136 SOUTH AGAIN : NEW ZEALAND AND THE CAPE 
Berberry flowered with bright golden blossoms, the tufts 
of Misodendrons on the beeches grew quite brilliant, and the 
crumply leaved beech burst at every twig, emitting a delicious 
resinous smell. Nature was evidently taking every advan- 
tage of the fine days, and I began to think that seed-time 
and harvest would all be over together in one month, and 
could not conceive what the poor plants were to have to do 
during all the summer if spring was so fine. My Father's class 
song of Spring, all I remember of which is, ' The Larch hangs 
all its tassels forth,' was nothing to this. I certainty never 
saw anything hke the sudden bound vegetation took in ten 
or twelve days. We arrived in winter and it was summer 
already. A few days more, however, changed the face of 
nature, and after all the Snow had disappeared, two or three 
hours covered everything with a white mantle and the 
weather continued very changeable during our whole stay. 
Clouds and fogs, rain and snow justified all Darwin's 
accurate descriptions of a dreary Fuegian summer. In- 
deed all Darwin's remarks are so true and so graphic 
wherever we go that Mr. Lj^ell's kind present is not only 
indispensable but a delightful companion and guide. 
The Westerly winds which prevail seldom affect the 
waters of the cove, but when they are strong and gales 
set in with drifting clouds, snow and rain, the whole land 
appears savage to a degree. The force of the wind and its 
effects are not to be compared to Kerguelen's Land, where 
the steady torrents of wind came rushing down in one 
impetuous stream through the valley at the head of 
Christmas Harbour ; here they dash down from the narrow 
gorges of the mountains, deflected from their course, and 
burst on the ship with a clap like thunder, tear the water 
up and are gone in an instant ; two will sometimes meet 
from opposite quarters, and unfelt a few yards off, whisk 
up a cloud of spray and continue struggling down the Cove 
until, perhaps, they split and run along in tw^o divaricating 
lines of foam, as far as the eye can trace them. The gusts 
were in no instance stronger than at Kerguelen's Land, and 
from their short duration do not bring a strain on the cable 
or cause us to drift from our moorings, but from their sudden- 
ness they were more remarkable. It was very interesting 
to walk the deck wUh hat tied on and watch these freaks 
I 
