loaded with humidity, its salubrity is not injured 

 (hereby, for both husbandmen and travellers sleep 

 in the open air with perfect security. 



Fogs are common on the coast, especially in 



could be met ^^ ith amidst sucli excessive cold, or that parrets, 

 birds so attached to heat, should voluntarily inhabit a climate 

 condemned to perpetual winter ? And if the summer is so 

 cold that, accortling to this author, it may be compared to 

 midwinter in England, what idea must we form of the Ma- 

 gellanic winters. It is certain that Winter's bark is not only 

 met with in abundance on tlie northern shores of this strait, 

 but also from the account of Capt, Cook, in his second voyage, 

 on the island of Fuego ; yet this tree, which grows so plenti- 

 tuliy in the open air, cannot endure the winter of England, 

 whither it has been carried, unless aided by the artificial 

 warmth of a hot-house. To which may be added, that the 

 sea which surrounds those shores is never frozen, notwith- 

 standing the great quantities of fresh water that flow into it ; 

 a fact which all the European navigators who double Cape 

 Horn in snidwinter can testify. In themonth of June, 1768, 

 I was myself upon a voyage in that sea, as far as the 6 1st 

 degree of latitude, without meeting with the least indication 

 of freezing; and though it snowed very often, the cold was 

 not severer than that uhicii is usually felt during the winter 

 in Bologna. The floating islands of ice which are frequently 

 met with in those seas, particularly in the summer, are driven 

 by the southern w inds which blow from the antarctic regions. 

 The French who, in 1765, formed a settlement upon the 

 Maluine islands, in 51 deg. 40 min. lat. affirmed, that the win- 

 ter which they passed there was by no means severe, and that 

 the snow was never in such quantities as to cover the soles of 

 their shoes.* I have no doubt of the unpleasant occurrence 

 which befel Mr. Banks and his companion on the island of 



?ee M. de Ncrville's Letters, 

 3 



