1834.] MOUNT SARMIENTO. 241 
June 8th—We weighed anchor early in the morning and lefi 
Port Famine. Captain Fitz Roy determined to leave the Strait 
of Magellan by the Magdalen Channel, which had not long been 
discovered. Our course lay due south, down that gloomy pas- 
sage which I have before alluded to, as appearing to lead to 
another and worse world. The wind was fair, but the atmos- 
phere was very thick ; so that we missed much curious scenery. 
The dark ragged clouds were rapidly driven over the mountains, 
from their summits nearly down to their bases. The glimpses 
which we caught through the dusky mass, were highly interest- 
ing ; jagged points, cones of snow, blue glaciers, strong outlines, 
marked ona lurid sky, were seen at different distances and heights. 
In the midst of such scenery we anchored at Cape Turn, close 
to Mount Sarmiento, which was then hidden in the clouds. At 
the base of the lofty and almost perpendicular sides of our little 
cove there was one deserted wigwam, and it alone reminded us 
that man sometimes wandered into these desolate regions. But 
it would be difficult to imagine a scene where he seemed to have 
fewer claims. or less authority. The inanimate works of nature— 
rock, ice, snow, wind, and water—all warring with each other, 
yet combined against man—here reigned in absolute sovereignty. 
June 9th.—In the morning we were delighted by seeing the 
veil of mist gradually rise from Sarmiento, and display it 
to our view. ‘This mountain, which is one of the highest in 
Tierra del Fuego, has an altitude of 6800 feet. Its base, for 
about an eighth of its total height, is clothed by dusky woods, 
and above this a‘field of snow extends to the summit. These 
vast’ piles of snow, which never melt, and seem destined to last 
as long as the world holds together, present a noble and even 
sublime spectacle. The outline of the mountain was admirably 
clear and defined. Owing to the abundance of light reflected 
from the white and glittering surface, no shadows were cast on 
any part; and those lines which intersected the sky cuuld alone 
be distinguished: hence the mass stood out in the boldest relief. 
Several glaciers descended in a winding course from the upper 
great expanse of snow to the sea-coast: they may be likened to 
great frozen Niagaras; and perhaps these cataracts of blue ice 
are full as beautiful as the moving ones of water. By night we 
reached the western part of the channel; but the water was so 
