254 CENTRAL CHILE. [cuap. X11 
August 14th.—I set out on a riding excursion, for the pur- 
pose of geologising the basal parts of the Andes, which alone at 
this time of the year are not shut up by the winter snow. Our 
first day’s ride was northward along the sea-coast. After dark 
we reached the Hacienda of Quintero, the estate which formerly 
belonged to Lord Cochrane. My object in coming here was to 
see the great beds of shells, which stand some yards above the 
level of the sea, and are burnt for lime. The proofs of the ele- 
vation of this whole line of coast are unequivocal: at the height 
of a few hundred feet old-looking shells are numerous, and I found 
some at 1300 feet. These shells either lie loose on the surface, 
or are embedded in a reddish-black vegetable mould. I was 
much surprised to find under the microscope that this vegetable 
mould is really marine mud, full of minute particles of organic 
bodies. 
15th.—We returned ‘towards the valley of Quillota. The 
country was exceedingly. pleasant ; just such as poets would call 
pastoral: green open lawns, separated by small valleys with 
rivulets, and the cottages, we may suppose of the shepherds, scat- 
tered on the hill-sides. We were obliged to cross the ridge of 
the Chilicauquen. At its base there were many fine evergreen 
forest-trees, but these flourished only in the ravines, where there 
was running water. Any person who had seen only the country 
near Valparaiso, would never have imagined that there had 
been such picturesque spots in Chile. As soon as we reached 
the brow of the Sierra, the valley of Quillota was immediately 
under our feet. The prospect was one of remarkable artificial 
luxuriance. The valley is very broad and quite flat, and is thus 
easily irrigated in all parts. The little square gardens are. 
crowded with orange and olive trees, and every sort of vegetable. 
On each side huge bare mountains rise, and this from the con- 
trast renders the patchwork valley the more pleasing. Who- 
ever called ‘‘ Valparaiso” the “‘ Valley of Paradise,” must have 
been thinking of Quillota. We crossed over to the Hacienda de 
San Isidro, situated at the very foot of the Bell Mountain. 
Chile, as may be seen in the maps, is a narrow strip of land 
between the Cordillera and the Pacific; and this strip is itself 
traversed by several mountain-lines, which in this part run paral- 
lel to the great range. [etween these outer lines and the main 
