PATAGONIA, a country in South America, comprehending the most southern portion of that continent, from the Cusu Leubu, or Rio Negro, to the Strait of .Magalhaens, by which it is divided from TIERRA DEL FUEGO. It lies between 38° 50' and 53° 55' S. lat, 63° stud 76* W. long. It is bounded E. by the Atlantis) Ocean; N. by Buenos Ayres ; N.W. by Chili ; W. by the Pacific Ocean, and S. by the Strait of 31agalhaens. The area is about 300,000 square miles; the population has been estimated at about 120,000.
Patagonia comprehends two very different regions—the mountain region and the plains. The mountain region occupies the countries extending along the shores of the Pacific and the western portiou of the Strait of Magalhaeos. The plains ocoupy the eastern part of the country, stretching out along the Atlantic and the eastern part of the Strait of Magalhaens.
The mountain region comprehends the southern portiou of the Aerie's. It is a remarkable and characteristic feature of the /southern part of the mountain region of Patagonia that it is cut through by two long but comparatively narrow inlets, which extend to the plains east of the mountains, and there expand into largo saltwater lakes.
The southern of those lakes, or inland seas, consists of two basins united by a narrow channel of moderate extent, and connected with the Strait of Magelhaeos by a strait of larger dimensions, called Jerome Channel, which branches off from the Strait of Megalhaens near 53° 35'S. 1st, 72' 30' W. long., and extends northward with a alight bend to the west to 53' 15', where it turns north-east, and gradually widens into Otway Water. It is upwards of thirty miles long, and generally two miles wide. Otway Water, tho southern of these inland sea-basins, extends towards east-north-east for some fifty miles, and increases in width as it proceeds eastward, from hardly six miles to above twenty miles. Not far from the north-eastern extremity of Otway Water, a winding channel, about eight miles long, half a mile wide, aud deep enough for the largest vessels, called Fitzroy Passage, runs north by went to another inland sea-basin, called Skyring Water, which is about eighty miles in length aud from eight to fifteen miles wide. The northern inland sea is of comparatively small extent,
but it sends out several branches, which advance to a considerable distance inland : it is described under ANCON SIN Sauna. A deep and narrow inlet runs northward from the (strait which unites this basin to the ocean, intersecting the country between the ocean and Last Hope Inlet fur nearly thirty miles from the Almon Siu Salida. It is called the Canal of the Mountains.
The more southern of the mountain districts, which is inclosed on three aides by the Strait of Magalhaens, and on the north by Otway Water, is called Brunswick Peninsula, and is connected with the main body of Patagonia only by the isthmus which extends from the eastern shores of Otway Water to the Strait of Magnlhaeus, opposite Elizabeth Island. This isthmus is from seven to teu miles wide, low, and partly occupied by lakes. Although the area of the peninsula probably exceeds 3000 square miles, it does not appear that a stream above tho size of a mountain torrent finds its way to the strait itself. The whole drainage therefore must run off northward to Otway Water. South of the isthmus which divides Otway Water from the Strait of Magni limns, a range called the Brecknock Hills rises to from 1000 to 1200 feet, and is only a few miles from the strait and parallel to it ; but farther south it rises into mountains covered with perpetual snow. Where the mountains approach Cape Froward they sink under the line of perpetual congelation, but Mount Tarn is 2600 feet high, and the mountains at the back of the Cape are estimated at 2500 feet. The mountains continue close to the shore along Jerome Channel and round to where Otway Water opens to view ; but the highest summit, Mont Cruz, near Port Gallant, is only 2290 feet high. The southern shores of peninsula, though extremely rocky, are distinguished by luxuriant vegetation, and the trees attain is full growth, while farther west they are stunted. The climate, though colder than in Europe at an equal distance from the pule, is not subject to extreme cold. The greatest disadvantage is the moisture of the atmosphere and the frequent rain.