232 Elevation of Chiloe. paet h. 



CHAPTER IX. 



ON THE ELEVATION OF THE WESTERN COAST OF SOUTH 



AMERICA. 



Chonos Archipelago — CMloe, recent and gradual elevation of, tradi- 

 tions, of the inhabitants on this subject — Conception, earthquake and 

 elevation of. — Valparaiso, great elevation of, upraised shells, earth 

 of marine origin, gradual rise of the land within the historical 

 period. — CoQUiMBO, elevation of, in recent times, terraces of marine 

 origin, their inclination, their escarpments not horizontal — Guasco, 

 gravel terraces of — Copiapo. —Pert: — Upraised shells of Cobija, 

 Iquique, and Arica — Lima, shell-beds and sea-beach on San Lorenzo, 

 Human remains, fossil earthenware, earthquake debacle, recent sub- 

 sidence — On the decay of upraised shells — General summary. 



Commencing at the south and proceeding northward, 

 the first place at which I landed, was at Cape Tres 

 Montes, in lat. 46° 35'. Here, on the shores of Christ- 

 mas Cove, I observed in several places a beach of 

 pebbles with recent shells, about twenty feet above 

 high-water mark. Southward of Tres Montes (between 

 lat. 47° and 48°), Byron 1 remarks, ' we thought it very 

 strange, that upon the summits of the highest hills 

 were found beds of shells, a foot or two thick.' In the 

 Chonos Archipelago, the island of Lemus (lat. 44° 30') 

 was, according to M. Coste, 2 suddenly elevated eight 

 feet, during the earthquake of 1839 : he adds, ' des 

 roches jadis toujours couvertes par la mer, restant 

 aujourd'hui constamment decouvertes/ In other parts 



1 ' Narrative of the Loss of the Wager.' 

 8 ' Comptes Rendus,' October 1838, p. 706. 



