1835. LARACIUETE — CARAMPANGUE. 437 



ing her kindness, and paying her ' mayor domo'' for the hire of 

 the horse, we pushed on with that one and two of the least jaded 

 of our own animals. 



Between Chivilingo and the rivulet called Laraquete is a 

 hill, unimportant at present, though it may hereafter become 

 of consequence, as it contains coal. Some that I carried away 

 with me was thought to be almost equal to cannel coal, which 

 it very much resembled. The little river Laraquete, which 

 will admit a large boat at high water, runs at the foot of the 

 hill, and there is no surf whei-e it enters the sea. Very glad I 

 was then to see nothing like a hill between us and Arauco . 

 We urged our horses along the dead level, and reached a pass 

 of the Carampangue river as the sun was sinking below the 

 horizon. From his sickly appearance and the black gathering 

 clouds, I thought we should not be long without heavy rain, 

 and that the sooner we could house ourselves the better. The 

 Carampangue is shallow, except in the middle, but wide. Men 

 and animals are carried over it on a ' balsa,' made of several 

 logs of light wood fastened together, and pushed or poled 

 across Avith their burdens by one man. These contrivances are 

 very convenient where the water is shallow near the bank, and 

 where the bank itself is low : for a horse can walk upon them 

 from the shore without difficulty, or any scrambling ; and as 

 soon as they ground on the opposite side, it is equally easy to 

 disembark. Where wood is not plentiful, balsas are made of 

 rushes tied together in bundles ; or of hides sewn up and in- 

 flated, or made into a rough kind of coracle. 



The last few miles had been slowly accomplished by dint of 

 whip and spur ; but from the river to Arauco was a long league 

 over unknown ground, in the dark, and while rain fell fast. 

 Heavily we toiled along, uncertain of our way, and expecting 

 each minute to be bogged; our horses, however, improved as 

 we neared their anticipated resting place, and almost tried to 

 canter as lights appeared twinkling within an open gateway in 

 the low wall of Arauco. * We asked for the house of the 'coman- 



• It is a low wall, or rather mound of earth, enclosing- a number of 

 ' ranches' (cottages or huts). 



