290 A VOLCANO IN ACTION. [chap. xiv. 



equally close with the auks. It would undoubtedly be 

 mistaken for an auk, when seen from a distance, either 

 on the wing, or when diving and quietly swimming 

 about the retired channels of Tierra del Fuego. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



CHILOE AND CONCEPCION : GREAT EARTHQUAKE. 



San Carlos, Chiloe — Osorno in Eruption, contemporaneously 

 with Aconcagua and Coseg'uina — Ride to Cucao — Impene- 

 trable Forests — Valdivia — Indians — Earthquake — Concep- 

 cion — Great earthquake — Rocks fissured — Appearance of 

 the former towns — The sea black and boiling — Direction of 

 the vibrations — Stones twisted round — Great Wave — Per- 

 manent elevation of the land — Area of volcanic phenomena — 

 The connection between the elevatory and eruptive forces — 

 Cause of earthquakes — Slow elevation of Mountain-chains. 



On January the 15th we sailed from Low's Harbour, 

 and three days afterwards anchored a second time in 

 the bay of San Carlos In Chiloe. On the night of the 

 igth the volcano of Osorno was in action. At midnight 

 the sentry observed something like a large star, which 

 gradually increased in size till about three o'clock, when 

 it presented a very magnificent spectacle. By the aid of a 

 glass, dark objects, in constant succession, were seen, 

 in the midst of a great glare of red light, to be thrown 

 up and to fall down. The light was sufficient to cast 

 on the water a long bright reflection. Large masses 

 of molten matter seem very commonly to be cast out of 

 the craters in this part of the Cordillera. I was assured 

 that when the Corcovado is in eruption, great masses 

 are projected upwards and are seen to burst in the air, 

 assuming many fantastical forms, such as trees : their 

 size must be immense, for they can be distinguished 

 from the high land behind San Carlos, which is no less 

 than ninety-three miles from the Corcovado. In the 

 morning the volcano became tranquil. 



I was surprised at hearing afterwards that Aconcagua 

 in Chile, 480 miles northwards, was in action on this 

 same night ; and still more surprised to hear, that the 

 great eruption of Coseguina (2700 miles north of 



