Ferdinand Magellan was searching the new world for a passage to the Pacific Ocean and the riches of the East. His quest took him down the coast of South America, on an expedition that seemed doomed to failure until Magellan spied a waterway heading west. Sailing his ships onward, he passed through ominous land, where smoke from unseen fires rose high in the air. He called the land Tierra del Fuego, or "land of fire." It was here Magellan found his passage to the Pacific and the Strait of Magellan, and where Charles Darwin later sailed the legendary 'Beagle'. Joshua Slocum, who sailed the globe alone, outwitted pirates who lurked in coves and channels. Peter Lourie takes young readers on a journey to the island at the end of the earth that for centuries was shrouded in mystery.