1835.] CHILOE 291 



CHAPTER XIV. 



San Carlos, Chiloe Osorno in eruption, contemporaneously with Aconcagua 

 and Coseguina Ride to Cucao Impenetrable forests Valdivia Indians 

 Earthquake Concepcion Great earthquake Rocks fissured Appear- 

 ance of the former towns The sea black and boiling Direction of the 

 vibrations Stones twisted round Great Wave Permanent elevation of 

 the land Area of volcanic phenomena The connexion between the 

 elevatory and eruptive forces Cause of earthquakes Slow elevation of 

 Mountain-chains. 



CHILOE AND CONCEPCION: GREAT EARTHQUAKE. 



On January the loth we sailed from Low's Harbour, and three 

 days afterwards anchored a second time in the bay of S. Carlos 

 in Chiloe. On the night of the 19th the volcano of Osorno was 

 in action. At midnight the sentry observed something like a 

 large star, which gradually increased in size till about three 

 o'clock, when it presented a very magnificent spectacle. By the 

 aid of a glass, dark objects, in constant succession, were seen, in 

 the midst of a great glare of red light, to be thrown up and to 

 fall down. The li^ht was sufficient to cast on the water a lon^ 

 bright reflection. Large masses of molten matter seem very 

 commonly to be cast out of the craters in this part of the Cor- 

 dillera. I was assured that when the Corcovado is in eruption, 

 great masses are projected upwards and are seen to burst in the 

 , air, assuming many fantastical forms, such as trees : their size 

 must be immense, for they can be distinguished from the high 

 land behind S. Carlos, which is no less than ninety-three miles 

 from the Corcovado. In the morning the volcano became tran- 

 quil. 



I was surprised at hearing afterwards that Aconcagua in Chile, 

 480 miles northwards, was in action on this same night ; and 

 still more surprised to hear, that the great eruption of Co- 

 seguina (2700 miles north of Aconcagua), accompanied by an 

 earthquake felt over a 1000 miles, also occurred within six hours 

 of this same time. This coincidence is the more remark- 

 able, as Coseguina had been dormant for twenty-six years: 



