1834.] A PRIMITIVE PEOPLE. 273 



of rather less than thirty. The land is hilly, but not 

 mountainous, and is covered by one great forest, except 

 where a few green patches have been cleared round the 

 thatched cottages. From a distance the view somewhat 

 resembles that of Tierra del Fuego ; but the woods, when 

 seen nearer, are incomparably more beautiful. Many 

 kinds of fine evergreen trees, and plants with a tropical 

 character, here take the place of the gloomy beech of the 

 southern shores. In winter the climate is detestable, and 

 in summer it is only a little better. I should think there 

 are few parts of the world, within the temperate regions, 

 where so much rain falls. The winds are very boisterous, 

 and the sky almost always clouded : to have a week of 

 fine weather is something wonderful. It is even difficult 

 to get a single glimpse of the Cordillera : durihg 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 a humble, quiet, industrious set of 

 men. Although the fertile soil, resulting from the decom- 

 position 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 consequence, 

 the staple articles of food are pigs, potatoes, 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, grinding corn, and in 

 the construction of their boats. The forests are so impene- 

 trable, 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 mhabitants, like those of Tierra 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 suflicient 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 a bag of 



