far south as the Strait of Magellan, where the country retains the
character of Patagonia; but within the damp and cold limit of Tierra
del Fuego not one occurs. That the climate would not have suited some
of the orders, such as lizards, might have been foreseen; but with
respect to frogs, this was not so obvious.
Beetles occur in very small numbers: it was long before I could believe
that a country as large as Scotland, covered with vegetable productions
and with a variety of stations, could be so unproductive. The few
which I found were alpine species (Harpalidae and Heteromidae) living
under stones. The vegetable-feeding Chrysomelidae, so eminently
characteristic of the Tropics, are here almost entirely absent; [5] I
saw very few flies, butterflies, or bees, and no crickets or
Orthoptera. In the pools of water I found but a few aquatic beetles,
and not any fresh-water shells: Succinea at first appears an exception;
but here it must be called a terrestrial shell, for it lives on the
damp herbage far from the water. Land-shells could be procured only in
the same alpine situations with the beetles. I have already contrasted
the climate as well as the general appearance of Tierra del Fuego with
that of Patagonia; and the difference is strongly exemplified in the
entomology. I do not believe they have one species in common;
certainly the general character of the insects is widely different.
If we turn from the land to the sea, we shall find the latter as
abundantly stocked with living creatures as the former is poorly so. In
all parts of the world a rocky and partially protected shore perhaps
supports, in a given space, a greater number of individual animals than
any other station. There is one marine production which, from its
importance, is worthy of a particular history. It is the kelp, or
Macrocystis pyrifera. This plant grows on every rock from low-water
mark to a great depth, both on the outer coast and within the channels.
[6] I believe, during the voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, not one
rock near the surface was discovered which was not buoyed by this
floating weed. The good service it thus affords to vessels navigating
near this stormy land is evident; and it certainly has saved many a one
from being wrecked. I know few things more surprising than to see this
plant growing and flourishing amidst those great breakers of the
western ocean, which no mass of rock, let it be ever so hard, can long
resist. The stem is round, slimy, and smooth, and seldom has a
diameter of so much as an inch. A few taken together are sufficiently
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