1834.] A LAND OF VOLCANOES. 275 



November 2^th. — Torrents of rain : we managed, how- 

 ever, to run down the coast as far as Huapi-lenou. The 

 whole of this eastern side of Chiloe has one aspect : it is a 

 plain, broken by valleys and divided into little islands, and 

 the whole thickly covered with one impervious blackish- 

 green forest. On the margins there are some cleared 

 spaces, surrounding the high-roofed cottages. 



November 26th. — The day rose splendidly clear. The 

 volcano of Osorno was spouting out volumes of smoke. 

 This most beautiful mountain, formed like a perfect cone, 

 and white with snow, stands out in front of the Cordillera. 

 Another great volcano, with a saddle-shaped summit, also 

 emitted from its immense crater little jets of steam. Subse- 

 quently we saw the lofty-peaked Corcovado — well deserving 

 the name of "el famoso Corcovado." Thus we beheld, 

 from one point of view, three great active volcanoes, each 

 about seven thousand feet high. In addition to this, far 

 to the south, there were other lofty cones covered with 

 snow, which, although not known to be active, must be 

 in their origin volcanic. The line of the Andes is not, in 

 this neighbourhood, nearly so elevated as in Chile ; neither 

 does it appear to form so perfect a barrier between the 

 regions of the earth. This great range, although running 

 in a straight north and south line, owing to an optical 

 deception, always appeared more or less curved ; for the 

 lines drawn from each peak to the beholder's eye, necessarily 

 converged like the radii of a semicircle, and as it was not 

 possible (owing to the clearness of the atmosphere and the 

 absence of all intermediate objects) to judge how far distant 

 the farthest peaks were off, they appeared to stand in a 

 flattish semicircle. 



Landing at midday, we saw a family of pure Indian 

 extraction. The father was singularly like York Minster; 

 and some of the younger boys, with their ruddy complexions, 

 might have been mistaken for Pampas Indians. Every- 

 thing I have seen, convinces me of the close connection of 

 the dllTerent American tribes, who nevertheless speak 

 distinct languages. This party could muster but little 

 Spanish, and talked to each other in their own tongue. 

 It is a pleasant thing to see the aborigines advanced to the 

 same degree of civilisation, however low that may be, 

 which their white conquerors have attained. More to the 

 south we saw many pure Indians : indeed, all the in- 

 habitants of some of the islets retain their Indian surnames. 



