18 REMARKS AND OPINIONS. 



The winter here is not without frost, and there 

 are instances of snow having fallen in the valley. 

 The palm of San Jago (Cocos chilensiSy Mol.) is not 

 met with now so fai' to the south. The orange 

 and lemon ripen indeed in the inclosed gardens of 

 Mocha, but we do not see here the beautiful high 

 orange groves which delighted us in Brazil. We 

 were shown, in one of these gardens, a young date- 

 tree, which throve admirably; and near this palm 

 grew the At^ancaria-imln'icatay the beautiful fir- 

 tree of the Andes, which is only met with, growing 

 wild, in the Cordilleras, where it forms entire 

 forests, and nourishes the inhabitants with its 

 kernels. The Chilian strawberry, during the time 

 of our stay, had neither blossom nor fruit. 



The name of the Huemul or Guemul, (^Equus 

 bisulcus, Mol.,) after which we eagerly inquired, 

 was not known to any body ; and even the worthy 

 missionary, whose conversation was so instructive 

 to us, knew nothing of this animal. We must, 

 therefore, leave the important zoological question, 

 which Molina has put respecting it, to be answered 

 by more fortunate naturalists. This author, how- 

 ever, appears to us to deserve little authority in 

 natural history. We did not see, in Conception, 

 any of the camel species of the New World j they 

 are only to be met with in the mountains, in a wild 

 state ; and they neglect, in the total stagnation of 

 industry, to bring them up as useful animals. We 

 saw, in fact, no wild quadrupeds. 



