A GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS 



135 



Fig. 50. View from Portezuelo de Villagra lookiiig W. From W to E Cerros Enrique, Tres 

 Puntas and Chumacera. — Photo C. Skottsberg "/^ 1917. 



summits from Co Agudo (sharp) to Mt. Yunque, more imposing perhaps from this 

 side than from any other (fig. 51). A peak between Agudo and Chumacera is 

 called Oreja del Conejo (Rabbit's ear) by Guzman. The higher slopes are pre- 

 cipitous, with gradients of 60 — 70° and sculptured with numerous hanging 

 gullies, carrying water after every rain, when many little cascades tumble down 

 from the summit of Mt. Yunque (fig. 2) between the carpets of ferns and pangue. 

 The Villagra valleys have not been levelled by erosion as much as Valle Colo- 

 nial, V. Ingles or V. Anson; the inclination in the middle and lower sections is 

 20 — 30°. The forest in Q. de la Choza (responsible for this name is a small 

 shack below the lower timber-line, I.e. PI. 85: i) and on the slope of Mt. Piramide 

 (I.e. PI. 91) is primeval; it extends up to the level of the Villagra pass and is 

 very wet and rich in species. Some maqui is seen here and there at lower eleva- 

 tions. The forest comes to a sudden stop 200 — 250, in cases 300 m above the 

 sea. On a former occasion (3 p. 895, PI. 85: i) I have discussed the nature of 

 this timber-line. Below the forest degraded grass-land with foreign grasses and 

 herbs dominates over the natural Siipeium. Along the streams a fringe of pangue 

 runs down toward the sea (I.e. PI. 85: 2). Nobody lives in Villagra, but it is 

 grazed over by cattle on the lower slopes. 



Mt. Yunque has already been described; I shall add here what Tenz I.e. 

 has to say about the summit. "Se ve arriba una altiplanicie muy extensa y suave- 

 mente inclinada hacia oeste a poca profundidad, de forma rectangular, rodeada 



