232 CHARLES DARWIN 



invent and build canoes, which are not used by the tribes 

 of Chile, Peru, and Brazil, and then to enter on one of the 

 most inhospitable countries within the limits of the globe? 

 Although such reflections must at first seize on the mind, yet 

 we may feel sure that they are partly erroneous. There is 

 no reason to believe that the Fuegians decrease in number; 

 therefore we must suppose that they enjoy a sufficient share 

 of happiness, of whatever kind it may be, to render life 

 worth having. Nature by making habit omnipotent, and its 

 effects hereditary, has fitted the Fuegian to the climate and 

 the productions of his miserable country. 



After having been detained six days in Wigwam Cove by 

 very bad weather, we put to sea on the 3Oth of December. 

 Captain Fitz Roy wished to get westward to land York and 

 Fuegia in their own country. When at sea we had a constant 

 succession of gales, and the current was against us: we 

 drifted to 57 23' south. On the nth of January, 1833, by 

 carrying a press of sail, we fetched within a few miles of 

 the great rugged mountain of York Minster (so called by 

 Captain Cook, and the origin of the name of the elder Fu- 

 egian), when a violent squall compelled us to shorten sail 

 and stand out to sea. The surf was breaking fearfully on 

 the coast, and the spray was carried over a cliff estimated 

 to 200 feet in height. On the I2th the gale was very heavy, 

 and we did not know exactly where we were : it was a most 

 unpleasant sound to hear constantly repeated, " keep a good 

 look-out to leeward." On the i3th the storm raged with its 

 full fury: our horizon was narrowly limited by the sheets 

 of spray borne by the wind. The sea looked ominous, like 

 a dreary waving plain with patches of drifted snow: whilst 

 the ship laboured heavily, the albatross glided with its ex- 

 panded wings right up the wind. At noon a great sea broke 

 over us, and filled one of the whale boats, which was 

 obliged to be instantly cut away. The poor Beagle trembled 

 at the shock, and for a few minutes would not obey her helm ; 

 but soon, like a good ship that she was, she righted and came 

 up to the wind again. Had another sea followed the first, 

 our fate would have been decided soon, and for ever. We 

 had now been twenty-four days trying in vain to get west- 



