) On one
occasion I saw two of these monsters, probably male and female,
slowly swimming one after the other, within less than a stone's
throw of the shore, over which the beech-tree extended its
branches.
We sailed on till it was dark, and then pitched our tents in a
quiet creek. The greatest luxury was to find for our beds a beach
of pebbles, for they were dry and yielded to the body. Peaty soil
is damp; rock is uneven and hard; sand gets into one's meat, when
cooked and eaten boat-fashion; but when lying in our blanket-bags,
on a good bed of smooth pebbles, we passed most comfortable nights.
It was my watch till one o'clock. There is something very solemn in
these scenes. At no time does the consciousness in what a remote
corner of the world you are then standing come so strongly before
the mind. Everything tends to this effect; the stillness of the
night is interrupted only by the heavy breathing of the seamen
beneath the tents, and sometimes by the cry of a night-bird. The
occasional barking of a dog, heard in the distance, reminds one
that it is the land of the savage.
JANUARY 29, 1833.
Early in the morning we arrived at the point where the Beagle
Channel divides into two arms; and we entered the northern one.
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