hOAT EXCURSION. 2C3 



The land in this neighbourhood has been extensively cleared, 

 and there were many quiet and most picturesque nooks in the 

 forest. Chacao was formerly the principal port in the island ; but 

 many vessels having been lost, owing to the dangerous currents 

 and rocks in the straits, the Spanish government burnt the church, 

 and thus arbitrarily compelled the greater number of inhabitants 

 to migrate to S. Carlos. "NVo had not long bivouacked, before 

 the barefooted sou of the governor came down to reconnoitre us. 

 .Seeing the English flag hoisted at the yawl's mast-head, he asked, 

 with the utmost indifference, whether it was always to fly at 

 Chacao. In several places the inhabitants were much astonished 

 at the appearance of men-of-war's boats, and hoped and believed 

 it was the forerunner of a Spanish fleet, coming to recover the 

 island from the patriot government of Chile. All the men in 

 power, however, had been informed of our intended visit, and were 

 exceedingly civil. While we were eating our supper, the governor 

 paid us a visit. He had been a lieutenant-colonel in the Spanish 

 service, but now was miserably poor. He gave us two sheep, and 

 accepted in return two cotton handkerchiefs, some brass trinkets, 

 and a little tobacco. 



25tf*. Torrents of rain : we managed, however, 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 im- 

 pervious blackish-green forest. On the margins there are some 

 cleared spaces, surrounding the high-roofed cottages. 



( 26th. The day rose splendidly clear. The volcano of Osorno 

 was spouting out volumes of smoke. This most beautiful niouin 

 itiin, formed like a perfect cone, and white with snow, stands oat 

 in front of the Cordillera. Another great volcano, with a saddle- 

 shaped summit, also emitted from its immense crater little jets of 

 steam. Subsequently 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 



