THE VOYAGE OF THE HASSLER 147 



Agassiz and his corps went at once to their scientific 

 researches, Mrs. Johnson and I devoted ourselves to 

 the social investigation of the little town. 



First, we went to the market, a central square sur- 

 rounded by booths where were lying and sitting, 

 grouped about in all sorts of attitudes, some asleep, 

 some nursing their children, Indian and Chilian 

 women, with their bright shawls thrown mantilla- 

 like over their heads and shoulders, men lounging 

 about in their characteristic poncho and slouched hat. 

 We met in the market a gentleman, whose name we 

 did not know, but he joined us, offered to be our es- 

 cort and took us all over the village, up on the hill 

 where stands the Catholic church commanding a 

 superb view of mountains and harbor and hillsides 

 with little farms scattered about. Then we wandered 

 through the streets under his escort, looked in at the 

 school, were invited into one or two houses where we 

 saw the linen lace work made, were presented with 

 flowers, and altogether treated with much cordial- 

 ity. We saw the fuchsias growing wild in tall bushes 

 in the poorest gardens; we saw the groups of Indians 

 who come in across the river in the morning from 

 their outlying farms to sell milk and eggs, now resting 

 and sitting about on the street corners with empty 

 milk bottles and egg baskets. We saw the country 

 people driving out their double teams of strong pow- 

 erful oxen drawing shallow wooden troughs filled 

 with manure for their fields. We saw the ladies of 

 Ancud, always with the half shawl, half mantle, 

 drawn over head and shoulders, sitting in their por- 



