rendered very evident by several huge whales [2] spouting in different
directions. On one occasion I saw two of these monsters, probably male
and female, slowly swimming one after the other, within less than a
stone's throw of the shore, over which the beech-tree extended its
branches. We sailed on till it was dark, and then pitched our tents in
a quiet creek. The greatest luxury was to find for our beds a beach of
pebbles, for they were dry and yielded to the body. Peaty soil is
damp; rock is uneven and hard; sand gets into one's meat, when cooked
and eaten boat-fashion; but when lying in our blanket-bags, on a good
bed of smooth pebbles, we passed most comfortable nights.
It was my watch till one o'clock. There is something very solemn in
these scenes. At no time does the consciousness in what a remote
corner of the world you are then standing, come so strongly before the
mind. Everything tends to this effect; the stillness of the night is
interrupted only by the heavy breathing of the seamen beneath the
tents, and sometimes by the cry of a night-bird. The occasional
barking of a dog, heard in the distance, reminds one that it is the
land of the savage.
January 20th.--Early in the morning we arrived at the point where the
Beagle Channel divides into two arms; and we entered the northern one.
The scenery here becomes even grander than before. The lofty mountains
on the north side compose the granitic axis, or backbone of the country
and boldly rise to a height of between three and four thousand feet,
with one peak above six thousand feet. They are covered by a wide
mantle of perpetual snow, and numerous cascades pour their waters,
through the woods, into the narrow channel below. In many parts,
magnificent glaciers extend from the mountain side to the water's edge.
It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful than the
beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and especially as contrasted with
the dead white of the upper expanse of snow. The fragments which had
fallen from the glacier into the water were floating away, and the
channel with its icebergs presented, for the space of a mile, a
miniature likeness of the Polar Sea. The boats being hauled on shore
at our dinner-hour, we were admiring from the distance of half a mile a
perpendicular cliff of ice, and were wishing that some more fragments
would fall. At last, down came a mass with a roaring noise, and
immediately we saw the smooth outline of a wave travelling towards us.
The men ran down as quickly as they could to the boats; for the chance
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