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276 tr N s E T T L F. D s T A T E 1,10 ÎIT S. M a rd i,
day (lOth Mardi), tlie wind increased suddenly from tlie
strength of a fresh gale to that of a hurricane, and in a few
minutes the Beagle brought both anchors ahead, and was pitching
her forecastle into the sea. Topgallant-masts were on deck,
and yards braced sharp up all day ; hut we were obliged to
let go a third anchor, and even then had some anxiety for the
result. Till this squall came, the water had been smooth,
though of course covered with white crests (‘ horses ’) ; but it
was then changed into a short sea, such as I should have been
slow to believe wind could have raised in that confined cove.
The yawl, an excellent sea-boat, and quite light, was swamped
at her moorings ; but I think that the chief cause of her filling
was a quantity of kelp which drifted athwart hawse and hindered
her rising easily to the sea.
During the month we remained in Berkeley Sound, I had
much trouble with the crews of whaling or small sealing vessels,
as well as with the settlers, who all seemed to fancy that
because the British flag was re-hoisted on the Falklands, they
were at liberty to do what they pleased with Mr. Vernet’s private
property, as well as with the wild cattle and horses. The
gauchos wished to leave the place, and return to the Plata, but
as they were the only useful labourers on the islands, in fact,
the only people on whom any dépendance could be placed for
a regular supply of fresh beef, I interested myself as much as
possible to induce them to remain, and with partial success, for
seven staid out of twelve.
While walking the deck after dark, I sometimes saw flashes
of light on the distant hills, which it was difficult to account
for as ‘ ignes fatui,’ because they were seen only on the
heights, and momentarily, long intervals intervening between
each faint flash. I once remarked similar instantaneous
glimpses of feeble light, like the flashing of a distant pistol,
near Pecket Harbour, in Magalhaens Strait, during a rainy
night, but on the hills, at the south side of Berkeley Sound,
I witnessed such lights repeatedly. They were never bright or
lasting—merely a faint sudden glimmer—exactly as I have
said, like the flash of a pistol, fired at a great distance. It has
1833. MOUNTAIN TOI’S— BONES.
since occurred to me, that the phosphoric light spoken of by
Bougainville in the following passage may be of a nature similar
to that which I saw, and that those momentary flashes
might have been caused by the occasional fall of stones among
ravines, near the summits of hills. “ Des voyages entrepris
jusqu’ au sommet des montagnes (pour chercher des calcaires),
n’en (de pierre) ont fait voir que d’une nature de quartz et de
grès non friable, produisant des étincelles, et même une
lumière phosphorique, accompagnée d’une odeur sulphureuse.”
—(Bougainville, Voyage autour du Monde, 1766-69, tome I.,
p. 100).
The shattered state of most summits of mountains in these
regions* has often struck me, many of them being mere heaps
of rocks and stones, over which it is extremely difficult to
climb. Mount Skyring may be cited as one remarkable
instance ; there, the stones gave out a very sulphureous smell
when struck together, and were strongly magnetic.-)- Lightning,
electricity, and magnetism being intimately related, one
is led to think that, if the above conjecture is incorrect, there
may be some connexion betw'een these sudden glimpses of faint
light and the transmission of the electric fluid. This much I
am certain of, that they were not lights made by man, and
that they were different from the will-o’- the-wisp, or ignis fatuus.
My own employment obliged me to remain near the ship,
hut some of the officers made excursions into the interior, and
to them and Mr. Brisbane I am indebted for most of the following
notices of these islands.
Some very large hones were seen a long way from the seashore,
and some hundred feet above the level of high water,
near St. Salvador Bay. How they got there had often puzzled
Mr. Vernet, and Brisbane also, who had examined them
with attention ; Brisbane told me they were whale’s bones.]
The rocky summits of all the hills are amazingly broken up,
* Falklands and Tierra del Fuego. t Vol.l., p.382.
{ Bougainville says, “ D’autres ossemens enormes, places bien avant
dans les terres, ot que la fureur des flots n’a jamais été capable de porter
si luin, prouvent que la mer a baissé, ou que les terres se sont elevées.”—.
Vol. I., pp. 112-113.