RED SNOW. 73 



animate mass. I felt glad that I was alone : it 

 was like watching a thunder-storm, or hearing in 

 full orchestra a chorus of the Messiah. 



On several patches of the snow I found the Pro- 

 tococcus nivalis, or red snow, so well known from 

 the accounts of Arctic navigators. My attention 

 was called to it by observing the footsteps of the 

 mules stained a pale red, as if their hoofs had been 

 slightly bloody. I at first thought that it was ow- 

 ing to dust blo\vn from the suiTounding mountains 

 of red porphyry ; for, from the magnifying power 

 of the crystals of snow, the groups of these mi- 

 croscopical plants appeared like coarse particles. 

 The snow was coloured only where it had thaw- 

 ed very rapidly, or had been accidentally crushed. 

 A little rubbed on paper gave it a faint rose tinge 

 mingled with a little brick -red. I afterwards 

 scraped some off the paper, and found that it con- 

 sisted of groups of little spheres in colourless cases, 

 each the thousandth part of an inch in diameter. 



The wind on the crest of the Peuquenes, as just 

 remarked, is generally impetuous and very cold : 

 it is said* to blow steadily from the westwai'd or 

 Pacific side. As the observations have been chief- 

 ly made in summer, this wind must be an upper 

 and return current. The Peak of Teneriffe, with 

 a less elevation, and situated in lat. 28^^, in like 

 manner falls within an upper return stream. At 

 first it appears rather surj)rising that the trade- 

 wind along the northern parts of Chile and on the 

 coast of Peru should blow in so very southerly a 

 direction as it does ; but when we reflect that the 

 Cordillera, running in a north and south line, inter- 

 cepts, like a great wall, the entire depth of the 

 lower atmospheric current, we can easily see that 



* Dr. Gillies, in Journ. of Nat. and Geograph. Science, Aug., 

 1830. This author gives the heights of the Passes. 



IT.— G 



