THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 319 



drunk than the rest, for he seemed extremely grave and 

 very crabbed. Shortly before this, two Indians joined us, 

 who were travelling from a distant mission to Valdivia con- 

 cerning some lawsuit. One was a good-humoured old man, 

 but from his wrinkled beardless face looked more like an 

 old woman than a man. I frequently presented both of them 

 with cigars; and though ready to receive them, and I dare 

 say grateful, they would hardly condescend to thank me. A 

 Chilotan Indian would have taken off his hat, and given his 

 " Dios le page ! " The travelling was very tedious, both 

 from the badness of the roads, and from the number of great 

 fallen trees, which it was necessary either to leap over or to 

 avoid by making long circuits. We slept on the road, and 

 next morning reached Valdivia, whence I proceeded on 

 board. 



A few days afterwards I crossed the bay with a party of 

 officers, and landed near the fort called Niebla. The build- 

 ings were in a most ruinous state, and the gun-carriages 

 quite rotten. Mr. Wickham remarked to the commanding 

 officer, that with one discharge they would certainly all fall 

 to pieces. The poor man, trying to put a good face upon it, 

 gravely replied, " No, I am sure, sir, they would stand 

 two I " The Spaniards must have intended to have made this 

 place impregnable. There is now lying in the middle of the 

 court-yard a little mountain of mortar, which rivals in hard- 

 ness the rock on which it is placed. It was brought from 

 Chile, and cost 7000 dollars. The revolution having broken 

 out, prevented its being applied to any purpose, and now it 

 remains a monument of the fallen greatness of Spain. 



I wanted to go to a house about a mile and a half distant, 

 but my guide said it was quite impossible to penetrate the 

 wood in a straight line. He offered, however, to lead me, by 

 following obscure cattle-tracks, the shortest way: the walk, 

 nevertheless, took no less than three hours ! This man is 

 employed in hunting strayed cattle; yet, well as he must 

 know the woods, he was not long since lost for two whole 

 days, and had nothing to eat. These facts convey a good 

 idea of the impracticability of the forests of these countries. 

 A question often occurred to me how long does any vestige 

 of a fallen tree remain? This man showed me one which 



