IN THE PACIFIC. 55 



of wild fruit-trees, ferns, and wild flowers, and 

 quiet dells, the haunt of the humming-bird and 

 the turtle-dove. 



Altogether it is a delightful and romantic 

 island, and it was with much regret that we 

 took our departure. 



The distance from the island to Valparaiso is 

 360 miles, which may be done in thirty- six hours, 

 as the wind blows pretty regularly from the 

 south-west, a fair wind for that port. We were 

 not so fortunate, however, as it happened to be 

 the season for light and variable winds. Two 

 days before we reached our destination, we 

 sighted the range of the Andes at the amazing 

 distance of 180 miles. This seems incredible, 

 but is not so astonishing when the height of the 

 mountains, some of them over 20,000 feet, and 

 the clearness of the atmosphere are considered. 

 The sun rising behind the range afforded us 

 this splendid sight, but, as the orb rose higher 

 in the heavens, it gradually faded from our 

 view. 



We arrived at Valparaiso on the 24th of 



