314 CHILD E CHAP. 



difficult. At that time of the year, the ground on each side 

 becomes a morass, and is often overflowed : hence it is necessary 

 that the longitudinal logs should be fastened down by transverse 

 poles, which are pegged on each side into the earth. These 

 pegs render a fall from a horse dangerous ; as the chance of 

 alighting on one of them is not small. It is remarkable, 

 however, how active custom has made the Chilotan horses. In 

 crossing bad parts, where the logs had been displaced, they 

 skipped from one to the other, almost with the quickness and 

 certainty of a dog. On both hands the road is bordered by 

 the lofty forest-trees, with their bases matted together by canes. 

 When occasionally a long reach of this avenue could be beheld, 

 it presented a curious scene of uniformity : the white line of logs, 

 narrowing in perspective, became hidden by the gloomy forest, 

 or terminated in a zigzag which ascended some steep hill. 



Although the distance from S. Carlos to Castro is only 

 twelve leagues in a straight line, the formation of the road 

 must have been a great labour. I was told that several 

 people had formerly lost their lives in attempting to cross 

 the forest. The first who succeeded was an Indian, who cut 

 his way through the canes in eight days, and reached S. 

 Carlos ; he was rewarded by the Spanish government with a 

 grant of land. During the summer many of the Indians 

 wander about the forests (but chiefly in the higher parts, 

 where the woods are not quite so thick), in search of the 

 half-wild cattle which live on the leaves of the cane and 

 certain trees. It was one of these huntsmen who by chance 

 discovered, a few years since, an English vessel, which had 

 been wrecked on the outer coast. The crew were beginning 

 to fail in provisions, and it is not probable that, without the 

 aid of this man, they would ever have extricated themselves 

 from these scarcely penetrable woods. As it was, one seaman 

 died on the march, from fatigue. The Indians in these 

 excursions steer by the sun ; so that if there is a continuance 

 of cloudy weather they cannot travel. 



The day was beautiful, and the number of trees which were 

 in full flower perfumed the air ; yet even this could hardly dis- 

 sipate the effect of the gloomy dampness of the forest. More- 

 over, the many dead trunks that stand like skeletons, never fail 

 to give to these primeval woods a character of solemnity, absent 



