15 



The dews are abundant throughout Chili, in the 

 spring, summer, and autumnal nights, and in a great 

 measure supply the want of rain during those sea- 

 sons. Although the atmosphere is then loaded with 



the soil appears to be very good, and there are no less than three 

 pretty large rivers, besides several brooks," " I made another 

 excursion along the shore to the northward, and found the country 

 for many miles exceedingly pleasant, the ground being covered 

 with flowers, which were not inferior to those that are commonly 

 found in our gardens, either in beauty or fragrance." — Haivkes^ 

 worth^s Voyages^ vol. i. chap. 4. 



This description is no doubt correct, and it is conformable to 

 that given of the country by many other voyagers. But how is it 

 possible that so pleasing and plentiful a vegetation could be met 

 with amidst such excessive cold, or that parrots, birds so attached to 

 heat, should voluntarily inhabit a climate condemned to perpetual 

 winter? And if the summer is so cold that, according to this 

 author, it may be compared to midwinter in England, what 

 idea must we form of the Magellanic winters. It is certain that 

 Winter's bark is not only met with in abundance on the northern 

 shores of this strait, but also from the account of Capt Cook, in 

 his second voyage, on the island of Fuego ; yet this tree, which 

 grows so plentifully in the open air, cannot endure the winter of 

 England, whither it has been carried, unless aided by the artificial 

 warmth of a hot-house. To which may be added, that the sea 

 which surrounds those shores is never frozen, notwithstanding the 

 great quantities of fresh water l^iat flow into it ; a fact which all 

 the European navigators who double Cape Horn in midwinter can 

 testify. In the month of June, 1768, I was myself upon a voyage in 

 that sea, as far as the 61st degree of latitude, without meeting 

 with the least indication of freezing; and though it snowed very 

 often, the cold "was not severer than that which is usually felt 

 during the winter in Bologna. The floating islands of ice which 

 are frequently met with in those seas, particularly in the sum- 

 mer, are driven by the southern winds which blow from the an- 

 tarctic regions. 



The French who, in 1765, formed a settlement upon the Ma»- 

 luine islands, in 51 deg. 40 min. lat. affirmed, that the winter which 

 they passed there was by no means severe, and that the snow was 



