Tierra del Fuego (Tee-er'ra del Foo-ay'go; 'Land of Fire,' so named by Magellan who saw fires on the shore, when he discovered them in 1520), a group of several large and many small islands named from the largest one, in 54° S. lat., 70° W. long., separated from the south end of South America by the Strait of Magellan. Its farthest south point is Cape Horn (q.v.). Staten Island and the half of the main island belong to Argentina; all the rest to Chili. The shores of the archipelago are much indented with bays and arms of the sea, with mountains rising abruptly from the water. The whole group is mountainous, attaining 7000 feet, and the snow-line being 4000 feet above sea-level. There are some dreary plains and a few fertile river-valleys, with areas of marshy ground. Towards the north the plains produce good pasturage. Forests of beech, winter's bark, magnolia, and cypress occupy large areas, with dense growths of bushes. Lichens cover much of both high and low grounds. The guanaco tucu-tucu (a small rodent), dog, fox, and rat are the only native quadrupeds. Birds are abundant, including owls, falcons, and a great variety of sea-birds. The land of Tierra del Fuego is rapidly rising. The rocks are principally volcanic. Some poor coal and a little gold have been found. The climate is the most tempestuous in the world. The native inhabitants are of a low type, divided into three tribes, the Onas (or Aonas), the Yaghans, and the Ala-kalufs. They numbered about 10,000 in 1870, but are now reduced to about 1000. See Darwin's Vogage of a Naturalist (1845; new ed. 1889), surveys and voyages by King, Fitzroy, Cunningham, Fitzgerald, Conway (1902).