60 PASSAGE OF THE CORDILLEKA. 



CHAPTER III. 



Valparaiso— Portillo Pass— Sagacity of Mules— Mountain Tor- 

 rents — Mines, how discovered — Proofs of the gradual Elevation 

 of the Cordillera — EiTect of Snow on Rocks — Geological Struc- 

 ture of the two main Ranges, their distinct Origin and Upheav- 

 al — Great Subsidence — Red Snow — Winds — Pinnacles of 

 Snow — Dry and clear Atmosphere — Electricity — Pampas — Zo- 

 ology of the opposite Sides of the Andes — Locusts — Great Bugs 

 — Mendoza — Uspallata Pass — Silicified Trees buried as they 

 grew — Incas' Bridge — Badness of the Passes exaggerated — 

 Cumbre — Casuchas — Valparaiso. 



PASSAGE OF THE CORDILLERA. 



March Ith, 1835. — We stayed three days at 

 Concepcion, and then sailed for Valparaiso. The 

 wind being northerly, we only reached the mouth 

 of the harbour of Concepcion before it was dai-k. 

 Being very near the land, and a fog coming on, 

 the anchor was dropped. Presently a large Ameri- 

 can whaler appeared close alongside of us, and 

 we heard the Yankee swearing at his men to keep 

 quiet whilst he listened for the breakers. Captain 

 Fitz Roy hailed him, in a loud, clear voice, to 

 anchor where he then was. The poor man must 

 have thought the voice came from the shore : such 

 a Babel of cries issued at once from the ship, every 

 one hallooing out, "Let go the anchor! veer cable ! 

 shorten sail!" It was the most laughable thing I 

 ever heard. If the ship's crew had been all cap 

 tains and no men, there could not have been a 

 gi'eater uproar of orders. We afterwards found 

 that the mate stuttered : I suppose all hands were 

 assisting him in giving his orders. 



On the 11th we anchored at Valparaiso, and two 

 days afterwards I set out to cross the Cordillera. 

 I proceeded to Santiago, where Mr. Caldcleugh 

 most kindly assisted me in every possible way in 



