204 FISH—GOATS—DOGS. Feb. 1830. 
cultivate the soil, and raise potatoes, had been defeated by the 
destructive ravages of a worm. 
By sending a boat to the east point of the bay, to fish in forty 
fathoms water, a most delicious kind of cod-fish may be taken, 
in such numbers, that two men, in half an hour, could fill the 
boat. Craw-fish, of large size, are almost equally abundant ; 
they are taken with a hooked stick: one of our boats caught 
forty-five in a very short time. The inhabitants catch them, and 
cure their tails, by exposure to the sun, for exportation to 
Chile, where they are much esteemed, and fetch a high price. 
Wild-goats are very numerous among the inaccessible parts 
of the island, but are not easily obtained ; they are sometimes 
shot, or taken with alazo. These animals, according to Woodes 
Rogers, and other writers, were originally left on the island by 
Juan Fernandez, who, for a short time, lived there. Accord- 
ing to the ‘ Noticias Secretas,’ p. 50 to 56, they are supposed 
to have been landed by the Buccaneers, who frequented this 
island. Certain it is, that, without such refreshments, the Buc- 
caneers would not have been able to carry on their harassing war 
of plunder against the Spanish possessions on the American 
coast to such an extent; nor should we, perhaps, have heard 
anything more about Commodore Anson, and the crews of the 
Centurion and Gloucester, who were, on their arrival at this 
island, in the last stage of scurvy. 
To prevent Juan Fernandez from being so tempting a resort 
to Buccaneers, the Viceroy of Peru caused a great many dogs 
to be landed, which hunted down and destroyed the goats in 
great numbers: this in some measure has prevented their 
subsequent increase. The dogs however drove the goats to 
places where they could not follow them, and were then obliged 
to destroy seals for food. Large troops of these dogs still range 
about the lower grounds; but the heights are in the undisturbed 
possession of wild-goats ; which may be seen in numbers brows- 
ing on elevated and almost inaccessible places, where they live 
in safety. 
The geological character of this island, according to Mr. 
Caldcleugh, who accompanied me in this trip, is of basaltic 
