216 



and oarSj and in these frail skiffs the natives wilt 

 frequently "venture as far as Conception.* 



These people are fond of fishing, an occu-* 

 pation to which they are led from the g-reat va- 

 riety of fish with which their coasts abound. 

 Large quantities of these are dried and sent to 

 foreign countries. They likewise dry the testa- 

 ceous kinds, particularly the couchs, the clamps, 

 and the piures. For this purpose they arrange 

 them in a long trench, covering them with the 

 large leaves of thepanke tinctoria. Over these 

 they place stones, on which they make a hot fire 

 for several hours. They then take the roasted 

 animals from their shells, and string them upon 

 threads, which they hang for some time in the 

 smoke. In this mode they keep very well, and 

 are carried to Cujo and other places at a distance 

 from the sea. 



As soon as the Christian religion was preached 

 in Chiloe, it was readily embraced by the natives, 

 who have ever since continued faithful and obe- 

 dient to its precepts. Their spiritual concerns 

 are under the direction of the bishop of Concep- 

 tion, and their temporal are administered by a 

 governor appointed by the captain-general of, 



* It will not be improper to observe here, that the Indians, 

 who form the principal part of the sailors of the South Seas, 

 are very active, docile, and industrious, and excellent seamen 

 for these mild and temperate cMmtites.^ Spanish Trans. 



