CHAPTER III. 



THE CLIMATE. 



DOES CLIMATE INFLUENCE THE MORAL AND PHYSICAL ENERGIES OF MAN? PROBABLE CHANGE IN CHILE AS AGRI- 

 CULTURE IS MORE GENERALLY EXTENDED. WINTER AT SANTIAGO ; ZODIACAL LIGHT. WINTER AT VALPARAISO. 

 WINTER NORTH OF LATITUDE 33 ; EXTRAORDINARY DRYNESS AND TRANSPARENCY OF THE AIR. WINTER AT 

 VALDIVIA ; AT THE ISLAND OF CHIL6E. SPRING AT SANTIAGO ; THUNDER-STORMS ; AURORA AUSTRALIS ; PROGRESS 

 OF VEGETATION; PRESSURE, TEMPERATURE, AND MOISTURE AT SANTIAGO DURING THE SUMMER; RADIATION; 

 HAIL-STORM ; PERIODICAL WINDS ; CLEAR ATMOSPHERE. SUMMER ON THE COAST : AT COQUIMBO : AT CONCEPCION : 

 AT VALDIVIA : AT CHIL6E. AUTUMN AT SANTIAGO ; INDIAN SUMMER ; METEORS ; SUNBEAMS ; RED SNOW. 



Every traveller who has made a sojourn in Chile unaffectedly lauds its climate, no matter 

 what the period of the year at which his visit was made. Sufficiently to the south of the equator 

 to mark perceptibly changes of the seasons, the Pacific and giant Andes combine to prevent 

 extremes to which similar parallels of the north Atlantic coast are subject ; and there is a genial 

 uniformity, most grateful to the corporal frame, throughout the year. Whether such uni- 

 formity is best for the development and progress of mankind,, eminently deserves the attention 

 of the physiologist, instigated, as he is, to the inquiry, by the fact that the enterprising and 

 energetic nations of the globe are those who inhabit climates subject to frequent and extreme 

 vicissitudes. Is not the mind, like the body, more inert in summer: its perceptions more vivid 

 and quick, when the frosts of winter demand vigorous bodily exertion to heat the blood ? If 

 so, how can we expect great energy of character, or brilliant acquirements, from those who 

 are born and dwell in climates that never experience such changes ? That such a temperature 

 will sap the energies of man, there is ample evidence among Americans and Europeans who 

 reside long in Chile ; men who went there with all the industry, activity, and perseverance 

 characterizing their races, yet who now differ little from native residents. Active as the mem- 

 bers of our small party were compelled to be, and exposed, as we often were, to the severest cold 

 ever known at Santiago, three years' residence made a sensible impression even on us ; and 

 another like period would probably have gone far towards imbuing us with the national 

 trait apathy. 



It is proposed to give, in this place, only such outlines of each season as will interest the 

 general reader, referring the meteorologist, for detailed instrumental results, to the volume ot 

 observations and notes specially devoted to the subject. But, as to the south of the equator, 

 their winter is our summer, our spring their autumn ; to follow our order, requires commence- 

 ment at the middle, rather than with the beginning of the calendar year with June or July, 

 the first winter months, instead of December and January, the beginning of ours. June, 

 July, and August, then, are the winter months of the southern hemisphere,, and the season of 

 rains, when every one complains of wet and cold, and when, from the structure of their houses, 

 and improvidence, disease is rife among the poor. Near the equator, the coast, sheltered by 

 the Andes, is not subject to rain-storms ; but Chile, beyond the torrid zone, forms no exception 

 to the general rule. 



Santiago, of which I shall speak the most extendedly, is on a plain, 2,000 feet above the 

 ocean, from which it is sixty miles distant in an air-line. The plain, bounded on the east by 

 the Andes, and on the west by the Cordilleras of the coast, commences at the base of a spur, 

 which,, 30 miles to the northward, joins the two mountain chains, and extends almost uninter- 

 ruptedly to the sea, 500 miles distant, in a southerly direction. Its width is variable, but 



