CHAP, x.] SETTLEMENT AT WOOLLY A. 213 



within less than a stone's throw of the shore, over which the 

 beech-tree extended its branches. 



We sailed on till it was dark, and then pitched our tents in a 

 quiet creek. The greatest luxury was to find for our beds a beach 

 of pebbles, for they were dry and yielded to the body. Peaty soil 

 is damp; rock is uneven and hard; sand gets into one's meat, 

 when cooked and eaten boat-fashion ; but when lying in our 

 blanket-bags, on a good bed of smooth pebbles, we passed most 

 comfortable nights. 



It was my watch till one o'clock. There is something very 

 solemn in these scenes. At no time does the consciousness in 

 what a remote corner of the world you are then standing, come so 

 strongly before the mind. Everything tends to this effect ; the 

 stillness of the night is interrupted only by the heavy breathing of 

 the seamen beneath the tents, and sometimes by the cry of a night- 

 bird. The occasional barking of a dog, heard in the distance, 

 reminds one that it is the land of the savage. 



January 29//i. Early in the morning we arrived at the point 

 where the Beagle Channel divides into two arms; and we entered 

 the northern one. The scenery here becomes even grander than 

 before. The lofty mountains on the north side compose the 

 granitic axis, or backbone of the country, and boldly rise to a 

 height of between three and four thousand feet, with one peak 

 above six thousand feet. They are covered by a wide mantle of 

 perpetual snow, and numerous cascades pour their waters, through 

 the woods, into the narrow channel below. In many part-, 

 magnificent glaciers extend from the mountain side to the water's 

 edge. It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful 

 than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and especially as 

 contrasted with the dead white of the upper expanse of snow. 

 The fragments which had fallen from the glacier into the water 

 were floating away, and the channel with its icebergs presented, 

 for the space of a mile, a miniature likeness of the Polar Sea. 

 The boats being hauled on shore at our dinner-hour, we were 

 admiring from the distance of half a mile a perpendicular cliff of 

 ice, and were wishing that some more fragments would fall. At 

 last, down came a mass with a roaring noise, and immediately we 

 saw the smooth outline of a wave travelling towards us. The 

 men ran down as quickly as they could to the boats ; for the 

 chance of their being dashed to pieces was evident. One of the 



