THE POLAR WORLD. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 



Description of the Strait.— Western Entrance.— Point Dungeness.— The Narrows.— Saint Philip's Bay. 

 —Cape Froward.— Grand Scenery.- Port Farnine.— The Sedger River.— Darwin's Ascent of Mount 

 Tarn.— The Bachelor River.— English Reach.— Sea Reach.— South Desolation.— Harbor of Mercy.— 

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

 endish.— Schouten and Le Maire. — Byron.— Bougainville. — Wallis and Carteret.— King and Fitz- 

 ro_v.— Settlement at Punta Arenas.— Increasing Passage through the Strait.— A future Highway of 

 Commerce. 



'T^HE celebratecl strait which bears the name of Magellan is generally pic- 

 -*- tured 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 Sea, 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 Avoods — are scattered over its surface ; 

 l)romontories without number, from the Patagonian mainland or the Fuegian 

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



