40 VALDIVIA. 



lower part of almost every branch, small, conical, 

 brown, wrinkled points project : these are always 

 ready to change into roots, as may sometimes be 

 Been, where any mud has been accidentally splashed 

 against the tree. A branch as thick as a man's 

 thigh is chosen in the early spring, and is cut off' 

 just beneath a group of these points ; all the small- 

 er branches are lopped oft", and it is then placed 

 about two feet deep in the gi'ound. During the 

 ensuing summer the stump throws out long shoots, 

 and sometimes even bears fruit : I was shown one 

 which had produced as many as twenty-three ap- 

 ples, but this was thought very unusual. In the 

 third season the stump is changed (as I have 

 myself seen) into a well-wooded tree, loaded with 

 fruit. An old man near Valdivia illustrated his 

 motto, " Necesidad es la madre del invencion," by 

 giving an account of the several useful things he 

 manufactured from his apples. After making ci- 

 der, and likewise wine, he extracted from the re- 

 fuse a white and finely-flavoured spirit ; by anoth- 

 er process he procured a sweet treacle, or, as he 

 called it, honey. His children and pigs seemed 

 almost to live, during this season of the year, in 

 his orchard. 



February Wtli. — I set out with a guide on a short 

 ride, in which, however, I managed to see singu- 

 larly little, either of the geology of the country or 

 of its inhabitants. There is not much cleared land 

 near Valdivia : after crossing a river at the distance 

 of a few miles, we entered the forest, and then 

 passed only one miserable hovel before reaching 

 our sleeping-place for the night. The short differ- 

 ence in latitude, of 150 miles, has given a new as- 

 pect to the forest, compared with that of Chiloe. 

 This is owing to a slightly different proportion in 

 the kinds of ti'ees. The evergreens do not appear 



