All  too  soon  came  the  inevitable  order  to  steam  ahead ;
and  once  more  resuming  our  course,  we  passed  through


AVHA.V  .IXn   /.'.JJ7.\7->


Innocents  and  Conception  Channels,  and  entered  Wide
Channel,  which  is  frequently  blocked  up  with  ice  at  this
time  of  year,  th<jii;,'h  to-day  we  only  met  with  a  few  icc-
bei^s  on  their  way  down  from  ICj-re  Sounii.
I  have  already  referred  to  the  extraordinar>-  shapes  as-
sumed by  some  of  the  mountain  peaks.     That  appropriately


called  Singular  I'eak— on  Chatham  Island — and  Two-peak
Mountain  and  Cathedral  Mountain — both  on  Wellington
Island — specially  attracted  our  attention  to-day.  The
first-named  presents  a  wonderful  appearance,  from  which-
ever side  you  view  it ;  the  second  reminds  one  of  the
beautiful  double  spires  at  Tours  ;  while  the  last  resembles
tlie  tapering  spire  of  a  cathedral,  rising  from  a  long  roof,
covered  with  delicate  towers,  fret-work,   and   angles.     In


PEAKS  AND  PINNACLES.  145

Wide  Channel  we  felt  really  compelled  to  stop  again  to
admire  some  of  the  unnamed  mountains.  One  we  chris-
tened Spire  Mountain,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  rest ;  it
consisted  of  a  single  iicedle-likc  point,  piercing  deep  into
the  blue  vault  of  heaven,  and  surrounded  by  a  cluster  of
less  lofty  but  e^^ually  sharp  pinnacles.  This  group  rose
from   a  vast  chain  of  exquisitely  tinted  snow-peaks,  that


looked  almost  as  if  they  rested  on  the  vast  glacier  beneath,
seamed  with  dark  blue  and  green  crevasses  and  fissures.
