1834.] BOAT EXCURSION. 275 
shortly after the tents belonging to the boats were pitched for 
the night. 
The land in this neighbourhood has been extensively cleared, 
and there were many quiet and most picturesque nooks in the 
forest. Chacao was formerly the principal port in the island; 
but many vessels having been lost, owing to the dangerous cur- 
rents and rocks in the straits, the Spanish government burnt the 
church, and thus arbitrarily compelled the greater number of 
inhabitants to migrate to S. Carlos. We had not long bivou- 
acked, before the barefooted son of the governor came down to 
reconnoitre us. Seeing the English flag hoisted at the yawl’s 
mast-head, he asked, with the utmost indifference, whether it 
was always to fly at Chacao. In several places, the inhabitants 
were much astonished at the appearance of men-of-war’s boats, 
and hoped and believed it was the forerunner of a Spanish fleet, 
coming to recover the island from the patriot government of 
Chile. All the men in power, however, had been informed of 
our intended visit, and were exceedingly civil. While we were 
eating our supper, the governor paid us a visit. He had been a 
lieutenant-colonel in the Spanish service, but now was miserably 
poor. He gave us two sheep, and accepted in return two cotton 
handkerchiefs, some brass trinkets, and a little tobacco. 
25th.—Torrents of rain: we managed, however, to run down 
the coast as far as Huapi-lenou. The whole of this eastern side 
of Chiloe has one aspect: it is a plain, broken by valleys and 
divided into little islands, and the whole thickly covered with 
one impervious blackish-green forest. On the margins there 
are some cleared spaces, surrounding the high-roofed cottages. 
26th.—The day rose splendidly clear. The voleano of Osorno 
was spouting out volumes of smoke. This most beautiful moun- 
tain, formed like a perfect cone, and white with snow, stands 
out in front of the Cordillera. Another great volcano, with a 
saddle-shaped summit, also emitted from its immense crater little 
jets of steam. Subsequently we saw the lofty-peaked Corco- 
vado—well deserving the name of “ el famoso Corcovado.” Thus 
we beheld, from one point of view, three great active volcanos, 
each about seven thousand feet high. In addition to this, far to 
the south, there were other lofty cones covered with snow, which, 
although not known to be active, must be in their origin vol 
