37 



there are several of them that arc navigable at 

 least half their distance for ships of the line. 

 Of this number are, the Maule, in the province 

 of the same name ; the Bio-bio^ which is two 

 miles in breadth ; the Cauten ; the Tolten ; the 

 Valdiviaj in the country of Arauco ; the Chaivin ; 

 the Rio-bueno, in the country of the Cunches ; 

 and the Sinfondo^* which discharges itself into the 

 Archipelago of Chiloe. 



The course of these rivers is extremely rapid 

 as far as the maritime mountains, where, from 

 the make of the ground, they flow more slowly. 

 The beds are very broad, their bottoms generally 

 stony, and the banks low. 



This last circumstance is of great service to 

 the husbandmen, who avail themselves of it to 

 let the water into canals, from which, in times 

 of drought, they water their fields ; by this 

 means they are never in want of water, even in 

 the dry season, as the rivers are then always full, 

 in consequence of the melting of the snow on 

 the Andes at that period.f 



* Probably so called from its depth. JE. E, 



t The rivers which water and fertilize the whole country 

 upon the western side of the Andes, from whence they spring, 

 are very numerous, and discliarge themselves into the Pacitic 

 Ocean. The banks, covered with beuutiful trees that always 

 retain their verdure, and the clearness and coohiess of so many 

 crystal streams, render this country the most delightful in the 



d3 



