A GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS 



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Fig. 67. Cordon del Barril, looking W toward C. Atravesado. Note goat track along the ridge. 



— Photo C. Skottsberg 1/3 ^9^7- 



Q. de las Casas, once the headquarters of the convict settlement and the 

 ordinary landing-place, is called O. Baquedano by Guzman, commemorating the 

 corvette frequently sent to the outlying islands of the Republic. From the 

 beach, bordered by lofty headlands down to the water, we enter the valley, which 

 is about 200 m wide here, with slopes receding under an angle of 40 — 45° (fig, 

 63). It gradually narrows so that the streambed offers the only access into the 

 canyon. After a downpour the stream overflows and the valley is closed; a couple 

 of days with dry, sunny weather and the bed, filled with boulders of all sizes, 

 resting on the bedrock, lies dry, with pools of crystal clear water in the depres- 

 sions and back of the thresholds (fig. 64). The most spectacular part of the gorge 

 begins about i km from the entrance, where the width at the bottom may fall 

 below 10 m, while the walls are many hundred m high (fig. 65). From a botan- 

 ist's viewpoint Casas is one of Nature's conservatories; see Skottsb. 3 pp. 

 639 — 640 and Pi. no. Johow called this place "El Pangal", and nowhere is the 

 pangue [Gunnera Masafuerae) more luxuriant (I.e. PI. iii). About 2 km from the 



