426 



SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES REGIONS. 



preceded the great volcanic outbursts that have covered over the framework of 

 the western side of South America."* 



But whatever its origin, few other mountains impress the mind so deeply with 

 a sense of wonder and awe as this " Matterhorn of Fuegia," sole sovereign of 

 the Antarctic solitudes. " As seen from the north, the eastern and western faces 

 are almost equally precipitous, and the broad top is jagged by sharp teeth, of 

 which the two outermost present summits of apparently equal height. At a 

 distance of about 25 miles the whole mass seemed to be coated with snow and 

 ice, save where some sharp ridges and teeth of black rock stood out against the 

 sky" {ibid.). 



The name of another illustrious explorer is commemorated in the Darwin 

 range, which skirts the north side of Beagle Channel, terminating in Mount 



Fig. 162.— San Felix and San Ambrosio Isles. 

 Scale 1 : 275,000. 



West or breenwich 



Depths. 



to 50 

 Fathoms. 



.W Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



6 Miles. 



Français (7,055 feet) near the Argentine frontier. Beyond the frontier the 

 chain decreases in height, Mount Cornu falling to 4,334 feet, while the " Three 

 Brothers," at the south-eastern extremity of the continent, scarcely exceeds 1,640 

 feet. But in Staten Island the Andean system again develops more precipitous 

 scarps and higher summits. 



North of the outer crystalline range a hilly inner zone, densely clad with 

 evergreen forest growths, is followed north and west by an intermediate strip of 

 grassy parklands, beyond which all the rest of King Charles South Land between 

 the Atlantic and Magellan Strait east and west presents a vast plain of tertiary 

 formation, a sort of Patagonia in miniature, destitute of a single shrub. This 

 dreary steppe terminates seawards in deeply ravined cliffs and elevated escarp- 



* John Ball, op. cit., p. 247- 



