DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES. 73 



time of Byron's visit, (1742,) is only a hamlet. Remains of a town, such as line* of streets and 



flu- ruins of a churcli. ;n-- \ i-ible; but there are now only a few straggling cottages and a chapel 

 in ruins. It is said, on tin- spot, tliul tin- former church of ( 'hacuo wan burned by the ol<l Span- 

 iards, to ol>li^c the natives to quit the place and go to San Carlos, which was designated fur the 

 capital as early as 1566. There are also small settlement! at Dalcahue, (Yinchi, and Vilinco, 

 on the same island; at Calbuco, Palqui, Quenac, and Puchilco, on inlands of the archipelago ; 

 and at Carelmapu, on the main land. Their inhabitants have at least three parts in four In- 

 dian blood. The district of Cucao is the only inhabited part of the western coast of Chiloe. 

 It contains about fifty Indian families, who are scattered along four or five miles of the shore, 

 but who, whilst having plenty to eat, and tolerably good clothes of their own manufacture to 

 wear, have no commerce, except in a little seal-oil. Ancud is the port of entry; San Miguel 

 and Bulnes, in the Straits of Magellan, are also open to coasting trade. There are four dU- 

 tinct classes of inhabitants on Chil6e and the adjacent islands the aboriginal Huyhuen-che, 

 or Chonos ; the Huilli-che, who came from southern Chile ; the foreigners, who were neither 

 born on the island nor of Chilote parents; and the Creoles. Of these four, in consequence of 

 disease and emigration, the Chonos form but a small number, and the principal population 

 belong to the Huilli-che tribe, a tame and docile race when compared with the former, whoso 

 spirit of independence has shown itself in their emigration. Capt. Fitzroy says of the Huilli- 

 ches, that they are "nominally Christians, but painfully ignorant of pure Christianity." That 

 they should be extremely superstitious, is not at all to be wondered at; for theirs is a confused 

 demi-religion, in which a medley of ideas concerning the Virgin Mary, saints, images, and 

 witches, is found far more often than any clear reference to our Saviour or the Almighty. 

 Those who reside upon the coast are scarcely superior to the uncivilized savages further south. 

 They live principally upon shell-fish, and what little they are enabled to procure by the sale 

 of a few pigs, or poultry, which they rear on the scanty store of potatoes and wheat that re- 

 mains after their new crop comes to maturity. One roof shelters a whole family. Father and 

 mother, sons and daughters, dogs and pigs, all live and sleep in their only room; in the middle 

 of which a fire is made, whence the smoke escapes by numerous apertures in the roof and sides 

 of the dwelling. The foreigners, who are few in number, of course, resemble their own coun- 

 trymen as to morals and habits, and the Creoles are quite ready to adopt their ideas. Their 

 warm-hearted kindness and hospitality towards strangers is conspicuous, even among the 

 descendants of Spaniards in South America. The language in common use is Spanish, the 

 original Indian tongue being almost forgotten ; but it is supposed to have been the same as 

 that spoken by the Indians of Madre de Dios Molu-che. Hervas, in his work on languages, 

 says that they now speak a language of which the words are Spanish, but all the inflections, 

 syntax, and idioms, are Chilean. 



A very large proportion of the island is covered with dense forests of robles, tiquis, maims, 

 muermos, maytens, &c., all of those named being valuable woods. Even where paths exist 

 through them, they are scarcely passable from the soft and swampy nature of the soil. In 

 these shaded highways, where the suu never penetrates the evergreen foliage, it is absolutely 

 necessary that the whole road should be made of logs of wood. These are squared and placed 

 beside each other, and are longitudinally fastened down by transverse poles, pegged on each 

 side, into the earth. Without this, neither man nor beast would be able to pass from settle- 

 ment to settlement. In most countries, forests can be removed without difficulty by the aid of 

 fire; but from the damp nature of the climate, and the character of the trees, it is necessary 

 that they be first cut down ; and thus natives complain greatly of the want of land. The 

 islands of Quinchao and Lemui are almost entirely cultivated, and both are populous. These, 

 together with the vicinity of Castro and a smaller space round Ancud, and on some of the other 

 islands, are the most fertile and productive portions of the province. The soil is a rich, sandy 

 loam, of a dark-red color ; and though rarely, if ever, manured, produces fair average crops of 

 wheat, barley, flax, and potatoes. Wheat is sown in April, and cut in the same month of the 

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