1833.J A'l PORT DESIRE. 169 



calm weather than ordinary, during which time it has 

 swarmed with various animals. Observing that the water 

 charged with gelatinous particles is in an impure state, and 

 that the luminous appearance in all common cases is pro- 

 duced by the agitation of the fluid in contact with the 

 atmosphere, I am inclined to consider that the phosphor- 

 escence is the result of the decomposition of the organic 

 particles, by which process (one is tempted almost to call 

 it a kind of respiration) the ocean becomes purified. 



December 2.yd. — We arrived at Port Desire, situated in 

 lat. 47°, on the coast of Patagonia. The creek runs for 

 about twenty miles inland, with an irregular width. The 

 Beagle anchored a few miles within the entrance, in front 

 of the ruins of an old Spanish settlement. 



The same evening I went on shore. The first landing 

 in any nefw country is very interesting, and especially when, 

 as in this case, the whole aspect bears the stamp of a 

 marked and individual character. At the height of between 

 two and three hundred feet above some masses of porphyry 

 a wide plain extends, which is truly characteristic of 

 Patagonia. The surface is quite level, and is composed of 

 well-rounded shingle mixed with a whitish earth. Here 

 and there scattered tufts of brown wiry grass are supported, 

 and, still more rarely, some low thorny bushes. The 

 weather is dry and pleasant, and the fine blue sky is but 

 seldom obscured. When standing in the middle of one of 

 these desert plains and looking towards the interior, the 

 view is generally bounded by the escarpment of another 

 plain, rather higher, but equally level and desolate ; and 

 in every other direction the horizon is indistinct from the 

 trembling mirage which seems to rise from the heated 

 surface. 



In such a country the fate of the Spanish settlement 

 was soon decided; the dryness of the climate during the 

 greater part of the year, and the occasional hostile attacks 

 of the wandering Indians, compelled the colonists to desert 

 their half-finished buildings. The style, however, in which 

 they were commenced shows the strong and liberal hand 

 of Spain in the old time. The result of all the attempts to 

 colonize this side of America south of 41°, has been miser- 

 able. Port Famine expresses by its name the lingering and 

 extreme sufferings of several hundred wretched people, of 

 whom one alone survived to relate their misfortunes. At 



