THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 



411 



whose excellent meat amply supplied my table for several days. This, together 

 with the little gobies which were abundantly caught with hand-lines, the large 

 mussels we detached from the rocks, and the celery-salad, gave me dinners fit 

 for an alderman. How often since have I regretted the plenty of Port Fam- 

 ine !" 



In the month of February (1834), in the height of the Antarctic summer, 

 Mr. Darwin ascended Mount Tarn, which is 2600 feet high, and the most ele- 

 vated point in the vicinity of Port Famine. " The forest," says our great nat- 

 uralist, " commences at the line of high-water mark, and during the first two 

 hours I gave over all hopes of reaching the summit. So thick was the wood 

 that it was necessary to have constant recourse to the compass, for every land- 

 mark, though in a mountainous country, was completely shut out. In the deep 

 ravines the death-like scene of desolation exceeded all description; outside it 

 was blowing a gale, but in these hollows not even a breath of wind stirred the 

 leaves of the tallest trees. So gloomy, cold, and wet was every part, that not 

 even the fungi, mosses, or ferns could flourish. In the valleys it was scarcely 

 possible to crawl along, they were so completely barricaded by great moulder- 

 ing trunks, which had fallen down in every direction. When passing over 

 these natural bridges, one's course was often arrested by sinking knee-deep 

 into the rotten wood ; at other times, when attempting to lean against a tree, 

 one was startled by finding a mass of decayed matter, ready to fall at the 

 slightest touch. We at last found ourselves among the stunted trees, and then 

 soon reached the bare ridge, which conducted us to the summit. Here was a 

 view characteristic of Tierra del Fuego ; irregular chains of hills, mottled with 

 patches of snow, deep yellowish-green valleys, and arms of the sea intersecting 

 the land in many directions. The strong wind was piercingly cold, and the 

 atmosphere rather hazy, so that we did not stay long on the top of the mount- 

 ain. Our descent was not quite so laborious as our ascent; for the weight 

 of the body forced a passage, and all the slips and falls were in the right di- 

 rection." 



To the west of Cape Froward the strait extends in a north-westerly, almost 

 rectilinear direction, until it finally opens into the Pacific, between Cape Pillar 

 and Cape Victory. Here a day rarely passes without rain, hail, or snow. 

 Where the dreadful power of the prevaihng winds has free play, the mountain 

 sides are naked and bare, but in every sheltered nook the damp climate produces 

 a luxuriant vegetation. The trees, however, do not attain any great height, and 

 at Port Gallant the beech is already decidedly stunted in its growth. This is no 

 doubt caused by the excessive humidity of the soil, which in all lower situations 

 is converted by the continual rains into a deep morass. The trunks and the 

 branches are covered with a thick layer of moss, and the tree becomes rotten in 

 its youth. But many shrubs, herbs, and mosses thrive under the perpetual del- 

 uge; the latter particularly, covering large patches of ground with a spongy car- 

 pet. It may easily be imagined how difficult, or rather impossible it must be to 

 penetrate into the interior of such a country. Yet even these wild inhospitable 

 regions can boast of many a romantic scene. Thus the English Reach, which 

 extends from Cape Froward to Carlos Island, is bounded on both sides by lofty 



