A GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS I 53 



both sides, and we look down into the Casas and Vacas canyons (figs. 65, 69). 

 From C. Atravesado the road N to Piano de la Mona lies open. 



Q. de las Vacas ( = cow; this place-name is old, but no cattle existed on 

 the island in 1908. Reintroduced in 1909, they had been killed off before 19 17 

 and were introduced again in 1927). Following the beach south from Casas 

 past Pta Langlois we reach the entrance to this second large canyon, which 

 drains the highest part of Mt. Inocentes. It happened that when Casas was dry, 

 the Vacas stream was still alive. The entrance is quite picturesque thanks to 

 the deep side-valley separated from the main quebrada by a high spur ending 

 in a sharp peak (fig. 68). The interior has the same morphology as Casas; fig. 

 70 shows the drainage basin viewed from the Barril ridge, fig. 71 a typical, low 

 threshold of harder basalt. Some witches' cauldrons were observed (fig. 72). 



Little Vacas is accessible to a point about i km from the sea, where a very 

 high cliff barrier impedes further progress. 



The easiest way to reach the table-land S of Vacas is to climb a low bar- 

 ranca at Play a Ancha, a level stretch of stony beach, from where Q. de los 

 Inocentes with its untouched forest and fern-groves is gained without difficulty. 

 Crossing this valley high up we climbed the Inocentes- Vacas ridge which leads 

 to the top. To our surprise we were not stopped by the fern forest we had reason 

 to expect judging from our experience farther south; the stony and rocky ridge 

 was covered with Alpine heath which continued right to the Inocentes summit. 

 The ridge can also be gained from Little Vacas. The slope is, as seen on fig. 68, 

 steep, but it is terraced, and on our return we made a quick descent here. 



From the ridge south of O. Inocentes a good view is obtained across the 

 interior of the narrow Q. Angosta (fig. 73). The morphology is the same as in 

 Casas and Vacas, but the valley got its name because it is narrower than any 

 other, only about 5 m wide at the bottom, a magnificent blind alley where, c. i km 

 from the entrance, we are confronted with a precipice and waterfall once more. 

 The photograph shows the columnar structure of the threshold. At the foot of the 

 waterfall the vegetation is, as in all these gorges, luxuriant. 



Quebr. del Varadero (varadero = ship-yard, which does not fit here; varar 

 also = to be stopped, and a strong surf may prevent passing the escarpment 

 south of the canyon entrance). Our first attempt to ascend Mt. Inocentes was 

 made from this valley at the place seen in fig. 74, where we gained the ridge 

 at 400 m above see level. On account of the slippery grass the climb was a little 

 hazardous. To begin with, the ridge itself was easy until, at c. 740 m, the tree- 

 ferns, which had begun to appear on the sides, gathered on the very crest, form- 

 ing an impenetrable thicket. Having crawled through the soaking wet barricades 

 of decaying trunks under the closed roof of the fronds and made perhaps 500 m 

 in an hour, we had to give up. The altitude was c. 950 m and Dicksonia con- 

 tinued in every direction as far as we could see from a solitary canelo rising 

 above the fern roof 



A short walk into the Varadero gorge offers a strikingly wild scenery (fig. 

 75). A picture of the short and narrow side valley was published by Quensel 

 (2 fig. 3 on p. 43). Gradients of 60—80° are the rule in these gorges. 



io~53735i ^^^ ^<^i- Hist, of Juan Fernandez and Easter I si. Vol. I. 



