270 A VISIT TO THE PROVINCES 



another expected up-train, and for a moment it was supposed to be only a shadow of the em- 

 bankment which the moon threw across the track. When its true character was discerned, we 

 were within less than two hundred yards of it. Unfortunately, the brake to our car had been so 

 worn by the sand-drift, that, even when the whole weight of one of the peons was thrown 

 upon it, its friction was merely nominal ; and as one of them got a thrust in the eye and the 

 other a thump over the head in the hurry of snatching at the whirling cranks, both were ren- 

 dered hors du combat during the brief interval when their services might have been useful. When 

 too late, I found it a heavy car loaded with iron rails, drawn by oxen. These sensible brutes as 

 they were wheeled to the right and left of the track, so as to give us the full benefit of the pro- 

 jecting ends of the rails. Finding we must have a collision, nothing could be done but to try 

 and break its effects as much as possible, and endeavor to save the chronometer. Yet, in spite 

 of bracing my feet against the front, stiffening my knees, and holding on to the back with one 

 arm, of a sudden I found my left eye in contact with the wood- work protecting the machinery, 

 and more stars apparently dashing across the heavens than I witnessed in the memorable 

 meteoric shower of 1833. Luckily, except this and the tearing away, by the projecting ends 

 of the rails, of the framework mentioned, there was no damage done, and we reached Caldera 

 in another half hour without farther difficulty. So much for my first experience as a conductor; 

 and when I recollect how closely my scalp was to a removal even more expeditious than a 

 Blackfoot would have effected, I am quite willing to yield all claims for such a post to other 

 competitors. 



During the five days intervening before the arrival of the steamer from the north, magnetical 

 observations similar to those at the other stations were made, and a record kept of the meteorologi- 

 cal changes. The mean height of the barometer was 29.983 inches, corresponding to a height of 

 fifteen feet above the sea, which is probably from twelve to fifteen feet too little for the site of 

 the instrument ; but it must be stated that on the 16th of July it was subject to rapid changes, 

 and was very considerably above its mean height. Its extreme range was from 29.846 to 

 30.176 inches ; temperature of the air at noon 62. 5, and at midnight 56. 3 ; the wet ther- 

 mometer at the same hours 58. 1 and 5 2. 8. Cloudy weather greatly predominated, with a 

 moderate wind from N.N.W. Shortly after 9 A. M. of the 16th, and whilst the wind blew 

 freshly from that direction, an almost equally strong breeze came suddenly from the S.W., 

 and rain followed instantly. The northerly wind returned by noon, when the atmospheric 

 pressure reached its maximum, and the air continued loaded with mist, though no farther 

 deposition took place. There was a beautiful display of the zodiacal light on the evening of 

 the same day, the apex of its pyramid extending between Jupiter and the constellation of 

 Hydra et Crateres. 



During the following summer January to March, 1852 a submarine phenomenon attracted 

 no little attention among the residents and visitors at Caldera, of which more than one account 

 reached Santiago. One correspondent wrote me : " The night I stopped at Caldera I went at 

 half-past eleven o'clock to hear the submarine music, and I confess it has astonished me. 

 Though the position is neither graceful nor comfortable, on lying down in the boat and 

 placing your ear upon the bottom, you hear it to perfection. I stuck to it for a long time, and 

 was charmed indeed. It has now been pretty well ascertained that it comes from fish, which 

 gather in great numbers on a quiet and retired spot of the bay ; and as each one produces a 

 single note, the most soft and charming harmony results, resembling the JMian harp nearer 

 than anything to which I can compare it. If we suppose the sounds to be produced by fish, that 

 will also account for the different localities where they are heard. At my return to Caldera I will 

 endeavor to obtain the name by which the fish is known there, if I should not succeed in ob- 

 taining a specimen for you." Another friend to whom I wrote on receiving the above tells me : 

 " The idea of the music heard here being produced by fish never entered my brain until you 

 wrote me about Mr. H. I am not fully prepared to oppose the Senoritas who pronounce it a 

 syren, and among whom it has caused no little sensation. It is always near one place, and is 



