THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 



225 



another of rather larger extent near Goeree Road. In both 

 places, and everywhere else, the surface is covered by a 

 thick bed of swampy peat. Even within the forest, the 

 ground is concealed by a mass of slowly putrefying vegetable 

 matter, which, from being soaked with water, yields to the 

 foot. 



Finding it nearly hopeless to push my way through the 

 wood, I followed the course of a mountain torrent. At first, 

 from the waterfalls and number of dead trees, I could hardly 

 crawl along; but the bed of the stream soon became a little 

 more open, from the floods having swept the sides. I con- 

 tinued slowly to advance for an hour along the broken and 

 rocky banks, and was amply repaid by the grandeur of the 

 scene. The gloomy depth of the ravine well accorded with 

 the universal signs of violence. On every side were lying 

 irregular masses of rock and torn-up trees; other trees, 

 though still erect, were decayed to the heart and ready to 

 fall. The entangled mass of the thriving and the fallen 

 reminded me of the forests within the tropics — yet there was 

 a difference: for in these still solitudes, Death, instead of 

 Life, seemed the predominant spirit. I followed the water- 

 course till I came to a spot where a great slip had cleared a 

 straight space down the mountain side. By this road I 

 ascended to a considerable elevation, and obtained a good 

 view of the surrounding woods. The trees all belong to 

 one kind, the Fagus betuloides ; for the number of the other 

 species of Fagus and of the Winter's Bark, is quite incon- 

 siderable. This beech keeps its leaves throughout the year; 

 but its foliage is of a peculiar brownish-green colour, with 

 a tinge of yellow. As the whole landscape is thus coloured, 

 it has a sombre, dull appearance; nor is it often enlivened; 

 by the rays of the sun. 



December 20th. — One side of the harbour is formed by a 

 hill about 1500 feet high, which Captain Fitz Roy has called 

 after Sir J. Banks, in commemoration of his disastrous 

 excursion, which proved fatal to two men of his party, and 

 nearly so to Dr. Solander. The snowstorm, which was the 

 -cause of their misfortune, happened in the middle of Janu- 

 ary, corresponding to our July, and in the latitude of Dur- 

 ham ! I was anxious to reach the summit of this mountain 



Vol. 29 — H 



HC 



