254 CENTRAL CIIILE. [CHAP. xn. 



August 14th. I set out on a riding excursion, for the pur- 

 pose of geologising the basal parts of the Andes, which alone at 

 this time of the year are not shut up by the winter snow. Our 

 first day's ride was northward along the sea-coast. After dark 

 we reached the Hacienda of Quintero, the estate which formerly 

 belonged to Lord Cochrane. My object in coming here was to 

 see the great beds of shells, which stand some yards above the 

 level of the sea, and are burnt for lime. The proofs of the ele- 

 vation of this whole line of coast are unequivocal : at the height 

 of a few hundred feet old-looking shells are numerous, and I found 

 some at 1300 feet. These shells either lie loose on the surface, 

 or are embedded in a reddish-black vegetable mould. I was 

 much surprised to find under the microscope that this vegetable 

 mould is really marine mud, full of minute particles of organic 

 bodies. 



I5th. We returned towards the valley of Quillota. The 

 country was exceedingly pleasant ; just such as poets would call 

 pastoral: green open lawns, separated by small valleys with 

 rivulets, and the cottages, we may suppose of the shepherds, scat- 

 tered on the hill-sides. We were obliged to cross the ridge of 

 the Chilicauquen. At its base there were many fine evergreen 

 forest-trees, but these flourished only in the ravines, where there 

 was running water. Any person who had seen only the country 

 near Valparaiso, would never have imagined that there had 

 been such picturesque spots in Chile. As soon as we reached 

 the brow of the Sierra, the valley of Quillota was immediately 

 under our feet. The prospect was one of remarkable artificial 

 luxuriance. The valley is very broad and quite flat, and is thus 

 easily irrigated in all parts. The little square gardens are 

 crowded with orange and olive trees, and every sort of vegetable. 

 On each side huge bare mountains rise, and this from the con- 

 trast renders the patchwork valley the more pleasing. Who- 

 ever called " Valparaiso " the " Valley of Paradise," must have 

 been thinking of Quillota. We crossed over to the Hacienda de 

 San Isidro, situated at the very foot of the Bell Mountain. 



Chile, as may be seen in the maps, is a narrow strip of land 

 between the Cordillera and the Pacific ; and this strip is itself 

 traversed by several mountain-lines, which in this part run paral- 

 lel to the great range. Between these outer lines and the main 



