GLACIERS ENTERING THE SEA 237 



in our blanket -bags, on a good bed of smooth pebbles, we passed 

 most comfortable nights. 



It was my watch till one o'clock. There is something very- 

 solemn in these scenes. At no time does the consciousness in 

 what a remote corner of the world you are then standing come 

 so strongly before the mind. Everything tends to this effect ; 

 the stillness of the night is interrupted only by the heavy 

 breathing of the seamen beneath the tents, and sometimes by the 

 cry of a night-bird. The occasional barking of a dog, heard 

 in the distance, reminds one that it is the land of the savage. 



January 2gth. — Early in the morning we arrived at the point 



where the Beagle Channel divides into two arms ; and we 



entered the northern one. The scenery here becomes even grander 



than before. The lofty mountains on the north side compose the 



granitic axis, or backbone of the country, and boldly rise to a 



height of between three and four thousand feet, with one peak 



above six thousand feet. They are covered by a wide mantle 



of perpetual snow, and numerous cascades pour their waters, 



through the woods, into the narrow channel below. In many 



parts, magnificent glaciers extend from the mountain side to 



the water's edge. It is scarcely possible to imagine anything 



more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and 



especially as contrasted with the dead white of the upper expanse 



of snow. The fragments which had fallen from the glacier into 



the water were floating away, and the channel with its icebergs 



presented, for the space of a mile, a miniature Hkeness of the Polar 



Sea. The boats being hauled on shore at our dinner-hour, we 



were admiring from the distance of half a mile a perpendicular 



cliff of ice, and were wishing that some more fragments would fall. 



At last, down came a mass with a roaring noise, and immediately 



we saw the smooth outline of a wave travelling towards us. The 



men ran down as quickly as they could to the boats ; for the 



chance of their being dashed to pieces was evident. One of the 



seamen just caught hold of the bows, as the curling breaker 



reached it ; he was knocked over and over, but not hurt ; and 



the boats, though thrice lifted on high and let fall again, received 



no damage. This was most fortunate for us, for we were a hundred 



miles distant from the ship, and we should have been left without 



provisions or firearms. I had previously observed that some 



large fragments of rock on the beach had been lately displaced ; 



