328 VOYAGE TO THE 



CHAP, port, and taken on board a supply of turkeys and 



VII 



fruit, which are finer here than in any other part of 

 March, the world with which I am acquainted, we put to sea 



1828 



on the 18th. On the 29th March we crossed the 

 equator in 99^ 40' W., and arrived at Valparaiso on 

 the 29th of April, where we had the gratification to 

 find, that his Royal Highness the Lord High Admiral 

 had been pleased to mark his approbation of our pro- 

 ceedings on our voyage to the northward in 1826, 

 by honouring the Blossom with the first commissions 

 for promotion which had been issued under his Royal 

 Highness's auspices. Here also I found orders await- 

 ing my arrival to convey to Europe the remittances of 

 May. specie, part of which arrived on the 19th May, and on 

 the 20th we proceeded to Coquimbo to take on board 

 the remainder. 



On the 23d, when seven leagues S.W. J W. of this 

 port, we were surprised by the shock of an earthquake^ 

 which shook the ship so forcibly, that some of the 

 seamen imagined the anchor had been let go by acci- 

 dent, and was dragging the chain-cable with it to the 

 bottom ; while others supposed the ship had struck 

 upon a shoal. An hour afterwards we felt a second 

 shock, but much lighter. On our arrival in Coquimbo 

 we found that these shocks had been felt by the in- 

 habitants, and that there had been one the preceding 

 night, which made the churches totter until the bells 

 rang. Several slight shocks were afterwards felt by 

 the inhabitants, who are very sensible to these sub- 

 terraneous convulsions. 



We remained several days in this port, which en- 

 joys one of the most delightful climates imaginable, 

 where gales of wind are scarcely ever felt, and in which 

 rain is a very rare occurrence. Situated between the 



