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

March 1828. cape notch — remarks. 155 The shores of the Straits were seldom visible to us, from a thick mist with which they were clouded : it is, however, a bold coast on each side, otherwise the Strait would be utterly unnavigahle in such weather. Near Cape Notch the mountains spire up into peaks of great height, singularly serrated, and connected by barren ridges. About their bases there are gene- rally some green patches of jungle ; but, upon the whole, nothing can be more sterile and repulsive than the view. This afternoon we passed Playa Parda, and in the evening anchored in Marian Cove. " In the course of the next day the wind freshened to a strong and squally gale from the W.N.W., with much rain ; the weather was so thick that we could scarcely make out tlie coast. In this kind of weather, the lower parts of the shore are screened from view by mist, and the upper ones are seen looming through it in lofty masses, in a manner which would lead a stranger to believe that the ship was completely envi- roned with islands. " In the evening: we anchored in the little cove called Half Port Bay, and next morning resumed our daily struggle against wind, tide, and weather. " We crossed the mouth of a deep sound on the north shore,* where no tide or current was remarked : the delineation of the coast about this point is particularly defective in the old charts fortunately, however, for the navigator, he has here to deal with shores where the omission of a whole island, or even the addition of a few that do not exist, is of less consequence to his safety than the exact limit of one sand-bank in other parts of the world. This night we anchored in Upright Bay, which, though affording excellent shelter from the prevailing winds, is bad with a southerly one ; as, from the steepness of the bottom requiring a vessel to anchor close to the shore, sufficient scope is not left for veering cable. " Sheltered by the high land under which we were anchored, * Aftenvards examined by Capt. Fitz Roy. It was called Xaultegiia by Sarmiento, who very correctly describes it. — (Sarmiento's Voyage, p. 208.)