374 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



work is to be got out of them till the greater part of tlieir 

 money is squandered in drink. Like their northern brethren, 

 they are also fond of good living. 



On the 9th, at seven A.M., we left Lota for Concepcion 

 Bay. The day was rather hazy, though fine, so that we could 

 not take in the full extent of this fine bay, as we entered it, 

 passing the island of Quiriquina at its mouth, early in the 

 afternoon. We anchored at about half-past two off Talca- 

 huano, the seaport of Concepcion ; and soon after I landed 

 with some of the officers, and we crossed over the narrow 

 neck of land which separates the bay from Port San Vi- 

 cente to the southward. Owing to the season of the year, 

 and the sterility of the soil, there were very few plants 

 in flower, a yellow (Enothera and the Pliacelia circinata, pre- 

 viously obtained in the Strait of Magellan, being nearly the 

 only species met with, with the exception of a leafless spiny 

 Rhamnaceous under-shrub, a species of Colletia, which was 

 very abundant. We noticed several specimens of the bur- 

 rowing owl common in the Strait, and captured a snake 

 {Tachymenis Chilensis) and several specimens of a curious 

 little spotted frog, the Pleurodema Bihronii, provided with a 

 prominent gland on each side of the loins. The sandy beach 

 of San Vicente Bay was strewed with hundreds of fragments 

 of a crustacean of the genus Hippa, the H. talpoides, but very 

 few perfect examples were present. On our return to Talca- 

 huano, we occupied a few minutes in the inspection of the 

 town, which presents a very squalid appearance. By this time 

 the mist had cleared off, allowing us to gain a fine view of 

 the bay, and a lovely serene sunset was succeeded by a fine 

 starlight evening. Arrangements were made that night for a 

 ride over to Concepcion, about nine miles distant, next day, 

 the British Consul, Mr. Cunningham, having kindly placed 



