OLD CHUKCH, CASTRO, CHILOE 



CHAPTER XIII 



Chiloe — General aspect — Boat excursion — Native Indians — Castro — Tame fox — 

 Ascend San Pedro — Chonos Archipelago — Peninsula of Tres Montes — Granitic 

 range — Boat-wrecked sailors — Low's Harbour — Wild potato — Formation of 

 peat — Myopotamus, otter and mice — Cheucau and Barking-bird — Opetio- 

 rhynchus — Singular character of ornithology — Petrels. 



CHILOE AND CHONOS ISLANDS 



November \oth. — The Beagle sailed from Valparaiso to the 

 south, for the purpose of surveying the southern part of Chile, 

 the island of Chiloe, and the broken land called the Chonos 

 Archipelago, as far south as the Peninsula of Tres Montes. 

 On the 2 1st we anchored in the bay of S. Carlos, the capital 

 of Chiloe. 



This island is about ninety miles long, with a breadth of 

 rather less than thirty. The land is hilly, but not mountainous, 

 and is covered by one great forest, except where a few green 

 patches have been cleared round the thatched cottages. From 



