1834.] CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. 231 



man dream for a week about shipwrecks, peril, and death ; aud 

 with this sight we bade farewell for ever to Tierra del Fuego. 



The following discussion on the climate of the southern parts of 

 the continent with relation to its productions, on the snow-line, 

 on the extraordinarily low descent of the glaciers, and on the zone 

 of perpetual congelation in the antarctic islands, may be passed 

 over by any one not interested in these curious subjects, or the final 

 recapitulation alone may be read. I shall, however, here give only 

 an abstract, and must refer for details to the Thirteenth Chapter 

 and the Appendix of the former edition of this work. 



On the Climate and Productions of Tierra del Fuego and of the 

 South-ivest Coast. The following table gives the mean temperature 

 of Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and, for comparison, 

 that of Dublin : 



Summer Winter Mean of Summer 

 Latitude. TCUII) Temp a nd Winter. 



Tierra del Fuego . , 53 38' S. 50 33-08 41-54 



Falkland Islands . . 51 30 S. 51 



Dublin .... 53 21 N. 59-54 39'2 49'37 



Hence we see that the central part of Tierra del Fuego is colder 

 in winter, and no less than 9^ less hot in summer, than Dublin. 

 According to Von Buch, the mean temperature of July (not the 

 hottest mouth in the year) at Saltenfiord in Norway, is as high as 

 57'8, and this place is actually 13 nearer the pole than Port 

 Famine ! * Inhospitable as this climate appears to our feelings, 

 evergreen trees flourish luxuriantly under it. Humming-birds 

 may be seen sucking the flowers, and parrots feeding on the seeds 

 of the Winter's Bark, in lat. 55 S. I have already remarked to 

 what a degree the sea swarms with living creatures; and the shells 

 (such as the Patella?, Fissurells), Chitons, and Barnacles), according 

 to Mr. G. B. Sowerby, are of a much larger size, and of a more 

 vigorous growth, than the analogous species in the northern 

 hemisphere. A large Voluta is abundant in southern Tierra del 

 Fuego and the Falkland Islands. At Bahia Blanca, in lat. 39 S., 



* With respect to Tierra del Fuego, the results are deduced from the 

 observations by Capt. King (C4eographical Journal, 1830), and those taken 

 on board the Beagle. For the Falkland Islands, I am indebted to Capt. 

 8ulivan for the mean of the mean temperature (reduced from careful ob- 

 servation at midnight, 8 A.M., noon, and 8 P.M.) of the three hottest months, 

 vi/. December, January, and February. The temperature of Dublin is 

 taken from ttarton. 



