474 



PATAGONIA, TERRA DEL FUEGO, &c. 



" The Strait of Magellan, being a transverse section of the continent, exhibits a view of its 

 geological structure. The strait may be divided into 3 portions, — the western, ihe central, 

 and the eastern. The western and central are of primitive character, rugged and very moun- 

 tainous ; but the eastern portion is of recent formation, and low. The western tract is com- 

 posed of a succession of stratified rocks, a difierence at once distinguishable by the forni and 

 nature of the ranges, and the direction of the shores. The hills are irregularly heaped togeth- 

 er, the sounds ai'e intricate and tortuous in their course, and the shores are foiined by deep 

 sinuosities and prominently-projecting headlands ; the channels, also, are studded with innumer- 

 able islands and rocks, extremely dangerous for navigation. In this portion, the rock is for the 

 most part granite and greenstone. Near the centre of the strait, the rock being clay slate, the 

 mountains are higher, and more precipitous and rugged in their outline. They are in general 

 3,000 feet, but some are found to be 4,000 feet in height, and one Mount Sarmicato, is 6,000 

 feet high, and is covered throughout the year with snow. The line of perpetual snow in the 

 strait seems to be about 3,-500 feet above the sea. The strait is here quite free from islands ; 

 and it is a remarkable fact, that where the greenstone formation terminates, there the islands 

 cease to appear. The slate formation continues as far as Freshwater Bay, where the stratified 

 rocks leave the coast, and extend in a northwest direction. In that portion of the strait to the 

 eastward of Cape Negro, the hills are remarkable for the regularity and parallelism of their di- 

 rection, and their general resemblance to each other. The irregularity of the topographic fea- 

 tures of the western portion of the strait, combined with its confused assemblage and immense 

 number of rocks and islands, — the regularity of the strata, — the coinciding parallelism of all 

 the bays, channels, and sounds, and the total absence of islands in the central portion, a slate 

 formation, — together with the remarkable similarity of the direction of the hills and coast line, 

 and the stratification of the northeastern tract, which is very different from that of the centre, 

 are very striking facts, — and, geologically considered, are of great interest. 



" No less remarkable, however, and equally interesting, is the character of the vegetation, 

 not so much in the variety of the plants as in their stunted growth to the westward, their luxu- 

 riance in the centre, and the total absence of trees to the eastward. For this modification 

 the following reasons seem to me to account sufficiently. To the westward, the decomposition 

 of granite, and the other primitive rocks which are found there, prove but a poor, unproductive 

 soil, — so that, although the land is thickly covered with shrubs, they are all small and stinted ; 

 the torrents of water, also, that pour down the steep sides of the hills, wash away the partial 

 accumulations of soil that are occasionally deposited, — consequently few trees are to be found, 

 excepting in clefts and recesses of the rocks, where decomposed vegetable matter collects and 

 nourishes their growth." 



5. Inhabitants. The Patagonians have often been represented as being of gigantic stature, 

 and numerous contradictory statements have been published by navigators, professing to give 

 the results of actual measurements ; in the following description of these people taken from 

 King's voyage, it will be seen, that he denies their superior size, but it is not impossible that a 



roving tribe, seen at different points of the 

 coast, and somewhat above the medium 

 height of Europeans, may have given rise to 

 the opposite statements. 



" For want of better information," says 

 Captain King, " we must be content to sepa- 

 rate the natives into Patagonians and Fue- 

 gans. The sealing crews distinguish them 

 as Horse Indians and Cande Indians. These 

 people have had considerable communication 

 with the sealers who frequent this neighbor- 

 hood, bartering their guaneco meat and skins, 

 their mantles and furs, for beads, knives, brass 

 ornaments, and other articles, but they are 

 equally anxious to get sugar or flour, — but 

 more than all aqua ardiente spirit. 

 J2 Patagonian frighumd at himself in a glass. " The Patagonian women are treated much 



more kindly by their husbands tlian the Fue- 

 gans. The latter are little better than slaves, liable to be beaten, and obliged to perform 



