PATAGONIA, TERRA DEL FUEGO, &c. 



473 



rupt mountains, covered by enormous glaciers. Next follows Hanover Island, of considerable 

 extent, and to the south of it a numerous group, called the Archipelago of Queen Adelaide, 

 which borders on the Straits of Magellan. In the interior are some large salt-lakes. 



East of the Andes the country consists chiefly of a vast unwooded plain, forming a part of 

 the great pampas of Buenos Ayres, but traversed by some ridges of hills. This section con 

 tains some considerable rivers, of which the Camerones is the principal ; the interior, however, 

 is little known. On the coast are several good bays and harbors, such as Ports Desire, St. 

 Julian, Sta, and Cruz, which afford good anchorage, and are often resorted to by vessels en- 

 gaged in the southern fishery. Here also are the large bays of St. George and St. Antony. 

 The natives are seldom seen on this coast, which they are said to frequent only for the purpose 

 of interring their dead. The southern extremity of the continent is a small peninsula project- 

 ing into the Straits of Magellan, and terminating in a point called Cape Froward. 



2. Climate. Captain King mentions a circumstance relative to the temperature of the cli- 

 mate, which is very remarkable. During the summer, he has been employed at his observato- 

 ry the greater part of the night, when the thermometer has been as low as the freezing point, 

 both within and outside of it, and, although not warmly clad, he felt no sort of inconvenience 

 from the cold ; and, in the winter time also, the thermometer has been at 24°, without any in- 

 convenience being felt. He attributes this to the peculiar stillness of the atmosphere on the 

 coast, although at a short distance at sea in the offing, the wind was high. There are other pe- 

 culiarities in this climate, which also attracted the attention of Captain King. One is the ex- 

 traordinary warmth of the sea near its surface, compared with the state of the atmosphere. In 

 the month of June a difference of 30° was found between the temperature of each ; the con- 

 sequence of which is, that the sea is covered with a cloud of steam, and this may, in some 

 measure, account for the prevalence of fogs. Another extraordinary circumstance relating to 

 the climate is, that parrots and humming birds, generally the inhabitants of warm regions, are 

 numerous in the southern and western parts of the strait ; they were even observed on the 

 wing during a snow shower, and after a constant succession of rain, snow, and sleet ; the latter 

 have been seen sipping the sweets of the fuschia and other flowers, while the thermometer was 

 at the freezing point. 



3. Soil, &c. Though a few valleys have been fotind here and there along the coast to be 

 tolerably fertile and warm, yet navigators universally concur in representing the soil of the Pat- 

 agonian coasts as barren, hardly producing any grain, the trees exhibiting a dismal aspect, and 

 the climate excessivel}" cold. The country abounds with wild animals, as deer, guanacoes, 

 hares, and ostriches ; while multitudes of water-fowl frequent the rocky shores. Prodigious 

 numbers of seals, from 14 to IS feet long, and thicker than a bull, are to be found in the vicin- 

 ity of Port Desire. 



One of the most singular birds is the steamer-duck, as it is called by the sailors. " Before 

 steamboats were in use," says Captain King, " this bird was denominated, from its swiftness 

 \n skimming over the surface of the water, 'the race-horse,' — a name which frequently oc- 

 curs in Cook's, Byron's, and other voyages. It is a gigantic duck, — the largest I ever met 

 with. It has the lobated hind toe, legs placed far backwards, and other characteristics of the 

 oceanic ducks. The principal peculiarity of this bird is the shortness and remarkable small 

 size of the wings, which, not having sufficient power to raise the body, serve only to propel it 

 along rather than through the water, and are used like the paddles of a steam vessel. Aided 

 by these, and its strong, broad, webbed feet, it moves with astonishing velocity. It would be 

 no exaggeration to state its speed at from 12 to 15 miles an hour. The peculiar form of the 

 wing, and the short, rigid feathers which cover it, together with the power this bird possesses 

 of remaining a considerable time under water, constitute it a striking link between the genera 

 ^nas and Jlptenodytes. The largest we found measured 40 inches from the extremity of the 

 bill to that of the tail, and weighed 13 pounds. It is very difficult to kill them, on account of 

 their wariness and thick coat of feathers, which is impenetrable to anything smaller than swan 

 shot." 



4. Straits of ^Magellan. This celebrated strait is a long, winding channel, which bears the 

 name of the celebrated Magallaeus, a Portuguese discoverer, who first penetrated by it into the 

 Pacific Ocean ; it is about 360 miles in length, and opens into the Atlantic between Cape de 

 las Virgines and Point St. Catherine, and into the Pacific between Cape Pilanes and Cape 

 Philip. The following description from Captain King, gives the most full and authentic ac- 

 count of the straits and the adjacent country. 



■ 60 ' 



