876 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
The first large sailing vessel which used Magellan Strait after the survey of the 
“Adventure” and “Beagle” was H.M.S. “Fisgard” in 1842. She occupied 17 days in 
the transit from east to west in October, and was followed in 1851 by a Swedish frigate, 
and in the same year H.M.S. “ Havannah,” homeward hound, passed through from west 
to east, as also did H.M.S. “Calypso” in 1862. The first steamer that adopted this 
route was the “ Peru,” commanded by Captain George Peacock, formerly a Master in 
H.M. Navy. She was followed by H.M. steamships “ Salamander,” “ Cormorant,” 
“Gorgon,” “Vixen,” “Virago,” &c., and it is now the practice for all steamers to take 
this passage in preference to the route round Cape Horn, a practice which is likely 
to continue, unless in the course of time a canal is cut through the Isthmus of 
Panama. 
From this it appears that the shortest time taken by sailing vessels to pass through 
the Strait of Magellan is 17 days, and that two men have performed this feat, viz., Sir 
Francis Drake in 1578, and Captain Duntze of the “ Fisgard” in 1842. 
The navigation of the Strait of Magellan is difficult owing to a variety of causes : in 
the eastern part there are numerous shoals and rapid tides, but the weather is fairly clear 
and little rain falls, whereas in the western part the depths are so great that although 
there are few dangers and but little tide, there are few places where large vessels can 
anchor, and the rainfall is abundant. The weather is boisterous in all parts of the 
strait and at all seasons of the year, and the rain which is so abundant on the Pacific 
seaboard, gradually decreases in copiousness from the western to the eastern end. 
The scenery of the western Patagonian fjords is very beautiful. The successive 
ranges of mountains are capped here and there by snow, and glaciers, the dwindled repre- 
sentatives of those that scooped out the main features of the region, fill some of 
the valleys. The fjords remind one somewhat of those in Norway ; they branch 
and send offsets on either hand. Thus, as these long sounds are traversed constant 
glimpses are obtained down the communicating channels bounded by successions of 
mountain ridges, fading gradually out of sight one behind the other. In some parts of 
the Messier Channel the mountains are covered by a dense forest of small trees, and one 
peculiarity of the scenery is due to the fact that these forests come down to the seashore 
and overhang the beds of mussels growing on the rocks. In some harbours it is impos- 
sible to get away from the shore, so dense is the barrier of forest undergrowth every- 
where. On the eastern side, about Sandy Point, the country is more open, and there are 
wide stretches of grass-land. 
From a register kept for a period of nearly ten years at Sandy Point, it appears that 
the mean temperature there in July is 35°’4, or 2°‘9 colder than the mean temperature 
for January at Greenwich, whilst the mean temperature at Sandy Point in January is 
54 0, 8, or 7°‘4 colder than the mean temperature at Greenwich in July. The following 
table will enable an opinion to be formed of the climate, 
