VOYAGE ROUND CAPE HORN. 355 



Cavendish, and others, whose adventures and sufferings give an in- 

 terest to these savage scenes which their own desolateness, though 

 grand in itself, could not inspire : for the same reasons, I regret not 

 having seen Chiloe for Byron's sake. 



\1tli February. — To-day we ran through the straights of Le Maire. 

 The land on the side of America about Cape Good Success seems 

 good and pleasant, with many gentle hills covered with grass and 

 trees : beyond, are high mountains ; and on the coast some abrupt 

 rocks, and frequent harbours and coves. Staten Land on the east side 

 of the straights, is so bleak and barren-looking, that I suppose it will 

 be one of the last spots on the globe that will be inhabited. 



The weather is chilly and uncomfortable. 



14t7i, off Falkland's Islands. — This morning we found ourselves 

 off the western Falkland Island. It is moderately high, and com- 

 pletely bare of trees, as far as we could see ; but covered with short 

 grass, and here and there patches of low green shrubs. The rocks 

 appear to be all of sandstone in horizontal layers : where they dip at all, 

 it is to the southward. The coast is surrounded by broken rocks, which 

 stand up like the pinnacles of churches ; and here and there natural 

 gateways and windows, that put me in mind of the scenery of Holy 

 Island on our own shores. There are many admirable bays, but all, 

 are uninhabited. The Spaniards destroyed cruelly our settlement at 

 Port Egmont ; and they have been obliged to abandon their own, 

 owing, it is said, to the severity of the climate, and barrenness of 

 the land. But I imagine cultivation might cure both these evils ; 

 and nothing can be better situated than these islands for fitting ships 

 destined for the Pacific. The thermometer has fluctuated to-day 

 between 43° and 50°, and we have had snow and sleet ; the baro- 

 meter gives us from 29 — 15 to 29 — 20. The temperature of the sea- 

 water 48°. 



1st March. — We came in sight of the land about Cape Santa 

 Marta. At night there was the most beautiful lightning possible ; 

 and while we were looking at it, we heard something fall into the 

 sea like a heavy body from a height, at some distance from us ; and 



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