QUINTERO. 187 
green thing finds root, and which are high enough to exclude the view 
of every other object ; on the other hand, a tremendous surf, which 
permits not the approach of boat or canoe, beats unceasingly. Half- 
way between Concon and Quintero, the great lake of Quintero com- 
municates with the sea. In mild weather it only drains through the 
sand; at other times it breaks through its bar, and the ford is not 
always safe. When we passed, it was covered with various kinds of 
water-birds: the flamingo, with his rose-coloured bill and wings ; the 
swan of Chile, whose feet are white, and his neck and head jet black ; 
a brown bird, with wings like burnished bronze, and a head, bill, and 
feet exactly resembling the Egyptian ibis; and geese, water hens, 
and all the duck tribe, innumerable. 
On leaving the beach, we ascended a low hill, and immediately 
entered a broad green forest walk, so level that it seemed to be the 
work of art; on either side brushwood between us and the taller trees 
whose leaves breathed odours, gave shelter to flocks of wood pigeons, 
ground doves, and partridges, among whom my old pointer, Don, 
seemed bewildered with joy ; but every now and then, after a point, 
looked back as if reproachfully, because there was no gun of the party. 
The south-west wind here bends the trees into the same figure as in 
Devonshire, excepting where the gently undulating hills afford 
shelter. 
The house Lord Cochrane is building at Quintero is far from 
being in the best or pleasantest part of the estate; and it has the 
great inconvenience of having no water near it. But had Quintero 
become, as was once intended, the port for the ships of war, the new 
house would have possessed every advantage of being not only near 
the squadron, but of commanding a view of the whole. The bay of 
Quintero, or rather the Heradura, is very beautiful; better sheltered 
from the fierce north winds than that of Valparaiso, better furnished 
with wood and water in itself, and nearer to the supplies from Quil- 
lota and the valley of Santa Rosa for provisioning ships. Some rocks, 
very well known, lie off the mouth of the bay ; but within, excepting 
in a very few places, the anchoring ground is good. The Dutch 
circumnavigator, the famous George Spilberg, with his fleet, consist- 
BB 2 
