106 



PORT TALCAGUANO. 



[1823. 



pears, peaches, potatoes, cabbages, pumpkins, onions, and all kinds 

 of garden-stuff. The distance from the island to the river is about 

 ten miles. 



Seven leagues to the northward of the island of Santa Maria are the 

 Paps of Biobio, which become visible by the time a ship is abreast of 

 the island, forming a very conspicuous and useful landmark in entering 

 the port of Conception, in the river Biobio. These remarkable hills 

 are thus named from their peculiar shape, and their appearance does 

 not vary much in whatever direction they are seen from the offing. 

 They rise from a sort of promontory on the north side of the river, on 

 which side also stands the city of Conception. 



July 24th. — On Thursday, the 24th, we entered the Bay of Concep- 

 tion, and at eleven A. M. anchored in the port of Talcaguano, at the 

 south-west part of the bay, in three fathoms of water, mud and clay 

 bottom. This place is about seven miles north of the city of Mocha, 

 or New Conception, and the harbour is sheltered from the westward 

 by an elevated peninsula of the same name. The entrance to this 

 port may be easily known by the island of Quiriquina, which is some- 

 what lower than the adjacent continent. Ships may pass on either 

 side of this island, but the eastern passage is the safest and the widest. 

 The entrance is in latitude 36° 36' S., longitude 73° 12' W. 



This is one of the most commodious ports in the world : the water 

 within the bay is very smooth, with scarcely any current, and the tide 

 flows about six feet : the best anchorage is before the village of Tal- 

 caguano, on the south-west side of the bay. The surrounding country 

 is extremely pleasant, and seldom troubled by the blasts of winter. 

 At this place the Andes are not visible from the anchorage, the view 

 being intercepted by the Sierra Belluda, a range of mountains, abound- 

 ing with silver-mines, among which the river Biobio takes its rise, and 

 runs nearly due west to the Bay of Conception. At night, however, a 

 flickering glimmer on the eastern sky, accompanied with some vivid 

 flashes, bears testimony that the Chilian volcanoes are still in full blast, 

 there being twelve or fourteen of them in a state of constant eruption, 

 besides several others which discharge smoke at intervals. The 

 mouth of the river is about one mile across, and its sands are so richly 

 mingled with gold that about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 

 worth is collected annually, and placed in the national dep6t at the 

 new city of Mocha, or New Conception, about twelve miles from 

 the sea. 



