274 AT CHACAO. [chap. xiii. 



charcoal, with which to buy some trifle, and another carry- 

 ing a plank to exchant^e for a bottle of wine. Hence every 

 tradesman must als(> be a merchant, and again sell the 

 goods which he takes in exchange. 



November 24M. — The yawl and whale-boat were sent 

 under the command of Mr.- (now Captain) Sulivan, to 

 survey the eastern or inland coast of Chiloe ; and with 

 orders to meet the Beagle at the southern extremity of the 

 island ; to which point she would proceed by the outside, so 

 as thus to circumnavigate the whole. I accompanied this 

 expedition, but instead of going in the boats the first day, 

 I hired horses to take me to Chacao, at the northern 

 extremity of the island. The road followed the coast ; 

 every now and then crossing promontories covered by fine 

 forests. In these shaded paths it is absolutely necessary 

 that the whole road should be made of logs of wood, which 

 are squared and placed by the side of each other. From 

 the rays of the sun never .penetrating the evergreen foliage, 

 the ground is so damp and soft, that except by this means 

 neither man nor horse would be able to pass along. I 

 arrived at the village of Chacao, shortly after the tents 

 belonging to the boats were pitched for the night. 



The land in this neighbourhood has been extensively 

 cleared, and there were many quiet and most picturesque 

 nooks in the forest. Chacao was formerly the principal 

 port in the island ; but many vessels having been lost, 

 owing to the dangerous currents and rocks in the straits, 

 the Spanish Government burnt the church, and thus 

 arbitrarily compelled the greater number of inhabitants to 

 migrate to San Carlos. We had not long bivouacked, 

 before the barefooted son of the governor came down to 

 reconnoitre us. Seeing the English flag hoisted at the 

 yawl's mast-head, he asked, with the utmost indifference, 

 whether it was always to fly at Chacao. In several places, 

 the inhabitants were much astonished at the appearance of 

 men-of-war's boats, and hoped and believed it was the fore- 

 runner of a Spanish fleet, coming to recover the island from 

 the patriot government of Chile. All the men in power, 

 however, had been informed of our intended visit, and were 

 exceedingly civil. While we were eating our supper the 

 governor paid us a visit. He had been a lieutenant-colonel 

 in the Spanish service, but now was miserably poor. He 

 gave us two sheep, and accepted in return two cotton 

 handkerchiefs, some brass trinkets, and a little tobacco. 



