BAY OF CONCEPTION. 



333 



the Araucanian nation, and totally independent 

 of Spain. The circumstance of his sometimes 

 calling himself a Spaniard, together with his hav- 

 ing receiving assistance from Chiloe, made it ra- 

 ther delicate ground for neutrals to tread on, and 

 I was instructed to avoid any measures likely to 

 embroil us with the contending parties ; but to re- 

 cover the seamen, if possible, without offending 

 either. 



As the wind, at this season of the year, blows 

 almost constantly from the southward, the passage 

 from Valparaiso to Conception was very tedious ; 

 for, though the distance was little more than two 

 hundred miles, it occupied us seven days before 

 we came in sight of the high lands over the town. 

 As we approached the shore we were cheered with 

 the appearance of hills wooded from top to bottom, 

 a sight to which we had long been strangers. 

 The Bay of Conception is a large square inlet, 

 open on the north, while the south and the west 

 sides are formed by a high promontory jutting out 

 from the main land, and bending into the shape of 

 an elbow ; each side being three or four leagues 

 long. Talcuhuana, a miserable town, with a di- 



