74 POLITICAL DIVISIONS AND 



following year; "but from the humidity of the atmosphere, particularly at that season, (the com- 

 mencement of winter,) it is frequently reaped "before it is quite ripe, and is almost always gath- 

 ered in wet. By moving it about, and keeping it thinly strewed in granaries, it dries rapidly, 

 though, of necessity, some portion becomes mildewed. The mode of threshing and winnowing 

 is the same that is practised in other parts of Chile. 



According to the returns made to the Intendente, the harvest of 1850 yielded 163,170 bushels 

 of wheat, 15,650 of barley, 1,580 of flaxseed, and 940,700 of potatoes. This last esculent is 

 planted from September to November, and is ready for gathering in May following. Large 

 quantities are sold to whale-ships and others that frequent Ancud, and of which no account is 

 given in the custom-house statistics. Except of potatoes, the returns are smaller than they 

 were twenty-two years previously conclusive inferential evidence that there has been little 

 augmentation of the population, or progress in clearing land. There is neither wine nor spirit 

 made to any extent in the province ; but chicha is manufactured from apples in large quanti- 

 ties. Here, as in Valdivia, the apple-trees are very numerous, and the Chilotes have a marvel- 

 lous short way of making an orchard. At the lower part of almost every branch, small, 

 conical, brown, and wrinkled points project. These are always ready to change into roots, as 

 may sometimes be seen when any mud has been accidentally splashed against the tree. A 

 branch as thick as a man's thigh is chosen in the early spring, and is cut off just beneath 

 these points. All the smaller branches dre lopped off, and it is then placed about two feet 

 deep in the groundr During the ensuing summer, the stump throws out long shoots, and 

 sometimes even bears fruit. Dr. Darwin was shown one which had produced as many as 

 twenty-three apples, though this was thought very unusual ; and another was pointed out to 

 him, which in the third season was changed into a well-wooded tree, loaded with fruit. The 

 only good indigenous fruits are the strawberry, which grows abundantly on several of the 

 islands, and the chupon, a sort of bromelia (?) that may be found on the main laud also, as far 

 north as the river Maule. 



Owing to the scarcity and indifference of the pasturage and the excess of rainy weather, 

 horned cattle and sheep do not multiply more rapidly than the home consumption demands. 

 Swine thrive amazingly on the wild potatoes and other indigenous roots ; and the hams of 

 Chiloe are acknowledged luxuries on every part of the coast. 



Allusion has been made to the quantities of excellent fish, both vertebrated and molluscous, 

 with which the sea and creeks abound. In summer, smelt, mullet, a kind of bass, and several 

 other varieties, are taken by placing very simple weirs across creeks, leaving a passage in the 

 middle, which is left open during the flood, and closed when the tide begins to ebb. Some of 

 these weirs are rough stone walls, on a small scale ; others are wattled, like hurdles ; and as 

 the water falls, the number of fish kept back by them is really surprising. The shell-fish most 

 esteemed are two varieties of choros (Mytilus), oysters, picos (Balanus psittacus), and piures 

 (Pyura, Molina). Choros are often found seven or eight inches long. Of these the fish is 

 nearly as large as a goose's egg, and when baked in a hole in the earth, which has been 

 heated properly, they are very juicy and of delightful flavor. In size, as well as taste, the 

 oyster rather resembles the European than the North American. They are occasionally sent as 

 presents to friends at Valparaiso, by whom they are highly esteemed. The pico is a barnacle, 

 often four or five inches long, and has much the flavor of the crab. Not only by the inhabitants 

 of this archipelago, but also by those of Concepcion and Caldera, in whose bays it is found, it 

 is preferred over all other shell-fish. The piure, which Molina considered a genus allied to 

 Ascidia, as an edible is still less inviting to the eye than the generality of that family. Its 

 body js about the size and shape of a small pear, an inch in diameter, shut up in a firm glutinous 

 case of various shapes, one of which often contains eight or ten distinct bodies, separated from 

 each other by a strong membraneous substance. They are found attached to rocks or stones 

 under water, and are eaten boiled or roasted in their shells, having, when fresh, a flavor not 

 unlike that of the lobster. Occasionally they also are dried and sent to the Valparaiso market. 



