XI 
CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS 
2 57 
and a little farther northward there are so many breakers that 
the sea is called the Milky Way. One sight of such a coast is 
enough to make a landsman dream for a week about ship¬ 
wrecks, peril, and death ; and with this sight we bade farewell 
for ever to Tierra del Fuego. 
The following discussion on the climate of the southern 
parts of the continent with relation to its productions, on the 
snow-line, on the extraordinarily low descent of the glaciers, and 
on the zone of perpetual congelation in the antarctic islands, 
may be passed over by any one not interested in these curious 
subjects, or the final recapitulation alone may be read. I shall, 
however, here give only an abstract, and must refer for details 
to the Thirteenth Chapter and the Appendix of the former 
edition of this work. 
On the Climate and Productions of Tierra del Fuego and of 
the South-west Coast. —The following table gives the mean 
temperature of Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and, 
for comparison, that of Dublin :— 
Latitude. 
Summer 
Winter 
Mean of Summer 
Temp. 
Temp. 
and Winter. 
Tierra del Fuego . 
Cri 
GO 
0 
Go 
OO 
c n 
5o° 
33°-o8 
4i°-54 
Falkland Islands . 
. 51 30 s. 
5i 
■— 
— 
Dublin 
• 53 21 N. 
59 -54 
39 -2 
49 *37 
Hence we see that the central part of Tierra del Fuego is 
colder in winter, and no less than g^° less hot in summer, than 
Dublin. According to Von Buch the mean temperature of 
July (not the hottest month in the year) at Saltenfiord in 
Norway, is as high as 57 0 .8, and this place is actually 13 0 
nearer the pole than Port Famine! 1 * * * S Inhospitable as this 
climate appears to our feelings, evergreen trees flourish 
luxuriantly under it. Humming-birds may be seen sucking 
the flowers, and parrots feeding on the seeds of the Winter’s 
Bark, in lat. 5 5 0 S. I have already remarked to what a 
degree the sea swarms with living creatures ; and the shells 
1 With respect to Tierra del Fuego, the results are deduced from the observations 
by Capt. King (Geographical Journal , 1830), and those taken on board the Beagle. 
For the Falkland Islands, I am indebted to Capt. Sulivan for the mean of the mean 
temperature (reduced from careful observation at midnight, 8 A.M., noon, and 
8 P.M.) of the three hottest months, viz. December, January, and February. The 
temperature of Dublin is taken from Barton. 
S 
