ALERSE OF CHILI. 147 
me, measured, respectively, 24 and 22 feet round, at 5 feet 
from the ground: but they were dead trees, nor did he 
detect any above 10 feet in circumference that were quite 
sound. Report, however, says, that in the Cordillera, out of 
reach of the Calbuco woodsmen, there are enormous Alerses, 
from 30 to 40 feet round, and 80 to 90 feet in height to the 
first branches; above which the heads of these giants are 
said to rise some 40 or 50 feet more. The Alerse has short 
stout boughs, and leaves resembling those of a Pine in their 
bluish-green hue, but shorter, being only half an inch, and 
the twentieth of an inch wide: on each stem there are four 
rows of these small leaves at opposite sides. In carrying 
the load of boards from the Astillero to the nearest water 
conveyance, the native wears a sheepskin on his shoulder 
under a woollen shirt, and taking a stick, with its lower end 
forked, to steady him across the frequent bridges of single 
trees thrown over the ravines, he trudges away with the load 
on one shoulder, and on the other the stick, which partly 
supports the weight of the burthen till one shoulder is tired, 
when he shifts it to the other and goes on. This half-rest is 
called cantantun. After eight, ten, or a dozen of these trans- 
fers, according to his strength and the state of the road, he 
casts down his burthen and rests a few minutes; this is his 
descanso, and he indulges himself thus at about every two or 
three miles, The Astillero of Melipulla is ten descansos, a 
Whole day's journey, distant from the place of embarkation. 
* In examining the different forests of Alerse, Mr. Douglas 
noticed some immense landslips, quechi (earthguakes ?), one 
Which was said to have brought down one thousand Alerses 
of great size. "This landslip measured nearly half a mile long, 
and half a quarter of a mile in width." 
_ In my Herbarium is deposited a specimen of a Thuja with 
immature fruit, gathered by Captain King in the Straits of 
Magelhaen ; and on my showing this to Mr. Bridges, on his 
recent return from Chili, he immediately pronounced it to be 
the true Alerse, and promised to send me a specimen of 
the same plant which he gathered in the * mountains near 
; M2 
