Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.1): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

136 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. April 1 8S8. night. They went away, to our great satisfaction, at an early- hour, and returned to the bottom of the sound, where a large party of their countrymen was assembled. Their departure enabled us to look round, in the vicinity of our anchorage, and examine its productions, which differed in no way from those of other parts of the coast. Its geological structure is, however, different : the rocks are greenstone, or granite, without slate. Mount Maxwell, rising immediately over the cove, is the termi- nation of a rocky mountain range, whose summits are crowned with snow. The verdant sides of the hill, interspersed at inter- vals with lai'ge masses of bare rock, produced, from a distance, rather a pleasing effect ; but, upon examination, the verdure was found to consist principally of moss, or a stunted vegeta- tion, covering a soft and swampy soil. The upper portions of the mount are so precipitous as not to be easily reached ; and, indeed, many parts rise with a perpendicular ascent for more than a hundred feet. On the south side of Mount Maxwell is Smyth Inlet, whicli contains anchorage on the north shore, particularly one in Earle Cove ; but in the centre the water is deep, and on that account, it is not an inviting place for a ship. During Mr. Graves's absence in Smyth Harbour, I examined the coast as far as Cape Edgeworth, where I obtained an exten- sive set of bearings. The afternoon was particularly favourable for the purpose, the snow-capped mountains of the north shore were perfectly distinct ; and among them was a very high one, shaped like a Highland target, the peak of the mountain answering to the central spike of the shield. We never after- wards saw it, nor could I, on this occasion, fix its position better, than by estimating its distance. The rock is chiefly greenstone, accompanied by considerable masses of granite. A little islet, off Dighton Cove, is composed of granite, of a lamelliform structure. Mr. Graves brought me a sjoecimen of lamelliform granite attached to a mass of greenstone. The Indians visited us every day, their number being gene- rally from twelve to sixteen, of which five or six only were men, the rest were women, and children of all ages. One of the latter could not have been more than three weeks old ; yet the