DESCRIPTIVE Cr.OCUAl'UV. 29 



such times, too, vessels have heen known to go down ;it their anchors, the gale and sea ren- 

 i|erinu r i' im|M,ssil.|e for those on shore to sen<l them tin- l<-;i-t assistance. During the violence 

 of these .sf..nns /o///</W,-.v. as they are called the presume .,1 the atmosphere vari little 



(rarely in.. re than three tenths of an inch of the barometer) from its normal condition, but 

 heavy showers of rain are frequent. In such a gale, occurring July, 1851, several valuable 

 vessels, ami even one of the British mail steamers, were lout, though tin- hitter was evidently 

 owing to mismanagement 1-y the officers who remained on board. Then the bay was crowded 

 with ships from every part of the world, numhers of which, en route for California, had come 

 in only for refreshments ; and the sight from the overhang in<_r hillH, though painfully appal- 

 ling, was grand and majestic beyond description. Latterly it has been suggested that one or 

 two powerful steam-tugs, retained in the bay through the winter, would be able to afford 

 material aid to vessels so distressed. Government would do well to make this provision, since 

 there is no doubt that, under the confidence which such auxiliaries would inspire, commerce 

 would increase, and the outlay be repaid. In summer they might be employed to transport 

 the mail or freight to and from the southern ports, and tow vessels into harbor. 



Ships only find difficulty in entering when the southwest winds outside are so strong as to 

 prevent their carrying sufficient sail to work up to the anchorage within the bay. There is 

 ahumlant depth of water for vessels of the largest size quite close in-shore, and no dangers 

 within any distance to which a prudent 'commander would approach, so that he may beat 

 fearlessly to any unoccupied anchorage that suits him. The strong southerly winds never last 

 more than a few hours; but as the squalls from the hills are often more violent than those in 

 the offing, it is often better to await their moderation outside. 



The never ceasing swell of the ocean, and great depth of water in the more secure parts of the 

 bay, have hitherto prevented the erection of wharves for loading and discharging cargoes; and 

 these operations are accomplished by means of launches, to and from which all packages are 

 carried through the surf on men's shoulders. How they manage to handle parcels of such 

 great dimensions and weight, as are many of the shipments, with the sea rushing between 

 their legs, seems most extraordinary ; yet accidents are quite as rare as at cities where every 

 facility of machinery and smooth water is afforded. 



Next in importance to Valparaiso on account of its commerce, but more extensive, better 

 protected, and the natural port of a far more productive portion of the country, is the bay of 

 Concepcion, or, as it is sometimes called, Talcahuano, in latitude 36 42'. It is six miles 

 long and four miles wide, with anchorage ground everywhere, abundant space, and all well 

 sheltered. At the northwest extremity, protecting a portion of the entrance, is the island 

 of Quinquina, nearly three miles in length and one mile broad in its widest part, leaving a 

 channel above half a mile across between it and the promontory that forms the western bound- 

 ary of the bay. The main channel, which is quite two miles broad, lies to the eastward of the 

 island. There the tide flows with less rapidity, and vessels usually prefer it, though with 

 ordinary prudence the western approach is perfectly safe at all times. If without plans of the 

 bay, and the wind is unfavorable for proceeding to the port of Talcahuano, in the southwest 

 corner, on account of two or three shoals not far from its principal anchorage, vessels often come 

 to under the southeast extremity of the island. Captain Beechy, R. N., also reported that a 

 rock or rocky shoal, having only 15 feet water on it, existed in the southeast part of the bay, 

 but the boats of H. B. M. surveying ship Beagle failed, in 1835, (after the great earthquake,) to 

 find less than nine fathoms water about the place indicated. 



The town of Talcahuano, containing with its suburbs about 4,000 inhabitants, bears the 

 same relation to Concepcion, which is nine miles distant, that Valparaiso does to Santiago. 

 Formerly the city of Concepcion or, as it was often called from the Araucanian settlement 

 on which Valdivia founded it, Penco was on the southeastern shore and near to the mouth 

 of the little river Andalien ; but repeated destruction by earthquakes, and their consequent 

 sea-waves that rolled into the bay, finally drove its inhabitants to a somewhat more elevated 

 site on the banks of the Biobioj Beyond a doubt the bay of Concepcion offers greater commer- 



