Deposits i)i the Magellan Territories. — Nordenskjold. 305 
scape, with numerous low, rounded hillocks, in which small 
mounds abound, on either side of the two huge valleys that 
here intersect the country, viz : Magellan straits and the San 
Sebastian valley. On the high ground between these two 
valleys and on the hights to the north and south, the boulder 
clay is only met with up to a certain elevation. The loftiest 
of the high plateaus in Patagonia and Terra del Fuego alike 
are covered with shingle. 
In the eastern parts of Patagonia the ground moraine has 
only been met with in typical form in the vicinity of the 
Magellan straits. Near the foot of the Cordilleras typical dis- 
tricts are here and there to be found — for instance, north of 
lake Sarmiento,* consisting of irregular but extensive ter- 
minal moraines covered at intervals with rocks. In other 
places the moraine formation is replaced by another, for in- 
stance in the extensive lowland that stretches east of Dis- 
appointment bay and then continues northwards to expand 
again at the south base of the Bagnales mountains. 
The ground throughout this district consists of sandy clay, 
more or less plentifully supplied with stones that are often 
edged and occasionally scratched. It almost always displays 
a clearly marked stratification and occasionally gives place to 
strata of typical sedimentary clay. None of these formations 
contain either macroscopic or microscopic organisms — in itself 
a strong reason for assuming glacial origin. They have un- 
doubtedly, however, been formed under water, ])ut in close 
enough proximity to the edge of the ice to allow quantities 
of stones brought down by floating ice to be embedded con- 
temporaneously with the silt. Whether the deposition took 
place in the sea or in inland lakes in the absence of organisms 
has not been able to be established. If the former was the 
case the sea must have been at least 100 to 150 metres higher 
in the glacial period than now. 
Reliable proof of land elevation at a late date is also forth- 
coming in other parts ; the elevation is not, however, so great 
as has hitherto been supposed. On the south side of l^seless 
bay at the hight of fifty-five metres there is a terrace con- 
stituted of a former beach ; numerous large blocks of white 
*Cf. the sketch-map published in the Geographical Journal for 
October, 1897. 
