THE S TEA ITS OF PATAGONIA. 
185 
we seemed to float on the surface of a calm lake dotted with islands, its shores intersected 
by bays and deep sounds, divided from each other by steep rocky promontories ; islands and 
shores covered with dark beech woods ; the ground carpeted with green moss and sprinkled 
with wild flowers. Above the woods rose a chaotic mass of bare rocks, varying in hue 
from a dark brown tint below to a silvery grey at the summit, here and there marked with 
patches of snow; behind, the mountains and rough peaks loomed through the clouds, 
supporting on their shoulders immense glaciers, which stretched their icy arms far down into 
the glens. Nowhere a trace of 
man—not a hut or the smoke of 
a fire—no sign of life but a 
solitary steamer-duck, or a herd of 
seal retreating in haste at our 
approach.' At one time sudden 
gusts and squalls would break out 
from the dark fiords and lash 
the waves into foam ; at another we would pass pieces of ice gliding quickly along through 
the light-green water. On each side of the channel countless waterfalls leaped over precipices 
hundreds of feet in height, occasionally lighted up by flashes of bright sunshine. Such is a 
faint outline of the impressions gained in traversing the Straits of Patagonia. The belt of 
vegetation which, at the entrance to Messier Channel, reaches to a height of 1000 feet, 
gradually becomes narrower and narrower, and in Magellan Strait disappears altogether, 
there, in fact, nothing is to be seen but bare rocks, snow and ice, and glaciers sloping 
down to the water’s edge.' 
The commencement of the new year was celebrated in Hale Cove, near the entrance 
of Messier Channel, where the “Challenger” anchored on the evening of the 1st January, 
1876. On the 2nd we took shelter in Gray Harbour, a picturesque inlet a few miles to 
the north of the narrowest part of the channel, known as the English Narrows. It was 
decided to remain here during the next day to snatch a brief space of rest after the fatigue of 
our tedious cruise. On the morning of the 3rd, accordingly, both officers and men-divided 
into numerous exploring, sporting, and fishing parties—started joyfully for the shore, and 
were soon scattered over the labyrinth of hill and dale which fills up the corner between 
the harbour and Messier Channel. On this occasion the narrator met with an adventure 
which had well-nigh proved fatal. Having landed on the beach just opposite the ship, I 
passed through the belt of forest which descends to the water, and proceeded westward along 
the bare crest of the hill in search of some vantage-point whence to obtain a characteristic 
sketch of the silent world around. The drawing was nearly finished when my ear caught the 
ominous rushing sound of a strong fire, and, looking round, I saw that the woods between me 
and the ship were actually burning. The several fires lighted by the parties on shore had 
ignited the dry and bleached moss which covered the ground and the lower branches of the 
trees, and, fanned by the fresh breeze from Messier .Channel, the flames had spread with 
