342 CENTRAL CHILE. 



land-locked basin had expanded into a great plain, 

 which extended so far to the south, that the snowy- 

 summits of the more distant Andes were seen as if 

 above the horizon of the sea. S. Fernando is for- 

 ty leagues from Santiago, and it was my farthest 

 point southward, for we here turned at right an- 

 gles towards the coast. We slept at the gold-mines 

 of Yaquil, which are worked by Mr. Nixon, an 

 American gentleman, to whose kindness I was 

 much indebted during the four days I stayed at his 

 house. The next morning we rode to the mines, 

 which are situated at the distance of some leagues, 

 near the summit of a lofty hill. On the way we 

 had a glimpse of the lake Tagua-tagua, celebrated 

 for its floating islands, which have been described 

 by M. Gay.* They are composed of the stalks of 

 various dead plants intertwined together, and on 

 the surface of which other living ones take root. 

 Their form is generally circular, and their thick- 

 ness from four to six feet, of which the greater part 

 is immersed in the water. As the wind blows, they 

 pass from one side of the lake to the other, and 

 often carry cattle and horses as passengers. 



When we arrived at the mine, I was struck by 

 the pale appearance of many of the men, and in- 

 quired from Mr. Nixon respecting their condition. 

 The mine is 450 feet deep, and each man brings 

 up about 200 pounds weight of stone. With this 

 load they have to climb up the alternate notches 

 cut in the ti'unks of trees, placed in a zigzag line 

 up the shaft. Even beardless young men, eighteen 

 and twenty years old, with little muscular devel- 

 opment of their bodies (they are quite naked ex- 

 cepting drawers), ascend with this great load from 



* Annales des Sciences Naturelles, March, 1833. M. Gay, a 

 zealous and able naturalist, was then occupied in studying every 

 branch of natural history throughout the kingdom of Chile. 



