In many parts the Eucalypti
grew to a great size and composed a noble forest. In some of the
dampest ravines tree-ferns flourished in an extraordinary manner; I
saw one which must have been at least twenty feet high to the base
of the fronds, and was in girth exactly six feet. The fronds,
forming the most elegant parasols, produced a gloomy shade, like
that of the first hour of night. The summit of the mountain is
broad and flat and is composed of huge angular masses of naked
greenstone. Its elevation is 3100 feet above the level of the sea.
The day was splendidly clear, and we enjoyed a most extensive view;
to the north, the country appeared a mass of wooded mountains, of
about the same height with that on which we were standing, and with
an equally tame outline: to the south the broken land and water,
forming many intricate bays, was mapped with clearness before us.
After staying some hours on the summit we found a better way to
descend, but did not reach the "Beagle" till eight o'clock, after a
severe day's work.
FEBRUARY 7, 1836.
The "Beagle" sailed from Tasmania, and, on the 6th of the ensuing
month, reached King George's Sound, situated close to the
south-west corner of Australia.
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