Sept. 1834. FLOATING ISLANDS. .323 



extended so far to the south, that the snowy summits of the 

 more distant Andes were seen, as if above the horizon of the 

 sea. S. Fernando is forty leagues from Santiago ; and it was my 

 furthest point southward ; for we here turned at right angles 

 towards the coast. We slept at the gold-mines of Yaquil, 

 which are worked by Mr. Nixon, an American gentleman, 

 to whose kindness I was much indebted during the four days 

 I staid at his house. 



September 14th. — This morning we rode to the mines, 

 which are situated at the distance of some leagues, near the 

 summit of a lofty hill. On the way we had a glimpse of the 

 lake Tagua-tagua, celebrated for its floating islands, which 

 have been described by M. Gay.* They are composed of 

 the stalks of various dead plants intertwined together, and 

 on the surface of which other hving ones take root. Their 

 form is generally circular, and their thickness from four to 

 six feet, of which the greater part is immersed in the water. 

 As the wind blows they pass from one side of the lake to the 

 other, and often carry cattle and horses as passengers. 



Wlien we arrived at the mine, I was struck by the pale 

 appearance of many of the men, and inquired from Mr, Nixon 

 respecting their condition. The mine is 450 feet deep, and 

 each man brings up about 200 poundsf weight of stone. 

 With this load they have to climb up the alternate notches 

 cut in the trunks of trees, placed in a zigzag line up the 

 shaft. Even beardless young men, eighteen and twenty years 

 old, with httle muscular development of their bodies (they 

 are quite naked excepting drawers) ascend with this great 

 load from nearly the same depth, A strong man, who is not 

 accustomed to this labour, perspires most profusely, with 

 merely carrying up his own body. With this very severe 

 labour, they live entirely on boiled beans and bread. They 



* Annales des Sciences Naturelles, March, 1833. M. Gay, a zealous 

 and able naturalist, is now occupied in studying every branch of natural 

 histoi-y throughout the kingdom of Chile. 



f In another mine, as will hereafter be mentioned, I picked out a 

 load by liazard, and weighed it : it was 1 97 pounds. 



V 2 



