PUNTA IIUANTAMO. 37 



panions, although so very civil to us, behaved to 

 the poor Indians as if they had been slaves rather 

 than free men. They ordered provisions and the 

 use of their horses without ever condescending to 

 say how much, or indeed whether the owners 

 should be paid at all. In the morning, being left 

 alone with these poor people, we soon ingratiated 

 ourselves by pi'esents of cigars and mate. A lump 

 of white sugar was divided between all present, 

 and tasted with the greatest curiosity. The In- 

 dians ended all their complaints by saying, " And 

 it is only because we are poor Indians, and know 

 nothing; but it was not so when we had a king." 



The next day, after breakfast, we rode a few 

 miles northward to Punta Huantamo. The road 

 lay along a very broad beach, on which, even after 

 so many fine days, a terrible surf was breaking. 

 I was assured that, after a heavy gale, the roar can 

 be heard at night even at Castro, a distance of no 

 less than twenty- one sea-miles, across a hilly and 

 wooded country. We had some difficulty in reach- 

 ing the point, owing to the intolerably bad paths ; 

 for everywhere in the shade the ground soon be- 

 comes a perfect quagmire. The point itself is a 

 bold rocky hill. It is covered by a plant allied, I 

 believe, to Bromelia, and called by the inhabitants 

 Chepones. In scrambling through the beds, our 

 hands were very much scratched. I was amused 

 by observing the precaution our Indian guide took, 

 in turning up his trousers, thinking that they were 

 more delicate than his own hard skin. This plant 

 bears a fruit, in shape like an artichoke, in which 

 a number of seed-vessels are packed : these con- 

 tain a pleasant, sweet pulp, here much esteemed. 

 I saw, at Low's Harbour, the Chilotans making 

 chichi, or cider, with this fruit : so true is it, as 

 Humboldt remarks, that almost evervwhere man 



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