CHIT. OK 



313 



siuldenl)- burst forth in iTiipticn on the s.-mic iii'jlit, tlir 

 coincidence would l)c tlioUL^lit remarkable; but it is lar iiioic 

 remarkable in this case, where the three \ents fall on the same 

 great mountain-chain, and wliere the vast plains along the 

 entire eastern coast, and tjie upraised recent shells along more 

 than 2000 miles on the western coast, show in liow equable 

 and connected a manner the clcvatory forces have acted. 



Ca[)tain Fitz Roy being anxious that some bearings should 

 be taken on the outer coast of Chiloc, it was planned that 

 Mr. King and myself shoukl ride to Castro, and thence across 



INSIDE ISLAND OK 



SAN CARLOS. 



the island to the Capclla de Cucao, situated on the west coast. 

 Having hired horses and a guide, we set out on the morning 

 of the 22nd. We had not proceeded far, before we were 

 joined by a woman and two boys, who were bent on the srune 

 journe)'. I'^very one on this road acts on a " hail-fellow-well- 

 met fashion;" and one may here enjoy the privilege, so r.arc 

 in South America, of tr.avclling without firearms. At first 

 the country consisted of a succession of hills and \",dle\-s : 

 nearer to Castro it became \'er)' level. The roatl itsvlf is a 

 curious affair ; it consists in its \vliolc length, with the exception 

 of very few parts, of great logs of wood, which are either broad 

 and laid longitudinall)', or narrow and placed transwrsel)-. In 

 siuTimer the road is not ver}' bad: but in winter, when the 

 wood is rendered slippery from r.iin, travelling is (.■xcectlingly 



