1835. | WILD POTATO. 285 
as the boat passed. ‘They did not remain long under water, but 
rising, followed us with outstretched necks, expressing great 
wonder and curiosity. 
7th.—Having run up the coast, we anchored near the northern 
end of the Chonos Archipelago, in Low’s Harbour, where we 
remained a week. The islands were here, as in Chiloe, composed 
of a stratified, soft, littoral deposit ; and the vegetation in conse- 
quence was beautifully luxuriant. The woods came down to 
the sea-beach, just in the manner of an evergreen shrubbery 
over a gravel walk. We also enjoyed from the anchorage a 
splendid view of four great snowy cones of the Cordillera, in- 
eluding ‘el famoso Corcovado :” the range itself had in this 
latitude so little height, that few parts of it appeared above 
the tops of the neighbouring islets. We found here a party 
of five men from Caylen, “ el fin del Cristiandad,” who had 
most adventurously crossed in their miserable boat-canoe, for 
the purpose of fishing, the open space of sea which separates 
Chonos from Chiloe. These islands will, in all probability, in 
a short time become peopled like those adjoining the coast of 
Chiloe. 
The wild potato grows on these islands in great abundance, 
on the sandy, shelly soil near the sea-beach. The tallest plant 
was four feet in height. The tubers were generally small, but I 
found one, of an oval shape, two inches in diameter: they re- 
sembled in every respect, and had the same smell as English 
potatoes ; but when boiled they shrunk much, and were watery 
and insipid, without any bitter taste. They are undoubtedly 
here indigenous: they grow as far south, according to Mr. Low, 
as lat. 50°, and are called Aquinas by the wild Indians of that part : 
the Chilotan Indians have a different name for them. Professor 
Henslow, who has examined the dried specimens which I brought 
home, says that they are the same with those described by Mr. 
Sabine * from Valparaiso, but that they form a variety which by 
some botanists has been considered as specffically distinct. It is 
remarkable that the same plant should be found on the sterile 
* Horticultural Transact., vol. v. p. 249. Mr. Caldcleugh sent home two 
tubers, which, being well manured, even. the first season produced numerous 
potatoes and an abundance of leaves. See Humboldt's interesting discussion 
on this plant, which it appears was unknown in Mexico,—in Polit. Essay on 
New Spain, book iv. chap. ix. 
