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observed, by whicli the error of the clock was satisfactorily
ascertained.
Captain Foster’s pluviameter, a cubic foot in size, placed on
a stand two feet above the ground, at an elevation of forty-five
feet above the sea, contained eight inches and a quarter of
rain, after standing thirty days ; therefore, with the quantity
evaporated, at least twelve inches must have fallen. The day
after the above was registered, the vessel only contained seven
inches and a quai-ter; so that in twenty-four hours one inch
had evaporated, by which an idea may be formed of the sort of
weather we experienced, and of the humidity of the climate.
With respect to the geological features, I can only add, that
all the islands on which I landed, and, I believe, all the others,
are composed of green-stone of vai'ious characters. The lower
portion, or base, being less decomposed, is a fine-grained green-
coloured rock, in which the component parts are so blended as
not to be distinguished from each other. It appears sometimes
in strata, dipping at various angles, from 20° to 45° from the
vertical; and is very similar to the rock which alternates with
granite in the Straits of Magalhaens, at the entrance of the
Bai-bai-a ; and also to that about Pond Harbour, and BeU Bay.
At a greater elevation the feldspar predominates, the hornblende
is observed in distinct crystals,* and the rock contains a considerable
quantity of iron, which is observed in the reddish
tinge of its surface. I have before noticed the magnetic property
of this rock, which was more or less according to the quantity
of hornblende: the beach-stones are different sorts of greenstone.
The lower parts of the hills, around St. Martin’s Cove, are
thickly wooded with the smooth-leaved, evergreen beech, which
I have before described. Its leaves were as fresh and vivid,
when we sailed, as if it were the height of summer; but those
of the deciduous-leaved beech had assumed their autumnal tint,
and were falling fast. Neither species attained a greater size,
in diameter, than six or eight inches. The Winter’s-hark was
• T h is rock is very simiiar to the boulders and pebbles which we found
on the beach at Point St. Mary (Freshwater Bay).
found in sheltered places, but not larger in dimensions than
the beech.* Where no trees are produced, the ground is
covered with tufts of chamitis and donacia, which, being of
a bright-green colour, give the sides of the hills a lively and
verdant appearance. Had the state of the weather permitted
our boats to leave the neighbourhood of the cove, or had the
woods afforded any addition to collections for natural history,
our detention would have been more agreeable ; but, with the
exception of a few corvorants, divers, and ‘ steamers,’ with now
and then a solitary hawk, or a Patagonian ‘ warbler,’ we saw
no traces of animal life. No Indians came near us, having been
frightened away by the Chanticleer ; for when Captain Foster
was absent at night, after attempting to land at Cape Horn,
several rockets were fired off as signals, and a few Indians who
were then in the cove were so much alarmed, that they went away
next day, and never afterwards showed themselves, although I
dare say we were very narrowly watched by them.
Having supplied the Chanticleer with the provisions she
required, we prepared to leave St. Martin’s Cove. On the
24th the Chanticleer sailed, and in two hours after we also
left this dismal cove, in which we experienced a succession of
very bad weather, an almost constant S .W . wind, and for the
last month a scarcely ceasing fall of either rain, hail, or snow.
The Chanticleer bore away round Cape Horn, and was soon
out of sight.
This was my last meeting with Captain Foster, who, the
night before we sailed, communicated to me a presentiment,
which he could not shake off, that he should not survive the
voyage. I cannot now resist indulging in the melancholy satisfaction
of saying a few words to the memory of my late excellent
III
• The underwood is composed chiefly of Arbutus rigida—Berberis
parvifolia and ilicifolia— {sempervirens of Banks and Solander). Vero-
nica {decussata ?) and, in moist places, Cineraria leucanthema, and Byse-
more integrifolia ; both of which are found in all the sheltered corners
of T ierra del Fuego. No Fuchsia was seen, but Mr. Anderson gathered
th e sweet-scented Callixene marginata, and a species of Escalonia, on the
hills
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