16 DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY. 



lies at the base of Antuco, by whose immense black cone, and the snowy peaks of Cerro 

 Belinda, it is overshadowed. The form is nearly that of a crescent, with cusps, nearly five 

 miles apart, clasping the foot of Antuco. It is 4,600 feet above the level of the ocean, is 

 about 300 yards across in the broadest part, and is supplied by snow-water not only from the 

 overhanging mountains, but also from all the basin to the eastward, as far as the dividing line 

 of waters. The foam of its surplus water tumbling over a cliff at a short distance, is in fine 

 contrast with tlje surrounding masses of blackened lava and scoriae.* 



As we proceed northerly, the number and volumes of the lakes diminish, until we find that 

 no such bodies of water exist except those on lofty elevations of the Andes. There are but two 

 which merit attention in the province of Maule. Amargo or, as it is sometimes called, Her- 

 moso being in the very midst of the great mountain chains near latitude 35 40', is one of 

 those just referred to. It is about three leagues in circumference, of great depth, and, to this 

 time, has no known outlet. One of its names would indicate that its water is bitter ; but such 

 is not the case, and it is a constant resort of herdsmen frequenting the Cordilleras for pasturage. 



Totoral, formed by the waters that descend from the Cerros de Name during winter, is some 

 fifteen miles from the coast, and near the northern part of the province. It is only about a mile 

 long, with an outlet by the Arenales creek, one of the tributaries of the river Cauquenes. M. 

 Gay has inserted on his map of the province lakes at the source of the Maule and Achihueno. 

 From this authority, the former covers more than 50 square miles, and the latter is many times 

 the size of Totoral. But mention of them is neither made in the carefully prepared report to 

 the Statistical Office, which was published in 1845, nor by Prof. Domeyko, who made a geo- 

 logical tour in the Cordilleras of the vicinity of the Descabezado, near which the Maule origi- 

 nates. For this reason they have been omitted from the accompanying map. 



Mondaca lies in a valley of the same name to the N.W. of Descabezado, and 3,700 feet above 

 the ocean. There seems but little doubt that its origin is due to the earthquakes attending the 

 eruption of Peteroa, in December, 1760, when the mountain formed for itself a new crater, and 

 filled the neighboring valleys with lava and ashes so as to obstruct, and in some cases dam up, 

 the mountain streams. No writer alludes to its dimensions. Its reddish-yellow waters are 

 almost surrounded by barren and broken hills, piles of shingle, pumice, and other volcanic 

 rocks. At the eastern extremity only, where the noisy torrent that supplies it tumbles through 

 a ravine, are there symptoms of vegetation. Mineral springs, elsewhere mentioned, are found 

 on its southern shore. This lake is not on the map of M. Gay, and it may be his Laguna del 

 Maule. 



Of Las Garzas, lying in a basin of the hills near the N.W. corner of the province of Talca, 

 the only information is that afforded by the map of M. Gay ; its latitude is 34 54' S. , and longi- 

 tude 72 05' W. 



Taguatagua, a former lake in the province of Colchagua, and four leagues N.W. of San 

 Fernando, was the most extensive and best known south of the river Cachapual. Its site still 

 is more than ordinarily interesting to the geologist, and therefore a brief notice is given of 

 what it was. The lake occupied a basin just at the western base of the Central Cordilleras, 

 whose distance from the sea is about 60 miles, and elevation above it not less than 1,400 feet. 

 On the western side, the rim of the basin is lower than the opposite hills, one natural gorge 

 or depression being not more than 40 feet above the surface of the lake. Advantage was 

 taken of this a few years ago to cut a drain and lead off the water, by which means 8,000 acres 

 of the most productive land was obtained. At that time the lake was of an oval form, nine 

 miles in circuit, the water increasing in depth regularly to the centre, where bottom was found 

 at twenty-five feet. Then, it had an outlet into the Cachapual from its southeastern extremity, 

 through which there was a constant stream ; and as there were neither rains in summer, nor 

 melting snows on the adjacent hills, to counterbalance this loss and that by evaporation, it was 



*A letter from Chile, since the above was written, informs me that the lava of a recent eruption had dammed up the outlet. 

 Who can say how much destruction will be caused when the accumulating volume bursts its barriers? 



