XI Climate And productjons 257 



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 ship- 

 wrecks, 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 recapitulation 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 : — 



Tierra del Fuego . 

 Falkland Islands . 



Latitude. 



. 53°38'S. 



. 51 30 s. 



Summer 

 Temp. 



SC- 

 SI 



Winter 

 Temp. 



33°.o8 



Mean of Summer 

 and Winter. 



4i°-54 



Dublin 



. 53 21 N. 



59 .54 



39 .2 



49 .37 



Hence we see that the central part of Tierra del Fuego is 

 colder in winter, and no less than 9^° less hot in summer, than 

 Dublin. According to Von Buch the mean temperature of 

 July (not the hottest month in the year) at Saltenfiord in 

 Norway, is as high as 57°.8, and this place is actually 13° 

 nearer the pole than Port Famine!^ Inhospitable as this 

 climate appears to our feelings, evergreen trees flourish 

 luxuriantly under it. Humming-birds may be seen sucking 

 the flowers, and parrots feeding on the seeds of the Winter's 

 Bark, in lat. 5 5° S. I have already remarked to what a 

 degree the sea swarms with living creatures ; and the shells 



^ With respect to Tierra del Fuego, the results are deduced from the observations 

 by Capt. King {^Geographical Journal^ 1 830), and those taken on board \ht Beagle. 

 For the Falkland Islands, I am indebted to Capt. Sulivan for the mean of the mean 

 temperature (reduced from careful observation at midnight, 8 a.m., noon, and 

 8 P.M.) of the three hottest months, viz. December, January, and February. The 

 temperature of Dublin is taken from Barton. 



S 



