.HMTION OP INIM'STKIAI 



76 



At rhilui', thepiuro in said t<> !>< u rem<-<ly fm- ham-nn-s- ; ami ('apt. King narrate* that "to 



such ext.-nt has this iih-a ])iv\ aih-il. that a < 'hihitc woman fating tluH dish lite-rally Kayn, if 

 I what sin- is il.'iii..:. that k >ln- is making chihln-n.' One would not, however, tmppoae, 

 I'ntin tin- iiiiiiihi-r of chihlrrn \\hich arc H-<-H en,w<lin^ r'.iintl tin- door, that the Chilote* had 

 an\ neeessity fr Hiu-h food." Yet, if tin* stiitnm-nt .f the population by Agiieros be correct, 

 the rate of increase has only been 80 per cent, during the last 65 years, and in the last 16 

 years it was but 0.64 per cent, per annum. 



During the last quarter of the sixteenth century, and the first quarter of the seventeenth, 

 several gohl mines were worked on the "ysla grande;" but they were only productive so long 

 as there was a numerous native population, over whom barbarous task-masters could exercise 

 cruelties unquestioned, and they were abandoned prior to 1633. Neither silver nor copper ores 

 have been found. Lignite exists abundantly in the vicinity of Ancud, as well as on the island 

 of Lemui ; but wood is too abundant in the forests to make coal valuable at present. Indeed, 

 but for these forests, without a change of character the Chilotes would at once become bank- 

 rupts. Where so little personal exertion is necessary to provide subsistence, it is not greatly 

 to be wondered at that the lower classes remain indolent; and we may, perhaps, find a reason 

 for the remarkable want of industry here, in the apparently inexhaustible abundance of fish, 

 the facility with which they may be taken, and their consequent cheapness. Since the island 

 became subject to the Chilean government, continuous efforts have been made to improve the 

 condition of the people. But apathy is a national characteristic, inherited from the aboriginal 

 mother a consequent to her vassalage and an almost changeless temperature. If the most 

 energetic at the capital confess to this predominant trait, how much more deeply fixed shall 

 we expect to find it in unadulterated blood a race, physically no less than morally, trampled 

 under foot during three centuries, and from whom even yet there are constant and cruel extor- 

 tions to preserve the memory of the past? 



Manufactories, properly so called, are yet to be erected. Coarse woollen cloth of a very 

 durable quality, ponchos, bordillos, (a smaller kind of poncho,) common and embroidered 

 blankets, and carpets (small square rugs) for church, are made with hand-looms to supply the 

 home demand no more ; and the wheat and barley are ground within the province. Cables, 

 hawsers, and a sort of rope, needed for the piraguas, are made of a plant they call quttineja, 

 which is supposed to be the root of a species of callixene. The material of the sail has already 

 been mentioned. 



During 1850 the trade of the province consisted in the following articles, whose values are 

 annexed : 



The foreign trade was wholly with California and Peru. 



