Nov. 1826. FIRE—GEOLOGY—GUANACOES. 3 
made snug, than it blew a hard gale from the S.W. The 
water however, from the wind being off the land, was perfectly 
smooth, and the ships rode securely through the night: but 
the following morning the gale increased, and veered to the 
southward, which threw a heavy sea into the port, placing 
us, to say the least, in a very uneasy situation. Happily it 
ceased at sunset. In consequence of the unfavourable state of 
the weather, no attempt was made to land in order to observe 
an eclipse of the sun; to make which observation was one 
reason for visiting this port. 
The day after the gale, while I was employed in making 
some astronomical observations, a party roamed about in quest 
of game: but with little success, as they killed only a few wild 
ducks. The fire which they made for cooking communicated 
to the dry stubbly grass, and in a few minutes the whole 
country was in a blaze. 'The flames continued to spread dur- 
ing our stay, and, in a few days, more than fifteen miles along 
the coast, and seven or eight miles into the interior were over- 
run by the fire. ‘The smoke very much impeded our observa- 
tions, for at times it quite obscured the sun. 
The geological structure of this part of the country, and a 
considerable portion of the coast to the north and south, consists 
of a fine-grained porphyritic clay slate. The summits of the 
hills near the coast are generally of a rounded form, and are 
paved, asit were, with small, rounded, siliceous pebbles, imbed- 
ded in the soil, and in no instance lying loose or in heaps; but 
those of the interior are flat-topped, and uniform in height, for 
many miles in extent. The valleys and lower elevations, not- 
withstanding the poverty and parched state of the soil, were 
partially covered with grass and shrubby plants, which afford 
sustenance to numerous herds of guanacoes. Many of these 
animals were observed feeding near the beach when we were 
working into the bay, but they took the alarm, so that upon 
landing we only saw them at a considerable distance. In none 
of our excursions could we find any water that had not a_ 
brackish taste. Several wells have been dug in the valleys, 
both near the sea and at a considerable distance from it, by the 
B2 
