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

442 GLACIERS — VIEW — MOUNTAINS. May 1830. large, and just on what might be called neutral ground between the two tribes, it is not unlikely that there may have been many a meeting there — perhaps many a battle. At the sepa- ration, or meeting of the two channels, it was high water at a quarter before five this morning, and the flood came from the west, about a knot an hour ; the ebb-tide set to the west at about half that strength. Much drift-wood and large fragments of ice were carried along with it. Between some of the moun- tains 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, though confined. Thickly-wooded and very steep mountains shut us in on three sides, and opposite, distant only a few miles, rose an immense barrier of snow-covered mountains, on which the moon was shining brightly. The water between was so glassy, that their outline might be distinctly traced in it : but a death-like still- ness was sometimes broken by masses of ice falling from the opposite glaciers, which crashed, and reverberated around — like eruptions of a distant volcano. " 10. Before daylight this morning, we were on our oars and by the time the sun was high enovigh for observing, were many miles westward of our resting-place. After sights, while the men were cooking, I obtained a few bearings, and prepared to return, not intending to go further westward. I saw water from that spot, more than twenty miles to the west (by com- pass) ; and then my view was limited by the channel turning towards the south. In those twenty miles, not the slightest appearance of an opening to the northward could be seen mountain succeeded mountain, in unbroken succession. Three ridges, or ranges, could be traced, lying parallel to each other and the nearest summits of those in the third, or furthest range, stretching from the northward and eastward of me, and conti- nuing, as far as eye could reach, towards the north and west, were at least five leagues distant. Their height I supposed to be about four thousand feet : that of those nearest to me, about two thousand : and of those in the middle range, mentioned J