Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

i\ CHAPTER Xri. First Appearance — Tides — Currents — Winds — Lightning- — Sea Tempei'ature — Rain — Health — Dangers — Cautions — View — Settle- ment — Animals — Foxes — Varieties — Seal — Whales — Fish and Fishery — Birds — Brushwood — Peat — Pasture — Potash — Orehilla — Grazing Corn — Fruit — Vegetables — Trees — Plants — Land— Situation of prin- cipal Settlement — Prospective advantages — Suggestions — Vernet's Establishment — Reflections. In the appearance of the Falkland Islands, there is very little either remarkable or interesting. About the greater part of the archipelago, barren hills, sloping towards low and broken ground, or rocky surf-beat shores, are the only objects which meet the eye. On the West Falkland, and some small islands near it, there are high precipitous cliffs in a few parts exposed to the western seas ; but other places, and especially the southern portions of East Falkland, are so low that they cannot be seen from the deck of a vessel five miles distant. The average height of the western island is greater than that of the eastern, although the highest hills seem to be in the latter, where they rise to about thirteen hundred feet above the sea level. Around the islands, especially toward the south-eastern and north-western extremes, there are numerous islets and rocks, whose distance from shores, where tides run strongly and winds are violent as well as sudden, makes them exceedingly dange- rous ; more particularly near the north-west extremity of the group : and as seamen require information on these matters before entering a port, I will notice the tides, winds, and cli- mate previous to other subjects. The tides differ much as to strength and direction in dif- ferent parts of the archipelago, but the times of syzigial high water only vary from five to eight o'clock ; and the rise of tide is almost similar every where, about four feet at neap, and eight VOL. II. K