CHAPTER XIII

Summary

STRAIT OF MAGELLAN.

In the end of May, 1834, we entered for the second time the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan. Having beat our way against wind and wave we anchored at Gregory Bay, and had an interview with the so-called gigantic Patagonians; of whom Captain FitzRoy has given so good an account. The country on both sides of the strait, in this part, consists of level plains, like those of the rest of Patagonia. Cape Negro, a little past the second narrow, may be considered as the point where the land begins to assume the marked features of Tierra del Fuego. On the east coast, south of the Strait, broken park-like scenery in a like manner connects these two countries, which are opposed to each other in almost every point. It is truly surprising to find in a space of twenty miles such a change in the landscape. If we take rather a greater distance, as between Port Famine and Gregory Bay, that is about sixty miles, the difference is still more wonderful. At the former place we have rounded mountains concealed by impervious forests, which are drenched with the rain, brought by an endless succession of gales; while at Cape Gregory there is a clear and bright blue sky over the dry and sterile plains. The atmospheric currents, although rapid, turbulent, and unconfined by any apparent limits, yet seem to follow, like a river in its bed, a regularly determined course.