258 CHARLES DARWIN 



light reflected from the white and glittering surface, no 

 shadows were cast on any part ; and those lines which inter- 

 sected the sky could alone be distinguished: hence the mass 

 stood out in the boldest relief. Several glaciers descended in 

 a winding course from the upper great expanse of snow to 

 the sea-coast : they may be likened to great frozen Niagaras ; 

 and perhaps these cataracts of blue ice are full as beautiful 

 as the moving ones of water. By night we reached the west- 

 ern part of the channel; but the water was so deep that no 

 anchorage could be found. We were in consequence obliged 

 to stand off and on in this narrow arm of the sea, during a 

 pitch-dark night of fourteen hours long. 



June loth. In the morning we made the best of our way 

 into the open Pacific. The western coast generally consists 

 of low, rounded, quite barren hills of granite and greenstone. 

 Sir J. Narborough called one part South Desolation, because 

 it is " so desolate a land to behold :" and well indeed might 

 he say so. Outside the main islands, there are numberless 

 scattered rocks on which the long swell of the open ocean 

 incessantly rages. We passed out between the East and West 

 Furies ; and a little farther northward there are so many 

 breakers that the sea is called the Milky Way. One sight of 

 such a coast is enough to make a landsman dream for a week 

 about shipwrecks, peril, and death; and 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 re- 

 capitulation 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-west Coast. The following table gives the 

 mean temperature of Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, 

 and, for comparison, that of Dublin: 



