The 'Dacia' had an iceberg half
as big as herself lying alongside her, and all hands were at work
until late at night, aided by the light of lanterns and torches,
chopping the ice up and stowing it away.
Our boat being thus engaged, we were obliged to wait on shore until
long past dark; but as we were a large and strong party, it did not
much matter. Our men amused themselves by collecting a number of large
and excellent mussels, some of which, distinguishable by the peculiar
appearance of their shells, arising from a diseased condition of the
fish, contained from ten to thirty very small seed pearls. The captain
of the 'Dacia' came to dinner, and the officers in the evening; and
they gave us much valuable information about the anchorages further up
the Straits, and many other things. The captain kindly gave Tom all
his Chilian charts of the Darien Channel, which has not yet been fully
surveyed by the English Government, though the 'Nassau' passed through
in 1869.
_Wednesday, October 11th_.--I never in my life saw anything so
beautiful as the view when I came on deck this morning, at a quarter
to five. The moon was shining, large and golden, high in the heavens;
the rosy streaks of dawn were just tinging the virgin snow on the
highest peaks with faint but ever-deepening colour; whilst all around,
the foliage, rocks, and icebergs were still wrapped in the deepest
shade.
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