2i6 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



land on the west coast. At the northern end the 

 island is separated from the mainland by a narrow 

 channel (Canal de Chacao) only two or three miles in 

 width ; but on the east side the broad strait or interior 

 sea between Chiloe and the opposite coast is from 

 thirty to forty miles in breadth, and beset by rocky 

 islets varying in size from several miles to a few yards. 

 Another unquiet night ushered in the morning of 

 the 3rd of June. This was fairly clear, with a fresh 

 breeze from the south-west, which, as the day ad- 

 vanced, rose nearly to a gale. The sea did not appear 

 to run higher than before, but the waves struck the 

 ship's side with greater force, and at intervals of about 

 ten minutes we shipped rather heavy seas, after which 

 the deck was nearly knee-deep in water, and a weather 

 board was needed to keep the saloon from being 

 flooded. The barometer fell slightly, and the tempera- 

 ture was decidedly lower, the thermometer marking 

 about 50° Fahr. Some attempts at taking exercise 

 on the hurricane deck were not very successful, my 

 friend, Mr. H , being knocked down and some- 

 what bruised, and we finally retired to the saloon, and 

 found the state of things not exhilarating. We saw 

 nothing of the Chonos Archipelago, consisting of three 

 large and numerous small islands, all covered with 

 dense forest, and separated from the mainland by a 

 strait, yet scarcely surveyed, about a hundred and 

 twenty miles in length, and ten to fifteen in breadth- 

 Darwin, writing nearly fifty years ago, anticipated 

 that these islands would before long be inhabited, but 

 I was assured that no permanent settlement has ever, 

 been established. Parties of woodcutters have from 



