INHABITANTS. 11 



origin volcanic. The line of the Andes is not, in 

 this neighbourhood, nearly so elevated as in Chile ; 

 neither does it appear to form so perfect a barrier 

 between the regions of the earth. This great 

 range, although running in a straight north and south 

 line, ovv'ing to an optical deception, always appear- 

 ed more or less curved ; for the lines drawn from 

 each peak to the beholder's eye necessarily con- 

 verged like the radii of a semicircle, and as it was 

 not possible (owing to the clearness of the atmo- 

 sphere and the absence of all intennediate objects) 

 to judge how far distant the farthest peaks were 

 off, they appeared to stand in a flattish semicircle. 

 Landing at midday, we saw a family of pure In- 

 dian extraction. The father was singularly like 

 York Minster ; and some of the younger boys, with 

 their ruddy complexions, might have been mistaken 

 for Pampas Indians. Everything I have seen con- 

 vinces me of the close connexion of the different 

 American tribes, who nevertheless speak distinct 

 languages. This party could muster but little 

 Spanish, and talked to each other in their own 

 tongue. It is a pleasant thing to see the aborigines 

 advanced to the same degree of civilization, how- 

 ever low that may be, which their white conquer- 

 ors have attained. More to the south we saw many 

 pure Indians : indeed, all the inhabitants of some 

 of the islets retain their Indian surnames. In the 

 census of 1832, there were in Chiloe and its de- 

 pendencies forty-two thousand souls : the greater 

 number of these appear to be of mixed blood. 

 Eleven thousand retain their Indian surnames, 

 but it is probable that not nearly all of these are 

 of a pure breed. Their manner of life is the 

 same with that of the other poor inhabitants, and 

 they are all Christians ; but it is said that they yet 

 retain some strange superstitious ceremonies, and 



