FIRST PASSING THROUGH HELLGATE 



275 



or lean against their yet quick companions awaiting the slow decay 

 of things. But it is very hard to give any adequate idea in words 

 of these vast and nameless tree-kingdoms. Most common among 



GLACIER AND GLACIAL DETRITUS 



ihe trees was the antarctic beech. I observed also redwood and 

 cypress. 



There are some wild cattle and huemules to be found in the 

 outskirts of the woodlands ; we also saw parrots, hawks and owls 

 in some of our wanderings, while in other spots there seemed no 

 sign of life at all save a few small rodents, and even those, as 

 we pushed farther into the thicker recesses, disappeared. And 

 then we came under the sway of that curious silence which broods 

 among these forest depths. 



The aspects of the various forests and the trees of which they 

 were composed varied greatly. Some were bare and devoid of 

 undergrowth as a northern forest ; others were absolutely tropical 

 in their heavy luxuriance. In one, a majestic place, the tall 

 antarctic beeches were draped with long trailing Spanish moss, 



