THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 323 



more signs of life than had been seen since we left Shell Bay, 

 a good many steamer-ducks being startled on our approach, 

 and a kingfisher observed flying about the harbour. 



The morning of the 20th, when we left this port, was fine, 

 and a bright, clear, calm day followed, which allowed us fully 

 to appreciate the glorious scenery on either side of us as we 

 steamed onwards. The nearer hills rose sheer out of the 

 water, clothed nearly to their summits with trees displaying 

 a fine variety of shades of green, while the more distant had 

 their peaks capped with snow ; and the gorges of many were 

 occupied by extensive glaciers, the dazzling white of whose 

 upper surface contrasted finely with the splendid blue and 

 green tints exhibited by the crevasses, and the general outline 

 of some suggesting a stormy sea suddenly frozen into repose. 

 Early in the day, as we approached the entrance of the Guia 

 Narrows, a party of Indians paddled up to us in their canoe. 

 There were five adults present, all of them apparently of the 

 male sex, and they struck us as larger in stature, more mus- 

 cular, and with plumper faces, than our friends at Sholl Bay. 

 They had their faces painted red and white, and one had a cap 

 seemingly formed of the white breast-plumage of a cormorant. 

 Late in the afternoon we saw one or two miniature icebergs 

 rising out of the water, and shortly before six p.m. we passed 

 the entrance of a beautiful winding inlet, with snowy hills in 

 the distance. As we did not succeed in finding a suitable 

 anclforage, and the weather continued fine and settled, Captain 

 Mayne decided on proceeding onwards all night. When the 

 sun set, a sensation of sharp cold became most distinctly 

 perceptible, and we glided quietly on our way through the 

 still frosty night, the steep mountains on either side pre- 

 senting a singular and ghostly appearance to the view. 



Early next morning (21st) I was roused by hearing 



