ide of the channel, he called
them Tierra del Fuego, meaning "Land of Fire."

The Strait of Magellan varies from three to seventy miles in width. The
scenery along its shores, low and treeless in the eastern part,
elsewhere is mountainous and heavily wooded--mainly with beech. In
various places lofty precipices rise abruptly from the water's edge;
throughout most of its extent the shore line is rock-bound and studded
with islets.

A more picturesque route, and one abounding in the grandest and most
stupendous scenery in the world, is that from the Pacific by way of
Smyth Channel, the entrance to which is four hundred miles north of the
entrance to Magellan Strait. By this route one follows a series of
channels and reaches the strait proper near Desolation Island. On
account of the dangers besetting this course, underwriters refuse to
insure vessels taking it.

[Illustration: Copyright, Underwood & Underwood, New York The Straits of
Magellan. Cape Pilar is the extreme western end]

It remained for a Hollander named Schouten to discover Cape Horn, in
1616, and thus find a safer way for sailing vessels going from the one
great ocean to the other. Schouten named the cape "Hoorn," from his
native city in Holland. Afterward the name was shortened to Horn, which
is applied both to the cape and to the island from which it projects.
Since the western entrance to the strait is subject to rough,
tempestuous weather and strong currents, very few modern sailing vessels
take the shorter course, preferring to double the cape. Though doubling
the cape is the safer route, yet this passage itself is beset by
dangerous storms and tempestuous seas. Fortunate is the sailing master
who rounds the Horn with pleasant weather.

Some of the smaller islands of the archipelago are densely wooded and
practically unexplored. Gold has been found on the beaches of several of
the islands in paying quantities, and these placers have been worked
successfully for several years. On the islands are found wild
strawberries of great size and fine flavor, wild raspberries,
gooseberries, grapes, and celery; in the spring the pastures are covered
with a variety of wild flowers. A profusion of ferns is seen almost
everywhere. Wild geese and swans are found on the lagoons and lakes in
large numbers.

Once upon a time Patagonia, as the southern part of the continent is
popularly called, was regarded as a waste; now it is recognized as a
wonderfully fertile