408 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 



Description of the Strait. — Western Entranc?. — Point Dunseness. — Tlie Narrows. — Saint Philip's Bay. 

 — Cape Froward. — Grand Scenery. — Port Famine. — 'I he Sedger River. — Darwin's Ascent of Jlount 

 Tarn. — The Bachelor River. — Enj^li.sh Reach. — Sea Reach. — South Desolation. — Harbor of Mercy.— 

 Williwaws. — Discovery of the Strait by Ma2:ellan (October 20, 1521). — Drake. — Sarmiento. — Cav- 

 endish. — Schouten and Le Maire. — BjTon. — Bougainville. — AVallis and Carteret. — King and Fitz- 

 roy. — Settlement at Punta Arenas. — Licreasing Passage through the Strait. — A future Highway of 

 Commerce. 



npiIE celebrated strait which bears the name of Magellan is generally pic- 



X 



turecl as the scene of a wild and dreary desolation ; but though its climate 



is far from being genial, and its skies are often veiled with mists and rain, yet 

 nature can smile even here. 



A glance at the map shows us the extreme irregularity of its formation, as 

 it is constantly changing in width and direction ; now swelling almost to the 

 magnitude of a Mediterranean Sen, and then again contracting to a narrow 

 passage ; sometimes taking a rapid turn to the north, and at others as sudden- 

 ly deviating to the south. Islands and islets of every form — some mere naked 

 rocks, others clothed with umbrageous woods — are scattered over its surface; 

 promontories without number, from the Patagonian mainland or the Fuegian 

 archipelago, protrude their bold fronts into its bosom, as if with the intention 



