Beagle Channel,
Tierra del Fuego
,
Chile
Beagle
Channel
Beagle Channel is a strait
separating islands of the
Tierra del Fuego
archipelago, in extreme southern
South America
. It separates Isla Grande de Tierra
del
Fuego from several smaller islands to the south.
Its eastern portion is part of the border between
Chile
and
Argentina
. The western part is completely within
Chile
. Beagle Channel is about 150 miles long and is
about three miles wide at its narrowest point. To the west, the Darwin Sound
connects it to the
Pacific Ocean
.
Several small islands near
the eastern end were the subject of long-running territorial disputes between
Chile
and
Argentina
; by the terms of a 1984 treaty they are now part
of
Chile
, while
Argentina
has most maritime rights. The biggest settlement
on the channel is Ushuaia in
Argentina
.
Beagle channel is named
after the ship HMS Beagle which was involved in two hydrographic surveys of the
coasts of ace southern pan of
South America
in the early 19th century.
During the first, under the overall command of the Australian Commander
Phillip Parker King, the Beagle’s Captain Cringle Stokes committed suicide and
was replaced by Captain Robert FitzRoy. The second is better known as the voyage
of the Beagle because Captain FitzRoy took Charles Darwin along as a gentleman
companion, giving him opportunities as an amateur naturalist.
Along the Navigation through
the Beagle Channel and the Garibaldi Fjord one can admire some magnificent
glaciers. Among these, the most famous ones are the
Germany
,
France
,
Italy
, and
Holland
glaciers.
Tierra Del
Fuego
Tierra Del Fuego is an
archipelago of 28,476 sq miles separated from the southernmost tip of the South
American mainland by the
Strait of Magellan
. The
southern point of the archipelago forms
Cape Horn
.
The archipelago consists of
a main island, Isla Grande de
Tierra del Fuego
, often simply called
Tierra del Fuego
or Isla Grande, with an area of 48,100 km2, and
a group of smaller islands. Half of
this island and the islands west and south of it, are part of the Magallanes y
Antarctica Chilean Region. The capital and chief town is
Punta Arenas
, situated on the mainland across the strait.
The eastern part of the
archipelago belongs to
Argentina
, being part of
Tierra del Fuego
Province
. Its capital a Ushuaia, the biggest city of the
archipelago. The
Darwin
Range
ends in the
Mount
Bove
; this Range contains many glaciers that even
touch the ocean.
Its name comes from
Ferdinand Magellan who was born in
Portugal
, and was the first European to pass it in 1520.
He believed he was seeing the many fires (Fuego in Spanish) of the Amerindians,
which were visible from the sea, and that the “Indians” were waiting in the
forests to ambush his armada. These were fires lit by the Yamana Indians who
lived in the southern part of the island, to ward off the low temperatures in
the area.
The Yamana Indians spent a
great deal of their time fishing and hunting from their canoes. They also used
to carry a lighted fire aboard. Fire was critical to their survival since they
wore no clothing. Four native
Fuegians, including “Jemmy Button” (Orundellico), were brought from
Tierra del Fuego
by Robert Fitzroy on his first voyage with the
Beagle in 1830. They were taken to meet the King and Queen in
London
and were instant celebrities. The surviving
three returned to Tierra de- Fuego with the Beagle with Charles Darwin, who made
extensive notes about his visit to the islands.