1825. 



PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 29 



be eaten at table, except by the natives. The arrow- chap. 

 root is of a good quality, and very cheap. In the w^w 

 ravines and moist places, the panque (gunnera scabra) ° 1 c „ t °^ er 

 grows luxuriantly and strong: it is a very useful 

 root, and serves for several purposes ; a pleasant and 

 cooling drink is extracted from it, which is deemed 

 beneficial in feverish complaints ; its root furnishes 

 a liquid serviceable in tanning, and superior to any 

 of the barks of South America ; when made into tarts, 

 it is scarcely inferior to the rhubarb, for which it is 

 sometimes mistaken ; and it is eaten in strips after 

 dinner, with cheese and wine, &c. Several European 

 shrubs and herbaceous plants grow here, but more 

 luxuriantly than in our own country ; among these 

 were hemlock, flax, chick weed, pimpernel, water- 

 cresses, and a species of elder. 



The wines which were formerly so much esteemed, 

 and carried along the coast to the northward, are now 

 greatly deteriorated, and in the sea-port much adul- 

 terated. There is a great variety of them, and in 

 general they are very intoxicating. The only palat- 

 able kind I tasted was made from the vines on the 

 estate of General Friere, and for which I was in- 

 debted to the liberality of the governor, as there was 

 none to be purchased. This wine, though agreeable 

 to the English palate, is not in such estimation with 

 the Chilians as one that has a strong empyreumatic 

 flavour. It acquires this in the process of heating, 

 or rather of boiling, the fruit, which is done with a 

 view to extract a larger proportion of the juice than 

 could be obtained by the ordinary means, and to 

 produce a mellowness which age only coidd other- 

 wise give. Cici and mattee are still in use, though 

 less so than formerly ; and indeed it appeared to me 



