49 



thing within these limits offers incontestible 

 proofs, that the land has been for a longtime co- 

 vered by the ocean ; the three parallel chains of 

 maritime mountains, the hills that unite them 

 with the Andes, in fine, all the ramifications of 



three doors of a semi-circular form, and proportionate height 

 and breadth. Through the one on tlie western front, the 

 sea contitiually flows; the two others, which are on the north 

 and south sides, and placed opposite, serve to admit those who 

 wish to visit it at the tide of ebb. This natural edifice, constant- 

 ly washed by the sea, serves as a place of resort for the sea- 

 %volvcs, who herd in great numbers in the lower part, and make 

 the cavity re-echo with tlieir lugubrious cries; while the upper 

 is occupied by a species of sea-bird, very white, called lili, in 

 figure and size resembling a house-pij;eon. On the shore 

 of the province of Rancagua, at a short distance from the 

 sea, is n mass of stone, excavated in a similar manner, called 

 by the inhabitants the church of Rosario. Grottos and 

 caverns of this sort are very numerous in the Andes, and of 

 great extent. In the mountaini near the source of the river 

 Longavi, is a cavern of an oval form, and so large that it will 

 readily admit a man on horseback ; but w hat renders this 

 cave particularly remarkable is, that at sunrise, before the 

 summits of the Andes are tinged by its beams, the rays of 

 that luminary, penetrating through some aperture, presents to 

 the eve a wonderful phenomenon. In the same rar.ge of 

 mountaine is, likewise, the celebrated bridge of the Inca, which 

 is notliing but a large mountain, cut tlirough by the river 

 Mendoza. This mountain principally consists of gypsum, 

 and large clusters of beautifid stalactites, formed by the 

 crystallization of that substance, are suspended from the arch 

 of the bridge. 



VOL. I. E 



