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 9.5 degs. 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 57.8 degs.,
and this place is actually 13 degs. nearer the pole than Port Famine!
[8] 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. 55 degs. S. I have already remarked to what a degree the sea
swarms with living creatures; and the shells (such as the Patellae,
Fissurellae, Chitons, and Barnacles), according to Mr. G. B. Sowerby,
are of a much larger size and of a more vigorous growth, than the
analogous species in the northern hemisphere. A large Voluta is
abundant in southern Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands. At
Bahia Blanca, in lat. 39 degs. S., the most abundant shells were three
species of Oliva (one of large size), one or two Volutas, and a
Terebra. Now, these are amongst the best characterized tropical forms.
It is doubtful whether even one small species of Oliva exists on the
southern shores of Europe, and there are no species of the two other
genera. If a geologist were to find in lat 39 degs. on the coast of
Portugal a bed containing numerous shells belonging to three species of
Oliva, to a Voluta and Terebra, he would probably assert that the
climate at the period of their existence must have been tropical; but
judging from South America, such an inference might be erroneous.
The equable, humid, and windy climate of Tierra del Fuego extends, with
only a small increase of heat, for many degrees along the west coast of
the continent. The forests for 600 miles northward of Cape Horn, have
a very similar aspect. As a proof of the equable climate, even for 300
or 400 miles still further northward, I may mention that in Chiloe
(corresponding in latitude with the northern parts of Spain) the peach
seldom produces fruit, whilst strawberries and apples thrive to
perfection. Even the crops of barley and wheat [9] are often brought
into the houses to be dried and ripened. At Valdivia (in the same
latitude of 40 degs., with Madrid) grapes and figs ripen, but are not
common; olives seldom ripen even partially, and oranges not at all.
These fruits, in corresponding latitudes in Europe, are well known to
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