the base of the lofty and almost perpendicular 

 sides of our little cove there was one deserted wigwam, and 

 it alone reminded us that man sometimes wandered into 

 these desolate regions. But it would be difficult to imagine a 

 scene where he seemed to have fewer claims or less authority. 

 The inanimate works of nature — rock, ice, snow, wind, and 

 water, all warring with each other, yet combined against man 

 — here reigned in absolute sovereignty. 



June gth. — In the morning we were delighted by seeing the 

 veil of mist gradually rise from Sarmiento, and display it to 

 our view. This mountain, which is one of the highest in 

 Tierra del Fuego, has an altitude of 6800 feet. Its base, for 

 about an eighth of its total height, is clothed by dusky woods, 

 and above this a field of snow extends to the summit. These 

 vast piles of snow, which never melt, and seem destined to last 

 as long as the world holds together, present a noble and even 

 sublime spectacle. The outline of the mountain was admirabl}' 

 clear and defined. Owing to the abundance of light reflected 

 from the white and glittering surface, no shadows were cast on 

 any part ; and those lines which intersected the sky could 

 alone be distinguished : hence the mass stood out in the 

 boldest relief Several glaciers descended in a winding course 

 from the upper great expanse of snow to the sea-coast : they 

 may be likened to great frozen Niagaras ; and perhaps these 

 cataracts of blue ice are full as beautiful as the moving ones of 

 water. By night we reached the western part of the channel ; 

 but the water was so deep that no anchorage could be found. 

 We were in consequence obliged to stand off and on in this 

 narrow arm of the sea, during a pitch-dark night of fourteen 

 hours long. 



Jime loth. — In the morning we made the best of our way 

 into the open Pacific. The western coast generally consists of 

 low, rounded, quite barren hills of granite and greenstone. Sir 

 J. Narborough called one part South Desolation, because it is 

 ** so desolate a land to behold :" and well indeed might lie say 

 so. Outside the main islands there are numberless scattered 

 rocks on which the long swell of the open ocean incessantly 

 rages. We passed out between the East and West Furies ; 



