On the ''Hasslerr 163 



the shore, if the glaciers of the Andes had descended 

 to the level of the ocean in this part of the country. 

 The erratics here have the character of those observed 

 farther south. It is true the furrows and scratches 

 of this polished surface run mainly from east to west ; 

 but there are some crossing the main trend, at angles 

 varying from 20° to 30°, and running S. E. N. W. 

 Moreover, the magnetic variation is 18° 3^ at Talca- 

 huano April 23d, the true meridian bearing to the 

 right of the magnetic. I shall soon kno^ what to 

 make of this, as I start to-morrow for the interior, to 

 go to Santiago and join the ship again at Valparaiso. 

 I have hired a private carriage, to be able to stop 

 whenever I wish so to do. I also take a small seine 

 to fish for fresh-water fishes in the many streams 

 intervening between this place and Valparaiso. The 

 trend of the glacial scratches in San Vicente re- 

 minds me of a fact I have observed in New Eng- 

 land near the sea-shore, where the glacial furrows 

 dip to a considerable extent eastward toward the 

 deep ocean, while farther inland their trend is more 

 regular and due north and south. . . . 



I had almost forgotten to say that I have ob- 

 tained unquestionable evidence of the cretaceous age 

 of the coal deposits of Lota and the adjoining locali- 

 ties, north and south, which are generally supposed 

 to be Tertiary lignites. They are overlaid by sand- 

 stone containing Baculites. I need not adduce other 

 evidence to satisfy geologists of the correctness of my 

 assertion. I have myself collected a great many 

 fossils, in beds resting upon coal-seams." 



At Talcahuana Agassiz started up the coast by 



