286 CENTRAL CHILE chap. 



his profession, belongs to the better informed and more intelli- 

 gent classes ! Renous himself, two or three years before, left 

 in a house at S. Fernando some caterpillars, under charge of 

 a girl to feed, that they might turn into butterflies. This 

 was rumoured through the town, and at last the Padres 

 and Governor consulted together, and agreed it must be 

 some heresy. Accordingly, when Renous returned, he was 

 arrested. 



September \<^th. — We left Yaquil, and followed the flat 

 valley, formed like that of Quillota, in which the Rio 

 Tinderidica flows. Even at these few miles south of Santiago 

 the climate is much damper ; in consequence there were fine 

 tracts of pasturage, which were not irrigated. {20tk.) We 

 followed this valley till it expanded into a great plain, which 

 reaches from the sea to the mountains west of Rancagua. We 

 shortly lost all trees and even bushes ; so that the inhabitants 

 are nearly as badly off for firewood as those in the Pampas. 

 Never having heard of these plains, I was much surprised at 

 meeting with such scenery in Chile. The plains belong to 

 more than one series of different elevations, and they are 

 traversed by broad flat- bottomed valleys ; both of which 

 circumstances, as in Patagonia, bespeak the action of the sea 

 on gently rising land. In the steep cliffs bordering these 

 valleys there are some large caves, which no doubt were 

 originally formed by the waves : one of these is celebrated 

 under the name of Cueva del Obispo ; having formerly been 

 consecrated. During the day I felt very unwell, and from that 

 time till the end of October did not recover. 



September 22nd. — We continued to pass over green plains 

 without a tree. The next day we arrived at a house near 

 Navedad, on the sea-coast, where a rich Haciendero gave us 

 lodgings. I stayed here the two ensuing days, and although 

 very unwell, managed to collect from the tertiary formation 

 some marine shells. 



2^th. — Our course was now directed towards Valparaiso, 

 which with great difficulty I reached on the 27th, and was 

 there confined to my bed till the end of October. During this 



