TIERRA DEL FUEGO 
CHAP. 
256 
heights. In the midst of such scenery we anchored at Cape 
Turn, close to Mount Sarmiento, which was then hidden in the 
clouds. At the base of the lofty and almost perpendicular 
sides of our little cove there was one deserted wigwam, and 
it alone reminded us that man sometimes wandered into 
these desolate regions. But it would be difficult to imagine a 
scene where he seemed to have fewer claims or less authority. 
The inanimate works of nature—rock, ice, snow, wind, and 
water, all warring with each other, yet combined against man 
—here reigned in absolute sovereignty. 
June gth .-—In the morning we were delighted by seeing the 
veil of mist gradually rise from Sarmiento, and display it to 
our view. This mountain, which is one of the highest in 
Tierra del Fuego, has an altitude of 6800 feet. Its base, for 
about an eighth of its total height, is clothed by dusky woods, 
and above this a field of snow extends to the summit. These 
vast piles of snow, which never melt, and seem destined to last 
as long as the world holds together, present a noble and even 
sublime spectacle. The outline of the mountain was admirably 
clear and defined. Owing to the abundance of light reflected 
from the white and glittering surface, no shadows were cast on 
any part ; and those lines which intersected the sky could 
alone be distinguished : hence the mass stood out in the 
boldest relief. Several glaciers descended in a winding course 
from the upper great expanse of snow to the sea-coast : they 
may be likened to great frozen Niagaras ; and perhaps these 
cataracts of blue ice are full as beautiful as the moving ones of 
water. By night we reached the western part of the channel ; 
but the water was so deep that no anchorage could be found. 
We were in consequence obliged to stand off and on in this 
narrow arm of the sea, during a pitch-dark night of fourteen 
hours long. 
June 10th .—In the morning we made the best of our way 
into the open Pacific. The western coast generally consists of 
low, rounded, quite barren hills of granite and greenstone. Sir 
J. Narborough called one part South Desolation, because it is 
“so desolate a land to behold and well indeed might he say 
so. Outside the main islands there are numberless scattered 
rocks on which the long swell of the open ocean incessantly 
rages. We passed out between the East and West Furies ; 
