A GEOGRAPHICAI. SKETCH OF THE JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLANDS 



151 



Fig. 67. Cordon del Barril, looking W toward C. Atravesado. Note goat track along the ridge. 



— Photo C. Skottsberg 1/3 1917. 



O. lie las Casas, once the headquarters of the convict settlement and the 

 ordinary landing-place, is called O. Baquedano by Guzman, commemorating the 

 corvette frequently sent to the outlying islands of the Republic. From the 

 beach, bordered by lofty headlands down to the water, we enter the valley, which 

 is about 200 m wide here, with slopes receding under an angle of 40 — 45 (fig, 

 631. It gradually narrows so that the streambed otters the only access into the 

 canyon. After a downpour the stream overflows and the valley is closed; a couple 

 of days with dr>-, sunny weather and the bed, hlled with boulders of all sizes, 

 resting on the bedrock, lies dry, with pools of crystal clear water in the depres- 

 sions and back of the thresholds iflg. 64'. The most spectacular part of the gorge 

 begins about i km from the entrance, where the width at the bottom may tall 

 below 10 m, while the walls are man\- hundred m high (fig. 65 K From a botan- 

 ist's viewpoint Casas is one of Natures conservatories; see Skottsb. 3 pp. 

 639 — 640 and PI. no. Johow called this place "El Pangal", and nowhere is the 

 pangue [Gtoinera Masafuerae] more luxuriant d.c. PI. 1 1 1 '. About 2 km from the 



