Page:The birds of Tierra del Fuego - Richard Crawshay.djvu/31

Rh from a height of fifteen hundred or two thousand feet. The course of many is concealed, at first, by intervening trees, and, when half way down the descent, they burst upon the view, leaping, as it were, out of the wood. Some unite as they fall, and together are precipitated into the sea, in a cloud of foam; so varied, indeed, are the forms of these cascades, and so great their contrast with the dark foliage of the trees which thickly cover the sides of the mountain, that it is impossible adequately to describe the scene. I have met with nothing exceeding the picturesque grandeur of this part of the Strait."

Again, of Ainsworth Harbour:—"The bottom of the port is formed by an immense glacier, from which during the night, large masses broke off and fell into the sea with a loud crash. At high tide the sea water undermines, by thawing, large masses of ice, which, when the tide falls, want support, and, consequently, break off bringing with them huge fragments of the glacier, and falling into the still basin with a noise like thunder."

Mount Sarmiento is thus described by Graves:—"Rising abruptly from the sea, to a height of about 7,000 feet, it terminates in two sharp peaks, which seem absolutely in the sky: so lofty does the mountain appear when you are close to its base. Two thirds of the height are covered with snow; and two enormous glaciers descend into the deep blue waters of the sea beneath. When the sun shines, it is a most brilliant and magnificent sight."

From Port Famine. King mentions that "during 190 days, this wonderful mountain was only seen on twenty-five, and during seven days only was it constantly visible. On the remaining eighteen, portions only were seen, and those but for a very few hours at a time."

Yet one more description will I quote, that of the scenery at night from Devil Island, in Beagle Channel, by Fitzroy:—"Between some of the mountains the ice extended so widely as to form immense glaciers, which were faced towards the water by lofty cliffs. During a beautifully fine and still night, the view from our fireside in this narrow channel, was most striking,