8 CHILOE. 



boisterous, and the sky almost always clouded : to 

 have a week of fine weather is something wonder- 

 ful. It is even difficult to get a single glimpse of 

 the Cordillera : during our first visit, once only the 

 volcano of Osorno stood out in bold relief, and that 

 was before sunrise ; it was curious to watch, as 

 the sun rose, the outline gradually fading away in 

 the glare of the eastern sky. 



The inhabitants, from their complexion and low 

 stature, appear to have three fourths of Indian 

 blood in their veins. They are an humble, quiet, 

 industrious set of men. Although the fertile soil, 

 resulting from the decomposition of the volcanic 

 rocks, supports a rank vegetation, yet the climate 

 is not favourable to any production which requires 

 much sunshine to ripen it. There is very little 

 pasture for the larger quadrupeds ; and in conse- 

 quence, the staple articles of food are pigs, pota- 

 toes, and fish. The people all dress in strong 

 woollen garments, which each family makes for 

 itself, and dyes with indigo of a dark blue colour. 

 The arts, however, are in the rudest state, as may 

 be seen in their strange fashion of ploughing, their 

 method of spinning, gi-inding com, and in the con- 

 struction of their boats. The forests are so impen- 

 etrable, that the land is nowhere cultivated except 

 near the coast and on the adjoining islets. Even 

 where paths exist, they are scarcely passable from 

 the soft and swampy state of the soil. The in- 

 habitants, like those of TieiTa del Fuego, move 

 about chiefly on the beach or in boats. Although 

 with plenty to eat, the people are very poor ; there 

 is no demand for labour, and consequently the 

 lower orders cannot scrape together money suffi- 

 cient to purchase even the smallest luxuries. 

 There is also a great deficiency of a circulating 

 medium. I have seen a man bringing on his back 



