THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 



249 



some horses. This is a very curious fact, showing the extra- 

 ordinarily rapid multiplication of horses in South America. 

 The horse was first landed at Buenos Ayres in 1537, and the 

 colony being then for a time deserted, the horse ran wild f in 

 1580, only forty-three years afterwards, we hear of them at the 

 Strait of Magellan ! Mr. Low informs me, that a neighbour- 

 ing tribe of foot-Indians is now changing into horse-Indians : 

 the tribe at Gregory Bay giving them their worn-out horses, 

 and sending in winter a few of their best skilled men to hunt 

 for them. 



June 1st. — We anchored in the fine bay of Port Famine. 

 It was now the beginning of winter, and I never saw a more 

 cheerless prospect; the dusky woods, piebald with snow, 

 could be only seen indistinctly, through a drizzling hazy 

 atmosphere. We were, however, lucky in getting two fine 

 days. On one of these, Mount Sarmiento, a distant mountain 

 6800 feet high, presented a very noble spectacle. I was fre- 

 quently surprised in the scenery of Tierra del Fuego, at the 

 little apparent elevation of mountains really lofty. I suspect 

 it is owing to a cause which would not at first be imagined, 

 namely, that the whole mass, from the summit to the water's 

 edge, is generally in full view. I remember having seen a 

 mountain, first from the Beagle Channel, where the whole 

 sweep from the summit to the base was full in view, and then 

 from Ponsonby Sound across several successive ridges; and 

 it was curious to observe in the latter case, as each fresh 

 ridge afforded fresh means of judging of the distance, how 

 the mountain rose in height. 



Before reaching Port Famine, two men were seen running 

 along the shore and hailing the ship. A boat was sent for 

 them. They turned out to be two sailors who had run away 

 from a sealing-vessel, and had joined the Patagonians. These 

 Indians had treated them with their usual disinterested hos- 

 pitality. They had parted company through accident, and 

 were then proceeding to Port Famine in hopes of finding 

 some ship. I dare say they were worthless vagabonds, but I 

 never saw more miserable-looking ones. They had been liv- 

 ing for some days on mussel-shells and berries, and their 

 tattered clothes had been burnt by sleeping so near their fires. 



2 Rengger, Natur. der Saeugethiere von Paraguay. S. 334. 



