368 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



anchor, the greater number laden with cargoes of copper. 

 The morning of the 6 th was calm, and at first rather hazy, 

 but before long brightened up into a warm sunny day, very 

 agreeable to us after our wet experiences in the south. 

 Two of the officers and I landed, soon after breakfast, at the 

 end of a long jetty, used chiefly for embarking coal, and 

 visited the town, which is divided into two parts, one of 

 which (Upper Lota) is situated on the top of a low hill to the 

 north of the anchorage, while the other (Lower Lota) lies in 

 a small valley at the head of the bay. Much rain had fallen 

 lately, and we found the centre of the streets of the lower part 

 of the town knee-deep in clayey mud, through which oxen 

 were dragging carts moving on solid wooden wheels, which 

 emitted a succession of creaks and groans, testifying to the 

 difficulty of progression. The town presents a rather squalid 

 appearance, all the houses being constructed of wood, and the 

 greater number of them only one storey in height, on account 

 of the numerous earthquake shocks to which this neighbour- 

 hood, in common with that of Concepcion, about thirty miles 

 to the northward, is liable. There are, however, one or two 

 very good detached dwellings, principally tenanted by the 

 officials employed by the Lota Company, and one, standing on 

 the top of the hill on the north side of the anchorage, serves 

 as a mess-house, where several gentlemen breakfast and dine 

 together. 



After spending a short time in strolling through the 

 streets, we descended to the smooth sandy beach below the 

 town, finding the tide high, and a rather heavy surf breaking. 

 Here I found a few specimens of a crab resembling our British 

 Corystes, — the Pseudocorystes sicarius, widely distributed on 

 the coast of Chili, — as well as some large masses of curiously- 

 shaped moUuscan egg-cases. Looking out on the waters of 



